Knowing she’d see right through me anyway, I simply nodded in return.
“I like her, and I hope it works out for you,”she signed, smiling back at me before giving me a big hug.
Iris and Rita walked out from the kitchen, and I chose to take that as my opportunity.
“All done?” I asked Iris, and as soon as she nodded in response, I grabbed her hand. “Good. Let’s go take Sarge out.”
I heard Rita chuckle behind me, but I didn’t care.
“I apologize on behalf of my entire family for anything that was said,” I told her as we walked down the gravel drive to Sarge’s favorite spot.
Iris snickered next to me. “Your family is really nice, Hector. Your mom told me that she’s already picked out baby names for us and that you are prime dad material.”
I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to her, shocked, my eyes as wide as they could possibly get. “She told youwhat?”
Iris full out laughed now. “Just kidding, but she did tell me that your sister Rita doesn’t want kids, and Dani is too young, so the family lineage—and her hopes ofmultiple grandbabies—lies with you. No pressure,” she said, smiling up at me.
“You do know that her telling you that means she hopes thatyouwill be the one to give her those babies, yes?”
“Relax, Hector,” she said, starting to walk forward again, and I followed. “I told her I don’t sign contracts without reading the fine print first.”
I said nothing in response, but internally I would have enjoyed seeing the look on my mom’s face when Iris said that.
“Maybe she just sees something between us that you’re too broody to admit,” she said. “Guess it’s a good thing I don’t scare too easily when it comes to you.”
God, this woman. I’d spent years building walls and keeping people out, and this woman was bulldozing them faster than a speeding bullet.
“Do you want kids…eventually, I mean?” she asked me, trying to sound nonchalant about it, but there was definitely genuine curiosity.
“I did when I was younger, and I can’t say that I don’t anymore, but I’m not getting any younger,” I told her honestly. “You usually have to be married or at least in a relationship for that to happen, and I haven’t had either of those.”
I chose to deflect instead of allowing her to ask me more questions. “What about you?”
“I definitely want kids,” she responded. “I’d likeseveral, but they don’t have to be mine biologically. I’m open to adoption like my family did.”
I was happy for her that she’d ended up with such a good adopted family, because not every child did. She deserved to have a family of her own, and I wanted that for her. I found myself wanting to be the one to give it to her—a thought I had never had with any other woman. Ever.
We walked to the side of the gravel driveway where it was a little flatter, and Iris started to throw the tennis ball for Sarge.
I just stood by and watched her, enjoying the view of her sexy body in front of me and her contagious laugh as she played with Sarge. I wouldn’t mind having her around more to enjoy days like today—minus my crazy family.
We finally made our way back up to my house, only to find JT and Rita making out on my front porch.
“Dude, could you not feel up my sister right in front of me?” I asked my brother-in-law.
“Could I? Sure,” he responded. “Am I gonna stop? Nope.”
And he didn’t.
“If you want, I can go tell your mom they’re about to make her a grandbaby on the front porch,” Iris suggested with an evil grin.
I laughed, genuinely laughed, at the thought of my mom coming out to chat about babies and essentially cock-blocking JT in the process.
Despite having just finished eating breakfast less thanthirty minutes ago, there was so much food back on the table. In the time we had walked Sarge, my mom had cooked up the chilaquiles and my father had whipped up some sangria.
My mother’s side of the family was from Mexico, and my father’s side was Portuguese and Spanish. They said all the time that food was their love language, especially when we had large family gatherings.
Two more meals, three games, and four pitchers of sangria later, my family was all finally packing up for the day and headed home.
