11. Nikita #3
She goes from an adorably cute little girl, nothing but big blue eyes and a dimpled cheek, to the awkward early teenage years of braces and questionable haircut choices, and then finally to the stunning woman before me.
I want to go back and study each picture in detail, but we’re close enough to hear her parents’ voices, and I know we can’t delay this any longer.
Savanna reaches back to grab onto my finger, squeezing it to let me know she’s right here with me, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I love this woman and that I’ll be spending the rest of my life with her.
With that knowledge firmly in place, I let her lead me into the brightly lit kitchen.
Her parents are standing at the island. Her mom is in the process of adding chopped carrots to a large salad bowl, and her dad is holding a colander filled to the brim with pasta.
Both of them stop what they’re doing when Savanna and I walk in.
To their credit, neither one of them drops the food they’re holding, and they do a pretty good job of hiding their shocked looks. It’s Grace who finds her voice first. She lets out a friendly but surprised laugh and drops the salad tongs she’d been holding so she can reach her hand out to me.
“Well, hello,” she says. “I’m Grace, Sav’s mom.”
I shake her hand and return her smile. “It’s very nice to meet you.
I’m Nikita, but everyone calls me Niki.” I shoot a quick look to Savanna, and she smiles, not looking even remotely guilty about her plan as she sets the large bouquet on the counter.
“I had no idea you didn’t know I was coming until very recently.
I’m so sorry for just barging in here. Sav told me you like daisies,” I say, using the nickname everyone uses for her because I feel the need to protect my own special name for her right now.
She waves off my concern, and I can tell she means it. “We’re thrilled to have you, and you didn’t need to bring flowers.” She leans forward with a big smile and gives them a sniff. “But I’m so glad you did. These are gorgeous. Thank you, Niki.”
“I’m really glad you like them,” I tell her.
“I’m Phil,” her dad says, extending his hand for me to shake. “Nice to meet you, Niki.” He grins and holds up the pasta. “I hope you’re hungry. You’ve timed it perfectly because I made way too much.”
His eyes briefly drop to my neck and hands, but I don’t see any judgment in them.
Maybe some mild curiosity, but no harsh, instantaneous judgments.
Phil is the exact opposite of all the men I’ve been surrounded by since birth.
He’s in a sweater jacket that immediately makes me think of Mr. Rogers.
His glasses are definitely more for function than style, and he’s sporting a few extra pounds that don’t look like they’re covering any muscle.
I quickly decide I like him. When he smiles, it’s genuine, and he has the small dimple his daughter has.
He may not look like the men I’ve been around, but I can tell they share some core values, the most important of which is an extreme loyalty and love of family.
It comes through when he laughs and pulls Savanna in for a big hug and in the way his eyes soften every time he looks at his wife.
I suddenly feel like an outsider, a law-breaking, not-worthy-of-being-here outsider, and when I take a step back, I feel Savanna’s eyes on me. She hugs her parents and then comes to stand next to me, wrapping her arm around my waist and resting her head on my shoulder.
“Surprise,” she tells her parents with a laugh. “We’ve been seeing each other for a couple of weeks now. I wanted to tell you, but then I thought I’d just ambush you.”
Grace’s eyes soften when I lean in and kiss Savanna’s head and rest my hand on her shoulder.
“We’ve been expecting this,” Phil says, grinning at his wife. “She did warn us she’d do this one day.”
“She did,” Grace agrees, and when she starts to carry the food to the table, I kiss Savanna again and then step forward to help.
While we set the table, she asks, “So tell us about yourself, Niki.”
“Not too much to tell. I guess I’m kind of a computer nerd,” I say with a soft laugh. “More of an introvert.”
“How did you meet Sav?” her dad asks.
While we sit down at the small table, Savanna reaches over to grab a bread roll and says, “Dad, he’s Sasha’s cousin. I first met Niki when Cindy and Sasha were dating, and then I saw him again at the wedding and a few other times, but we just recently started dating.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were cousins,” Grace says. “Sasha seemed really nice.”
I take a drink of the iced tea in front of me so I don’t laugh. Phil does it for me, though. He laughs and says, “No one’s touching Cindy, that’s for sure.”
“Good,” Grace says while passing me the large bowl of spaghetti.
“It’s about time she had someone looking out for her.
We did everything we could when she was young, but she deserves a man who will keep her safe, lift her up instead of always putting her down like her stepdad did.
Has that bastard shown back up, or is he still MIA somewhere? ”
“Mom,” Savanna says with a laugh.
“What?” Grace asks, giving an innocent shrug. “We’re all thinking it.”
I scoop out a large portion of spaghetti for Savanna before filling my own plate, and I don’t miss the smile Grace gives her husband when she sees it.
“Don’t worry,” I tell her, “he hasn’t shown back up, and Sasha will never allow anything to happen to her.
He was protective before, but with her pregnant, he’s even worse now. ”
I wish I could tell them that they never have to worry about her stepdad again because Sasha killed him months ago, but that’s a secret, like so many others, that I’ll carry to the grave.
“So IT, huh?” Phil says, changing the subject.
Before I can answer, Savanna jumps in and says, “Dad, he’s crazy good with computers, like genius level.
He even gave me a crash course on them, and you should see me now.
My files are organized and clearly labeled, and I even went through and deleted like a thousand screenshots that I just had lying around for whatever reason. ”
“Wow,” her dad says, giving me a thumbs up while he finishes chewing. “That’s impressive. Sav’s always had a brilliant mind, but she’s never really gotten along with technology.” He grins and adds, “Takes after her mom.”
