Chapter 9 #3
“Unbelievably happy, baby. Incredibly. Enormously. There’s nobody happier in the entire country,” he said with a chuckle, and she giggled.
“I didn’t think I was that good!”
“Well, think again, beautiful, because you are. We are. It takes two to tango, babe.”
She laughed outright. “That it does! Just think—we’ll have all day tomorrow. Won’t that be amazing?”
“It will be.” He kissed her forehead and gripped her tighter. “It’ll be an amazing day.”
It had truly been a wonderful kind of Sunday.
The kids had entertained themselves outdoors so Kyle and Gina had plenty of time to themselves in the house, just sitting and talking about things they needed to do together and how to grow the relationship.
The most important thing they talked about was the picnic, and they discussed how they thought their respective families were going to take the news.
Both admitted they had no idea, so there was no way of knowing how it would go.
When evening came, she knew it was time to head home, even though she didn’t want to. “You two go get all your stuff out of the RV and pack it all up. We’ve got to go home.”
Hadley whined, “No, please? Can we just stay?”
Gina shook her head. “No. You’ve got school tomorrow so we have to go.”
“When can we do this again?” Briley asked.
“Soon. Next weekend we’re having the picnic, so when that’s over, you’ll be coming back here,” Kyle announced to the two kids.
“So everybody’s meeting everybody?” Hadley asked.
Kyle nodded. “Yes. Everybody’s meeting everybody. We’re getting this show on the road.”
“Good. Going back and forth is kinda silly,” Briley pointed out.
“Yes, but Kyle and I aren’t quite ready to take the next step yet, so that’s how it’ll have to be until we reach that decision. Now scoot!” Gina ordered, and they watched as the two older kids headed out the door.
Tears formed in Myla’s eyes. “Daddy, do they have to go?”
“Yes, baby. They have school tomorrow so they have to be home. But we’ll see them soon, okay?”
“Please? Can’t they stay just a little longer?” she begged.
“I wish we could, honey, but we can’t,” Gina explained. “Come here.” When Myla reached her, she picked the little girl up and cuddled her. “Maybe someday soon we won’t have to do this all the time. Maybe we’ll be together all the time. We don’t know yet, but we’re working on it.”
“And Briley and Hadley could be my brother and sister?” Gina nodded and kissed the child’s cheek. “We could be a family.”
“That’s the idea, cupcake. Now tell Gina goodbye and we’ll see them this week.”
They pulled out of the drive and Gina already missed them. Things weren’t the same without Kyle and Myla. Whether they’d intended it or not, each was becoming a big part of the other’s life. It seemed that was what they wanted most.
Gina sure knew she did!
The week flew by. It took some work but they both managed to talk their entire families into coming. Kyle wondered if they had any idea what was going on but, to his knowledge, Constance was the only one who even had a clue what was about to happen.
He got the grill at the park going midmorning on Sunday and by noon, when Gina and the kids pulled up, everything was coming together and going into hyperdrive.
Kyle’s mother and father drove up and stepped out of their car, and their jaws dropped to see Gina there. Kyle knew that was his cue. “Mom, Dad, this is Gina. Gina, these are my parents, Donna and Kenton.”
“H-h-h-hi,” his mother stammered. “Good to meet you.”
“Likewise. I’ve been looking forward to meeting both of you,” Gina countered, and Kyle was proud. She looked self-assured and confident, and he loved it.
“We’re glad to meet you, although we didn’t know we were going to,” Kenton answered and glared at Kyle.
“Oh my god! I finally get to meet you!” a female voice squealed from somewhere behind them and Constance came running up, a huge food container in her hands. “I’m Constance! That’s my husband, Ray, and our boys, Steven and Kenny.”
“Hey,” the big man responded and reached a hand out to Gina. “Good to meet you.”
“And you too,” Gina answered as she took his hand.
“Kyle’s told me so much about you! Can I hug you?” Constance asked and handed off the food container to Ray.
As the two women embraced, Kyle heard his mother grumble, “He didn’t tell me anything.”
“Mom, I didn’t want to say anything until I knew if this was going to work out or not.”
“And I assume it’s working out?” Donna quipped, and the hurt in her voice came through loud and clear.
“Gina?” They both turned to see a tall man and a tiny woman standing nearby, a large casserole dish in the lady’s hands.
“Mom! Dad! Hey, this is Kyle!”
As Gina’s dad reached for Kyle’s hand, her mother frowned and spat out, “And you didn’t see fit to tell us you were seeing someone?”
“You’re not the only one,” Donna chirped.
“I’m Miles, young man,” her dad offered. “This is my wife, Althea.”
“Nice to meet you.” This isn’t going very well, Kyle’s brain whined, and then he was hit with a stroke of genius.
