“Congrats, guys!” Nathan follows suit while a line forms as everyone comes to congratulate us.
We are all finally sitting down to finish our dinner when the doorbell rings again. Maw-Maw jumps up, her fork clattering to the plate. “I’ll get it!” she shouts as she hightails it out of the dining room.
“What is that about?” Silas whispers as he leans over to steal a bite of my roll.
“Hey, asshole, don’t steal my food! I’m eating for three!” I elbow him.
It makes me so happy to see all of my family and friends enjoying each other's company and spending the holidays together. The kids have finished eating and are now running around playing and trying to convince everyone to be done with dinner so they can eat their desserts.
I’m talking to Chris and Nathan about work and how things have been when Maw-Maw walks back in with a man following her. She looks over at me and gives me the ‘You better be on your best behavior look.’ I raise my eyebrow at her and take a glance at the man following her. He’s around sixty or sixty-five, six foot even, with salt and pepper hair, and blue eyes. You can tell he has a happy demeanor just by the smile lines around his face.
I stand up and go to meet the mystery man followed by a wall of man meat, and judging by the narrowing of her eyes, Maw-Maw isn’t amused at all. This is going to be so much fun.
I extend my hand out to him. “Hi, I’m Isla, Emmalynn’s grand-daughter, and you are?”
He accepts my handshake. “Hello, I’m Will. I’ve heard a lot about you and your family. These must be your men?” he gestures to the guys behind me.
“It’s nice to meet you, although it seems someone was keeping secrets,” I jokingly glare at my grandmother. “And to answer your question, yes. That’s Bodie, Callum, Orin, Odin, and Silas.” I point each guy out, and they all shake his hand. Of course, the kids take that moment to run over.
“Maw-Maw, who’s that?” Lochlan asks, walking over to stand beside Bodie.
“Yes, Maw-Maw, who’s this?” I ask her, raising my eyebrow at the death stare I’m getting.
“Well, kiddos, this is Will. We met at the gym. We’ve been seeing each other for a couple of weeks and I figured now was as good a time as any to introduce him. I assumed everyone would be on their best behavior,” she says, cutting her eyes at me.
“What? I'm always on my best behavior. I don’t know what you're talking about.” I give her a sickly sweet smile.
“Yeah, yeah, you brat. If it's okay with you, I’d love to get him some food. Y’all can interrogate him later, but I should let you know, he’s a lawyer.” She winks and takes his hand, leading him over to the food.
The rest of us go back to the table we are sitting at and begin to move things around to make room for the new addition.
“Babygirl, how do you feel about this new development?” Orin asks, brushing my hair off my shoulder so he can place a soft kiss there.
“I mean, of course I want her to be happy. It’s been a long time since Paw-Paw died, and she’s basically been alone since then after I left. It’s just weird seeing her with someone else. They were soul mates and were so in love. I want someone who will treat her like that again.”
“All we can do is support her and make sure we are there for her. Hopefully, he ends up being a good man. If not, we will run him off.” Silas chuckles as he says the last part.
“Shh, here they come.” Bodie kicks Silas under the table as he goes to open his mouth again.
“So, Isla, Will is actually the lawyer I was talking about to take care of that other issue we had.” She looks down at the kids to convey her meaning since they obviously don't know the wicked witch is back.
“Hey, kids, why don’t y’all go play with Mr. Chris and Mr. Nathan?” Callum plucks Vivi out of Silas’s lap and walks the kids over to the guys, leaning down to whisper in Chris’s ear. Chris nods and starts playing with kiddos to distract them.
Once Callum is sitting back down, I turn to Will. “What do I need to do about that? I have all the paperwork from all her previous attempts as well as the restraining order.”
He chuckles. “Dear, you don’t have to do anything. I’ve already sent a cease and desist letter that informed her and her lawyers that if she tries to contact you or anyone in your family, she will be liable to be sued for half a million dollars. I filed all the paperwork for restraining orders for everyone living in the house.”
“Wow, that’s great. Is this the normal type of law you practice, and what do I do when she contacts me? Because she will, without a doubt. She is extremely narcissistic, and according to her beliefs, she can never do any wrong.”
“You call me. I’ll make sure everyone has my number, and I’ll handle it from there. Record everything if possible. Every bit of evidence will help. As for the business practice, no. I’m actually the main corporate lawyer for the biggest Fortune 500 company in the state. However, I do practice family law on the side pro bono.”
“Well, it’s nice to know I have a great lawyer this time. I barely won the last time she tried this,” I sigh sadly.
Arden comes running up to me. “Mommy, can we get dessert now? Please?” He gives me his puppy dog eyes.
I pull him in for a hug and kiss all over his face making him giggle. “Yeah, I think we can, sweetheart. Sit down, and I’ll fix y’alls plates.”
“Sit, Angel, I got it.” Bodie kisses my head when he stands up.
