Chapter 6 #2
I would finally get to meet Roscoe’s fathers, which was something I’d been curious about.
I had questioned why Roscoe had avoided having me around when he was with his dads; I thought it might be because he was embarrassed to have them to find out about my history.
I knew that his Papa was a criminal defense attorney and wondered if that meant he was jaded when it came to convicted criminals, but I hoped he wouldn’t judge me too harshly.
I let my mind drift to thoughts of how my parents would react if they ever met Roscoe, knowing that in a different time, they would have welcomed him into their home.
However, since I wasn’t welcome there myself and hadn’t seen them in years, the likelihood of my family ever meeting Roscoe was slim, if not impossible.
If they wouldn’t speak to me, then why in the world would they consider meeting him?
I heard the lock on the front door turn before men’s voices drifted in as the door opened.
I sat up and fumbled with the controls, wondering why in the hell it took so long for the recliner to go down.
I was just about to stand up when a handsome older man, who looked a lot like Roscoe, walked around the corner and stopped in his tracks.
Another man, this one with dark skin and gorgeous brown eyes, looked over his shoulder and smiled at me.
“Hi!” I said as I stood up, not sure whether to walk toward them and introduce myself or scramble to explain why I was alone in Roscoe’s house.
“Finally! We get to meet the wonderful Serana!” the blond man exclaimed as he rushed across the living room and threw his arms around me. He gave me a tight hug and then pulled back to smile at me. “You’re just as gorgeous as Roscoe described!”
My inner voice was squealing in delight: Roscoe described me to his dads? He said I’m gorgeous? What? No way!
“Give the poor woman some breathing room,” the other man ordered as he walked up and extended his hand toward me. “Serana, I’m Ros’s Papa, Marcus, and this is his dad, Reagan.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” I said honestly as I shook his hand. “I’ve heard such wonderful things about you!”
“We came over to make sure Roscoe’s house was in order.
He said the decorating was finished but didn’t explain you’d taken care of it, so I assumed he’d bought some cheap paper plates and cupcakes from the grocery store,” Reagan said as he looked past me into the dining room where the table was decked out for the party.
Taylor and I had been lucky enough to find camo plates and napkins, and we bought a plastic tablecloth that coordinated with them and matched the colors of the cake I’d decorated before I left work. The cake was in the refrigerator since it was iced with buttercream, but everything else was ready.
I felt prouder of myself than I had in years when Reagan exclaimed, “It looks wonderful, Serana! I’m so happy you took care of it!”
“Simon is gonna love this,” Marcus agreed. He reached out and touched my shoulder, gently nudging me to follow Reagan into the dining room. “You’re gonna be Holly’s hero. She was worried Simon might feel let down if the surprise wasn’t good enough.”
“He’s seven, so he can be a little dramatic about things, but birthdays are huge for kids his age.”
“I just got a text from Ros saying he’s on his way,” Marcus explained as he slipped his phone into his pocket. He smiled at me before he said, “But until he gets here, we’ve got the perfect opportunity to get to know you.”
For some reason, that didn’t sound like a good thing. From the look in Mr. Hamilton’s eyes, it was clear that I wasn’t talking to Roscoe’s Papa now, but the sharp attorney who didn’t miss a thing.
Oh, no. My experience with attorneys wasn’t exactly the greatest, and I could tell that Mr. Hamilton was dying to start his interrogation.
◆◆◆
ROSCOE
By the time I made it to my house, the party was in full swing.
My nieces and nephews were hyped up on sugar while Noble and Holly were bickering while Ranger and Tati egged them on.
Papa was watching the shitshow with barely veiled amusement, and Dad was walking around trying to clean up after everyone - even though all of us knew it wasn’t worth the energy to try until the kids were gone.
I was happy to see that Serana was comfortable in the middle of the chaos, leaning against the counter with Jiana in her arms while she chimed in with Holly to tease Noble.
Watching her laugh and interact with my family, I realized I was playing a dangerous game. This felt like a trial run for a life she hadn’t signed up for yet.
Seeing her here, standing in the kitchen and matching my brothers’ loud jokes as if she’d been doing it for years, made the truth impossible to ignore. I didn’t just want her in my life; I wanted her to be the center of it.
I had gradually introduced her to my siblings in the hope that small doses would help her build up an immunity to their chaotic tendencies.
Of course, I’d thrown her together with my nieces and nephews because I knew that no one could resist them.
But I’d avoided taking her around my dads because, out of everyone, their opinions mattered most to me.
I knew that if they spent just a few minutes with her, they’d adore her. But since she wasn’t ready to take our friendship to the next level, introducing her to my parents might put too much pressure on the situation she insisted on.
My spot in the friend zone was getting harder and harder to accept, especially since Serana and I had become so comfortable with each other. The urge to pull her into my arms for a kiss was almost overwhelming sometimes - especially since she’d let her guard down around me months ago.
Now, I got to see a side of Serana that I knew few were privy to.
