Chapter Twenty-Four
You know that moment right before something profound is about to happen in your life and you have this feeling of existential dread that has your stomach all twisted up in knots?
Yeah, hi. I’m here. I can send you a postcard, if you’d like.
Caleb slips into our bedroom—where I’m most definitely not sitting, hiding, about to barf, wringing my hands on the edge of our bed—and fixes me with a sympathetic look.
“Shouldn’t you be in the bathroom if you’re about to throw up?” he teases.
“We only have the one. I can’t tie it up like that.”
He rolls his eyes, chuckling silently. He steps towards me, bending down and resting his palms on my thighs. Wordlessly, he kisses my cheek, then my lips. After holding me in the kiss for a few beats, he sits on the edge of the bed next to me.
“You have nothing to worry about. You’ve met my family before, Marcus. Well, aside from Danny and my niece and nephews, anyway.”
“I know, but, um, not ever wearing this. And, not to mention, that was before I broke your heart.”
Caleb smirks. “Sugar, they will not care that you are wearing a dress. I mean, it’ll come as a shock at first, but I guarantee you they’d be absolutely fine with it. As for my broken heart? It’s not like I haven’t filled them in on all the ways you’ve more than grovelled and made it up to me.”
“You told them I grovelled?” I question him. “How the hell have I grovelled?”
He quirks a brow up at me. “I didn’t get into specifics with them, but if you’d like, I’m more than happy to share how many times you’ve gotten on your knees for me and begged for my forgiveness…”
My eyes widen. “You wouldn’t! Not in front of the kids! There’s an infant out there!”
Caleb laughs. “As much as it pains me to say this about my own sister, but you do realize that she and Danny have had to do some ‘grovelling’ of their own in order for that baby to be here, correct? I mean, I’m pretty sure that they understand that other people, besides just them, do the deed.”
That gets a chuckle out of me. Caleb grins. “I knew I could get you to lighten up a bit…”
I inhale deeply through my nose, puffing the breath back out through my lips. “Can I ask you for something stupid?”
“I’m not whipping out my dick in front of you right now, Marcus,” he signs with a droll expression on his face. “There are kids out there…”
I chuckle again. “No, not that. Can you hold my hand when we go out there?”
His features soften. “Of course, Sugar. That’s not a stupid request at all.”
“I assume you and Lauren both explained to them the whole throuple thing?”
He nods. “Yes, and they’re fine with it. Natalie did have to explain it a bit to the boys, but they didn’t really give a crap, to be honest. Brody’s taken them under his wing and is currently showing them how to defeat some boss on his video game.”
“Your nana?”
He huffs out a laugh. “Is old, yes, but not old-school.”
I gulp hard.
“If you hide out in here any longer, they will send out a search party, Marcus. Dad’s been drooling over the turkey since he and Mom walked in the front door. Everyone is refusing to dig in until you get your sexy ass out there.”
“They did not say my sexy ass,” I huff.
He smirks. “Nah, that was my own addition. It’s true though. This dress is”—he mimes a chef’s kiss—“M-A-G-N-I-F-I-Q-U-E.”
“Thank you for the boots, by the way,” I tell him.
“You’re welcome. Can you walk in those heels, though? That’s the true question.”
“I’ve done some practicing…”
He chuckles. “And skimming your head off a few doorframes, I presume.”
I laugh. “Yeah, that too. You know what the best part about them is though?”
“What’s that?”
“In them, I’m—six se-ven,” I sing-song.
He presses his lips together and rolls his eyes. “Trying to be trendy might work for Brody, but not me. Enough stalling, Marcus. Let’s do this.”
He stands, holding out his hand. I take it and together we make our way to the bedroom door. When he opens it and we step out, I hold my breath.
“Marcus! There you are!” Caleb’s mother, Maria, coos.
She eyes me up and down, and I swallow hard. Then, she pulls me in for a hug, which is awkward at best given our giant height differential. Caleb’s shorter stature is genetic. To alleviate the strain on my back from bending, I squeeze her back and lift her off her feet.
“My gosh, have you grown even taller over the past decade?!” she asks when I set her back down on solid ground.
“You’ve shrunken a bit, Maria,” Caleb’s dad, Ned, says. He comes over and gives me a hearty clap on the shoulder.
Maria narrows her eyes at her husband. “You hush. He has gotten taller, and he’s wearing those gorgeous heels. My gosh, Marcus, are those real suede?”
“I think so. I’m not sure, actually. Caleb got them for me,” I note, feeling a lot lighter now that I’ve stepped out and no one is laughing in my face.
Maria winks at Caleb. “Got your momma’s good taste in shoes, baby.”
