It was dusk by the time they arrived in Minneapolis. A Lexus sedan was waiting for them at the airport, with a big bow on top of it.
“It’s a present for my parents.” Ethan grinned. “My mom’s car is on its last legs.”
Divya pressed her lips together.
“What is it? I know you want to say something.”
She sighed. “You said your parents don’t like accepting help from you. Isn’t this a little extravagant?”
He waved her off as he loaded their luggage and the gift bags Roda had given him in New York into the trunk. “It’s an anniversary present.”
There was some traffic as they got onto the highway. “My parents are in Stillwater. When we have time tomorrow, I’ll show you the town. It’s really cute with antiques shops, riverboats and even a park with a giant teddy bear.” He loved taking his niece and nephew to Teddy Bear Park. He’d been sad when they’d outgrown it. Lately he’d had trouble connecting with them, like he used to when they were much younger and all it took to make them happy was a game of peekaboo or a ride on his shoulders. But he was hoping that the gifts he’d bought would help return his cool-uncle status. His chest constricted as he thought about how much he’d loved the baby phase with all of the kids. As they’d grown, he’d looked forward to reliving each part of their childhood with his own children.
He snuck a look at Divya. Why do I keep doing this to myself?
Traffic was light as he got on the highway. Was he doing the right thing, taking Divya to meet his family? He wanted her to see the love he had for them, to know that he understood her commitment to her own family. They weren’t as different as she thought.
His parents lived in an old neighborhood. When he was growing up, it had been small houses like his own, with large backyards full of children. After a few large companies had opened headquarters close to the community, the home prices had gone through the roof. By the time he was in middle school, the older houses had been torn down and replaced with towering mansions with private swimming pools and tennis courts. His parents’ house stuck out like a sore thumb in the neighborhood, but his father refused to sell or renovate. He wanted to keep it exactly as it was, and Ethan was secretly glad.
As he passed a particular redbrick house with a white picket fence, he slowed down like he always did. But this time he also found himself stepping on the brake, reversing back and pulling into the driveway.
“Are your parents not home? The house is dark.”
“This isn’t my parents’ house.”
She looked at him questioningly.
“It’s my house. Or I should say, a house I bought.”
She leaned over and placed a hand on his arm.
“Houses rarely come up for sale in this neighborhood, and my father is never selling his, so I bought it to be close to them. But I never moved in. They don’t even know I own it.”
“Why didn’t you tell them?”
He shrugged. “I bought the place right after Pooja left me and I didn’t want to hear my parents tell me that I’d made another mistake.”
He reversed the car and drove back onto the road, his throat tight. Why had he shown it to Divya? The only person who knew he owned it was his accountant. Was he being impulsive in loving her? Did he want to fill this house so badly that he was clinging to whoever came his way? He took a breath to ease the constriction in his chest.
As the car crunched over the gravel driveway of his parents’ house, Ethan relaxed. The sight of the gray siding, stone chimney and the two rocking chairs on the front porch filled him with comforting warmth. The house had looked this way all his life. No matter how hard a day he’d had at school, when the bus had dropped him off at the end of the street, he’d looked forward to walking up the porch steps. He parked beside his mother’s old car so she wouldn’t see the Lexus’s bow from the front porch. He couldn’t wait to give this gift to her.
His mother came outside to meet them. She looked the same as always, dressed in jeans and a knitted sweater. She was a small woman, no more than five foot four with blond hair and tired blue eyes, which reminded him of the fact that she still put in long hours at the diner. He enveloped her in a bear hug.
“It is good to see you, my boy.” She hugged him back, holding on to him tightly and making him feel like everything was okay with the world. “I thought you’d forgotten.”
He kissed her on the cheek. “Happy anniversary.”
“Who’s this?” She looked at Divya.
“Mom, meet Divya.”
Divya held out her hand, but his mother leaned in and gave her a hug. “Welcome.”
Ethan surreptitiously removed their bags from the car, and Divya retrieved the pie she’d insisted on picking up and handed it to Marilyn.
“Now, what’s this?”
“Key lime pie from the Florida Keys,” Divya replied.
His mother’s eyes widened. “Now, that’s mighty thoughtful of you. Well, come on in, Bill is probably wondering what’s taking us so long.”
They walked into a small foyer that led to a staircase to the second floor and a dining room on the right. Divya followed Marilyn into the kitchen, where Ethan’s dad stood to greet them. He had dark hair and gray eyes. He was a thin man with round glasses and a goatee.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Connors,” Divya said.
“Oh, call me Bill.”
“Divya brought a pie for us from the Keys,” Marilyn said as she set the pie down.
“Wow.” Bill looked at the pie as if he was making sure it was real.
