Stone Passions Trilogy (27 page)

“My family is going to love you,” she repeated for the umpteenth time, her free hand moving freely as she bubbled in excitement.

Vaughn wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for him to meet her family but she was adamant, telling him that it was only fair since she had met his family. Because her family was so important to her, he wanted to do this, even if he had doubts. Besides, it would give him a chance to learn more about Melanie, and that was always a good thing.

Maybe if it hadn’t been so bloody cold when they went out to her car, he might have been able to prepare for the visit. Instead, he had been floating on a cloud of sun-warmed skin and had forgotten that, while the roof was warm, the rest of Minnesota was not and though his body was adaptable to the cold weather, it wasn’t immune. He had been sorely tempted to return to the roof but he didn't want to disappoint Melanie.

He just wished she would keep both hands on the steering wheel. It took twenty minutes to get to the house in the suburbs where she grew up and so far it had been terrifying.

“Do you think you should have called your mom to let her know you were bringing me with today?” Vaughn asked, the uncertainty apparent in his voice.

She turned her head and smiled at him as she reached out and took his hand in hers. “There’s nothing to worry about. Mom and dad don’t bite and if they did you’re big enough to bite back.”

He laughed at her unexpected words, feeling the tension ease from his body. Gods, if he could he would give Melanie the world and not just his protection.

“Besides,” she continued, oblivious to his thoughts. “They’re going to love you.”

Yeah, except for the fact that they were going to take one look at him and know that he was sleeping with their little girl. No matter how much the world had changed, one thing stayed the same – a parent’s protective instinct for his or her child. He was going to be lucky if he got out of there with all of his limbs in tack. Damn it, he was a gargoyle, a mythical being of not insignificant powers, and he was apprehensive over meeting a few humans. It would be funny if it weren’t so fucking pathetic!

“Ferris is going to adore you,” Melanie continued, squeezing his hand in silent comfort. Was she chattering to set him at ease? God, she was wonderful. “She’s almost six and just the most wonderful child in the entire universe. She’s going to love the castle.”

“Castle?” he asked, enjoying the sound of her voice as she spoke of those she loved, hoping that she would talk about him with the same affection someday.

A stain of color burnished her cheeks as she gave a delicate shrug smiled slightly, “The apartment building. It’s what Rhys called it at the club and it’s such a perfect description of the building….”

“Ah,” he smiled at her and felt that well of love surge up in his chest again. This time, he gave her a hand a reassuring squeeze. After she was silent for a few moments, he realized that that she was trying to keep herself from talking too much. Didn’t she know he loved listening to her? “Tell me more, Melanie.”

She looked at him as if to gauge how serious he was and when she saw that he was sincere, she gave him a blinding smile before rushing into more details. “Well, my sister is simply amazing. She’s so serious and mature now, but you should have met her when we were in high school. She would come up with the most daring plans and somehow manage to pull them off and whenever we got caught, which we always did, she never got into any trouble. I swear, she was able to wrap everyone around her finger and she was just so damn charming that the wronged party ended up apologizing to her!”

They shared a laugh, even as Melanie’s mood darkened. “God, sometimes I miss the old Jenna.”

“What happened?” he asked softly, unsure if she was going to tell him. 

She sighed, “Her fiancé, Ferris’s father, was killed a week before the wedding.”

Melanie spoke briefly about Jeremy but didn’t go into a lot of detail. Vaughn knew it had to be a sore subject and it was obvious that Jenna still suffered from the loss. With a slow inhalation and an even slower exhalation, Melanie grinned, “I think we should set Jenna up with your brother.”

“Armand?” he asked, considering the idea briefly. Maybe the two of them could heal each other’s broken hearts….

“No, not Armand… Rhys,” Melanie laughed. “Don’t you think they would be perfect together? He could remind her how she used to be and she could show him the more serious side of life.”

“I don’t think Rhys has a problem with a lack of seriousness,” he countered.

“Well, no,” she agreed slowly, carefully. It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t know how long the three of them had been around – he hadn’t gotten around to telling her. She had a hint that they were older than they appeared but she had no idea that they were nearly five hundred years old. With a sigh, she shrugged her shoulders, and offered an apologetic smile, “I just want to see Jenna have fun again, you know?”

“Understandable,” he conceded. Clearing his throat, he admitted, “It has taken Armand a long time to get over his broken heart.”

Melanie’s brows furrowed as she considered his words, “He doesn’t seem to be over it, yet, does he?”

Vaughn chuckled softly, “No, I suppose he’s not. But he’s a gargoyle and we tend to feel things very deeply and very strongly.”

Skeptically, she looked at him, her eyes sparkling with mischief, “Are you still talking about Armand?”

His lips curved up in a rueful smile, “I am. He comes across as brooding and dark, but….”

“He has a soft, squishy center,” Melanie said with an amused sigh. “I know.”

“I wouldn’t quite go that far,” Vaughn chuckled. “He
is
dark and brooding but I think that if he ever falls in love again, it will be forever.”

“You are such a romantic,” she sighed, this time in dreaminess. The look she gave him was a combination of love and hopefulness.

Before he could respond to that look, or even think of anything to say, she was pulling into the driveway of a generous-sized house. Even as she was turning off the engine, the door banged open and a little, miniature Melanie was racing towards the car. Vaughn turned his head and caught the absolute adoration on Melanie’s face as she scrambled out of the car, catching the little girl up in her arms before he even had a chance to unbuckle his seat belt.

