Chapter Twenty-Nine
Colton
“Well, this is a nice surprise,” Mom says when she opens the door and sees me there. “I feel like I don’t see you as much anymore. School must really be kicking your butt.”
I kiss her cheek and slip into the house. “Yeah, I’m busier with that, but it’s not the only thing.”
After Nash’s game last week and spending half the night in James’s room with him before sneaking out, I realized it’s time to tell my mom about him.
There’s no getting around how I feel about him, everything I want from him, and she deserves to know.
Plus, my birthday is coming up, and I want us all to be together, even if we still have to hide who we are to each other around the kids.
“Something good or something bad?” she asks, the worry in her voice clear.
“Something good.” I shrug. “Something great, actually.”
We sit in the living room, Mom across from me on the couch, facing each other. “You’re in love,” she says.
My eyes widen. “How do you know? Did Kota tell you? I’m gonna kick his ass.”
“Dakota knows?” She crosses her arms and pretends to pout.
“Not that I’m in love, but that I met someone. He really didn’t tell you?”
Mom shakes her head. “No, but I’m a mom. We just know these things. Who are they?”
Fuck, she’s so incredible. I love that she uses they and doesn’t make assumptions about the gender of the person I’m with.
“His name is James. He’s…sweet. Bighearted but doesn’t see it.
A little awkward around people. The kind of guy who doesn’t realize how great he is, ya know?
He’s smart, a hard worker, would do anything for his family.
He makes me feel good in this way I didn’t know I needed.
Like there was something missing in my life and I didn’t know what it was until I found him. ”
Mom’s eyes are glassy, and she wipes a stray tear. “He sounds wonderful, honey. You’ll make a very good partner—the best. He’s lucky to have you.”
“I’m lucky to have him,” I counter.
She smiles. “Is he a student at Peyton U too? Is that where you met?”
Well, shit. Here we go. I didn’t expect to get into it this soon.
“No. We met earlier this year, in the spring, then lost touch, but I saw him again when I started school. He’s a professor.
” I can’t lie to her. There’s no way. I want James, Nash, and Sadie to be a part of my life.
I want them to be my family. She’ll find out what James does. It’s impossible to keep that secret.
“Oh.” She sits up straighter. “How old?”
“Forty. So not a huge age gap, and really, that doesn’t bother me. What matters is that we fit together, that we work, and we do work well.”
“Is he your professor?” Mom asks tentatively.
“He was, but I dropped his class.” I don’t tell her how recently.
She doesn’t need to know that part. “This isn’t anything weird, Mom.
We met before. He didn’t know I’d be a student, and I didn’t know he was a professor.
It was a surprise when we saw each other again.
We didn’t think we’d become anything, but I liked him even then.
I wanted to spend more time with him, and now I love him.
We’ve taken actions we need to take for school, so that hopefully won’t be an issue.
” I want to get it all out there, tell her everything so we can move on.
“He also recently got custody of his two siblings—Nash is fifteen, Sadie eleven. They didn’t have the best upbringing.
James didn’t know about them, but as soon as he found out, he brought them here to live with him, and he’s great with them.
There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for those kids, and I adore them too.
They don’t know about James and me yet, they think we’re just friends, but eventually, we’ll tell them.
” I scoot closer and take her hand. “I know this is a lot, but I don’t want to lie to you.
Both you and James mean too much to me for me to do that.
I really love him, and I need you to be supportive.
I need you to trust me that this is good for me, that it’s what I want and I know what I’m doing. ”
Mom watches me for a moment, studies me, looks at me with crinkled eyes and in this way only a mom can.
“You’ve always been older than your age, Colton.
You’ve always been a family man, even if it was just our family, or just Hannah.
You’re a caretaker by nature, but you’re also smart, and you make good decisions.
I can’t say I imagined you coming to me and telling me you’re in love with your professor who has two kids. ”
“Ex-professor,” I correct.
“Ex-professor.” She smiles. “But if you love him, then I know he must be good. You wouldn’t have it in you to love him otherwise. And if you tell me this is what you want, that you’re happy and he’s good for you and to you, then that’s all that matters. All I want is for my boys to be happy.”
I wish James, Sadie, and Nash could have had a mom like her, that they knew what it was like to have unconditional love from a parent. Sadie and Nash will know what it’s like to have it from James, even if he’s just their older brother. And maybe James will know what it’s like from my mom.
“Thanks, Ma. That means the world to me. The kids are so cool. I’ve been playing basketball with Nash.
He joined the team for the first time. He’s had two home games, and we went to both.
And Sadie…she’s so sweet. You’ll love her.
She’s an artist. James has been hanging her stuff up all over their apartment.
She drew a picture for me the other day. ”
Mom smiles. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
“I was thinking for my birthday. We could have Kota and Elena over. Tash has been helping Sadie with her hair, so she and Hannah have met them. We’ll have them here too.
We’ll have to pretend James and I aren’t together, though.
We don’t want to throw too much at the kids at once.
They’re still adjusting to living with James. ”
“I think that’s a smart decision.”
I hang out there for another hour or so, just spending time with her and talking to her about James.
When I head out, Mom hugs me, wrapping her arms tightly around me. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, Ma. I wouldn’t be who I am without you.”
“Yes, you would, but thank you.”
The second I’m in my truck, I message James. He knows I planned to tell her about us today, and I’m sure he’s a nervous wreck waiting to hear.
Me: Hey, I told her. It went well. She’s excited to meet you.
My phone rings immediately, and I chuckle.
