Forever Yours, page 11
Mallory took time to sip her coffee before responding. “I don’t know them well, Meg, but I can see how they’d have a problem with that. Becca and Jim are a bit old-fashioned. Jim more so than Becca. But you and I both know Aiden doesn’t feel that way. If he did, you guys wouldn’t have dated back then and he sure as hell wouldn’t be so determined to win you back now.”
Meg creased her brow. “He’s not—”
“He is. Trust me. He is. If his parents can’t accept you, I really believe he’d choose you.”
“Yeah,” Meg dropped her breakfast. “He all but said that last night. That’s part of the problem. I don’t want him to have to do that. A big reason he came back here was to bring his family together. I don’t want to make that more difficult for him. It’s not just his parents, Mallory. We don’t have the best history, you know.”
“But you’ve both changed since then, Meg. The Aiden I know is nothing like the man you used to tell me about. And you’re not the Meg who used to cry over him for hours at a time.”
She wrinkled her brow. “It wasn’t hours.”
“Hours.”
She gave up denying the accusation. She guessed Mallory was right, and she would know better. By the time Meg got done crying, she’d be chin deep in tissues and usually tipsy on the wine Mallory always served to ease her pain.
“You’re scared he’s going to hurt you again.”
The lump that suddenly lodged in Meg’s throat nearly choked her. “I want to trust him. I do. But whenever I start thinking about the future we could have, I remember the past that we did have.”
Mallory reached out and wiped a tear from Meg’s cheek. “The thing about love is that there are no guarantees. It’s one day at a time, and not every day is a good one. Some days it takes everything you have to believe in it. Aiden made a mistake, Meg. He paid for it. He suffered for it as much as you did. He misses you like crazy.”
“He left me,” she whispered. “He was supposed to love me, and he left me.”
“I know.” Mallory grabbed a few napkins and thrust them at Meg. “He hurt you. But right now, you are hurting yourself. You’re just sitting in limbo. You aren’t moving forward, and you aren’t letting go. You’re stuck in this in-between. You have to do something. Either believe in him or don’t, but don’t keep sitting here being torn about what could be and what was. You are both different than you were then. Do you love him?”
“Yes.” She dragged a napkin under her nose.
“Do you want to be with him?”
She knew the answer but didn’t want to admit it. “I don’t know.”
“Megumi,” Mallory said with the same tone she used to warn Jessica that her patience was wearing thin. “Do you want to be with Aiden?”
She was again bombarded with images of sharing his home with him, of seeing their kids running around, of a dog that would need to be walked and groomed and fed. Of the perfect future that she had never been willing to admit she wanted. “Yes.”
“So…do it.” Mallory grasped Meg’s hand. “Listen to me. Sometimes second chances lead to regret, but sometimes second chances are all that you need to find some happiness. If Aiden is choosing you over whatever issue his parents have, then let him choose you. Trust me, if Becca and Jim choose to continue alienating themselves from their family because they think they are somehow superior to everyone else, then that is their choice. Aiden wants to be with you, Meg. He really does.”
Meg sniffed, wiped her face, and sighed. “When did you get so smart?”
“Oh, honey,” Mallory cooed. “I’ve always been the smart one.”
Aiden left the café where he and Phil had shared breakfast and went straight to his parents’ house. He and Meg were going to get back together, he was confident of that, and sorting this whole thing out with Phil had made him see things far more clearly. Aiden’s mother wasn’t the problem. His mother had probably never been the problem. It was his father.
That was a conversation Aiden wasn’t sure he was ready to have, but the distance between him and his dad was only going to grow if he didn’t do something about it. If Phil’s suspicions were right, that Becca’s response to Meg was more about Jim’s feelings toward her, then Aiden needed to go straight to the source of the issue and end it.
He wasn’t surprised to find his dad sitting in front of the television watching a game. That seemed to be how he spent most of his time these days. Things didn’t used to be like that. His dad had never been overly affectionate, but he had been present. Sometime in the last five or so years, he’d started retreating, and nobody had seemed to notice or at least dared to mention it.
