LAILAH #2
“Oh, isn’t she lovely,” Parker’s mom said, cupping the sides of my face and giving me Parker’s signature grin.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Jones,” I said, trying not to show my surprise at how touchy-feely they were.
“Oh Lord, please call me Dolly, Mrs. Jones sounds so old,” Dolly tittered, waving a hand at me.
Before I could say anything, Parker’s dad swept me up in a bone-crushing hug, picking me up off my feet.
“We are so happy to finally meet you, Lailah,” he said and set me down, resting his hands on my shoulders.
“Please call me Tobias or Pop, whatever you're more comfortable with. We’re family, after all.”
I laughed, unable to hold it back with the amount of happy energy that I was surrounded by. I could now see why Parker was the way he was and could only imagine what it must be like at family gatherings.
“When you said you had something important to take care of, you could have just said you wanted to spend the holidays with Lailah,” Dolly said, giving Parker a wink. “We would never get in the way of your budding family, or someone special in your life.”
I blushed furiously at how casually they were talking about how I was going to be with more than just her son. Apparently, they were very open-minded people; I just wasn’t sure that the others would be as understanding.
“Do you mind if I steal her?” Hudson said, coming up behind me.
“Of course not, son. As much as we would like to hog her attention, she has more than one family to meet,” Tobias said in his booming voice.
If I could crawl under a rock, I would. The whole room heard what he said. Praying that not everyone here understood English, I slipped my arm around Hudson’s, and he led me away.
“Don’t worry, none of our families will judge you. To be honest, they’re thrilled to be the parents of the boys who matched with Synergy,” Hudson said encouragingly.
I looked up and gave him a small smile. “Thanks. I just was caught off guard. I totally wasn’t expecting this tonight.”
“With everything going on, I think it slipped all our minds. I was supposed to be with my mother first, so it didn’t even dawn on me that Father would be here,” Hudson said as we approached a stoic-looking gentleman.
His father was tall and lean, much like Hudson.
His hair was dark silver with white sprinkled through and was impeccably styled.
His beard was whiter, trimmed close and well maintained.
Hudson had the same piercing blue eyes that were full of intelligence.
This man was a professional through and through, everything perfectly in order.
“Father, allow me to introduce Lailah Mackenzie, the sixth member to our team,” Hudson said once we reached his father.
“Pleasure to meet you, Lailah. I’m Chadwick Lacy,” he greeted, holding out his hand to me.
A little thrown off by the drastic difference between the two families, I left him holding his hand out for a few seconds. Quickly, I gripped his hand and gave it a simple shake before he released it, and he tucked it away in his pocket.
“Hudson tells me you're from America. It must be quite the change to be here in Europe,” Chadwick said, taking a sip of his drink.
Suddenly nervous, I cleared my throat before answering. “Yes, it was quite a big difference, but thankfully, I have Hudson and the others to help me out.”
“I’m glad to hear that my son has been someone you can lean on.
He tends to get so lost in his studies that he forgets there are other things in the world.
My hope is that with you now around, he will get to experience more of what life has to offer,” Chadwick said, surprising me by giving me a wink and a slight upturn of his mouth.
Smiling back at him, I nodded my head. His father was more of a surprise than I thought he would be. “I’ve already made him go to his first college party—there may even have been some dancing involved.”
“My, my, you work quickly. Well, I won’t keep you; I’m sure there are a few more people who would like to meet you. Until we chat again,” Chadwick said with a slight bow of his head before he wandered off into the crowd.
Hudson let out a low whistle. “Wow, he must have really liked you. I’ve never seen him talk that much to a person he’s just met before.”
I gaped at Hudson. “That was a lot of talking? He could give Jay a run for his money.”
We both laughed, and we headed back to where the guys were talking with Brayden’s parents.
I was a little nervous to see Adriana again, unsure of how she would react to seeing me.
Brayden seemed to think that it would be fine, that she was just having a bad day when she threw me out.
And if what we believed was true, then most of her mental illness was caused by the demon.
“Lailah! Oh, it’s so good to see you again,” Adriana said, a genuine smile on her face as she reached out to grasp my hand. “I am so sorry about how I acted before; from what Oliver tells me, I was just awful to you.”
I faltered a little. Did she not remember what she said or did? Should I bring it up or just leave it alone?
“No hard feelings, I would be upset too if something ever happened to my family. Moms can’t help but be protective,” I said, choosing to follow her lead.
“I do hope all of you will be at the house for Christmas! It would be so lovely to have all six of you,” Adriana pleaded, clutching my hands in hers.
I looked around at the boys to see what they thought, and they just nodded in agreement. “Looks like we’re doing Christmas together then.”
“Hey, Dad, is Ms. Tabitha around? I have something I wanted to ask her,” Brayden said, reminding me that I had all but forgotten why we were here.
“She was joining us later once she got the little ones down for the night. Martin is a good man, but he’s too easily persuaded to let them stay up too late,” Oliver explained.
I glanced over at Brayden, and through our look, we both seemed a little uneasy at the fact she wasn’t already here.
“Jalen,” a man barked, startling Adriana and me, causing us both to jump.
I turned to see an older Asian man wearing a black and white traditional Japanese yukata. His face was stern with dark-brown eyes holding no warmth. His slate-gray hair was brushed straight back, neatly in order.
“What are you doing here? You are supposed to be with your mother. That is the only reason that you had the time off,” he snapped, his accent heavy.
Jay’s father was almost half his height, but that in no way made this man any less intimidating.
The dominant air that was coming off him in waves set me on edge.
I didn’t appreciate how he was treating Jay either, and the only reason I wasn’t saying anything was the slight shake of the head he gave me.
When Jay responded, he did so in Japanese, and whatever he said about made his father turn purple.
His father, in a voice low enough not to cause a scene, ripped into Jay, his knuckles white as he gripped his polished wooden cane.
Jay just stood there and took the tongue-lashing with a stoic face, but I could tell he had tuned out by how vacant his eyes were.
Once his father had said his piece, he gave a huff and rounded on me.
“I know who and what you are,” he snarled. “Let’s hope that you are more worthy of the gift bestowed upon you than these other useless so-called Knights.”
Astounded at his words, I just stood there, unable to think of a thing to say in our defense.
“Let it also be known that I forbid my son to ever bond with you. Just because you are blessed by the angels does not make you worthy of my son. His wife will be chosen for him as was mine, to bestow honor on our family,” Jay’s father said with a smack of his cane on the wood floor.
Having nothing more to say, the man stormed out of the room.
Getting over my shock, I walked over to Jay and grabbed his hand in both of mine, letting my thumb gently caress the back of his hand.
I leaned my head on his arm and didn’t say a word to him, just let him feel my support.
Nothing his father said changed my view of Jay.
He had more than proven to me that he was nothing like his father.
“I’m sorry he said those things to you,” Jay said in a low voice for only me to hear. “He has never thought the Elementi Warriors were any match against his military.”
“Don’t worry about me, I don’t care what he thinks. Your opinion and the other four’s matter to me, not some shortsighted man,” I said, letting my irritation leak through.
I looked up when I felt his body shake slightly, worried I had upset him with my words.
What I wasn’t expecting to see was the grin on his face and the humor in his eyes.
“I think you are one of the first people to ever call my father short before. Although, I would advise you not to do that to his face.”
My spirits lifted knowing that I was able to put that smile on his face. I chuckled, leaning into him further as we looked out over the party. It had been far more interesting that I’d thought, not knowing anyone but the boys and Brayden’s parents.
“Who the fuck let you into this party,” Micah bellowed.
Looks like it’s about to get even better.