20. Iris
20
IRIS
One month later
I stare at the ground, nearly folded in half, with my hands on my knees and almost hyperventilating. My parents will be here in a few minutes, and the two families meeting is not only starting to feel overwhelming, but also possibly the worst idea ever.
In the dictionary, the definition of uptight has a photo of my parents, along with their names. Proper doesn’t even begin to describe them. I have no idea how they’re in my DNA because I’m nothing like them.
And Brax and his family are the total opposite. They are free to be who they want to be…who they are meant to be. There is never any judgment about anything. Sure, they make fun of one another every chance they get, but it is never mean or cruel, trying to get someone else to conform to their norm .
Brax’s hand is light on my back, moving in soothing circles. “It’ll be okay, Iris. You have to relax before you pass out.”
They liked Lucas. Well, liked him before he broke my heart and ran out of a wedding they footed the bill for and still had to pay for, even after he split. He was like them. Buttoned-up, boring, and just like the perfect type of person that’s portrayed on television. He was fake, and they ate that shit up too.
“This could go so wrong,” I whisper before drawing air in through my nose, trying to slow my rapid breathing and the pounding of my heart.
Maybe it would be better if I passed out. All the attention would be on me and would possibly include a six-plus-hour trip to the emergency room. It’s better to derail the day than for it to end in disaster.
“They’re here,” Brax says as a car rumbles to a stop at the edge of the street in front of the bar. “Everyone loves us, Iris. Your parents will too.”
I tried to warn Brax about my parents, but he blew it off. Everyone around here loves his family, but that doesn’t mean my melba toast parents will feel the same.
I lift my head, and my eyes lock with my mother’s. I try to force my lips upward, but her gaze shifts to Brax, and my breath catches in my throat.
Here we go.
If I hold my breath long enough, maybe that ride to the emergency room will work. Anything to keep the two sides from meeting, right? They’re oil and water, and neither should ever mix.
Mom has her hair pulled up into a tight twist and is wearing a high-collar shirt, because Lord forbid she should show even the smallest amount of cleavage. I wait for the look I’ve seen her give far too many people in my life.
But to my utter shock, her eyes soften as a smile spreads across her face. I blink a few times, thinking the lack of oxygen is messing with my vision.
Dad is the first one out of the car, with a hand up in greeting. “Hey, honey,” he says, sounding far sweeter than I ever remember him being in my entire life. Dad isn’t a mean guy, but he also isn’t overly mushy. He is just as uptight as Mom but rarely shows many emotions, even in the worst of times.
“Dad,” I say, but my voice rises at the end like I think his soul has been snatched up and the person inside his skin is someone else.
Dad jogs around the car, getting Mom’s door. “That was an easy ride,” he says as he waits for Mom to get out, and he takes her hand, helping her up onto the sidewalk.
Time seems to slow as they cross the few feet between the street and us. It feels like a movie, where they slow the film right before the big explosion to create a bigger impact and make it more jarring.
My entire body tightens as they stop in front of us. The fairy tale I’ve had in my head where both sides of the families get along and we live a beautiful life filled with everyone on holiday is about to go boom.
“Ma’am, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Brax says to my mother, smart to greet her first over my father.
Dad is the boss, but if Mom hates you, so does my father. He doesn’t have a backbone in that way. “Well, look at you,” Mom says in a soft, saccharine voice. “More handsome in person than your photo.”
My eyebrows furrow as she reaches for Brax to…hug him? My mom has never been a hug-strangers type of person. She barely shakes anyone’s hand.
“I see where Iris gets her pretty looks,” Brax says to her as he gives her a light hug back.
I almost roll my eyes, but whatever is happening here, I don’t want to be the one to derail it. My parents will do that all on their own.
“Oh, you’re a charmer,” Mom says as her gaze moves to me. “Why didn’t you tell me he’s such a charmer, Iris?”
I don’t answer. I don’t move. I stand there wondering where my mother is. Because whatever infected my father got her too.
The two people in front of me seem so nice and are completely opposite to the two beings who raised me.
“Honey,” Mom says with her arms open wide as she moves toward me.
Again, I don’t move or speak. I’m too shocked to do anything except exist. I’m barely breathing as she wraps her arms around me, giving me the biggest hug I’ve probably ever had in my life.
“It’s so good to see you. You’re looking well.”
“Thanks, Mom. You too,” I say, unsure of what else to tell her because she’s acting so weird.
“We’re excited to be here.” She pulls back and grabs my shoulders. “We couldn’t wait to meet the man who’s made you so happy.”
“We’re glad you came,” I lie.
If I could’ve gone my entire life without this day, I would’ve.