“I’d give you a hug too,” Nana Wilmot chimes in, “but I’m afraid my old bones can’t handle being picked up and treated like a ragdoll these days. Guess you’ll just have to toss down some ibuprofen after you get over here and bend down to give me a smooch.”
Natalie, Caleb’s sister, clucks her tongue and bats at her grandmother. “Nana, stop badgering everyone for kisses you old hussey.”
Nana blows a raspberry at her. “Cut it out, you know I mean on the cheek.” She turns her attention to me. “Well, what are you waiting for? I’m not getting any younger!”
Natalie gives me a playful look and whispers, “Don’t let her slip you any tongue.”
“Stop picking on your nana,” the guy at Natalie’s side, I’m guessing this must be Danny, chimes in.
Sure enough, he greets me on the way over to give Nana her kiss.
“You must be Marcus. I’ve heard so much about you today.
Pleased to meet you; I’m Dan—or Danny, Dan-o, Dan the Man… Whatever you want to call me, really.”
“Nice to meet you,” I reply, holding out my hand for him to shake.
Instead of shaking it, however, he seems unsure of what to do with himself.
I don’t think he knows how to regard me in what I’m wearing.
Perhaps he’s a little unnerved by my imposing size, I’m not sure.
He fidgets for a moment before clearing his throat, taking my hand, bringing my knuckles to his lips, and then kisses them.
My eyes go wide.
Lauren snorts, breaking out into a laugh, unable to contain herself.
Caleb follows suit right after, soundlessly laughing his ass off.
Danny’s cheeks flush red almost immediately.
I actually feel second-hand embarrassment for him because, hell, I’m not so sure I’d know what to do with me either in this instance.
“That was hella cute, Danny,” I say, making sure my tone is thick with levity. “Pay no mind to the hyenas in the room.”
He grins. “Sorry. I, um…” he trails off, unable to get the words out that he wants to say. Probably nervous about offending me somehow.
“It’s okay,” I reassure him. “I’m totally fine with it. It’s not everyday you come across a big man wearing a dress, I know.”
“You’re slaying it though,” Natalie pipes back up, giving me another once over.
“It’s almost like he had nothing to worry about,” Caleb adds, shooting me a ha, told you so look.
“Kids!” Ned suddenly shouts, scaring the shit out of me. “Get your butts out here! I’m starving, and this turkey looks magnificent!”
“You haven’t even given my potatoes a single compliment, Grandpa,” Cameron quips when he steps into the kitchen, his tone laced with amusement.
Ned gives Cam a side hug when he steps over to the table. “Won’t take me but a minute to, though, once I get a mouthful of ‘em. How ya been, Cam? I heard you went down to visit your papa recently. How’d that go?”
Everyone gets seated while I dive into carving up the turkey.
Plates are being passed all around and I’m breathing a heavy sigh of relief that the main focus of the dinner table discussion isn’t about my outfit of choice; mine, Lauren, and Caleb’s relationship and how "unnatural" it is to be polyamorous; or even about me and Caleb’s past split-up. It’s about the future, it’s about our plans to take back Aaron’s POA and to bring him here.
Maria gapes at Lauren. “So you say Aaron actually responded to Caleb?”
Lauren beams. “Yeah, he, like, smiled a little bit and cried when I was interpreting for Caleb, telling him everything he wanted to say out loud but couldn’t, and then, when Caleb asked him to, he blinked… twice!”
“Oh, well, if that’s not fate hard at work, I’m not sure what else to call it.” Crinkles form around Maria’s eyes as she smiles softly. “I bet Aaron could sense your hopeful energies.”
The corners of Cameron’s lips turn down as he looks down at his plate, moving the food around with his fork. “Yeah, but he didn’t respond to anything else like that the rest of the time I was there. The nurse said it could have been a fluke.”
I watch as Lauren’s hand covers Caleb’s thigh, stroking lightly. “Well, we both know what we saw. Right, babe?”
Caleb nods, but he doesn’t look as convinced as Lauren is about Aaron’s reaction being purposeful.
“Does he speak at all?” Natalie asks.
“Nothing coherent, if he does,” Cameron tells her. “Mostly, he just makes noises. Grunts, groans, moans… that kinda stuff.”
Ned glances up from across the table, eyeing his son whose own eyes are downcast. He clears his throat. “Caleb, it’s not your fault.”
Nana Wilmot lets her fork hit the plate with a clatter. She fixes Caleb with a pointed look. “Who told you that accident was your fault?”
“No one,” I assure her. “He blames himself.”
“And who here has told him that’s complete bullshit?”
“Nana, language,” Natalie hisses, but raises her hand anyway. In fact, nearly everyone around the table raises their hand, aside from the four youngest.