“I know everybody has questions. How ’bout we just hold those until later and we can talk about all of that?
” A teenage boy sauntered into the fray, trailed by four more people.
“Hey, Thomas! This is my brother, Keith, his wife, Monica, and their kids, Brandy, Thomas, and William.”
“Nice to meet you!” Monica extended a hand to Gina, who took it and shook it heartily. “Keith told me why Kyle needed the RV. How did that work out?”
Gina smiled broadly. “Great! Kids, say thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Miller.”
“Thanks!” Hadley sang out. “That thing is awesome!”
“It is! Thanks so much!” Briley added.
Myla’s little voice chirped, “Thank you, Uncle Keith and Aunt Monica! I love the big bus!” That made everyone laugh. Well, everyone except the two mothers. It was obvious they both were still angry that they were the last to know.
Kyle pointed over his shoulder toward the grill. “Is everybody hungry? I’ve got pork chops, rib eyes, and chicken quarters. What’s in the container, Con?”
“Potato salad. Mom, what do you have?”
Donna’s answer was clipped. “Green beans.”
Gina turned to her parents. “Mom, what did you bring?”
Althea frowned. “Corn casserole.”
“Sounds like we’ve got everything we could possibly want. We’ve got slaw over here, and baked beans, and a big chocolate cake that Hadley and Myla baked,” Kyle said, pointing to the table.
“We did! All by ourselves!” Myla announced, her eyes shining with pride.
“So everybody ready to eat? Let’s get with it!” Kyle was trying hard to get everybody settled, and it was looking like it would be a lot more difficult than he’d ever imagined.
But he needn’t have worried. A couple of minutes after everyone started filling their plates, Sabrina and Darren showed up, and the two sisters hugged and laughed.
As they all ate and talked, it became obvious to him that the parents all liked each other.
Gina’s mother seemed to be taken with Myla, and the little girl did everything she could to get Althea to like her.
Kyle heard her ask Althea, “So if my daddy and Miss Gina get married, would you be my mammaw?”
“It’s a little early for that, don’t you think?” Althea responded.
“I think it’s best to plan for the future. You know, like insurance and stuff,” Myla informed her, and it was all Kyle could do to keep from laughing aloud. “Briley and Hadley would be my brother and sister.”
“Oh, so you’ve already worked that out amongst yourselves, have you?” the woman asked with a chuckle.
Myla nodded. “Yes, ma’am. We had a nail-painting party! It was fun. In the big bus.” Althea seemed totally confused, and Kyle thought it was just about the funniest thing he’d seen in a long time.
The afternoon rolled on. Food kept disappearing off the grill and from the table, and pretty soon they were cutting the cake. They all had a piece and everyone was talking and laughing when Kyle felt Gina stiffen next to him. “Babe?”
Instead of answering him, she rose. “No! You need to leave right now.”
An older woman was approaching the group, and the smile she was wearing sickened Kyle for some reason. It only took him a few seconds to guess who she was. “I came to join the fun,” the woman called back.
“How did you even know we’d be here?”
Margie shrugged as she neared the group. “Just a lucky guess.”
Kyle could hear the tremor in Gina’s voice when she choked out, “You’ve been following me!”
“Margie, you need to leave. You’re not welcome here,” Miles announced and pointed back in the direction the woman had come from.
“I’ve been following you? My, dear, you’re paranoid, aren’t you? Why would you even think that, unless you’ve been doing something you shouldn’t. Well, who do we have here?” Margie asked as soon as her eyes fell on Kyle. “I don’t believe I know you, young man.”
“And you don’t need to. Gina and her father both have told you that you’re not welcome here. Let me add to that: You are not welcome here. You need to leave.”
“What’s wrong with me wanting to spend time with my grandchildren. Hadley, Briley, hey! It’s Grandmama.” Hadley had started to cry, and Briley’s face was so red that Kyle was pretty sure the boy’s head was about to explode.
“They don’t want you here any more than I do. You need to leave,” Gina insisted. “If you come near us again, I’m going to get a restraining order against you.”
“And maybe I’ll sue you for grandparent visitation rights, hmmm? What do you say to that?”
“We don’t want to visit with you! Leave us alone!” Hadley screamed. She jumped up from the table and ran toward the tree line. Briley chased after her, calling to her as she ran.
“See what you’ve done? You’ve turned my grandchildren against me,” Margie said in a tone so condescending that Kyle wanted to slap her.
“We didn’t have to do a thing. You did it all yourself, you and that no-good son of yours,” Miles said, then pulled out his cell phone. “Gina, honey, I’m calling the police to have her removed.”
“You can’t do that,” Margie announced.