LAILAH
THREE
"Can we just talk about how crazy it is that we are showing up and starting the same day over again," Cami announced from where she was sprawled out on the plane. "Like, it will be dinner time back home but it will be late morning of the same day."
"Good thing we've been napping the whole flight," I chuckled from where I was curled up between Micah and Brayden.
Cami gave me a disapproving look. "Yeah, everyone but you, missy."
"What can I say, I got sucked into a good series and I just started book two," I answered with a shrug. The boys knew I didn't sleep unless I had to, knowing what awaited me when I did.
Jay caught my eye and motioned for me to join him where he was, tablet in hand. I extracted myself out of the tangle of limbs I was in and slid into the seat next to him.
"What's up?" I asked, peering over at the tablet.
"I thought it was time to show you the house we picked out," Jay explained, offering me the tablet.
My jaw dropped when I saw the house, then he flicked a finger across the screen to show the next image. "Oh my god, it's a lake house!"
Jay chuckled as he continued to scroll through the pictures.
It was made to look like a log cabin but massive and modern, giving it a much more expensive look.
It had a beautiful stone driveway, with a large garage for at least four cars.
Six bedrooms and five baths, giving everyone plenty of space and won’t feel too crammed.
The inside was just as stunning as the outside, and oddly enough it reminded me of the house we stayed at in Austria, which I'd loved.
This one was obviously bigger with a gourmet kitchen, large dining room, and sprawling living room with a massive fireplace.
"Is that a loft with a pool table and bar set up?" I asked, zooming in on the picture. "Holy shit, look at the windows on that side of the house facing the lake. Whoa, it has a movie room too?!"
"So does that mean you like it?" Hudson asked from his seat across from us.
"Who wouldn't love a house like that? I can't believe it's even in the same town I grew up in.
All those lakes are private and the homes are crazy expensive, so I forget they're even there," I answered.
"I'm still in awe that you guys could rent something like that for the summer.
" Micah and Brayden were now awake and even Parker was up from his section of the couch, watching me intently. "What?"
Jay reached out and took my chin in his hand, pulling me back to look at him. "Beautiful, we didn't rent it. We bought it."
"Shut the fuck up!" I gasped. "You did not just buy a house in Wisconsin to spend the summer in!"
"No, we bought the house because that is where your family lives and you'll want to come back and forth to see them.
You're a married woman now, Angel, and we need our own space, since there are six of us all together," Brayden clarified.
"This isn't going to be the last time we’re here and we all agreed that buying a home was the best option… you're not mad are you?"
Cami burst out in laughter, rolling off the couch. "Lover boy, it's way too late to be asking that question. You done already bought the house."
"Knock it off, pint-size ankle biter, we can just turn around and sell it if she doesn't like it," Micah grumbled, tossing a pillow at Cami.
"That wasn't my point, flame-boy," Cami shot back, using the pillow to prop herself up against the couch. "What I meant is, that if you were worried she would be mad, you should have asked first then bought the house together."
"She does make a valid point," Hudson cut in. "How do you feel about us buying a house, Sunshine?"
His question brought all the attention to me once again. "Ah, well…the house is stunning and I like it very much."
"But…" Parker ventured.
"Why did you feel the need to do this without talking to me about it?
I wouldn't have said no—at least I don't think I would. I just would have preferred to be included in the discussion, this was a big decision and if we’re a family, like you all keep saying we are, then we need to make these choices together," I explained meeting each of their gazes, so they knew I wasn't mad, just a little thrown off.
"That is a fair request," Hudson agreed. "In the future, we will do as you've requested, but just know that we bought this house completely with you in mind and if you don't want it, then it defeats the point."
I let out a dramatic sigh. "No, we can keep the house."
Brayden and Micah high-fived, Parker grinned at me, and both Hudson and Jay looked pleased with my choice. Cami jumped to her feet and snatched the tablet from my hands.