Sitting on the couch, he looked at the recliner that had been deemed his father’s. Nobody else ever sat there. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hey.”
His mom appeared in the door and offered Aiden a weak smile. “I wasn’t expecting you until later.”
“I just had breakfast with Phil. Since I was out, I thought I’d drop by.”
“Oh, well, I can be ready to go in just a few.”
“Actually, I’d like you to have a seat too, Mom.”
She stared at him for several seconds before sitting on the other end of the couch. Leaning forward, Aiden clasped his hands together and took a deep breath.
“Before I moved to New York, I didn’t pay much attention to a lot of things. Mostly because I was immature and self-centered. I didn’t give things much thought. Being in the city taught me a lot more than what I was expecting to learn. One of those things was how important family is. Several things played into my decision to come back to Stonehill. One of them was that I wanted to try to make things right with Megumi.”
His dad scrunched up his face. “That Chinese girl?”
“Japanese, Dad. She was born in Japan.”
“Aiden,” his mother said softly, as if warning him.
“When Meg and I were dating,” Aiden continued as if she hadn’t spoken, “I noticed that you two treated her differently than you’d treated other women I’d dated, but I didn’t really think about why. Until I noticed how Mom reacted to seeing her last night.”
“Jesus,” his dad muttered under his breath. “Boy.”
“Meg and I are working things out,” he said. “And I don’t care how you feel about that. I love her. I’ve always loved her, and I made a huge mistake when I broke things off with her. If I have my way, Meg and I will be married and have a family someday. So I want to make one thing very clear. If you have a problem with her, then you have a problem with me, and you’d better address it with me right now.”
He waited, but neither of his parents said anything. His mother had tears in her eyes, and his father’s jaw was set. Aiden pressed his lips together and exhaled loudly.
“Do either of you have a problem with Meg?”
“Do you have any idea the kind of shit your kids will have to take if they’re mixed?” his father finally asked.
“Dad,” he said as calmly as he could, “we aren’t living in the 1960s. Interracial couples are common now, and so are their children.”
“What if she wants to give them Japanese names?” his mom asked.
He wanted to roll his eyes, but he’d opened this conversation so he could address their concerns. He wasn’t going to mock them. “That’s a decision between my wife and me.”
“She isn’t your wife,” his dad muttered.
“If she becomes my wife and if we have children and if she wants to give them names that reflect their heritage, then that will be a decision between my wife and me. Whether I marry Meg or someone else, our children’s names are our decision. No one else’s.”
“But…I can’t even say her name,” his mom said.
“Meg, Mom. Her name is Meg. You choose to make it more difficult than it is.”
She looked shocked. “I was trying to show her respect by using her name.”
“Well, to be frank, it comes across as if you’re pointing out that she’s different.”
Widening her eyes, she gawked at him. “I told you last night that I’m not racist.”
“I’m not implying you are.”
“The hell you aren’t,” his dad muttered.
Aiden looked at his father. “What’s your problem with Meg?”
“I don’t have one.”
He wasn’t buying this. But he wasn’t going to argue it. “Okay. Listen to me, I’m only saying this once. If you do have a problem, get over it, because if you make her feel uncomfortable, then she’s not going to want to be around you, and if she doesn’t want to be around you, I’m not going to force her. That means you won’t be seeing a lot of me, either. Understood?”
“Understood,” his mother whispered. His father didn’t answer.
“Mom, if you want, I’d like your help buying some things for my house. Are you up for it?”
She blinked a few times before nodding. “I’ll go grab my things.”
Aiden stood and looked at his father, who had returned his attention to the television. “Dad.”
Again, he was met with no answer. He left without another word, guessing he’d probably be seeing a lot more of his mother in the future than he would of his dad.
Chapter Thirteen
Meg hugged Harris more tightly to her chest when Mallory looked at him with puppy dog eyes. “He’s fine.”