She literally and figuratively let her hair down around me, letting go of that buttoned-up and ‘with it’ facade she kept in place for the outside world.
Over the last few months, I’d pieced together little details like a jigsaw puzzle to help me build the picture of what made Serana such an interesting woman.
She was happy even when most people would be beside themselves with worry and regret, although she had plenty of those too.
The fact that she didn’t have any family she could count on made that even worse, and the look of longing on her face when she happened to mention her parents or siblings was enough to break my heart.
I didn’t know she even had siblings until a few weeks ago, when my nephews got into trouble for doing something crazy and she laughed, comparing them to her brothers.
Before she had a chance to clam up again, I asked about them.
She told me that she hadn’t spoken to either of them since well before she went to prison, and now she wasn’t even sure where they might be.
She mentioned her older sister, but when I asked about their relationship, she said, “She’s been gone for years. ”
I didn’t know what that meant, but could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t going to say anything else.
For the next few minutes, her mood was somber, but soon enough, the twins came running into the kitchen as if their shoes were on fire, chattering a mile-a-minute as they tattled on each other.
Their drama took her mind off her thoughts again.
“You got them all hyped up on sugar, so you get to help me herd them around the backyard until they run some of it off,” Damien said as he walked over and opened the sliding door.
Once they were no longer contained, the kids sprinted out the door, and when I heard Serana laugh, I looked over my shoulder and saw Jiana wiggling out of her arms to join her siblings.
Papa got up and followed us out, sliding the door shut behind him. I knew by the look on his face that he had something to talk to me about, but I was a little surprised when he nodded at Damien and included him in the conversation.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Your friend seems like a sweet girl,” Papa said evasively.
“Yeah. Serana’s great.”
“She’s got a history, but you know that, right?”
“I do. How do you know that?”
“I put the pieces together and got curious enough to ask some questions.”
I looked at Damien and asked, “Did you give him the answers?”
“I did not; however, since she’s been around my kids a lot recently, I looked into her record for my own peace of mind.”
I wanted to be angry with Damien for butting his nose into my business, but I had to admit that he had a point. I had introduced Serana to Holly, Damien, and the kids months ago, and she’d spent quite a bit of time around them.
“Do you want to know what I found out?” Papa asked.
“No.”
“You don’t care?”
“When she’s ready to tell me why she went to prison, I’ll listen, but I’m not going to go behind her back and be nosy,” I said with a pointed look at Papa. “I get why Damien did it - because he’s a paranoid cop who is just looking out for his wife and kids - but I want to know why you did it.”
“Because I’m a paranoid asshole who is just looking out for my husband and kids.”
Damien cleared his throat, and when I looked over at him, I saw that he was trying not to smile. Since he was busted, he admitted, “It’s just nice to hear him admit that out loud. I wish I had a recording of it.”
“I know she’s in recovery, and I’ve pieced enough information together to understand that she went to prison for something drug-related.
However, I know that Zoey vetted her before she entered the program, which means she doesn’t have any child abuse or sexual offenses on her record, or she wouldn’t have qualified. ”
“That’s true. I’m not going to apologize for what I did because I don’t see anything wrong with it, but I am going to warn you that becoming so close to someone who is in recovery has an extra set of pitfalls that a regular relationship probably wouldn’t have.”
“We’re just friends.”
“Yeah, because I look at my friends the way you look at her,” Dad scoffed.
“She said she’s not ready to date anyone, so I’ll settle for whatever pieces of her life she offers.”
“What if she’s never ready?” Dad asked.
“Never is a long time.”
“You’re sticking by her so that you can swoop in the second there’s a chink in her armor,” Damien said astutely. When my only response was a half-hearted shrug, he said, “Even if Holly had never wanted me that way, I wouldn’t have been able to stay away from her.”
“Considering those pitfalls I mentioned earlier, I think this friendship path might be the best thing for the two of you.”
“Really?” I asked in shock.
“Look at my and your dad’s relationship, Roscoe.
At the root of it all, he’s my best friend in the entire world.
I trust him more than anyone else. I can tell him anything and know he won’t judge me.
I go to him with my triumphs and failures, knowing he’ll celebrate my success or encourage me to try harder in the future.
Even if I never got to kiss Dad again, I’d be content to just be by his side because he’s so much more than just my lover. ”
“Even though I don’t know everything about Serana’s past, I want to be part of everything that’s in her future,” I admitted.
“And you’re willing to do that as her friend if she doesn’t ever return your feelings?” Damien asked.
Dad looked over my shoulder, and his lips turned up into a mysterious smile before he said, “She may not be ready to admit it yet, but I have a feeling you’re not the only one who would like to be more than friends.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
“Because when she looks at you, she has the same expression Holly gets when she looks at Captain Code Blue over here and Dad gets right before he gives me one of those smiles I cherish.”
“You think so?”
“I know so, son.”
“I sadly don’t remember my father or very much about my mother. One thing I’ll never lose sight of is how much you and Dad love each other and how much I want that for myself someday.”
“Well, my biggest hope is that each of my children find that happiness.”