"Let's take a gander at this new house of yours, shall we. I have to pick out my bedroom before you guys take all the good ones," Cami declared as she flipped through the images. "Did you guys get it furnished or do you need to buy everything when you get there?"
That thought hadn't even crossed my mind until she said it.
"No, we got it furnished, it was a summer home that the previous owner hardly used, so everything is practically brand new," Micah answered. "That being said, I'm totally redoing my bedroom. The wilderness theme is not gonna stay."
I sat there, leaning my head against Jay's shoulder, lost in thought about the fact that the guys bought a house.
Not just that, but it was my house too, for all of us to live in for as long as we wanted.
It had taken me months to wrap my head around dating them all, now we were investing in our future.
I didn't quite know what to do with that.
It did surprise me that they could do all this without me knowing, and Parker was well aware of it, so that meant he'd been involved as well.
I still don't understand what happened between all of them in France, but whatever it was seemed to be working itself out slowly but surely.
"Did you see the lake has a private beach for us to use?" Brayden asked, drawing me out of my thoughts.
Flashing him a smile, I nodded. "That will make the summer even more amazing, and I saw a dock for a boat too. That lake isn't very big, but it would be fun to get a kayak or two to paddle around in."
"I have a feeling we’ll come up with lots of ways to make that house just what we need it to be," Brayden assured me. "It's only twenty minutes away from your parents place, so it's close but not too close."
"You guys really tried to think of everything, didn't you?"
Brayden shrugged. "We knew it was a risky move to make, so we tried to think of everything you would want to incorporate. Two cars got delivered yesterday, so we have transportation to use as well."
"Oh, then I’ll give my car to Kyle for when he's ready to drive, just like I got it from Dylan," I shared, warming at that thought.
My family might own the only diner in the town, and be successful leaving us well enough off, but buying a car was a big expense for most people.
Besides, it was always better to get a beater car that didn't matter as much if you crashed it.
Although Kyle was a freshman in high school, he was only thirteen, having advanced a grade when he was younger.
His teachers wanted to do it again with how smart he is, but my mother refused.
Kyle might be book smart, but it wasn't fair to put him in a setting with much older kids when he just wasn't there yet. He ended up getting a scholarship to a prestigious private high school, so that was making a world of difference according to mom’s weekly emails.
"I'm excited to meet this savant little brother of yours," Hudson interjected. "I have a feeling he will be a lot like my sister, Grace."
"Hope you brought your A-game for chess, it's his favorite thing to do with every smart person he meets. Says it tells him all about the person with no words needed," I laughed, knowing how terribly I fail at that game.
"Is he into computers?" Parker asked.
The thing I loved about Parker is that he was an undercover nerd.
You never would guess that he was at the top of our school for his computer programming and technology skills.
I guess it comes from having a father who owns the largest tech company in the world, but Parker was truly gifted.
One thing we do to spend time together is play video games of all kinds.
I suck at them, but that wasn't the point.
"He does love computer games but since we have to buy all that stuff with our own money, he doesn't have many," I answered.
"Do we get to meet Dylan too?" Brayden inquired.
I knew how much family meant to him and being able to introduce himself to my big brother was something he really wanted.
He'd almost called my dad multiple times to tell him we were together and practically married, but I reasoned with him that it was something to do in person, like we had with his family over Christmas.
"Mom did say that he had a summer internship with a law office in Madison, but he was going to take some time off to spend with all of us," I shared.
"This is your captain speaking, we are preparing for our final descent into the airport," the pilot announced over the speaker.
We all started to gather our things that we'd taken out or used during the long flight, and settled into the chairs, buckling in.
"So, the plan is that my parents are picking us all up at the airport and we'll head back to my house. Knowing my mother, she's probably made a huge feast for us to eat once we get there," I said as I peered out the window, looking over the small private airport that we were flying into.
"That will be good, you've only had your smoothie and half a scone the whole trip," Jay scolded.
"Yeah, I'm fucking hungry too," Parker admitted, his stomach growling its agreement.
