‘Mommm,’ I groan and thankfully she retracts her hand.
‘I’m just saying, he’s very good-looking.’
‘I mean, his side job is modelling, so I think everyone is well aware of how hot he is.’
‘My son with a model. I raised you right.’ She pats my head happily and moves out of the way to welcome us in.
Johannes doesn’t get a second to adjust before he’s led into the large sitting room full of kids and grandkids. He goes through twenty introductions before he’s even been offered a drink or a place to sit. And then he’s pulled into a conversation with Sebastian about cars and I’ve lost him.
I linger in the doorway, watching him converse with my nephew, who hangs off his every word like he’s the coolest person he’s ever met. The youngest pair, Erica being seven and Brent four, crowd him and pull him to sit down on the floor. Brent being the clinger he is quickly climbs into his lap as he talks about how fast he can go. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen and while I’m half sure I don’t want children, it’s nice to see that if we ever considered it that he’d be good with them. He doesn’t even bat an eye when Erica starts to stroke his bald head as if trying to inspect for hair.
‘He’s a good one,’ Mom comments from where she’s standing behind me, also watching the scene unfold.
‘He is,’ I confirm. I haven’t always been grateful for the home my parents continued to expand as the family grew, but it’s nice to have this ridiculously large living room for occasions like this when we’re all together. It’s nice to bring Johannes into this when he’s been an only child his whole life and for so long only really felt a true connection with his best friend.
Talking about expanding family, my eyes scan to where my oldest niece, who’s only six years younger than me, has what looks like a growing belly. ‘Is Laurie…?’
‘Pregnant, yes sireee. Great-grandbaby number one is on its way. She and Euwin are getting married next summer, but the baby will be here first. Modern-day love huh?’
‘Wow, I hope someone’s prepared to tell Brent he’s not going to be the baby of the family anymore. Kid ain’t gonna like that.’ He’s sucking his thumb in Johannes’s lap, the other hand playing with the ruffles on Johannes’s shirt. He was a bit of a surprise when Damon and Jessie thought they were done after Erica, so everyone naturally showers him with love for the little miracle he is. He’s way too used to it now and expects it from everyone. Even strangers he’s never met before, like Johannes.
‘I’m leaving that up to Jessie and Damon. Your momma’s got plenty of love to give, though.’
‘You really like him, though?’
‘Yeah, I do. Look how happy you are! I couldn’t not like him even if I tried, plus this is the earliest you’ve been home in the off-season, and while I know you’re saying you won’t be here for long, I love that he’s already brought you home.’
I guess she’s right. I’m normally not back until a day or two before Christmas and probably don’t stick around long enough, which is on me. But it’s not always been easy coming home as the single, childless brother.
‘I mean it, baby, you picked a good one. Momma approves.’
She sweeps into the room and gets caught up immediately in a conversation with Laurie and Miley, Damon’s oldest, but I’m happy to watch from the sidelines until dinner.
Dinner is chaos, so many people and way too much food, but Johannes slots in perfectly. Everyone loves him.
* * *
‘I’m so stuffed,’ Johannes complains as we lie in bed later on, the sheets rumpled around us from a make-out session, because under Mom’s roof, that’s as much as I can manage. It had been really hard to say no when the kissing turned to grinding and dry-humping, but we’d both been good little boys and called it quits.
He’s massaging his belly, boxer shorts pushed down a little revealing the happy little trail of hair he seems to be growing. I want nothing more than to kiss down it till I’m mouthing at his bulge, but we have six more nights here and if we give in now that’s six breakfasts I’m going to have to endure with the reddest face my parents will ever have seen.
‘I told you not to have that last rib.’
‘I don’t think it was the rib, I think it was the banoffee pie. I love the off-season and being able to eat whatever I want for the first couple weeks, but you Americans take it too far.’ Mom had gone way too hard refilling his plate and offering him all the extras in the world, and Johannes seemed incapable of saying no to her.
He snuggles into being the little spoon for the night, my arms wrapped around him, our thighs slotted together like we’re clinging to each other.
‘I love you, you know?’ I whisper into his neck. Even if today hadn’t gone well and my mom hadn’t fallen head over heels in love with him, I’d still have loved him.
‘Love you, too, now let me sleep.’
I smile as the house is finally quiet, despite the ridiculous amount of people it’s housing tonight, even though two of my brothers have houses on this street. Johannes dozes off, sleepy snores escaping his mouth, and for a few minutes longer I lie there in the darkness thinking about the fact that I’ve finally found someone to put down roots with and how I couldn’t imagine it ever being anyone other than Johannes Müller anymore.
