8. Chapter 8
Beck
W e’re finishing up breakfast when Kassie starts losing her damn mind, which can only mean one thing. My parents are here. Eli looks up from his phone. He’s been texting Holden all morning and smiling and gushing about how cool and nice he is. It’s adorable and hilarious, and I love it.
“Mom and Dad are here, beautiful,” I call out.
“Already on it,” he yells back from the living room.
Eli blinks at me, clearly nervous. “You ready?” I ask.
He nods. “I think so. You’re sure they’ll—”
“Where is my newest grandkid, Roman?” Mom asks.
Dad laughs. “She’s losing her mind. She woke me up at 5:00 a.m. Can you imagine?”
Eli’s eyes widen. “Whoa. ”
I wink at him. “Told you.”
“Oh my goodness! Hi!” Mom comes barreling into the room. Eli turns in his chair. Mom makes it almost to him and stops abruptly. “Oh. Not very demure of me.”
I roll my eyes. “You’ve been around Holden too long.”
She laughs, but doesn’t take her eyes off Eli. Roman walks back into the room with Dad right beside him, at a much more acceptable pace, I might add. “Hi. I’m Lydia. I’m your grandma.”
Eli’s eyes widen even further, his jaw dropping open. “Hi. I’m Eli.”
She grins. “Yes, doll. I’m so happy to meet you finally.”
Eli laughs a little, relaxing. “I’ve only been here for two days.”
Mom tuts, turning a disapproving look on me. “Two days too many.”
“Mom, let’s not freak him out.”
Eli shakes his head. “No. She’s okay.”
“See. I’m fine. I’m just excited, Beck.”
Well, at least she didn’t call me Beckett. I swear Holden has corrupted even my parents. It’s like they forgot what they named me.
Dad walks into the room and stands behind the chair across from Eli. “ Mind if I sit?”
Eli turns his attention to my dad, looking him up and down. I’d bet he sees the same thing Roman did all those years ago. A giant of a man, but just like my brave man, he nods. “Yeah.”
Dad grins and sits down. “I’m Daniel. My friends call me Danny, though. My wife can be a bit… overzealous. We’re thrilled to have you in the family, but Danny and Lydia are just fine. Don’t let her peer pressure you into calling us something you’re not comfortable with.”
Eli giggles. “Okay, sir.”
Oof. Dad cringes. “Okay. Not sir. Literally anything but that. Makes me feel old. As you can see, I’m still spritely.”
And despite the gray peppering his beard and the hair around his temples, he is. Eli laughs. “Okay, Danny.” There’s a slight hesitation and then, “But if I were to call you something other than Danny and Lydia…”
Mom sits down between them, almost falling over herself. “Well, Holden and Julian’s babies call us Gigi and Papaw. But you can call us whatever you’re comfortable with.”
“Okay,” Eli says with a nod.
Roman comes to stand beside me, and I wrap my arm around his waist, pulling him into me. “Do you guys want to go to the living room? I think we’ll be more comfortable in there. ”
Eli’s phone buzzes and he picks it up quickly, his cheeks flushing as a huge smile lights up his face. It melts away in seconds, and he sets it down, his once-pink face suddenly devoid of color. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “That was so rude.”
Mom’s face falls. “Not at all, doll. Who are you texting? Someone special?”
Eli shakes his head, but then kind of nods. Mom laughs softly. “It’s Holden,” Eli whispers.
Mom pats his hand. “Someone special indeed, then. That Holden is something else, huh?”
Eli looks up at her and takes stock of her calm and kind facial expression.
Sometimes I think Mom should quit her job and work with Roman full-time instead of just sometimes.
She’s always been able to calm scared kids.
Sure, some of it is just the job, but part of it is that she radiates kindness.
It oozes from her pores and makes everyone around her feel safe and comfortable.
When she gives you her undivided attention, it makes you feel like you’re on top of the world.
Like nothing can hurt you. Like she’ll take care of everything.
Eli gives her a little grin. “Yeah, he’s going to take me shopping soon. ”
Mom’s eyes light up. “Oh, I’m sure that will be fun.
I love shopping with Holden. It’s better than these two,” she says, gesturing toward me and Roman.
And you know what? With the way he laughs when she does?
I’ll take it. I can’t even be upset about it.
Not that I would be. I hate shopping, unless it’s for other people.
I can spend money all day long on the kids at the center, or for Wren and Warren.
Hell, even Roman. Though, he prefers homemade gifts. Well, he prefers my sketches.
