“I mean, you are the hottest.” She’s laughing, and I grab her and kiss her hard, sliding my tongue into her mouth, and she pushes me away. “Don’t you dare in front of your family.”

“But you’re mine,” I say, and she crosses her arms over her chest. “Sweetheart.”

“Don’t you sweetheart me,” she says, and she walks away from me. I put my hand in my pocket, trying to make my cock go down, and my father comes over.

“What did you do?” he asks, laughing

“I stuck my tongue in her mouth,” I say, and he shakes his head.

“She’s a great girl.” I look at him. “Raised a great son.”

“She did,” I say, and we watch Dylan.

“I just …” he starts to say. “It’s not just her you have to think about, son.”

“I know,” I say, holding my breath and trying not to imagine my life without her in it.

“Do you think that maybe you rushed things a bit?” I look at him, and for the first time, I turn to look at my father with anger. Sure, I got mad at him as a teenager, but this is different.

“Were you sure about Mom three days in?” I ask him, and he looks over at me.

“I’m not the enemy,” he says.

“She’s the one,” I say, shrugging. “I don’t know why, and I can’t explain it. But I know.”

He nods his head. “As long as you know what you're doing.”

“I wouldn’t make her meet my family and move in with me if I wasn’t a hundred percent in this.”

“Cooper.” My mother calls him, and he walks away. I stand here with my heart racing, and my stomach full of nerves. I try not to let it get to me, and I bury it for now, but I know that I’m going to have to sit down with my parents and squash whatever doubts they have.

After dinner, I’m looking for Dylan, and he runs over to me.

“Can Michael sleep over?” he asks, and I look at Caroline, who just watches me.

“Sure,” I say.

“Can we sleep in the game room and do a fort?” he asks, and I shake my head.

“You can sleep in the game room but no fort.” It scared him the last time, and I can’t handle that again.

“Mom!” Michael yells, and Allison looks over. “I’m sleeping at Uncle Justin’s with Dylan.”

“Whatever,” she says, and I have to say this, this right here is what my family is. We trust each other with everything we have. “I’ll take them tomorrow.”

That night, Caroline is on pins and needles, and she gets up every hour to check on them and make sure they are okay. “Sweetheart,” I say after the tenth time, “if they need you, they will call.”