“What were you guys doing in the Keys?” Bill asked.
“Ethan took me skydiving.”
Marilyn shot Bill a look that didn’t escape Ethan’s notice. When he’d been a kid, he’d hated how his parents communicated wordlessly; now he compared every one of his relationships to that connection they had.
“Matt and the kids should be here any minute. I made pot roast.” Marilyn looked at Divya. “Are you okay with that?”
“I’ve never had pot roast, so I’d love to try it.”
“Mom makes the best pot roast.” Ethan leaned over and gave his mother an affectionate kiss. “I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks.” Marilyn leaned over and tousled his hair.
“So are you and Divya sharing a bedroom?” Marilyn asked.
Divya looked down and Ethan enjoyed seeing the twinge of color on her cheeks.
“Um, no, we’re not staying in the same room,” Divya said.
“We’re not?” Ethan whispered to her and she shot him a look.
Marilyn looked between them and rolled her eyes. “Ethan, why don’t you show Divya to your room and I’ll make up the couch in the family room for you.”
Ethan carried her bag upstairs and she followed.
“Is this your childhood room?”
He nodded, looking at the familiar space. The walls were covered with Star Wars posters. The bookshelf held the memorabilia he’d brought home from college. He knew every inch of this room. One of the first things he and Bill had done together was put the bed together. This had been Bill’s office before he’d married his mom.
Ethan reached to the back of the bookshelf and pulled out a framed photo. It pictured a younger version of Marilyn, Wade and Ethan, when he was about four.
“That’s your real father?” Divya asked.
“Bill is my real father. This is the man who cheated on my mother, drank himself into a stupor every night and took five seconds to sign away his paternity rights.”
She placed her hand on his chest, her eyes shining. He lifted her hand and kissed it. “Don’t feel sorry for this poor little rich boy. Bill loves my mom and he’s been a wonderful father. It could’ve turned out very differently for me.”
“I hope you know that your father rejecting you had nothing to do with you and everything to do with him.”
Ethan nodded. “I know that at some level. But he wasn’t always a drunk. Mom told me his drinking started after I was born.”
“You didn’t drive him to drink.”
“I know.” He hadn’t looked at the picture in years, but he’d needed to show it to Divya, to have her understand that there was a reason he ran scared from relationships. But that he was ready to confront his demons, just like he’d asked her to confront hers.
“Not a lot of people know this, but Arjun is my half brother. My dad had a first wife who died when Arjun was a baby. We never knew. We found out a few years ago, and Arjun was devastated. For the rest of us, it didn’t matter. He had always been our big brother and would still be. Nothing changed for us. But he started treating us differently. It was him that put distance between us because he felt like he didn’t belong.”
“You think that’s what I’m doing?”
“I think it’s time for you to realize that you’re a wonderful man and there’s nothing wrong with you.”
He ran his hands down the length of her arms, feeling the goose bumps, and placed a light kiss on her lips. Then moved on to her neck. She brushed her hair aside and tilted her head. He’d been with a number of women in his life, but it felt different with Divya. As aroused as he was, he was also content just being close to her, touching her skin, smelling her sweet vanilla scent.
He circled her waist with his arm and pulled her closer. He untucked her silk shirt and ran his hands underneath it to cup her breasts, enjoying how perfectly they fit in his hands and how taut her nipples became at his slightest touch.
“Matt’s here.” Marilyn’s voice came clear up the stairs, and Divya pushed Ethan away. He smirked.
“Coming, Mom.” Divya quickly tucked her shirt back in and adjusted her bra. He leaned in close to her ear, kissing the lobe while whispering, “Don’t worry, we’ll pick it up tonight. The bed is really comfortable.”
Her eyes widened. “We’re not having sex.”
He raised his brows. “Then, what did we do on the plane?”
She shook her head. “I mean we’re not having sex here. It wouldn’t be proper in your parents’ house.”
“You’re kidding, right? They know I have sex. I’m sure my mom thinks it’s silly you want me to sleep on the couch.”
“But it’s not okay by me.”
“You’re serious?”
She nodded. Marilyn called out to Ethan again. They went downstairs to see his brother’s minivan in the driveway. The kids, Allie and Jake, burst out of the back, slamming the door shut in their excitement to give Ethan a hug. He held them close in a group hug, his heart overflowing with love for them.
“Uncle Ethan, you won’t believe what happened at school today.” He turned his full attention to five-year-old Jake, who had his mother’s dark hair and brown eyes. Jake went on to give him the lowdown on the most recent recess games.
“That’s enough, Jake, Uncle Ethan doesn’t need to hear everything that happens in kindergarten.” Allie was seven going on fifteen. She was the perfect mix of her mom and dad with platinum blond hair from Bill’s side and big eyes and a snub nose from Heather.
