27. Chapter Twenty-Seven ~ Chris
Chapter Twenty-Seven ~ Chris
Much as I try to play things off and pretend that nothing is wrong, I know that I’m not coming across as confident as I would like about this whole thing.
The fact that Emma noticed it before she left tells me that much. It’s just that there’s a lot riding on this.
Even though Emma never mentioned her family until recently I know that they’re a huge part of her life. It’s all starting to fit together now. Where she would run off to all the time. All the times that she was late for work. It’s all been about them.
Even the reason that she took me up on my offer and the reason she was looking to become a dancer. Everything was about them.
Which means that if things don’t go well between me and them … I don’t know what it could mean for my future with Emma.
As the door opens I take a deep breath and try to convince myself that I can handle this. And that it’s the same as meeting with new clients. Except the girl that bursts through the door first is a whole lot more excitable than any of my clients.
“Oh, my gosh, this place is gorgeous!” she exclaims loudly, staring around the foyer, and then her eyes land on me. “Oh! You must be Chris! Right?” She glances back at Emma who gives her a smile that instantly conveys so much love and affection that I feel my nervousness ratchet up even more. But even before I have a chance to say anything, Emma’s slight nod gives her everything she needs to know and her arms wrap around me in a quick hug. “I’m Leann, Emma’s sister.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I reply, a little startled by the sudden embrace that’s over so quickly I don’t really need to react.
It’s clear that this isn’t a surprise to Emma who only shakes her head with that same smile and then glances back at her mother who has walked through the door a little more calmly.
“Ms. Randolph,” I approach her slowly, holding out my hand and she takes it.
“Mr. Warren, is it?”
“Chris, please,” I reply, hoping that we can dispense with all the formalities and everything here can be comfortable.
“And I’m Kelsey,” she replies with a glance toward her daughters.
Emma is now standing right next to Leann, pointing around the room, and both of them have smiles on their faces.
“Come on, dinner should be ready,” I tell them with a smile of my own and everyone follows me to the dining room where, sure enough, they’re just laying out our meal now.
“Ooh, excellent!” Leann exclaims when she sees the table, rushing over to claim a seat before glancing back at us. “Are you guys coming?”
Emma laughs and sinks down into her usual chair while her mother sits across and I find my way to my own chair.
It’s awkward at first, though the fact that everyone is digging into the food helps. And then Leann’s excited chatter about the house, what she’s seen of it so far, seems to draw everyone in.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Emma admits with a slightly wider grin now. “Just wait until you see the rest of the house. It’s beautiful here.”
“It seems like a lovely home, of course,” her mother begins but she turns toward me and I can tell this is where she’s really sizing me up. “But what about you?”
“What about me?” I ask, trying not to feel defensive at her question.
“Having a nice house is lovely, Mr. Warren,” so we’re back to that again too. “But I want to know what you really have to offer my daughter and the baby.”
“I hope everything that she wants,” I reply, looking toward Emma myself. I can feel my entire being softening just by looking at her. I can feel the smile that spreads across my face of its own accord and can see it mirrored in her.
Yes, I certainly do hope that whatever it is I can offer to Emma and our baby, it’s enough for them. Enough for her to see me as more than just the father of her child and her roommate. But … something much more.
“You two met at her work, I understand. You own the place.” Her voice is matter of fact, but I can tell there’s at least a bit of censure there and I wonder just how much Emma has told them.
“I do.”
From the look on her face, it’s clear Emma hadn’t actually told them that. She seems surprised that her mother has said it. Surprised that her mother knows.
“You didn’t really expect me not to do some checking up on your new boyfriend, did you?” she asks when she sees the startled look on Emma’s face and now there’s a wry grin there instead.
“Of course not,” she agrees.
But things seem to progress better as the evening goes on. Because I can see the way that her mother starts to soften toward me. Not to Leann’s level of exuberance, but enough that she smiles and laughs when I speak, and when we take a quick tour around the place she seems at least slightly less tense and judgy as she was when she walked in.
By the time Emma takes them back home, she actually seems pleased with me and I breathe a sigh of relief as I take my few moments alone. Because when Emma comes back I have something to talk to her about.
As soon as she walks back in the door, she comes to the living room, sinking down onto the couch beside me, her head dropping onto my shoulder.
The familiar gesture, the comfortable aspect of her curling into me, it all feels perfect, and I immediately drop an arm around her, pulling her closer still.
“It went well. Mom actually liked you, which is saying something because she usually takes a while to warm up to people.”
“Not like your sister,” I reply with a grin and Emma laughs.
“No, nothing like Leann. Leann loves everyone. And especially anyone who she thinks makes her family happy.”
“And I make you happy?” I latch onto the comment, turning to look at her.
She blushes slightly but nods. “Of course.”
“I’m glad. I have a proposal for you.”
“Oh?” She looks confused now but it’s my turn to smile.
“I want your family to move into the guest house.”
“What?” Now the smile fades from her face, replaced by a look of surprise, eyes wide, those beautiful lips slightly parted.
“The guest house out back. No one is using it. I don’t think I’ve ever actually used it for anything. But it can be cleaned up easily and then they can do whatever they like with it from there. It would be a good place for them. And there’s no rent.”