“So, this is their bar?” Mom asks. To my surprise, there’s no sneer on her face.
“Family-owned for over fifty years,” Brax replies, staring at the facade of the building as my parents do. “Handed down for three generations now.”
“That’s impressive,” Dad says as he stands next to my mother and reaches out to hold her hand.
What the hell? In all my years of life, I’ve never seen my parents hold hands. It was too much affection for them to show in public. Growing up with them, I find it shocking I’m not a complete prude.
“Come on in. My parents and family are all here,” Brax says, holding out his arm to usher them inside.
“Everyone?” Mom asks, fiddling with the pearls she always wears around her neck. At least one thing about her hasn’t changed.
Brax laughs. “My family does everything together, and that includes welcoming you to Chicago. ”
Mom gives me a smile. “I like him,” she says.
I nearly choke on my own spit. I never ever thought I’d hear my mother utter those words.
“You do?” I ask before we make it to the door.
“Of course.”
I grab her arm. “Hold on. I want to talk to you for a second.” I swing my gaze to Brax. “Can you give us a minute?”
He looks at me and then to her. “Sure. Don’t take long. The natives will get restless.” He leans over and kisses my cheek before he takes my father inside.
“What’s wrong?” Mom asks, her eyes roaming my face.
“What happened to you?”
“What do you mean?” She glances down like there might be something on her pressed white blouse.
“You’re different… You both are.”
Mom chuckles and reaches out to take my hand. “Your dad and I have been going to couples therapy, and then we went to this camp in Upstate New York that’s for married couples looking to rekindle their romance.”
My stomach turns at the thought of my parents at a sex camp. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s what it sounds like. In my mind, they had sex to have a kid, and once the deed was accomplished, they never did it again.
“While I was there, I realized how short life is and how mine is coming to a close. I decided then and there that I was going to become a better version of myself. I want to enjoy what little time I have left, and that includes letting everyone else enjoy their time too. All that matters is happiness. Yours. Mine. Ours. Does he make you happy, Iris?”
“Who?” I ask, because I’m still processing everything she just said.
“Brax, silly.”
“The happiest I’ve ever been.”
Mom reaches out and cradles my cheek in her hand. “Honey, that is the best news. You look better than you have in years. I can see the joy in your eyes again, and I know that handsome man put it there.”
And if I am honest, this is the first time I’ve ever seen joy in my parents’ eyes too. They seem so at peace with everything, which is the opposite of the people who raised me.
“This is so weird,” I whisper.
“I spent my entire life miserable, and when we went to that retreat, I realized life didn’t need to be that way. I didn’t have to be that way. Your father felt it too. We were both so moved by everything, we came back new people.”
“Are you sure they didn’t drug you or do a brain experiment?” I ask her.
She snatches me into her arms, squeezing me so tightly I practically lift off the ground. “No, baby, this is the new and better me. I’m going to spend my last however many years enjoying every single bit of life, and that includes meeting your man’s family.”
“Okay,” I say, because what else is there to say at this point. I won’t believe she is completely changed until they make it through the entire day with his family without some kind of snide remark.
“Now, can we go inside and meet everyone? It’s too cold to be out here this long.”
I shiver, the weather finally hitting me. I’d been too lost in thought about how body snatchers took my parents that I hadn’t even felt the cold winter air against my skin. “Yes.”
When we step into the bar, my dad is already deep into the dining room with Brax. They’re talking to Brax’s father, and my dad is laughing at something Angelo’s said.
“It’s all so weird,” I whisper at my mother’s side.
“Well, get used to it, sweetheart. This is us now. We’re happy people.”
“Still weird,” I mutter.
“Oh my goodness. You must be Beverly,” Tilly says, rushing toward my mother with her arms outstretched.
Old Beverly would’ve recoiled like a snake about to strike, but this version of her holds out her arms too and accepts the hug like she’s been doing it her entire life.
“I’m Tilly, and we love your daughter. She’s the sweetest thing. ”
Mom smiles at Tilly, and it’s genuine, which, before today, I’ve never seen her pull off. “We’ve heard great things about Brax, and he makes our daughter happy.”
“He worships her,” Tilly tells her.
“I like to hear that,” Mom says.
“Iris, do you mind if I take your mother to meet everyone?” Tilly asks me.
“No. Go ahead as long as it’s okay with my mom.”
“I’d love that,” Mom says, sloughing off her winter coat and handing it to me.
I watch as my mother walks away with Tilly, both of them full of smiles as they chat and move around the room.
“What’s wrong?” Brax mouths as he leaves my father’s side and comes toward me.
“Those aren’t my parents,” I whisper.
