“I know, it’s just…I worry.” Her mother gestured them inside. “Mark, it’s good to see you again.”
“You too, ma’am. Thank you for the invitation.”
Her mother gave him a startled look. While Mark had always been polite, and especially in her parents’ presence, he hadn’t picked up the “ma’am” and “sir” habit until he joined the military. In high school, he’d called her parents Mr. and Mrs. Flynn.
“Please call me Paula,” her mom told him.
“Yes, ma’am…Paula.” Mark looked as uncomfortable as Jessica had ever seen him.
“Need any help in the kitchen?” she asked her mother.
“Always,” her mom said with a laugh. “The turkey’s almost finished roasting, but everything else is a work in progress. Nicole and I have got it under control for now. Why don’t you and Mark go on into the living room for a bit? The guys are watching the game.”
“Okay,” Jessica agreed. She’d rather go help her mom and sister in the kitchen, but she needed to make Mark comfortable first. “It smells amazing in here.”
“My favorite meal of the year,” Paula said.
“Mine too,” Jessica agreed, although she doubted she’d be able to eat much of it this year. Her stomach lurched at the thought.
Mark had gone noticeably silent, hanging back as she talked to her mother.
“Mark, there’s beer in the fridge in the garage. Help yourself to whatever you’d like,” Paula told him.
He nodded. “Thank you.”
Jessica smiled as she took him through the kitchen—dropping off her pie and saying hello to Nicole as they passed—to the garage. She went up on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. “You okay?”
“It’s weird having your mom offer me beer,” he said, and she laughed.
“It’s probably weird for her too, but tonight’s all about introducing them to the adult version of you.”
He grabbed a beer from the fridge, and she led the way into the living room, where her father, Brennan, Patrick, and Dennis sat watching football. “Dad, Bren, you remember Mark. Mark, this is Nicole’s husband, Dennis, and Brennan’s husband, Patrick.”
They raised their hands in greeting. All of the younger men wore wide, friendly smiles. Her father simply tipped his head in acknowledgment of her introduction. Jessica’s stomach tightened. Her dad had never approved of her dating Mark, and he’d been outraged by the way Mark dumped her when he enlisted. Could he find his way past it to accept Mark back into the family?