I’ll definitely be sending my credit card with Holden when he takes Eli.
Because if there’s anyone who can convince him to get stuff to decorate his room, it’ll be Holden.
I have a feeling that I’ll get a death glare for even implying that I’m paying for their shopping trip. But I’m still going to try.
“To the living room, then,” Dad says, standing up from the chair.
When everyone’s in the living room and Roman is settled in my lap, my soul feels at peace. The only thing that could possibly make it better would be if Hold and Julian were here with the kids. I can’t wait for them to meet Eli. Wren is going to be so excited.
I lose myself in the comfort of Roman’s weight in my lap and close my eyes, listening to Mom, Dad, and Eli talk back and forth. Every once in a while, she says something that has him giggling. I love it. I love everything about it. I sigh. “I can’t wait to marry you, beautiful. ”
Roman lets out a shaky exhalation. “I can’t wait either, baby. I’m so happy, it feels unreal.”
I let my fingers dance up his spine as he melts further into me.
He got over his dislike of cuddling in front of my parents early on.
He said that he went too long without me to worry about what anyone thinks, especially people who love him so unconditionally.
It felt like a hallelujah moment for me when he said it.
I wanted to jump for joy and throw my fist in the air.
“Do I get to be in the wedding?”
I open my eyes to find Eli looking at us with a hopeful expression on his face. “You want to?”
He nods. “Yeah, is there anything for me to do? Lydia said Holden will be standing for Roman and Julian for you, but I’d like to be in it too.
If that’s okay. I know you don’t know me well yet.
I’d understand if you didn’t want me in it.
” His face falls, taking all the hope with it.
“Actually, no. I’m so sorry. That was a stupid question for me to ask. Of course you don’t want me in your—”
“Eli.” He stops talking and sucks in a quick breath. “We’d love to have you in the wedding.”
Roman nods against me. “We really would.”
Eli takes another breath. “Okay, yeah. Okay. So, uh, what would I do?”
I shrug. “Whatever you’d like. Wren is our flower girl, and Warren is supposed to be the ring bearer, but we’ll have to see how that works out. You can stand with one of us if you want.”
He thinks that over for a second. “Would it… um, would it be rude for me to stand with Roman? He saved me…”
I can’t help but smile. “No. It wouldn’t be rude to stand with Roman. You can do whatever you’d like.”
He hesitates, nibbling on his bottom lip. “You won’t be sad or mad at me?”
“Nope. I’ll just be happy to have you there in any way.”
He seems to think about that for a second, studying my face. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
Hallelujah. “I really do.”
He nods, almost to himself. “Okay. Yeah. I think I’d like to stand with Roman, then.”
Roman lets out a little breath against my neck, his body shuddering. I smile, holding my hand firmly against his lower back. My sweet man. “Sounds perfect. We need to get you a matching tux.”
Roman chuckles. “Let Hold do it. He picked ours out. I couldn’t even tell you anything about them apart from the fact that they look good.”
Fuck yeah, they do. Especially on him. All form-fitting and fucking perfect on his body and—nope.
That’s enough of that. I clear my throat.
“Yeah. I’ll let Hold take care of that. He’ll love it.
You should have seen how mean he was to us when he was picking them out for us.
Acting like we had no idea how to dress ourselves.
” I finish my statement with an eye roll to let him know I’m being silly.
Eli grins. “Okay. I’ll text him and tell him I need help.”
He turns back to Mom with a bright smile that she gives him right back.
As soon as we climb into bed, Roman worms his way into my arms, not dissimilar to the way Kassie does when we aren’t giving her enough attention. We sent her to sleep with Eli tonight, hoping that she would help him sleep easier and feel more safe. Time will tell if it works.
Roman settles his entire body on top of mine, tucking his face into the crook of my neck. I love the feel of his skin against mine. I love everything about him, truthfully. His big heart, his ability to read people and their needs, how solid and steady he is. “I love you,” I whisper.
He hums, rising from his spot against my throat, and looks down at me. “I love you. ”
He drops his lips to mine, letting out a little moan the moment they connect.
In seconds, I’m lost. Lost in the feel of his body, in the hitch of his breath, the slightly minty taste of his tongue.
He tangles his fingers in my hair, deepening our kiss.
Dragging his cock along my hip, he lets out a little shuddering breath and shivers.
“Feel good, beautiful?” I whisper against his lips when he pulls back to catch his breath.
He whines, moving his hips again. “Uh-huh. It’d feel better inside of you, though.”