Holding the girl on her hip, Melanie waited for him to get out of the SUV. Up close, he could see that the little girl’s hair was a shade or two darker and her eyes had a little more green in them. Other than that, she could have been Melanie as a little girl. Inexplicably, he was nervous and he seriously hoped the child liked him. The little girl leaned into Melanie’s shoulder, staring at him with her beautiful, old-soul eyes.

“Hi,” he croaked out. Clearing his throat, he offered a tentative smile, “Hi, I’m Vaughn. You must be Ferris.”

Her rosebud mouth curled into the sweetest smile as she regarded him with her intense eyes, “Are you going to marry my Aunt Mellie?”

Melanie choked back a laugh as her face went up in flames. Hugging the little girl, she murmured, “We’ve only just met, sweetie. It’s too soon to know if we’re going to get married.”

Hell, she didn’t even know if gargoyles did get married, or if they performed some other sort of bonding ritual. For all she knew, she “married” Vaughn last night when he gave up his nights for her. Luckily, they were saved by arriving at the door just as her mother opened it, the smile on her lips faltering as she looked past Melanie and saw the unfamiliar Vaughn standing there.

“Mom, I’d like you to meet my, er, boyfriend,” Melanie said, reaching back for his hand. For half a heartbeat, she feared he wouldn’t take it but then she felt the warmth of his skin envelop hers and she knew that everything was going to be all right. With a brilliant smile, she looked up at Vaughn with all of the love in her heart. “Vaughn, this is my mom.”

“Mrs. Jacobs,” he said formally, taking the older woman's hand in his free one and bringing it to his lips, kissing the back of it. “It is an honor to meet you.”

“Please, call me Jennifer,” Melanie’s mom blushed to the roots of her professionally dyed hair, beaming like a schoolgirl. Standing to the side, she ushered the small group inside, “Come in, come in and meet the rest of the family.”

“Smooth,” Melanie whispered in passing, pressing a small kiss to his cheek as she followed her mom into the house. “Real smooth.”

“Ew,” Ferris complained, still in Melanie’s arms. “Why’d you kiss him?”

This time Melanie blushed as her mother turned around with a raised eyebrow. It was just her luck that her father and brother entered the room at that moment. Both wore expressions of shock when they saw she brought home a hulking, supremely masculine, blond man. “Daddy, Jensen, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend, Vaughn. Vaughn, this is my dad and my brother, Jensen.”

“So, you’re kissing my little girl,” her dad scowled, crossing his arms over his barrel chest, glaring at the Viking. Vaughn towered a good six inches over her father, and perhaps three over her brother. He also had several pounds of pure muscle on either of them.

“Er, yes,” Vaughn stammered, stepping closer to Melanie but keeping his hands where everyone could see them. “But I hold her in the highest esteem.”

Everyone’s eyebrows shot to their foreheads at his formal words while Vaughn squeezed his eyes shut and color flooded his cheeks. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and met Mr. Jacobs’s stare without flinching. Holding out his hand, he cleared his throat and started over, “Mr. Jacobs, it is a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“Jenner,” her father said gruffly, reluctantly taking the offered hand.

“Jensen,” Vaughn murmured, shaking her brother’s hand next.

Putting Ferris down, Melanie looked around the hall while still holding the little girls hand. “Where’s Jenna?”

“I had her run to the store for some wine,” her mom explained, still smiling at Vaughn. “She’ll be back soon.”

A strange expression came over Vaughn’s face as he looked at the four Jacobs present. Tilting his head to the side, he frowned, “Your names are Jenner, Jennifer, Jensen and Jenna; how did Melanie end up with a non-Jen name?”

Melanie bit her lip to keep from laughing because he seemed so offended on her behalf. Luckily, her parents weren’t offended as they laughed and led Vaughn into the living room to tell the story about how Melanie came to be. Once everyone was seated, with Ferris on Melanie’s lap, Jennifer took Melanie’s hand in her own, the love apparent on the older woman’s face as she spoke. “Well, Vaughn, to tell you the truth, we weren’t expecting Melanie and her birth ruined our Grand Plan.”

She said the words with a rueful chuckle, shaking her head at her long ago foolishness.  Vaughn appeared even more confused, “She was unexpected?”

“You could say that,” Jenner said gruffly, reaching over and ruffling Melanie’s hair with affection.

“Mom, dad, you don’t have to tell Vaughn the story,” Melanie interjected, color blossoming on her face even as she reached over and took Vaughn’s hand in her free one, twining her fingers with his.

“I want to hear the story,” Ferris piped up, squirming around on Melanie’s lap to look at her grandparents with her large, pleading eyes. Melanie had to bite back a smile at the little girl’s attempt at manipulation. She knew that Ferris had everyone wrapped around her little finger, especially Melanie.

“It’s not that great of a story,” Melanie grumbled.

“You see, we had a plan,” Jennifer continued, ignoring Melanie’s protest. “We were going to have one boy and one girl, and name them Jensen and Jenna. And then along came Melanie.”

“But surely, with nine months, you could have come up with another Jen name?” Vaughn interjected, looking baffled.

Jenner and Jennifer both chuckled, “We had about five minutes.”

Vaughn looked at Melanie for an answer and she shrugged, “Jenna and I are twins.”

That shocked Vaughn because he remembered seeing Jenna when she had sunbathed with Melanie on the roof. Jenna had seemed vastly older than Melanie, perhaps not in years but experience. Of course, having heard her history, he could understand the difference. Hearing that Jenna was Melanie’s twin also made him realize that he didn’t know Melanie very well at all, at least not yet. But that was what this month was for – to get to know her.