Illusion (27 page)

             
"I told you, next weekend."

             
"Yeah, yeah, whatever.  You're not meeting Quade until then though."

             
"You're not making him up are you?" I cross my arms and lift a brow. She falls back on the bed and starts laughing, shaking her head.

             
"No, no, I can very much promise you I'm not." She pulls out her phone and shows me pictures of him. Wow, he is a beautiful looking man. I tell her I'm impressed and she gushes some more about him.

             
We end up meeting up with Meghan and Ryan, and have a dinner together, just the four of us, drinking cocktails and having girl talk. It feels so fitting with the life I'm trying to have again. A life with joy and happiness, filled with laughter, friends and family. I'm not even on antidepressants anymore, and I'm happy.

             
Not to say that I haven't been pushed by Dr. Ross, Emi, my parents, or even Brice to get back on the medication, but I want to heal naturally. Between having everyone surround me with love and adoration, and the routine I'm pushing myself in to, I don't see the need to medicate myself again. I'm sure it works wonders for most people, but for me, not so much.

             
It just goes to show that everyone heals in their own way.

             
Tennessee is gorgeous. It reminds me of back in Georgia, only a different kind of south. I'm already in love and we just arrived an hour ago.

             
Brice's family lives in Knoxville, which is a pretty large city, but it has a nice country feel. Although none of his three siblings live at home, since he is back visiting they’re all driving in. I guess they live within an hour from his mom's house, so it isn't a hassle for any of them. Brice got out of work at lunch to catch an earlier flight, so we get here while the sun is still shining.

             
Walking into his mom's house- his dad left them years ago and lives in Texas now- I feel warm and comforted already. She is one of those moms who have a million and one pictures of her children and grandchildren throughout the house. She also has silly little knick knacks placed all about from travels, white lacey curtains, and a soft, inviting couch.

             
She walks out of the kitchen and her face beams at the sight of her son. "Oh, Brice, come here." Her arms open up and she takes a few steps towards him. His shoulders slump in slight embarrassment, but he walks to her and gives her a large hug. He even kisses her cheek when he pulls away.

             
Her eyes take him in for a moment before they land on me and she is smiling like crazy again. "And you must be Zoey! It's so great to finally meet you, this one can't seem to shut up about you."

             
My stomach erupts in butterflies at her admission. I look towards Brice who has his lips pressed together and he is facing towards the ceiling. So cute! His mom wraps me in her arms, no warning, and I lightly pat her back. "Nice to meet you too," I say in return.

             
She takes a deep breath when she pulls away. "Okay, well, the rest of the clan should be here within the hour. You mind helping set the table?" Her question is turned to Brice.

             
He nods. "No problem, Momma. Let me bring our luggage up to the room, then I'll be down to set the table." He walks over and grabs both our suitcases while his mother stands there wringing her hands.

             
"Uh, Brice, she can sleep in Savannah's old room." He turns towards her and gives her a questioning look, as my face brightens pink. I know where she is going with this, she is a mother after all, and this is her home. She clears her throat in a nervous habit. "There isn't going to be any fornication under my roof."

             
I have to bite my tongue just so I don't laugh at that. She is trying really hard to be stern and serious, so me laughing when I just met her minutes ago would be so much more inappropriate than what she just said.

             
Brice's jaw drops and his eyes turn into saucers. He wasn't expecting that either. "I, uh, Momma, I'm twenty six. And I wasn't planning on doing... that, under your roof." His face turns red and it makes me smile to see him blush.

             
His mom rubs her hands on her slacks. "Well, you only have a twin mattress anyways, that'd be uncomfortable. Be a gentlemen." Her brows lift, daring him to argue.

             
He sighs in defeat, then grabs our bags again. "Yes, ma'am." He gives me an apologetic look then heads up the stairs.

             
"Come on, Zoey, you can help set up the table too." I look at her and she is smiling. "I'm not a shy one. If you're invited into my home, you'll be treated like you live here. I'll show you where the silverware and plates are."

             
Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that. I repeat Brice's words. "Yes, ma'am."

             
She laughs. "Getting called ma'am by my son is one thing, it's out of respect, from another mouth, its another form of being called old. I'm not old." She winks and adjusts the bun in her salt-and-pepper hair. I smile at that, and follow behind her into the kitchen.

             
The dining room is adjacent to the kitchen, and it has a very open concept. The view outside the large windows surrounding it is breathtaking. You can see mountains off in the distance and the sky is a mixture of blue and purple, with white puffy clouds. I don't pay much attention to the sky anymore, being surrounded by skyscrapers and all.

             
Just as I place down the last setting, Brice comes in with a handful of coasters, hot plates, and some condiments. "Sorry about my Momma." I love that he calls her that, it makes my heart swell. "She's a little off." He says that part louder.

             
"Remember boy, I'm in charge of your food, and I know where your sleeping tonight. Insults should never be directed towards your Momma. I'll get out the baby pictures."

             
His face flushes and I giggle. "Trust me, I like her already."

             
He pulls me in and hugs me. I wrap my arms around his shoulder and press my lips softly to his. "She likes you already too, I can tell."

             
She comes strutting in and places a few more things on the table. Wow, they really go all out when it comes to setting the table. There are eleven place settings too, which just seems crazy to me. It's like Thanksgiving at my Gramma's house.

             
"It's hard not to like a girl you gush about more often than not." She winks at me and exits the room again.

             
"She enjoys embarrassing you, doesn't she?"

