Chapter 22
Bianca
“Merry Christmas!” Wayne’s mom cried when she opened the door.
We hadn’t wanted to do our first family meeting on a holiday, but after Wayne was gone for so long, it had just worked out this way. And neither of us had any desire to spend the holiday apart, so here I was, meeting his mother and sisters for the first time on Christmas Eve.
And I didn’t mind a bit. These women were going to be my family, too. I couldn’t wait to get to know them.
“Come in, come in.” Wayne’s mother stood aside, then leaned over and grabbed some of the bags in my hands. “My goodness.”
“Thank you, Ms. Parsons,” I said softly.
“Oh, no, call me Sharon,” she said. “Please, I insist.”
“Okay.” I tried not to smile. “Sharon.”
“Move, Mom, these bags are heavy.”
I jumped out of the way as Wayne came through carrying a bunch of bags, probably about three times what I had.
“Don’t sass me,” Sharon said good-naturedly, but she moved quickly out of the way as well. “Get in there and cook, my boy.”
He snorted. “I’ve been cooking for days.”
“Yeah, but that wasn’t for us,” she chirped as we followed him down the hallway and into a large, open-air kitchen with a big table on one side, and the prep area on the other. “I’ve done a lot of the prep work already, so we don’t have all that much to do today.”
Two little kids squealed and ran out of a doorway, plowing straight into Wayne’s legs as he put all the bags down on the table. He pretended to stumble and fall on the floor while they climbed all over him. “Will, Walker, ten-hut!” he finally yelled.
The little boy and girl jumped up and stood still beside him. “Yes, sir!” they yelled in their little voices.
“I want you to meet my mate,” he said as he sat up. “Will, Walker, this is Bianca.”
Crouching in front of them, I smiled. “I’ve heard such good things about you.”
Will regarded me suspiciously, but Walker smiled, batting her big eyelashes. “Hello, Banca.”
I chuckled and took her hand. “Please, call me Bee.”
“Okay!” Walker exclaimed, then slapped her brother. “You’re it!”
Wayne chuckled. “Well, you got their approval.”
We both stood and I realized two women had walked into the kitchen.
They both looked just like Wayne, but soft enough that they were beautiful and not masculine at all.
They both had his jet-black hair, which their mother didn’t have.
Her hair was chestnut brown. I wondered if their father’d had black hair.
“Nice to meet you,” I said in a soft voice.
Wayne moved to stand between them. He put his arm around the sister with a short, close-cropped haircut. “This is Virginia.” He put his other arm around the sister with long hair, curled at the end. “And this is Will and Walker’s mother, Wendy.”
“Lots of Ws in this house,” I joked.
Wendy grinned. “I did it on purpose.”
Smiling back at her, I nodded. “I’m Bianca and my sister is Briana. It’s great until you start yelling at them by their sibling’s name.”
Everyone laughed, and what little bit of discomfort had been hanging on in the room dissipated.
“I can help cook,” I said. “Put me to work.”
Wayne grimaced. “Maybe you could set the table and make drinks?”
I rolled my eyes. “The great chef doesn’t trust me in the kitchen.”
Virginia snorted. “I’m every bit as good a cook as he is, but it’s not my passion so I don’t get to help either. Only Mom and Wayne are allowed to do the important stuff.” She shrugged. “That’s okay. It’s another meal I don’t have to prepare. I’m not arguing.”
She held out her hand. “Come on, we’ll play bartender.”
We worked on the drinks while Virginia and Wendy told me stories about the trouble Wayne got into as a kid.
Wendy even brought out photo albums, and after a while, Sharon joined us and the kids gathered around, salivating over the gifts under the tree.
From what we’d brought, they knew their Uncle Wayne was going to spoil them rotten.
Soon enough, Wayne called us in to eat a delectable rack of lamb, potatoes grand mere, asparagus in some sort of butter sauce, and roasted Brussels sprouts.
There was a bunch of other stuff, too, like a cheese ball and crackers, fresh vegetables and dips, and little bites of chicken on toothpicks, which the kids nearly finished off.
And every bite was a bit of heaven. Conversation slowed as we all stuffed ourselves. I damn near gorged myself. If I’d been wearing a belt, I would’ve unbuckled it.