“I know. There are bottles in the fridge.”
Meg nodded. “I know.”
“I’ll keep my cell phone on all evening.”
“I know.”
Mallory continued staring at her baby. “Call if you need anything. Anything at all.”
Lifting her brows, Meg turned her attention to Phil. She and Aiden had agreed to keep Harris while the rest of the Martinson-Canton clan went to Jenna’s wedding. This was the perfect excuse for the new parents to get a break, but if Mallory didn’t leave soon, they were going to be late.
Meg sighed and turned her body just a bit so Mallory couldn’t take Harris from her. “Get her out of here so you guys can enjoy the wedding. Please.”
Phil grabbed his wife’s hand and pulled her toward the door. “We’ll be back in a few hours, Mallory. Meg and Aiden can handle it.”
“I know they can,” she whined.
“Go. Have fun,” Meg said. “I promise this little guy will be right here waiting for you to get home.”
Mallory gave her son one more kiss before following Phil out the front door.
Once they were alone, Meg turned to Aiden and laughed. “I give her two hours. At most.”
“I give her half that. She’s probably going to run out of there the moment Jenna and Daniel say ‘I do.’”
Meg giggled as she looked at the bundle in her arms, but she couldn’t deny his assessment. Mallory hated being away from Harris. Meg didn’t blame her. If she could sit and hold this sweet baby boy all day and night, she probably wouldn’t want to stop either.
“Your mommy is crazy, little man. Yes, she is.” Walking Harris to the portable crib set up next to the sofa, Meg eased the swaddled baby down and patted him for a moment before sitting on the couch where Aiden had plopped down and reached for a slice of the pizza that had arrived just minutes before they managed to shoo Phil and Mallory out of the house.
Meg had assumed they’d watch a movie with their dinner, but he sat back and started filling her in on when the furniture they’d selected would arrive. Juggling their opposite schedules hadn’t been easy, but they’d managed to find a few times to meet up and look for the basics for Aiden’s house. They’d selected a gray couch and love seat set and a contemporary coffee table. He had brought his flat screen TV from his old apartment to hang on the big empty wall that the couches would face. He said his mom wanted to help him buy dishes.
Meg didn’t know, and didn’t want to know, if he’d confronted Becca on their joint suspicion that she didn’t like Meg because of her race. If that was the case, Meg didn’t know how she and Aiden could actually work around that. If they did get back together, and she couldn’t deny that’s where this seemed to be headed, a wedge was going to be driven between Aiden and his family. Meg didn’t want that.
He’d been working so hard to bring his family together, she didn’t want to be the reason his mission failed. The fear was on her shoulders, though, and she couldn’t pretend it wasn’t weighing her down.
“Have you seen your parents since Christmas?” he asked as he added another slice of pepperoni and jalapeño pizza to her plate.
His side only had pepperoni. Peppers—any kind, including jalapeño peppers—gave him indigestion, something she used to love to tease him about.
“No, but Mom calls every day. I think she’s worried if she doesn’t, I won’t talk to her anymore. Which isn’t the case. She just calls before I can. I haven’t talked to Dad, though. I don’t know what to say to him.”
He swallowed a big bite before asking, “Are things with Aya still going well?”
She smiled. “Yeah. I hadn’t realized how much I missed her. I hope we can stay on an even keel, but I’m always waiting for something to blow it all up. That’s what usually happens.”
“I’m glad things are getting better. I, um…”
“What?” she asked hesitantly.
“I talked to my parents.” He glanced at her and shifted in his seat, letting her know he was uneasy sharing this with her. “I told them that someday I’m hoping you and I will be a couple again, and if they had a problem with that, they needed to get over it.”
“And how did that go over?”
“Mom heard me. She said she doesn’t mean to call you Meg-Meg-Meguma.” He smiled when Meg laughed. “She thought she was showing you respect by using your full name. Even if she can’t figure out how to say it.”
