“Well, I wouldn’t know about that since my first love got me into a lot of trouble. But yeah, I like her. She seems grounded and reasonable and not flighty and all into Nathan just because he’s the quarterback. She seems to have her own goals and ambitions. So that reassures me.”

“I’m sure it does.” Liz was a bit reassured, too. She wished Nathan didn’t have a girlfriend at all, but she supposed that was a bit unrealistic. He was in college and out on his own now, and he needed to have some fun, to grow up some and become a man. He was going to likely have a lot of girlfriends in his lifetime.

She wasn’t his mother, so she had no idea why she was so nervous about Nathan getting involved with Sonja. She should just let it go.

But she did watch them during dinner, when the family could really get noisy, talking over each other and often arguing over the most innocuous topic. Maybe they were on their best behavior tonight because Sonja was there and they didn’t want to scare her off, but it was relatively calm. Plus, the baby was still awake and he captured a lot of attention. In fact, Nathan sat next to Sam and he and Sonja entertained him during dinner, feeding him and making him laugh.

Sonja seemed at ease with the family, which didn’t happen often with strangers. After dinner she even helped Tara in the kitchen.

“You seem pretty comfortable around our crazy family,” Liz remarked as she, Tara, Alicia, and Jenna, along with Gavin’s mom and Alicia’s mom, helped Tara with the after-dinner mess.

“Oh, I come from a big family. I have three sisters and two brothers.”

Liz’s eyes widened. “Really. Wow. So dinnertime is a lot like this.”

Sonja laughed. “Yes. Exactly like this. Only maybe more yelling. My brothers are younger than me, so they’re a little . . . boisterous.”

“Boys do tend to be like that,” Gavin’s mother said from across the room.

Tara nodded. “Yes, they do. And I only had one. Well, one at a time, anyway.”

“I imagine it takes parents ruling with an iron fist to keep a brood like that under control,” Alicia said.

“My mother is pretty fierce. When she speaks, believe me, you listen.”

“And your dad, too?”

“He died when my youngest brother was two years old. It’s mostly been just my mom for a while.”

Liz laid her hand on Sonja’s arm. “I’m so sorry.”

“I am, too.” Tara pulled up a chair at the kitchen island. And suddenly the women surrounded Sonja.

“Oh. Wow. Well, I didn’t mean to talk about it. But he got cancer and it took him pretty fast. It was hard on my mom having all us kids to deal with, but she had my aunts and uncles and my grandparents to help her. It’s been okay, really.”

Gavin’s mom patted Sonja’s hand. “It’s nice that she had all the family to help support her.”