“Are you sure?” he says instead of hello.
“I’m sure.”
“She probably thinks I’m terrible—your older professor with kids.”
“She doesn’t think you’re terrible. I promise. We’ll be okay, James. I know it’s hard for you to believe that, but we will.”
He sighs. “It’s easy to believe it when you say it.”
“Then I’ll tell you every day.”
*
The past couple of weeks have flown by. We’ve gone to every one of Nash’s home games, and I spent every evening at their apartment afterward.
It’s the extent of our outings together—we don’t go out to dinner, or stop by the grocery store, or go to a movie—but I understand his concern. For now, I appreciate what we do have.
We’ve also kept up weekly appointments with Tasha.
She’s been trying to teach James and Sadie more about her hair, which is in loose curls today.
Tasha styled it yesterday, for the first time leaving her hair out of braids.
James had no idea what she meant when she was talking about Sadie’s curl pattern, and I don’t know much more than him, just what I’ve heard from Hannah over the years.
But she’s got the most beautiful, bouncing ringlets.
I’ve caught her looking at herself in the mirror more than once since it was done yesterday.
“So this is like a family thing or what?” Nash asks, all four of us in James’s SUV as we head to Mom’s house for my birthday.
“Family and friends,” I tell him.
“Tasha will be there too,” Sadie says. “And Hannah.”
“Yep. You’ll get to meet my mom, and my brother, Dakota, and his girlfriend, Elena.
He’s an idiot, but I love him.” I’ve had conversations with everyone, and they all know that James and I are together but that the kids don’t know, so at least I won’t have to deal with any ribbing about bringing home a boyfriend for the first time.
A boyfriend who has a cage on his cock right now because it’s my birthday and I wanted him to wear it for me. We pretend he didn’t want to wear it, but we both know he’ll find comfort in that today when he’ll be nervous and overwhelmed and I won’t be able to do anything noticeable to soothe him.
“How come you invited us?” Nash asks, and Sadie swats his arm.
“Because you’re my friends, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.” He looks away and out the window. I hate the fact that they’ve probably never had this, never done something like this before. Gone to a family friend’s birthday party.
“It’ll be fun. Also, my mom had Dakota put the old basketball net back up in the driveway, so if my family gets overwhelming, we can always go out and do that.”
“They didn’t have to do that for us,” he says.
“They wanted to.”
I see James look at him in the rearview, the two of them exchanging a look, a shared experience or thought I’m not privy to.
Hannah’s and Dakota’s cars are there when we arrive. I have a feeling they all arrived early on purpose. They’re all excited about this day.
When we get out, Sadie goes straight to Nash, who takes her hand, and then she pulls him with her and grabs James’s hand. My heart melts at the sight, so fucking glad the three of them have each other.
“Everyone good?” I ask.
James nods. “We’re good.”
I lead them to the house, knock, then open the door.
Nineties rock is playing softly, everyone congregating in the small living room, talking.
Mom decorated—because that’s how she is—with balloons and streamers and a banner that says Happy Birthday Colton, as though I’m not now twenty-nine years old.
“Gee, Ma,” I tease. “Did you get me a cartoon cake too?”
She laughs. “I can’t help it. You’ll always be my baby.”
“You’ll always be my baby,” Dakota mocks playfully. “Did you guys forget I’m the youngest? Colton has always been your favorite.”
“I don’t have a favorite. You’re both my babies,” Mom says, then looks directly at James.
He shifts nervously—not only because she’s looking at him, but probably also because he’s meeting my mom with a cage on his dick.
“This is James, Nash, and Sadie,” I tell my family, then turn to my…well, I hope what will be my other family. “The tall guy is my idiot brother, Dakota, and this is Elena, his girlfriend, who can do much better.”
“Fuck off,” Kota says.
“Don’t curse in front of the kids!” Mom scolds.
“Shit. Sorry,” Dakota apologizes. “Fuck, I didn’t mean to say that.”
“You did it again!” Elena rolls her eyes.
“See what I mean?” I tell them. Sadie looks unsure, but Nash and James are clearly trying to bite back smiles.
“Sorry,” Dakota says again. “Just so you know, my brother is an idiot too, but he’s right that Elena can absolutely do better.”
“Aww,” my future sister-in-law swoons.
“I’m Christine,” my mom says. “I’m sorry about my sons.” There’s another round of laughter before Mom says to Sadie, “I like your shirt. That’s really pretty.”
She blushes. “Thank you.”
“And I heard you play basketball,” she tells Nash. “We have the hoop up for you if you want to use it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Nash says, both my and James’s gazes shooting to him because what the hell was that? I didn’t know ma’am was in his vocabulary.
“Your hair is holding up great!” Tasha gives Sadie a hug, and she lets go of James and Nash to return it.
“I did everything you said both last night and this morning. Nash helped this morning.”
Hannah smiles at them. “You guys killed it.”
“Anyone hungry?” Mom asks. “We have food and drinks. I didn’t know what you guys liked, so I got a little of everything. Want to come look?”
Nash perks up at the mention of food, so Mom, Tasha, and Elena go over to try and feed the kids because that’s just what they do. James follows them over.
Hannah wraps her arm around me and drops her head against my shoulder. “I better get to be the best woman at your wedding,” she says softly.
“What about me?” Kota teases.
“You want to be the best woman?” she asks him.
“You know what I mean.”
“Arm wrestle you for it?” Han asks as Nash and Sadie pile finger foods on their plates, and I know everything will be okay.