“And your dad?”
Aiden dismissed the mention of his father with a shrug. “He’s never heard me in the past. I don’t expect this to be any different.”
“Aiden.”
“It’s fine.”
She searched his face. His eyes were sad. Determined but sad. “No, it’s not. You came home to—”
“Get my life back on track, and a huge part of that was making us better. You and me.”
“At what cost?” she whispered.
Putting his hand on her knee, he held her gaze as he said, “At any cost. I didn’t realize it before, but I think the real reason I came home was to fix this. This is what matters to me. You are what matters to me.”
His words warmed her heart but didn’t ease the guilt settling in her stomach. “You don’t know how hard it is to be estranged from your family, Aiden. It’s like a shadow that hangs over you all the time. You don’t want that. I don’t want to—”
“I gave them the choice to accept us or not,” he stated, cutting her off. “I think Mom will try. Dad… Dad is who he is. Stubborn and narrowminded. He’s going to do whatever he wants. But so am I.” He put his hand to her cheek and gave her a soft smile. “And what I want is sitting right here next to me.”
Meg returned his smile as he leaned in. He kissed her lightly, not with the passion they’d shared the night before, but she felt the exchange all the way to the pit of her stomach. This was happening. She and Aiden were happening. Again. And she couldn’t stop it if she wanted to, but the thing was, she didn’t. All she could hope for was that she didn’t live to regret it.
He broke the kiss and sighed. “You taste like jalapeños.”
“That’s not the jalapeños, sweetie. I’m just too hot for you to handle.”
Aiden grinned. “I’m not going to argue with that.” Taking her plate, he set it on the coffee table and wrapped his arm around her so he could pull her closer. He dipped his head down and kissed her again. This time, he jumped right into a heated kiss.
Meg was tempted to crawl into his lap, straddle his thighs, and delve into a pretty serious heavy petting session, but Harris let out a little wail, reminding her they weren’t alone. Laughing quietly, she put her finger to Aiden’s lips. “Behave, or I’ll send you home.”
Aiden eased his hold on her and sat back. Meg grabbed her plate and took a big bite of her pizza. The heat of the peppers was nothing compared to what she was feeling for the man sitting next to her, though. She wanted him. More than she wanted to admit. More that she wanted to want him.
“How are things going with your mom and Kara?” she asked, hoping to distract them both. She ate as he told her about the trip the museum the women took and his mom’s hopes of helping Kara distract her toddler. He sounded hopeful, and Meg was happy for him. By the time they both finished eating, most of the pizza was gone, and they’d again fallen into easy conversation.
They’d been sitting there just about an hour when keys jingled in the door. Aiden smirked, looking cocky, but Meg didn’t call him on it. He’d been right. Mallory had lasted less than two hours. As soon as the door opened, she practically ran in. She barely acknowledged them before rushing to the crib and scooping up the still-sleeping baby.
“Well,” Meg said to Phil, “looks like all is right in the world now.”
He didn’t take his eyes off the scene of his wife checking on their newborn. “Seems like it.”
“How was the wedding?”
“Very nice,” Phil said. “Marcus didn’t even glare at his new brother-in-law once.”
“Because Mom would have killed him on the spot,” Mallory said, nuzzling Harris.
“Did you even make it to the reception?” Meg asked.
Phil shook his head. “Jessica stayed. Annie and Marcus will bring her home later.”
Meg sighed. “Mally, he didn’t even wake up. Go back and have some fun. We’ll call if we need you.”
“No. And you guys just leave me alone,” Mallory said before pressing her lips to Harris’s head. “I missed my baby.”
Meg hadn’t voiced her concerns, but she knew in that moment it would be a long time before Mallory was ready to return to work. She missed having her best friend and co-conspirator in the office, but she couldn’t begrudge Mallory’s unspoken decision to stay home with Harris. Meg would probably do the same thing if she had a family of her own. “Do you want this pizza?” she asked Phil as she stood.
