Page 78 of Taking Adalisa

“Thankyou.” He kisses my lips again.

We stare at each other for several seconds, letting time and silence pass by without a care in the world.

This is my life now. Was it rocky in the beginning? Absolutely, but it’s so worth it.

“I knew you were going to give in,” his mother yells.

I chuckle and pull away. I haven’t seen her since the first time I met her but apparently I made an impression because she’s asked Matthias about me several times.

After the attack, I didn’t want to see anyone. I just wanted to recover and be with Matthias. That didn’t make many people happy, but Matthias took care of that all.

“Mrs. –”

“Don’t you dare call me that. It’s Mama to you or Mom. I won’t have it any other way. You are family now, and as family, that’s what you call me,” she scolds me.

Chuckling, I open my arms and hug her. “Mom, nice to see you.”

“Keeping me away after you got hurt. I should spank you, but I think Matthias has that handled.” She winks at me, and I look at her, horrified. “Now, come on. Let’s get inside so we can eat.”

“Um.” I look over at Matthias for help.

“Mama, we can’t.” Matthias steps closer to me.

“Nonsense. I won’t have you losing weight. Not if you are going to have my grandchildren at some point. I need to fatten you up.” She pats my shoulder. “Come on. You can even help cook. The groceries just got delivered.”

It’s not that I don’t trust Mom, but I don’t think my body will be able to do it.

“How about I cook and you two can watch,” Matthias offers. “You trust me, right?” I nod. “Who bought the groceries?”

“Bellamy did. I gave him the list. You told me Adalisa likes pasta and chicken. Everything is still in its packages,” she explains.

Matthias cups my face with his hands, pulling me clos. “I’ve got you. We’re going to go in there, we are both going to look at the packages, and then I’m going to cook. Then I’m going to feed you bite by bite because you trust me and I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

I take a deep breath and nod. Matthias and I look into each other's eyes for several more seconds, him grounding me before we go into the house.

“Ready?” Mom breaks the silence.

Matthias lets go of my face and takes my hand. “We’re ready.”

I continue to look at him. “I love you.”

A smile breaks out across his face. “I love you, too.”