Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Alex

I wake up to Mae snuggled into my side, holding on for dear life. After the reception, we came back to my house and spent the night making up for the lost time of the night before. Today we are going to lunch with my parents so that she can meet my family. My sister is so excited that she has texted me multiple times about what foods Mae likes. You would think that she was the one in the relationship with Mae.

I look over at the clock and see that it is already ten in the morning. As much as I love laying here holding Mae, we need to get up and get ready to go. I brush some hair from her face and kiss her forehead. She stirs and smiles sweetly.

"Good morning, Baby," I whisper to her.

"MMMMM. Morning. What time is it?" Her voice is raspy and deeper than normal.

"It's ten. Are you feeling alright? Your voice sounds off." I am genuinely concerned because Mae never sounds like this, even first thing in the morning.

"Yeah. I think my throat is just dry. Don't worry, I'm not trying to get out of meeting your family." She chuckles at herself.

It has been an ongoing joke this week that she would try to weasel her way out of the lunch.  She is nervous to meet my family, which is understandable. After all the stories that I have told her, I'm sure they make her nervous.

"I know you aren't because I would hunt you down if you did." she starts laughing, and it is music to my ears.

*******

As we pull up into my parent's driveway I look over and see her playing with her fingers, her nervous habit. I place my hand on hers and give her a big smile.

"You'll do fine."

"What if they don't like me? What if they think I'm a gold digger or something?" She has that deer caught in the headlights look on her face.

"They are going to love you, and if anything they are going to suffocate you with all their attention."

We get out of the car and walk up to the door only to find it open already. There stands my three-year-old niece looking up at me. She puts her arms in the arm and makes the pick-me-up motion.

"Mae, this is Macy, my niece. Macy, this is Mae."

"Hi, Macy. You look pretty today." Macy blushes and jumps down from my arms. She takes off running into the house screaming as we follow.

"Mommy. Untle Alex is here with his hot piece of ass."

My face pales as I hear what she says. Mae bursts out laughing, and I can hear my sister and mother yelling at my brother for teaching her those words. Macy has problems saying certain words so for her to get most of that sentence out perfectly means that she has been practicing.

"I am so sorry for my child. Her Uncle Todd thought it would be great to teach her some new words." My sister Katie says as she walks over to us.

"It's fine. I thought it was cute. Although I would describe myself as that." Mae says giggling.

"I would. If I were straight I'd do ya." Todd says while walking over.

His husband Eric follows behind him and slaps the back of his head. The two of them act more like best friends than a married couple. They were friends all through our childhood, and once they went to separate colleges the first year things changed. They realized that they couldn't stand to be apart and they loved each other.

"Stop being an ass. I'm right here you douche. Hi, I'm Eric the normal one in the relationship." He sticks his hand out and shakes Mae's.

We stand here for a few minutes talking until my mother calls us to all come into the living room where the old people and kids are. I look over to Mae and notice that any nervousness that she had is now gone. She has a carefree smile on her lips, and she glows.

"Alex, she's gorgeous. Honey, are you sure you want to go out with this boy? I mean, you look like a smart woman, maybe you should think about it."  My jaw hits the floor as I hear what my mother has to say to Mae.

"I'm pretty sure Mam. I love Alex even if he is below my league." I look at Mae and can't believe my ears.

The two of them burst out into laughter as I stand there looking around wondering what in the hell just happened. My father sits there and is doing his best to not laugh, but it doesn't take long for him to start as well.

"My name is Jacki and this is my husband Ronald. We are so glad to finally get to meet you. Alex has told us so much about you that I feel like we already know you." My mom pulls Mae into a hug.

For the next few minutes, Mae and my parents talk and get aquatinted while I go and round up the kids. Macy, of course, is the easiest to get a hold of, but her older twin brothers, Nathan and James are another story.

At five years old the twins are into everything. They love pranking people so the entire time that they are around me, I am looking over my shoulder to see what kind of tricks they are planning. Their father, Sam, has taught them well.

Sam and Katie were high school sweethearts who married and are living the American dream. Sam works as an accountant while Katie stays at home with the kids. The two of them make it all work, and I still can't figure out the secret of how.

Once we are all sitting around the table we dig into lunch and the conversation is started about how Mae and I met. Katie asks Mae what she thought of me that first day. I sit waiting patiently to hear what she thought.

"He was very distracting. I was nervous because I knew that it would be a hard sell to the couple, so I was trying to be on my a game. He kept looking at me and smiling, and I felt like my face was going to burst into flames." Everyone laughs at this, and Mae smiles.

"What did you think about her son?" My dad asks.

"I thought she was simply amazing. She's beautiful without realizing it, and she was just so different from all the women that I've been around. I was honestly trying to figure out a way to get her to go out with me."  I took her hand and kissed it as I said all this.

After that conversations broke out between the men, and then the women were talking about something different. I sat and watched as Mae interacted with my mom and sister. It was like they had been good friends for years. They all three had smiles on their faces, and they were laughing. I even heard plans about going shopping and out to eat together soon.

All this made me see that I had been missing so much in life that I never knew. I want a family of my own. I want the craziness of kids running around and family dinners. I want all of this, and I want it with Mae. She will be moving in with me, and that will be the start.

Later that evening, we head over to Mae's to start packing some of her things. We decided that we would move into my house since it's bigger and I own it. As we walk up to her door, I notice there is some splintered wood around her nob.

"Wait out here and call the police. I think you've been broken into." Mae's face morphs into a horrified look.

She nods and steps back to make the call. I lightly push on the door and can tell that it is open. As the door swings into the room, I see broken furniture and stuff all over the floor. I step into the living room and see broken dishes all on the kitchen floor. I turn and go back out into the hall to see a crying Mae.

"Is it bad?" She asks, sobbing.

"Yeah, they did a good bit of damage. I'm so sorry, Baby." I pull her into my arms and hold her close.

The police arrive, and we find out that there have been multiple break-ins in this building today. All of Mae's valuables were taken, and everything else was ruined. After going through the apartment with the police, we were able to gather what we could salvage. It only amounted to some closes and a few pictures, but it was better than nothing. We made plans to come back tomorrow to go through the rest.

Mae's landlord was very understanding, and when we told him she would be breaking her lease, he was willing to let her out with no penalties for leaving early. I called my assistant and told him that I'll be taking the day off tomorrow, and possibly even the next day.

Rosetta, Max, and Erica all turn up at my house that evening to check on Mae. She was shaken but still smiling. They were all happy for our news of living together but upset at the apartment break-in. That night Mae was plagued with nightmares, and I did all  I could to reassure her she was safe.

As She finally falls back asleep I vow to myself that I will keep her safe. I will be the one to keep her safe for the rest of her life.