Chapter 25 #5
Now, Lily gives me the calm down look. “King.” She then looks at her daughter again. “What happened to the dress we bought? I thought you loved it.”
“I do,” Meredith says, “but I think I love this one more. Chloe said she’d swap with me for tomorrow if I want.”
The front door slams and I hear Cade come in from work. I also hear the voice of his best mate as they make their way towards the kitchen.
“I like it,” Travis says to his sister on his way out of the kitchen.
Meredith beams at him. “Me too. I think it’s the one.”
“It’s not the one,” I say with more force, to which my wife makes wide eyes at me.
“Holy shit,” Cade says as he dumps his backpack on the floor at the kitchen island. “Is that the dress you’re wearing tomorrow?” He eyes me. “I’m surprised you’d even consider allowing that.”
Meredith glares at her brother. “Not helpful, Cade.” She then eyes Stone, his best friend, and fuck me, she blushes. “Hey, Stone.” More of that blush spreads across her cheeks as she uses the softest voice I’ve ever heard her use when she greets him.
Stone smiles at her. “Hey, Mare.”
Every muscle in my body tenses as I take in this interaction. And then, I catch sight of Lily doing the same thing, and fuck if I don’t have my answer to the question I asked her in the shower this morning.
This is what’s going on with the party. The reason why Lily’s so fucking worked up. It has nothing to do with her mother and everything to do with her daughter.
Meredith has never had a boyfriend. She’s always favoured books over boys. I’ve never seen her look at a guy, let alone look at one the way she’s looking at Stone.
I know Lily’s been waiting for this moment, and I know she’s put time into stressing over it. Our experience with Zara made sure of that. Zara’s dedication to boys as a teen was something fucking else and it caused her mother no end of worry.
Until this moment, I was convinced we were going to escape most of that with Meredith.
She’s never been into any of the usual girl shit.
Clothes, makeup, parties, and boys have never been on her agenda.
But fuck me, they clearly are now. Between that dress, the lipstick on her lips, that flick of her hair she just gave Stone, and the way she’s watching him, my daughter’s agenda has changed, and I missed the fucking memo.
I’m about to tell her there’s no fucking way she’s wearing that dress tomorrow when Lily says, “Let’s go to your room and try on the other dress so we can compare.” She’s got Meredith’s hand in hers and is leading her out of the kitchen faster than I can keep up.
Cade whistles low as he watches them go. He then brings his gaze to me. “This is gonna be fun to watch.”
Stone laughs as he plants his ass on one of the stools at the island.
I’ve known this kid since he was fifteen. Cade met him through a mate from the state football team he was on. That kid is no longer a mate of Cade’s, but Stone stuck, and has been a regular fixture at our place for three years now.
I’ve always liked Stone, but right now, I want him out of this house. I don’t want him anywhere near my daughter.
Fuck.
This is gonna be Zara all over again.
I can feel it in my fucking bones.
I reach for the list Lily was working on and hand it to Cade. “Make yourself useful and start on this.”
Without waiting for his response, I stride from the kitchen to the back deck and downstairs to my shed.
I need a moment to think.
I also need to get my shit together over that dress because if I know one fucking thing right now, it’s that Meredith is headstrong and won’t back down easily.
I raised her that way. Lily and I have done everything in our power to ensure all our kids are confident and not afraid to stand up for themselves.
If Meredith has decided the black dress is the one she wants to wear, she’ll go to war with me over it.
And while I’m good with going to war with any fucker out there who wants to fight me over shit, I’ve learned that going to war with my kids isn’t always the best course of action.
History has taught me that and I’d be a fucking fool not to pay attention to those lessons.
Lily’s POV
7:15 p.m.
“Did Dad tell you guys what a kid asked him the other day while we were out getting bagels for breakfast?” Cade asks over dinner.
“No,” Meredith says, looking at her brother with eager anticipation. Our kids love giving their father shit over stuff.
“He asked if Dad drew all those drawings on his skin by himself or whether his mum helped him,” Cade says.
“Oh my god, that’s the best,” Meredith says, laughing.
“What did you tell him?” Travis asks his father.
“Dad didn’t get a chance to answer because the kid’s mother pulled him away pretty fast,” Cade says.
Meredith grins at her father. “I’d pull my kid away too. Dad’s a scary old man.”
“Enough of the old bullshit,” King tells her, but there’s a smile in his eyes. One that she returns.
I thought we were in for a battle earlier when she sashayed out in the dress Chloe offered her to wear tomorrow.
King had that look in his eyes that usually signals he’s not about to back down.
I was right there with him; I wasn’t a fan of the black dress either.
Somehow, I managed to convince her to stick with the dress we’d already selected for the party.
And somehow, King managed to keep his cool.
He appeared surprised when he learned she’d changed her mind over the black dress.
He also seemed to have come around to her wearing it if that was her choice.
I haven’t had a chance to talk with him about this yet, but whatever caused him to calm down, we need a whole lot more of that in our lives.
I suspect we’re in for many more battles with Meredith.
“Hey,” Stone says, looking at Meredith. “How’d you go with that essay?”
I don’t miss the way King watches this conversation with interest. I’m watching it in the same way. There’s something new between Meredith and Stone. Something I’m not sure about.
Meredith has never really given much attention to Cade’s best friend. He’s always just been the boy hanging out with her brother. One of the many boys who annoyed her in this house. That’s changed. She’s hanging off his every word tonight. And worse, he’s doing the same with her.
Stone Kingsley is eighteen. He and Cade have been attached at the hip for three years. I love him like a son, but that doesn’t mean I want my daughter to fall for him.
