“Charlie!” the girls shout in unison, bounding toward the door together. Fritz stands beside me, his nerves over the coming evening palpable.
The girls stand side by side at the door, speaking to Charlie and his husband, Mike. They’re passing out hug after hug, forgetting completely to come inside.
“You ready for this?” Fritz asks me, deciding to give them all a minute to talk without our interference. From our vantage point, we can see them, but unless they were really searching, they might not see us.
“Me? Of course,” I respond, sipping on my own— admittedly delicious— drink whilst silently watching the exchange. The two men share a beaming, quiet smile between hugs with Isla and Bel. The two of them gaze at each other like the whole world is in the other’s eyes, and I already know why Bel loves them so dearly.
They watch the girls with indulgent, adoring smiles, knowing full well that Isla and Bel are already on their way past tipsy.
One of the men is incredibly tall, nearly as tall as Eamon, smiling cheeks glowing sepia in the bright hallway lighting, while the other looks as though he could very well be related to me, with a similar build and golden complexion, and eyes that sparkle amber as they look upon his husband.
Continuing our discussion, I ask Fritz, “Areyouready to meet the most important men in Belissenda’s life? You know we’ll have to make a good impression on them.”
He groans quietly before shaking off the negative thoughts, “It’ll be fine. They love Bel, they only want what’s best for her. And that’s us.” Downing the rest of the cocktail in his hand, he places it on the island and taps my arm with the back of his hand, “Let’s go introduce ourselves.”
I walk up behind Bel, tapping her on the shoulder and teasing, “Belissenda, are you going to let them come in or would you rather have dinner in the hallway?”
With scattered laughter, Bel and her loved ones remember themselves and finally make their way inside. Bel puts a hand on my arm, face turning pink at having to explain who we are to these two men she holds in such high regard.
“This is Caspian. Caspian, this is Charlie,” the taller man reaches out a hand to shake mine, and I take it, mirroring his brilliant smile. “And Charlie’s husband, Mike.” I shake the other man’s hand, urging them inside.
Fritz comes up quickly behind me, holding up two of the pretty pink cocktails he prepared, “Hey guys. I’m Fritz.” He hands them a drink, one by one, before shaking their hands, “So nice to meet you. Thanks for making it all this way. Bel talks about you guys all the time.” I can feel his nervous rambling about to begin. I contemplate how I can ease him off the edge of the cliff he’s about to throw himself from.
Instead, Bel laces her fingers through his hand, and he instantly takes a calming breath. He has a very strictno meddlingrule tonight, and I think perhaps speaking to people and feeling their emotions without being allowed to influence them will be a test of willpower for him.
“We are very happy to be here,” Mike takes a sip of his drink and gives it a double take, a grin taking over his face before adding, “We’ve heard so much about you two already. This is delicious.”
Fritz grins, “It’s made with Prosecco I ordered straight from Italy.Cost me a pretty penny, but nothing for the best for our Bel’s family.”
Mike and Charlie share another smile before turning their attention entirely on Bel and Isla once again, demanding to know everything that’s happened over the last few weeks and what spurred the sudden decision to move to Las Vegas like this.
They seem to be approaching the situation with a healthy amount of skepticism, as is understandable. But they’re still outwardly showing nothing but support for our girl. She recounts the story we determined we had to tell outsiders about her hand, and they seem mildly horrified.
If they only knew the truth, they’d take her and run as far from here as they could.
“Holy shit, is this actually going really well?” Fritz asks, sidling up next to me to watch as the four of them seat themselves at the table. We watch momentarily as they catch up and laugh about some joke that only makes sense to the four of them. Bel’s eyes meet ours, and we both give her reassuring grins, loving that she has her chosen family around her once again.
Charlie comments on her dark locks, and her smile only slips for a second before she laughs about her impulsivity and explains that it’s new hair for the new her.
“Wait, who’s missing?” Isla pipes up after a few minutes.
After a beat of silence, I ask, “What do you meanwho’s missing?” my eyes narrowing on the person who was responsible for breaking the news to her.
“Well there’s six of us, and seven place settings,” she gestures to the remaining seats at the round table Fritz got for just this occasion. “Who else is—you didn’t,” she narrows her eyes at the same guilty party.
I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen Fritz genuinely terrified. Nearly all of them occurred when Belissenda was gone. And yet, the fear paling him now might be more severe than even then.
“Shit. I thought Bel was going to tell you,” he mutters.
“Tell mewhat,Fritz?” I can see Isla fighting against the rage building inside her.
“No way,” Bel cuts in, “You lost the bet about telling her. I’m sorry, Isla. We just— aftereverything,” she looks pointedly at the two men who are currently looking very confused and concerned, “we couldn’t exactly let him be alone at Christmas.”
Charlie laughs, trying to smooth out the rising tension. “Who is it? How bad could they be if they’re invited for Christmas dinner, Isla?”
Before any of us can answer, there’s a knock at the door. I close my eyes and tip my head to the ceiling, readying myself for the disaster that’s sure to come tonight. But that’s Fritz’s mess to clean up. I’m in charge of dinner, and it’s almost finished.
“It- it’s no big deal,” Bel assures everyone, though her heart rate is steadily climbing. She stands from the table they’ve gathered around and makes her way toward the door.