“You would … you want to move my family into the house behind ours? To have them here all the time?”
“Well, it might take some getting used to, having guests all the time. But I know they’re important to you. And this would help with a number of things at once, really. They would be nearby to help you in case you need it once the baby comes. And it’s free, of course. So they don’t need to worry about any expenses.”
I’m not sure what she really thinks of the idea because she’s still staring at me with that stunned expression. But slowly it becomes a smile and I can feel myself breathe again.
“I don’t … I don’t know what to say. It’s … it’s amazing.”
“I’m glad you think so,” I reply with a smile of my own. I’m just glad to have made her happy. And to have her family around … well, everything felt like it was going pretty well this evening. Hopefully that will continue and we can all get along well. “They’ll get an allowance, of course. It’s a benefit to me to have someone out there taking care of things.”
By the time I’ve finished laying everything out for her I can tell she’s even more shocked, but she’s excited as well, and the next morning she takes off early to talk to her family about the place.
Which means only two days later she takes the day off work to help them move in.
At least I managed to get a contractor through who told me that most of what’s needed out there is cosmetic. And they’ve insisted on taking care of all of that for themselves.
Leaving me with nothing really to do but try to focus on work.
“Hey, Chris? You there?”
“Huh?” I shake myself yet again and glance up, trying to focus on what’s going on in front of me.
“You’re not paying attention again,” one of the guys acknowledges.
“I’m here. It’s fine,” I reply but I know that they don’t really believe it.
Right now, with her family moving in, I can only hope that Emma’s not pushing herself too much. Getting them moved in shouldn’t be too difficult. The guest house is furnished, after all, and I told a few of the staff to go out there and help them with anything that they need.
But Emma is stubborn and likes to do things herself. So I’m not entirely sure how that’s going to go.
“All right, I think that’s all we really needed to go over,” Ethan says suddenly and I can’t help but jump as his voice pierces through my distraction.
I feel guilty as they all stand up and head out of the office, a few sidelong looks at me as they go. But I don’t say a word, even as Ethan follows them to the door and then closes it, turning back toward me.
“All right. We need to talk.”
“About what?” I ask, playing dumb. But he’s not going for that.
He simply stares at me and I sigh, my head dropping into my hands.
“Things are more complicated than I may have let on before,” I admit.
“I figured as much. It’s not just a contract going on, is it? The girl has really gotten to you.”
“She’s … hell, Ethan, she’s something else.”
“She seems like a good one around here. She’s not a flirt but she gets people to like her. She’s helpful with the new people. She’s on good terms with the staff …” He shrugs and I can’t help but feel even more buoyed by the positive review.
Everything that I’ve seen and heard of her personally has been good. And for Ethan to say the same …
“I can’t get her out of my head. Ever. It’s like … well, to be honest I don’t even know what it’s like other than I feel like I’m going crazy sometimes.”
“I think they call that being in love,” Ethan replies wryly and I draw in a deep breath.
Yeah. I’m pretty sure that’s what you would call it. But am I ready to admit that yet? To admit that I’m actually in love with this woman who I swore wasn’t going to be anything but the mother of my child?
“I think she’s won me over,” I admit finally and he shakes his head with a grin.
“Yeah. I think she has. You’ve been distracted at work. You’re barely managing to get anything done. You’re constantly thinking about her … And all of that without bringing her up here for the same little ‘meetings’ that you were having at the beginning. All of that tells me that what’s going on with the two of you is definitely not just about sex.”
“It hasn’t been just about sex in a long time,” I reply and he relaxes back into a chair.
“So, what is it about then?” he asks and I find the words pouring out.
About everything I’ve noticed about her and everything I like about her. Everything that she’s done and practically everything she’s said since this whole thing started.
And Ethan sits there and listens to it all, a small smile on his face that encourages me to keep talking until I finally run out of things to say. And then he just sits there. Silently.
“You don’t have anything to say to me?” I feel slightly awkward now. I’ve never actually bared my soul like that to anyone before and to have him take it all without a word feels very unnerving.
“Yeah, that’s love,” he says finally and I let out a nervous laugh that doesn’t even sound like me.
“Well … then … I guess I’m in love. With Emma.” The words come out for the first time and I have to stop for a moment. To think about them. To think about what this really means.
“There are worse things than being in love with the mother of your child,” Ethan observes and I know that he’s right, that, of course, it’s a good thing that I care about Emma. But does she love me? Is being in love with her even if she’s not in love with me going to be enough?
It’s going to have to, isn’t it? Because there’s nothing I can do to make her love me if she doesn’t. But I know that she won’t go anywhere because of the baby. And because now her family is going to be moving in.
“So, you’re starting a family in a little less than conventional way. Things can still happen between the two of you. You can still be a real family. You can still create a real relationship with Emma, even if you’re doing things a little backwards.”
“Yeah, I suppose I can,” I agree. We’ve already gone out on one date and it went well, after all. I can continue to date her, right? And things will evolve from there between the two of us. If she’s not in love with me … well, we can get there gradually. With the baby to tie us together.
But part of me wonders if that’s all going to be enough.