He blinks a few times as he stares at me. “What?”
“They’re too nice. Something happened to them.”
“They must’ve changed,” he replies, like that makes it normal.
“They went to a sex retreat.”
“They what?”
“Mom said they went to a retreat and it changed their lives. It was a sex place.”
“She said it was a sex place?”
I shake my head. “But that’s what it was. Sex, Brax.” I blanch, and I am happy I have nothing in my stomach yet.
“They’re adults,” he says.
“They’re old.”
“We’ll be old too someday, Iris, and I plan on still bending you over and having you as often as possible.”
I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry as I gaze into his dark eyes. “I like that.”
“Me too.” He winks at me. “And they do too, obviously.”
I groan. “I don’t want to think about it.”
“Well, looks like some orgasms have done them good,” he says, ticking his head toward my parents, who look like they’ve always been here and belong around this nice family that’s always so full of love.
“You said he was nice when you called them.”
Brax begged for me to let him call my parents and invite them to town to meet everyone. I wasn’t sure it was the right time, but then again, there would never be a good time with my parents the way I knew them to be. When he got off the phone with my father, he said it was a good talk and my dad was a cool guy. I thought he was lying to make me feel better, but now I’m not sure what to think anymore.
“He was.”
My gaze travels across the bar to where my mother and father are. Tino’s shaking my father’s hand, but his eyes are locked on my mother. He does a funny bow and then scoops her hand up, kissing the top of it. He’s a flirt, and how Betty hasn’t knocked him over the head a time or two is beyond me.
“Oh boy,” I mutter.
“The man never changes. He lays it on thick, thick,” Brax says as I snake my arm around his back and press my body into his side.
“You’re a lot like him.”
He peers down at me and smiles. “You think?”
“All the good stuff, of course,” I place my hand on his chest, looking out across the bar to where my parents are melting into his family easily.
Tate walks out of the kitchen with a massive tray of champagne flutes, something they never do for normal family dinners.
“What’s with the champagne?”
“Special occasion,” he says as he takes me by the hand and makes his way through the bar, weaving in and out of family members.
“What’s the special occasion?” I ask him, following close behind so I don’t walk into anyone.
“You’ll see.”
A moment later, we’re in front of the bar and everyone in the room. Before I can ask another question, Brax drops down on one knee and is holding a box in his hand.
If I thought I was breathless outside, I’m more so now.
Brax takes my hand as the room goes quiet. “Iris, the last few months have been the best of my life, and that’s because you came into this bar and sat on the stool behind me. I never want to spend a day without you. When you’re not with me, all I do is think about you. I crave you. I want you. I need you. I was yours from the moment your lips touched mine, and I want you to be mine forever.” He lifts the box higher and flips open the top. “Will you do me the honor of marrying me and being mine forever?”
I cover my mouth with my hand as tears prick my eyes. The ring is stunning. I couldn’t have picked out anything prettier myself. It’s a simple princess cut diamond that’s so big, it may look weird on my thin fingers, but I’ll deal with it. Though, none of that matters. He could’ve made a ring out of pipe cleaners and my answer would be the same.
“Yes,” I whisper and throw myself against him before he has a chance to slide the ring on my finger. “Yes.”
Brax wraps his arms around me as he stumbles backward, falling on his ass. His mouth finds mine, stealing any other words I have immediately.
The room erupts around us into clapping and congratulations, but the sound is light and distant because every fiber of me is lost in the kiss.
I thought that if someone ever asked me to marry them again, I’d hesitate to give an answer after what happened with Lucas. But there is something about Brax that makes everything that came before the day we met not important or such a distant memory that it plays no part in how I react.
When we finally break our kiss, I look him straight in the eyes and shake my head. “That’s why you wanted my parents to come here.”
“I had to ask your dad for your hand.”
“So old-fashioned.”
“I’m a gentleman,” he whispers against my lips.
“Lies,” I say, laughing at all the times he’s tossed me around and been very ungentlemanly in the bedroom. It’s one of the things I like most about him.
Tate stops next to us with the tray. “Champagne?” she asks.
“Yes,” I tell her, grabbing two glasses from her overfull tray.
“Congrats, sis,” she says to me.
I like the sound of that. “Thanks, sis,” I say back, feeling happier than I’ve ever felt in my life.
“So, are we eloping?” Brax asks me as I give him his glass of champagne.
“I want my toes in the sand,” I tell him as I clink my glass to his.
He winces but nods. “Anything you want, you get. But I’m wearing shoes.”
I lean forward, pressing my lips to his.
“Mine,” he growls against my mouth, sending tingles scattering everywhere inside me.
“Yours,” I breathe, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so loved.