Cami scoffed at Parker, tossing the Tupperware that had held the scones. "You ate all the damn food before some of us could even have one, you bottomless pit. This spread better be big, because my stomach might be eating itself."
"You act like there wasn't any food on this flight, all you had to do was ask for something and they would have given it to you," Micah snapped.
"Did my beloved Lala make what they have to offer? No, then shut your trap," Cami shot back, crossing her arms in a huff.
I squeezed Jay's hand, drawing him away from the argument happening around us. "It's always been hard for me to eat on travel days. I just get so excited." Jay clearly didn't accept that as a good enough answer, if his frown was anything to go by.
"So, what do your parents know about us?" Micah asked, leaning forward in his seat, watching me intently.
"They know you're all coming, that we are extremely close, and I'm dating Brayden," I answered, getting a look of disapproval from most of them.
"Let me be clear— in no way am I ashamed of our relationship.
I'd told my mom about Brayden before things progressed as quickly as they have with the rest of you.
I felt like it would be easier to explain with all of us together, so we could answer their questions. "
This seemed to settle them—for now.
"I'm not going to act any differently around you just because you haven't told them," Micah warned.
I knew he was going to have the hardest time dealing with me wanting to ease my parents into this.
He'd lost so many people in his life already and the one blood relative he still had any contact with hated him.
I had zero love for her myself after our brief meeting at the Christmas party Brayden's parents hosted.
My hope was that Dylan might be able to help us find a way to get his aunt out of his life, and cut off from his money that she was 'guarding' until he was twenty-one.
His fear was that she would drain the money out of the trust, or try to take the company before his birthday in September.
"Never expected you to, Micah," I reassured him. "This wasn't some plan to keep all this hidden, it's just hard when they haven't met you to understand how amazing you all are, regardless of our Bond."
With a thump and roar of the engines, we landed, cutting off our conversation as the plane taxied into our designated spot for de-boarding.
This was the best part about a private plane, we could land in the smaller airports, making it a much shorter trip for my parents.
Thirty minutes versus an hour was a big deal, and an even bigger bonus…
no waiting for baggage to arrive. The flight attendant opened the door and latched on the stairs, signaling we could now get off the damn plane.
I didn't bother to grab my suitcase, knowing I could come back on and grab it, as I dashed out of the plane and into the sunlight finding my parents and Kyle waving when they saw me.
Running down the steps, I threw myself into my dad's arms and my mom quickly got in on the hug, squishing me in-between them.
Finally, they let me go and Mom took me by the shoulders, looking me over.
I'd made sure to wear a light sweater and leggings, so they didn't see the scars right away.
"Oh Ladybug, how I've missed you," Mom sobbed, as big fat tears rolled down her cheek. "I don't think I like you living so far away."
"Bonnie, we talked about this," Dad warned, putting an arm around Mom's shoulders. "You promised not to make our little girl feel bad for getting an education."
"I know, I know, but look how much she's grown up and we missed it," Mom pointed out, lifting her hands to cup my face. "Our Ladybug's all grown up."
The sound of someone clearing their throat drew our attention to where Kyle was waiting. "Can I say hello to her now?"
I laughed at that and pulled out of Mom's arms to hug my, not so little, brother.
Kyle had gone through a growth spurt, and I now had to look up to meet his gaze.
Granted, I was only five foot three, but still when I'd last seen him he was a bit shorter than me.
It wasn't just his height that had changed either, he was buff and his hair was longer, letting the curl show.
Hockey season had just finished so that could account for the new buff bod, but it still caught me off guard, having never gone this long without seeing him or my parents.
"What is Mom feeding you that you turned into a giant?" I teased, punching him gently on the shoulder.
Kyle just shrugged and blushed at my words. "Whatever."
Deciding to free him from more embarrassment, I turned to see the guys and Cami were off the plane giving us some space. "Come on over guys, I want to introduce you!"