“Nice to see you again, Ethan.”
He smiled at his sister-in-law. She had dark hair, brown eyes and a tall, slim build. She was holding two covered dishes. “You okay?” he asked, taking them from her. Heather looked tired.
She gave him a small smile. “Just the usual grind, dealing with these kids.” She shot them an affectionate glance.
His brother came up and gave him a hug. Every time he saw his brother, it always surprised him that Matt was no longer the small, lanky boy from Ethan’s memory. He was as tall as Ethan but with a much stockier build. Ethan slapped his younger brother on the back. It was hard to see Matt with kids of his own. Ethan still remembered the day his mother came home from the hospital with newborn Matt bundled in her arms. Ethan had stood at the top of the stairs and watched his parents become a family. And then twenty years later, he’d watched Heather and Matt become a family.
“Why does that car have a bow?” Allie asked.
Ethan grinned. He’d been hoping to wait until the morning when he could show them the car, but now was as good a time as any. “It’s Mom and Dad’s anniversary present.”
Marilyn gasped. “Ethan! What’re we going to do with a car like that?”
“Get rid of your old beater and not worry about car repairs.”
Bill put a hand on Ethan’s shoulders. “Thanks, son. This is mighty generous of you, but we’re doing fine. This is too much—we don’t need it.”
Ethan clenched his jaw. “It’s your wedding anniversary. I have the right to buy my parents a gift, don’t I?”
“We bought them a bottle of wine,” Matt said unhelpfully.
“Why don’t we go inside and set the table,” Heather said and took the kids inside. Matt and Divya followed.
“Come on, Mom. Accept this. For me.” Ethan put on his most charming smile and put his arm around his mom. “It’ll make me so happy to see you enjoy a luxury for once.”
Marilyn shook her head. “I appreciate it, Ethan, but this isn’t for me. I’m used to my old clunker.”
“I don’t understand why you guys don’t like nice things,” Ethan said with obvious impatience. “I know you think my money is easy, but I earn it honestly. What’s wrong with me wanting to spend it on the people I love, to give you nice things?”
“We don’t need it, son,” Bill said firmly. “I can take care of my family.”
My family. Bill’s family. Blood pounded inside his ears. It had always been like that. While Bill called him son, the fact that Ethan was in truth his stepson was always just under the surface in their family. He would always be the boy looking down from the staircase.
“Fine. I’ll take the car back.” Ethan took a breath as he walked into the house and to the backyard, where Divya was helping Heather set the table.
Jake came running toward him, and Ethan scooped him up. He was getting too big to really carry, but Ethan couldn’t resist. He’d seen how fast Allie had grown up.
“Uncle Ethan, where’s that Poo lady?”
Ethan caught Divya’s eyes and saw that she was barely suppressing a laugh at Jake’s question.
“Her name was Pooja and she won’t be coming around anymore, buddy,” Ethan answered. He set Jake down and the boy went in search of a soccer ball.
“Exactly how many women do you bring home?” Divya said, her voice weirdly high. He turned to her, ready to make a snarky comment, but the look in her eyes stopped him. He didn’t want to tell her what he told his family each time he brought home a new woman: that he wanted them to see that he came from humble beginnings.
He put his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “It helps to have someone in my corner.”
Divya gave him a kiss, and he was grateful he didn’t need to say any more, that he didn’t need to verbalize his insecurities. He knew from the look in her eyes that she understood.
“Did you bring us anything, Uncle Ethan?”
Ethan disentangled himself from Divya and looked affectionately at Allie. He’d had Roda pick up the latest iPhone for his niece and a gaming console for Jake. He still remembered being the kid at school who didn’t have the coolest new toy.
“Of course I’ve got something for you.” He gave them the gift bags Roda had handed him in New York. The kids excitedly opened them and squealed in delight as they found their requested items. “You are the best, Uncle Ethan.” Jake beamed.
Allie screamed. “Oh my God, my friends are going to die when they see I have this.”
“Ethan, we’ve talked about the expensive gifts.” Matt’s weary voice broke into the kids’ excited chatter. When the kids were out of earshot, examining their toys, Matt turned to him. “Ethan, you’ve got to stop buying them such expensive things.”
Ethan rubbed his neck. “I’m their uncle, I have the right to spoil them.”
Matt exchanged a look with Heather, who shook her head imperceptibly at him, and he turned away from Ethan. Ethan looked to his parents for support, but they were exchanging glances of their own. Ethan’s breath stuck. Then he felt Divya’s hand on his arm.
“You’ve got me in your corner,” she whispered.