Stone is the boy who has always had the girls falling at his feet thanks to his good looks and charm.
He’s travelled the world with his family and has life experience that Meredith has never known.
Stone is the son of a Hollywood actor who lives in Sydney, and he’s taken up acting too.
He’s just finished filming a movie in which he’s the lead actor.
A teen film that I’m sure will do well and only increase his popularity around the world.
The last thing I want is for my sixteen-year-old daughter, who’s just discovering boys, to develop a crush on a boy who is finding his feet like Stone is.
A boy who likely won’t be around for much longer.
“The one on climate change?” Meredith says, her face flushed with excitement.
Stone nods, his full attention on her like she’s the only person in the room with him. “Yeah. The one you were telling me about the other week.”
Meredith glows at that. “I got an A.”
Stone’s face lights up with the kind of smile every girl would love to receive. “I knew you would.”
I look at King. His body is rigid as he takes this encounter in.
Oh God.
I reach for my drink because my throat suddenly feels dry. In my haste to pick the glass up, I actually knock it over. Water spills everywhere and I practically jump out of my seat.
“Geez, Mum,” Travis mutters as water flies across the food on his plate. “Thanks.”
“Sorry, Trav,” I say as I walk into the kitchen to retrieve paper towel.
My phone sounds with a text as I walk past it on the way to the pantry where I store the paper towel. Needing a distraction, I check the message.
Birdie
Lil! I’ve come down with a stomach bug. I’m praying I’m better for tomorrow.
Me
You better be. I’m about to be in the middle of a crisis.
Birdie
Why? What’s going on?
Me
Stone Kingsley is what’s going on.
Birdie
Huh?
Me
Meredith is looking at him like he hung the moon.
Birdie
Why is this a crisis? We love Stone.
Me
We do love Stone. For Cade. Not for Meredith.
“Lily,” King says, coming into the kitchen.
I look up to find him watching me with a furrowed brow. “What?”
“Hyde just called. I have to head out for a couple of hours.”
I nod. “Okay.”
He closes the distance between us while he contemplates me. “How long has this been going on with Meredith and Stone?”
“I don’t know.”
“He’s the reason why you’re so worked up about the party?”
“No, he’s not. But now, maybe yes.”
He frowns. “What am I missing here?”
“I didn’t know she liked Stone until today, but I did know she’s developed a crush on a boy at school. Chloe told me last week. I was going to tell you, but I’ve been concerned about how you’d take it.”
He continues to frown at me. “Why?”
I look up at my husband and see genuine confusion in his eyes. King was born a protector; I’m sure of it. And family is everything to him, especially our kids. All six of them. He will go to his grave protecting our children if he has to.
“It concerns me how I’ll be about Meredith chasing boys, and we both know you’ll be even more overprotective than me.”
King’s eyes burn fiercely with determination. “She’s sixteen, Lily. Stone’s eighteen. And he’s about to have the attention of every teen girl in the fucking world. Damn right I’ll be overprotective about this.”
“I agree with all of that. But somehow, we have to find a way not to alienate our daughter while trying to protect her.”
“I’m not going to alienate Meredith. I’m just going to make it clear to Stone that she’s off limits.”
“Like you did with Fury?”
King curses, and while his eyes still burn with determination, there’s also some surrender there. “We can’t fucking win here, can we?”
I move into him, putting my arms around his waist. “I don’t think I ever imagined hearing those words from you.”
He puts an arm around me, settling his hand on my ass. “I never fucking imagined saying them.”
“I’m beginning to think we have to start trusting our parenting.”
“How?”
“Meredith is smart, and we’ve done a good job raising her. We’re giving Travis extra responsibility. I think we have to give that same kind of responsibility and trust to Meredith.”
“Fuck,” he mutters. “You want me to stand back and just let this kid do whatever he wants with our daughter?”
“Not whatever he wants. But I think we have to allow Meredith to figure out her own path in life. We can’t stop her from getting her heart broken. We can only be there if she needs us along the way.”
I watch the war King wages with himself and I know it’s the first of many to come.
I’m feeling the same. The last thing I want to do is step back and just let my baby get hurt, but I’ve raised enough children now to know that’s exactly what I need to do.
I’ve been slowly coming to this realisation all week.
“Fuck,” he mutters again.
I laugh. “I feel like that might be all you’ll say for the next few years.”
“I’m not going to be good at this,” he says gruffly.
“I know. I’m not either.”
He’s silent for a few moments, still waging that war in his mind, and then he says, “I can’t promise anything if he breaks her heart.”
God, how I love this man and all the ways he loves us. “Yeah, I know, and I wouldn’t have you any other way.”
I pull his mouth down to mine and kiss him. When I end it, I say, “I’ve decided that we should do our next life together too.”
Amusement fills his eyes, right alongside that expression that says I really don’t know what to do with you.
That expression and that amusement, though, quickly turn to his signature intensity when he tightens his hold on me and growls, “If there is a next life, there’s no fucking way you’re doing it without me.
That’s one promise I am making you right now. ”
With that, he bends his face to mine again, kisses the hell out of me, and then strides out of our kitchen, leaving me staring after him breathlessly.
When I was younger, I would have thought that nineteen years was a long time to be married. I mean, nineteen years with the same man? Now, I know that nineteen years with the right man feels like nowhere near enough time with him.
I want all of King’s years.
All his lifetimes.
King may be the most difficult man alive at times, but he’s mine, and I’m his, and I’ll never let him go.