He’s starting to fill out a little and his voice seems to have settled on a lower octave. He even smiles more these days. I’m not sure if he ever talked to Tse—that’s between them—but it wouldn’t surprise me. Ravi is much more at ease with both of us.
“Yeah. I was just wondering, not that it’s any of my business, but he seems to fit in well.”
I press my lips together to prevent myself from smiling too big.
The truth is, Tse and I were just talking about the possibility of Ravi moving here with us, once the addition is done, just a few days ago. Tse brought it up and didn’t have to sell me on the idea. Both of them deserve a loving family after having the start in life they did.
Over the summer I’ve grown to love the kid and, eventually, once the babies are here and we’ve all had a chance to get used to each other, I’d like to look into the possibility of adopting him. Only if he wants that too, though.
“He does,” I admit, looking over at the men and noticing Van hovering around, waiting for scraps to fall. “Even the dog is more loyal to him than he is to either one of us.”
Suddenly the dog’s single ear perks up, he barks, and then he takes off running around the side of the house. Ravi runs after him, trying to call him back.
Tse looks over at me.
“Were you expecting anyone else?”
I shake my head and get to my feet.
“Would you excuse me?” I tell Meredith, but before I can take a step I hear a voice.
“Surprise! Look at you! I swear you’ve grown a foot!”
My groan is apparently loud enough for Meredith to hear and she promptly starts laughing.
“Nothing like unexpected visitors.”
I bulge my eyes at her.
“You don’t even know the half of it.”
Blossom comes sailing around the side of the house, scarves billowing in her wake, almost obscuring my father with his arm around Ravi, who follow behind her. She hugs and kisses Tse, who is used to her exuberance, but then she turns to Jay, who appears to freeze when she opens her arms to him as well.
Beside me Meredith can’t seem to stop laughing, and I’m mortified watching my mother ignore every physical stop sign Jay is throwing off as she wraps him in a one-sided hug.
“Blossom! Please don’t manhandle my guests!” I cry out.
“Chill, baby-girl!” she yells back. “The man clearly needed a hug.”
I quickly make introductions, hoping to spare Meredith from my mother’s assault, but to no avail. Once Blossom is on a roll…
I can feel my blood pressure rising—once again my folks arrive unannounced—but when I look over at Tse with his arm hooked around Ravi’s neck, both of them grinning wide, the roaring in my ears dims. Tse glances over and winks at me, and I can’t help but smile too.
To my surprise, Meredith and my mother hit it off. They apparently have an interest in organic living in common, and Meredith doesn’t seem to mind when Blossom probes her for gory stories related to her job. Hardly appropriate dinner conversation. That doesn’t seem to bother Ravi, who has made his way over to our little group and seems equally fascinated with the morbid details.
Duff is keeping the men company, discussing the merits of grilling with the lid open or closed. Despite the conflicting opinions, the food gets cooked and we’re able to sit down for dinner.
We sit at the old picnic table I picked up for a steal a while back and spruced up. Tse had called it scrap wood, but I loved the way previous users had carved initials and names into the weathered boards. By the time I had lightly sanded it down, preserving as much of its carved history as I could, and given it a couple of clear coats of polyurethane, even he had to admit it looked good.
The night is beautiful and Meredith and Jay stay long enough to enjoy the fire Ravi builds us, until I start nodding off on Tse’s lap. Suddenly everyone gets up at the same time and within ten minutes the house is empty, except for Ravi, who opted to crash on the couch when Tse offered.
Tse grabs a pillow and some sheets for the kid while I head upstairs and get ready for bed.
“That was a good night,” Tse rumbles when he crawls into bed behind me.
His body curves protectively against my back and one of his big hands immediately finds my belly. This has become our new way to sleep, now that the baby bump is getting in the way.
“It was,” I mumble, feeling his lips on my neck.
I cover his hand on my stomach with my own and snuggle a little farther back. I’m already drifting off when I hear him whisper.
“Best thing that ever happened to me.”
EPILOGUE
Tse
January.
“WHERE IS SOPHIA?”
I watch Mel Morgan—a lawyer the club sometimes uses when dealing with Child Protective Services—walk toward me. A stunning woman, with long silver hair, a do-not-give-a-shit-what-anyone-thinks attitude, and tough as nails. She also dresses like a recalcitrant teenager, in ripped jeans, old concert T-shirt, worn hoodie, and Chucks on her feet. The latter only because it’s cold as fuck outside, otherwise she’d be in bare feet or wearing flip-flops.
Mel’s daughter, Lindsey—also her legal assistant—is more appropriately dressed for a law office. I’m pretty sure Mel must’ve had her when she was still a kid herself, seeing as Lindsey is probably mid to late twenties and Mel can’t be a whole lot older than me.
She may not look the part, but she is sharp as a tack and is helping us get guardianship of Ravi. We’d initially planned to wait until after the house was finished, but with Sophia now ordered on bed rest—the result of high blood pressure—and more early snow than normal, work on the house has slowed down. Unless I can convince her to stay at