             
Brice kisses my lips once more before separating us. "Way too much. I'm her only son and a pretty big Momma's boy." He shrugs.

             
Now that everyone arrives, I see why there are so many place settings, he may only have three siblings, but when two are married and have kids, it can add up fast. His older sister, Lynette, is married to Ralph, and together they have Lydia and Lynzi, who look almost like twins. Then he has a sister a year younger than him, who is Jessie and isn't married. Then his youngest sister, Savannah, who he says is only twenty, is married to someone named George, and their daughters name is Dee Dee.

             
All his siblings look so much like him, it's unreal. And oddly enough, none of them look much like his mom, besides the color of her eyes. There aren’t any pictures of his dad around, but I can only assume that that’s who they look more like.

             
Once all the introductions are made, and I mentally repeat all their names in my mind over and over, we take a seat at the table. The first thing that catches my attention is the pitcher of sweet iced tea. I haven't had any since I left home and I'm nearly licking my lips just looking at it. Brice chuckles next to me and pours me a glass. I guess I was pretty obvious.

             
"Thanks," I mumble.

             
"You're welcome." His hand lands on my leg and he gives it a squeeze.

             
His family is easy enough to get into conversation with. Most the questions are directed towards Brice, catching up on his life in the city, but he asks many questions about how his nieces are and what his sisters have been doing. They're definitely a loving, caring family, and I enjoy that a lot.

             
After dinner, we all are assigned a chore for clean-up. My only job is to bring some empty plates into the kitchen, then his mom asks me to join her in the living room. Brice nearly drops a couple plates when she asks, and he stares at his mom. "No baby pictures, ma!"

             
She waves him off and doesn't say anything. When I join her out there, she is all smiles and has a load of photo albums laid out. I can't help but laugh as I take a seat next to her. She points out different pictures and tells me different things about him. There is only one naked one of him and he was like three days old. Nothing too embarrassing. Until she gets into his teenage years. Holy crap, he was a very over weight teenager. I would have never guessed.

             
"This is when his father left, he got real depressed and ate his weight in candy every day. I grounded him from it, I wouldn't let him buy any at the store, I even took his video games away, but he always managed to find some. He was like this for a few years until he started getting bullied. Then he got a job and gym membership at sixteen, and he is a mighty fine looking man now." That he is.

             
"I never would have guessed."

             
She chuckles. "Yeah, he is going to kill me for showing you these."

             
As if on cue, he walks in and rushes over, grabbing the books and closing them. "That isn't even funny, Momma. I cannot believe you'd show her those!" His face is bright red.

             
I pout my lips at him. "I was thoroughly enjoying those."

             
"Too bad," he says with a glare. I smile at him and he brings the books to a small closet and sets them on top of a shelf.

             
The rest of his family joins us in the living room soon after and his mom gets up and goes in the other room. His niece, I think Lynzi, comes running over and sits on my lap. "Hi, who are you?" she asks.

             
She can only be probably two or three, and she has blonde pig tails and the brightest blue eyes. "Hi there, I'm Zoey. And who might you be?"

             
"Lynzi," she says with pride. She pulls on my hair. "Your hairs is so soft."

             
"And yours is so cute." I pull on her one of her pig tails and she giggles in my lap. She is the most adorable little girl in the world. "How old are you Lynzi?"

             
She holds up three fingers. "My birfday was ten whole days ago." The fact she has a little trouble pronouncing her words just makes her all the more adorable.

             
"Three? Wow, you're a big girl. You getting married any time soon?" I pull a line from my uncle, who used to ask me that all the time when I was younger.

             
She shakes her head and gives me a disgusted look. "Boys have cooshies." I think she means cooties, but I don't argue.

             
I return the disgusted look to her. "You're right, yucky."

             
"Are you gonna marry Uncle Bricey?" Her eyes light up in hopefulness.

             
I pull on another pig tail of hers and smile sincerely. "Uh, not right now." I honestly have no idea what to say. We literally haven't even claimed each other as boyfriend and girlfriend yet, although I think we are after the other night, but marriage is certainly nothing that will be discussed in the next three years or so. I think. Either way, I'm not thinking about it now, but to tell this little girl that, she looks like she'd be so heartbroken.

             
Brice comes over laughing and steals Lynzi from off my lap. "You stop asking such silly questions. You know I'm marrying you princess." Okay, I'll admit, him telling her it's a silly question sort of breaks my heart. Even if it is silly to assume so much already.

             
She wraps her tiny little arms around Brice's shoulders. "Uncle Bricey, I can't marry you!" She giggles some more. "I like her, she’s so pwetty."

             
"She sure is." He looks over at me and smiles. It warms my heart all over.

             
His sister, Lynette, walks over and sits on the floor at my feet. "So how old are you anyways?" Lynzie climbs off from Brice's lap and climbs all over her mom. She uses her as a human jungle gym, which is quite comical.

             
"I'm twenty-seven, my birthday was back in May."

             
She tilts her head in an endearing way. "No kids yet?"

             
"Uh, no," I say softly as my heart shatters.

             
Brice comes to my rescue, turning the situation as humorous as he can. "Jesh, sis, we haven't even been together long enough for that to happen." He elbows my rips and winks. I smile at him but it's forced and I know he can tell. I want to be grateful for him coming in and lightening my mood, but reality hurts so much, knowing I won't be able to ever give him a baby. Not that I should think about that already, but we have claimed our love for one another, so it's obvious he wants to be with me for a long time, as I do him, but that means he'd be giving up so much.