Grace snorts out a laugh and playfully smacks his arm. “You’re so full of it.” She turns to me, her blue eyes the exact shade of Savanna’s and full of amusement when she says, “You should’ve seen how long it took me to explain to him how the Roku works.”
Phil looks at me across the table. “There’s no reason for all those damn buttons. None.”
I don’t laugh, but I want to. “You’re right,” I tell him. “They make it needlessly complicated.”
He gives a triumphant grin and points his fork at me. “Finally, I’m not outnumbered around here. You hear that, honey? Niki agrees with me.”
Grace gives me a friendly wink before looking at her husband. “I heard, sweetie, and even with all those confusing buttons, you still managed to figure it out.”
“You’re patronizing me,” he tells her.
She laughs. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Keep it up and I’m going to have to make Niki have a beer with me in the garage so I can feel like a man again,” he says.
“There’s nothing in the garage, honey,” Grace tells him.
“That’s not the point. There are tools and the faint scent of gasoline and grease. It’s a man space,” he insists, even though I can tell he’s joking. “Or we could just sit in recliners and watch a sport.”
Grace pats his hand. “That sounds like a better plan.”
With each passing minute, my nerves start to dissolve, and I find myself having a good time without having to think about it.
Savanna rests her hand on my thigh, and everything about this moment feels perfect.
It’s as far away from the life I’ve always known as you can get, but it doesn’t matter.
They don’t treat me like I’m a criminal, and I tell myself that it’s not just because they don’t know that I am one, and they don’t pepper me with a million questions and assume I’m going to lead their daughter down a path they don’t want her to go on.
I expected the whole we’re not going to let you ruin our daughter’s life thing, but that’s not the vibe they’re putting off at all.
They seem genuinely happy for us, thrilled even that their daughter has met someone and that I’m so obviously smitten with her.
When supper is over, I start gathering things to carry into the kitchen, and when Savanna joins in, her mom says, “Go visit with your dad, honey. Niki and I have this, don’t we?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say, reaching for more dishes.
Savanna raises a brow at me, silently asking if that’s okay, and when I grin and kiss her cheek, she takes the opportunity to whisper, “I told you they’d love you.” Then she discreetly reaches around to grab my ass before walking into the living room with her dad.
“I saw that,” her mom says, and it’s the first time I’ve blushed this bad in a very long time.
Savanna laughs before she disappears, leaving me alone with her mom. I opt for silence and start carrying the pile of dishes to the sink. Grace comes in behind me, setting the last of the plates on the counter while I start rinsing and loading their dishwasher.
“I’m impressed,” she says, watching me work. “Smart and handy around the house.”
“My mom trained me well,” I say with a grin.
“Are you close to your family?” she asks while she starts to put away the leftovers.
“Very. My older brother is in Oregon right now with his wife’s family, but they just had their first baby. My parents are pretty excited about it.” I dry my hands off so I can pull up a photo for her to see.
“Oh my god, what a beautiful family,” Grace says as she leans over to see.
“Yeah, Lyra’s really cute. We were able to fly there after she was born, but I’m looking forward to seeing more of her when they come back.
He’s my only sibling, but we were raised with our cousins, so they all feel like siblings to me.
We’re aunts and uncles to everyone’s kids. It’s kind of crazy.”
“That’s nice, though,” Grace says. “I always wished we’d been able to have more kids, but that’s just how it is sometimes.”
“Sav has only good things to say about her childhood,” I tell her. “She and Cindy are as close as sisters.”
Grace grins at that. “Yeah, they are. Those two were glued at the hip when they were growing up.” She holds up a finger. “Wait one second.”
She walks out of the kitchen, and I go back to loading the dishwasher. I’ve just gotten it finished when she comes back holding a large album.
“Oh, please tell me that’s photos of Sav growing up.”
She sets it on the island and gives me a conspiratorial wink.
“It is. I know everyone keeps things on their phones now, but there’s nothing like an actual photo album.
” Her hand runs along the cover. “These are my favorites.” Opening it up, she scoots it towards me.
“Better look fast before Sav gets curious and comes to find you. There are some really good ones in here,” she says with a kind but wicked-sounding laugh.
I turn the page and get started. The first few pages are filled with cute baby pictures, the kind every parent has of big, gummy smiles and bare little bottoms. I grin when I spot the dimple I love so much.
Her hair was a lighter blonde when she was little, and soon the pictures shift to her with pigtails and little dresses and sparkly shoes.
She was very much a girly girl, and I’m smiling as I slowly look at every single picture.
My mind naturally starts to wander to what our kids would look like.
Will they have dark hair like me or blonde like her? Grey eyes or blue?
It makes me curious, and when I turn the page and laugh, her voice pulls my attention from the picture of her and Cindy in their Halloween costumes, the year they decided to dress like it was the ‘80s. The amount of neon in the photo is close to blinding, and I’m surprised they could both fit in the photo with all that big hair.
“Mom, you traitor,” she says with a laugh.
Grace grabs a pie and some plates. “I’ve waited so long to be able to do this. Don’t take away our fun. Plus, you were adorable as a kid.”
“You really were,” I say, wrapping my arm around her when she steps in close to look at the album.
“Oh my god,” she groans. “I think we went through two bottles of hairspray that night.”
“You two looked so cute,” Grace says, and then she slides two slices of pie onto a couple of plates before scooting the rest of it over to us. “I’m gonna sit with your dad. You two join us when you’re done.”
We thank her and then I flip the page and laugh at the next series of photos—all of them of Savanna and Cindy goofing off together.
“I’m so glad your mom showed me this.” I pull Savanna in closer while I keep flipping through the pages. Her arms wrap around me, and when we get to the end, she looks up at me, giving me a devilish grin that I now know she’s had all her life.
“Wanna see my old bedroom?”