As soon as we finished, the kids pulled us into the den to open presents. To my shock, there were several for me under there.
The kids had made me some sort of vase in an art class they’d been taking. It was painted haphazardly, and the top was crooked. “I love it,” I whispered honestly. “It’s getting a place of honor at my apartment.”
His mother had an envelope for me. “I hope that in years to come, this will be a much more personalized gift, but I must admit, I’ve been watching your videos.”
My lips parted slightly as I tried to hide my shock. “You have?”
She nodded. “I’ve learned a thing or two, too! You’d think after all the years I’ve been doing my own skincare and makeup that I’d know it all, but not by a longshot.”
I opened the envelope to find a sweet card.
She’d written a message inside welcoming me to the family.
And there was a gift certificate to a spa.
Sharon touched my arm. “That’s for all four of us to go have some bonding time, and they have this chemical peel that I thought you maybe could film and review the results on your channel.
It’s supposed to be a peel all the Hollywood celebrities are getting. ”
It was the most thoughtful gift. I sniffed back tears and threw my arms around Wayne’s mother. “This is so sweet,” I whispered. “Thank you.”
His sisters had gifts for me. “We watched your videos too,” Wendy said. “And then we went shopping. Wayne peeked and got your size. We thought these would look great on you.”
They’d each gotten me a top, and they were right. I looked amazing in both colors, a soft teal and a bold blue. “Thank you so much,” I whispered, then gave both of them big hugs.
I’d gotten them gifts as well, but they were generic.
Wayne had found out their favorite scents from their husbands, who both had to work tonight.
They were firefighters and had to work Christmas Eve to get Christmas Day off.
So, I’d gotten them gift baskets with some of my favorite skincare products and a few scented lotions and bath oils.
After all the gifts were opened, the family went out to shift together. The kids weren’t old enough to shift, so I stayed back, and we chased each other around the yard while the other adults were flying.
Wendy gave me a big hug before she took off. “This is so nice,” she said. “Normally, I’d have to wait back until they’re older.” She pressed a kiss to my cheek then took off.
After the shift, we went our separate ways. On the way home, I sighed, and Wayne pestered me until I told him what had made me sigh. “Sometimes I’m sad that I’m not special,” I said. “It’s silly, and it’s a fleeting thought, but I wish I could shift with you guys.”
Wayne pulled the truck to the side of the road, hidden deep in the trees of his family’s land, and scooted across the bench seat to me. “Everything is special about you,” he whispered. “You’re more than special. You’re everything.”
He pressed his lips to mine, and I felt his truth down to the tips of my toes. For him, I was the most special person in the world. Damn, that felt good.
And I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that I wanted him to bite me. “I don’t want to wait anymore,” I whispered.
He knew what I meant. Desire glinted in Wayne’s eyes and he grinned. “Soon. When the time is right.”
I was impatient, but I’d wait. I wanted it to be as perfect as he did.
When we got home, I helped carry leftovers and presents in. “What did you think of dinner?” he asked.
Beaming at him, I unloaded the bags on the kitchen table. “It was lovely,” I whispered. “They really tried to make me feel a part of the family.”
He nodded. “They recognize how special you are, too. And not just because you’re everything to me.”
I chuckled. “Okay, well, hopefully they think that of me when they get to know me a bit better.”
After giving Wayne a lingering kiss, I headed upstairs. “I’m going to shower. See you in bed in a few?”
“Of course,” he whispered.
After a long shower, I stepped into the bedroom in my robe to find Wayne in the middle of the room on one knee with a small black box in his hand.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
“I was going to wait. Plan some big thing, maybe even something you could record for your channel. But we can still do that if you’d like. I couldn’t wait another moment to ask you. Not after how beautifully you handled meeting my family. How charming you were. How perfect.”
Tears sprang to my eyes as he opened the box. “I thought the mating bond was bigger than marriage?”
As I walked forward, Wayne took the ring out of the box—the huge ring—and smiled. “Who says we can’t have it all?”
I fell into his arms, not even giving him a chance to put the ring on me.
And I knew I had it all.