Chapter Twenty-Five
Rip
My eyes fly open when I hear the knocking on the front door. It doesn’t let up and sounds like the kind of knock the police use in movies. Not sure if they knock like that in real life because I’ve never been on the other side of that situation. So, who the hell is at the door? And why?
I pull my arm from under Tandy’s head and drop a kiss on her shoulder before hunting down a pair of sweats I can drag on really fast. The last thing I want is for some idiot to wake Tandy when she needs to rest. I rush down the stairs and yank open the door only to find Tandy’s sister and brother-in-law standing on the other side.
“Where the hell is my sister, mother fucker?!”
The fact it wasn’t her sister that said it doesn’t make much difference when the guy pushes his way through the door and starts looking around like I might be hiding her.
“Keep your voice down.”
Could I have stopped him from coming in? Yeah. Of course. But I understand how important these people are to Tandy, and I would never come between them or try to force her to choose between us. But he still needs to calm the fuck down and keep quiet so he doesn’t wake my girl up.
“Listen, you shit stain, don’t you tell me to keep my voice down after what you did to my sister. Don’t think I didn’t find out about you knocking her up.”
My brows go up and I wonder how he could possibly be so certain when we aren’t even sure if we made a baby not hours ago.
Tandy’s soft-spoken sister, Bonny, who has laid her hand on her husband’s arm to try to calm him down speaks up, “We stopped by Tandy’s apartment to make sure she was alright. She missed family night, and she usually never misses it. We thought maybe she might not be feeling well.”
The guy finishes for her and clears things up for me, “But the girl who opened the door explained that she was crying and upset because her boyfriend knocked her the fuck up!”
Fucking Vanessa.
“I understand. You talked to Vanessa who blew something way out of proportion and didn’t understand a fucking thing she is talking about.”
“So where is she?”
“I know you worry about her, and I’m glad you do, but you don’t have to be concerned about your sister any longer.”
“What the fuck does that mean? She’s my sister!”
“And she’s going to be my wife.”
A gasp has all our heads turning to the end of the stairs where Tandy is standing dressed in those damned leggings and one of my shirts. I go to her and wrap her in my arms.
“He woke you up.”
I say the words as fact since he is the only one being fucking loud. It had to be him that woke her and I am not fucking happy about it.
“I…recognized the voices and couldn’t find you.”
She stares up at me with questions in her eyes.
“Your sister and brother-in-law talked to Vanessa.”
Understanding hits her as she turns her head to look at them.
“Oh, no. I wanted to explain. To tell you all it was all a rumor.”
“For now.”
This has her eyes coming back to me. “You…want to marry me?”
“Baby, I want to spend the rest of our lives together. And have the baby everybody thinks we are already having. Of course, I want you to have my last name and be mine completely and in every way you can be. I’d tattoo you’re fucking name on my co…,”
I quickly change tracks when I remember her family is standing close by, “chest if you wanted me to.”
A blush hits her cheeks as she realizes what I was going to say before I changed my wording.
“I want to marry you too.”
I turn to the overprotective brother, “How do you feel about being a best man?”
We’ll be married tonight if he says yes and Tandy is okay with it.
“No,”
I turn my attention back to Tandy, “he’s got to walk me down the aisle.”
I swear, the guy starts blinking back tears. “You want me to give you away?”
Tandy nods. “You’ve been the only male influence in my life for as long as I can remember. Of course I want you to be the one to walk me down the aisle, Gray.”
He turns to look at me. “You’ll take care of her?”
“With every beat of my heart. If I ever hurt her, I’ll give you the gun to shoot me with.”
Her sister rushes to offer her hugs before turning to me and giving me one too.
“Come have dinner with us, this Sunday. You can meet all her cousins and nieces and nephews and aunts and our mom.”
I give her a big smile. “I would love that.”
“Now, let’s leave them alone, sweetie, so they can get back to resting.”
She slyly gives Tandy a wink before ushering her husband out the door.
“I like your sister.”
She gives me a happy smile. “Hell, I like your brother-in-law for that matter.”
I especially like how he's cared for and protected my girl for me until I could do the job myself. I take her mouth with my own before sweeping her up in my arms.
“But I’m glad they’re gone. I have things to show you, things to listen to when you tell me, and a lot more of what we did before we both passed the hell out on one another. After I feed you, of course.”
She giggles, “That sounds…perfect! I love when we…talk together.”
Me too, baby. Me too!