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“If you aren’t feeling up to this, it’s okay. I’ll let them know something came up, and we can go home.” There’s no way I’m forcing her in there if she isn’t comfortable.

“No, it’s okay. I’m okay. I’m sorry, I didn’t expect this to hit me so hard... just give me a minute to fix myself, and we can go.”

She begins to scoot herself back to her seat, but I stop her, cupping her cheek. “Minnie, you never need to apologize to me for how you feel. I want you to tell me these things so that I can make them better.” I kiss her lips, then let her go.

She returns to her seat and pulls down the visor, looking into the mirror, then wipes the underside of her eyes and cheeks before passing her fingers through her hair.

When she’s fixed herself as best as possible, which isn’t easy since her eyes are red and her lips are slightly swollen, she offers me a genuine smile.

“Ready,” she says as I stroke her cheek, then open my door and head over to hers.

When we get to the front door, I look at her one more time, making sure she’s still on board. Her lips aren’t as swollen anymore, and the redness in her eyes is slowly fading. She sends me a reassuring smile and squeezes my hand, giving me the answer I need. I turn the knob and open the door.

We’re barely through the door when my brother jumps over the couch, heading straight for us.

“Finally! Took you guys some time to get inside.” He winks at me, then looks at my girl.

“Damn, my sister’s hot.” For fuck’s sake, I warned him not to call her that.

But who was I kidding, of course, he’d still do it.

“Knock it off, Spence!” I growl while Cecilia expels a nervous giggle at his comment .

He takes her into a bear hug and winks again. That fucker, he’s trying to rile me up. It’s working. When he pulls back, still with his hands on her elbows, he offers her a charming smile. “What, I’m only stating the truth. Hi, I’m Spencer. The more attractive and smarter brother.”

“HA! You wish.”

“Oh! Is that my daughter-in-law!?” My mother rushes out of the kitchen, pushing Spence out of the way to grab hold of Cecilia.

“Jesus, Ma. Not you too! I told you guys not to call her that.” I flap out my arms in defeat. “No one ever listens to me here.”

“Stop being dramatic, Silas.” Mom doesn’t even spare me a glance. “Oh, sweetie. We’re so glad you’re here! We’ve been dying to meet you, but someone kept saying it was too soon.” This time she does look at me, with narrowed eyes I might add.

Mom pulls my girlfriend into one of her warm embraces, and I see the moment it happens.

Cecilia’s back stiffens against my mother’s hold.

It only lasts a couple of seconds before her shoulders drop and all the tension drains from her body.

Her arms come up to hug my mother back, and she lets out a shaky breath.

Fuck, she’s about to break.

“Okay, Mom. How about we give her a moment to settle in.” I gently pull Minnie to me by the waist. I bracket my arm over her chest as she leans back into me, her hands coming up to hold my arm in place. My mother smiles at me, but when she looks down at my girl, it slips.

“Oh...” Mom’s hands come up over her mouth, her eyes filling with worry. And with that look, I know my girlfriend lost the battle against her emotions. “I’m so sorry. I—”

“No, it’s okay. You’ve done nothing wrong. My emotions are just all over the place today,” Cecilia says with a small laugh and smile to my mom.

“Silas told us about your family... I’m terribly sorry for all your loss, but know that you have us now. We’ll take good care of you. It’s a promise,” my mother says delicately, bringing up her hand and swiping at Cecilia’s tears.

She releases a sad chuckle in response, leaning into my mother’s touch. “Thank you, Mrs. Hayes.”

“Nonsense, honey. Call me Mira.” My mother pulls her hand away and takes the moment to study my girlfriend. “Wow, Silas. She truly is beautiful. The pictures you’ve shown us don’t do her justice.”

“And short.” My brother starts laughing from beside my mother. “You weren’t kidding when you said she was smaller than Mom. Now I really want to know how you two do it.” He’s still laughing, barely containing himself .

“Spencer!” I warn at the same time as my mother slaps the back of his head and scolds him. At least Cecilia seems to find this amusing.

She slips out of my arms and takes a step toward my brother, patting him on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. “Don’t you worry, Spence. Your brother can be...” She angles her head to look at me with a kittenish smile. “Very creative.”

God, this woman. This is not the time to get a boner. Not the time at all. But once we get home? I’ll show her just how creative I can be. I send her back a wink, and that beautiful pink hue forms over her cheekbones. I love how easily my girl blushes.

“Are you all done hogging my daughter-in-law, or do I need to get in line?”

We all look past my mother to my father, who leans against the wall by the kitchen entrance. He pushes off and strides to Cecilia, arms open wide. This time she doesn’t hesitate, walking straight into his arms.

“Hi, love. Happy to have you home.” And that hits the nail right on the head. A soft cry leaves her body as my father brings one of his hands to the back of her head, cradling her to him. “Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart. It’s okay.”

I look to the rest of my family and notice my mother on the verge of tears, even my brother wears a broken expression. For me, my heart is aching for my Minnie. It’s both a devastating moment and truly beautiful at the same time.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry. This is so embarrassing. You must all think I’m crazy.” She pulls away from my dad, drying her tears with a smile. Despite how emotional she is right now, she’s still smiling. That’s my girl.

“Not at all, love. We understand this is a touchy subject for you. I’m John, by the way. These two knuckleheads’ father.”

“It’s really lovely to meet you all.” She grins fondly at my family as she steps backwards, returning to my chest and looking up at me.

I’m so in love with her at this moment that I don’t care about the audience. I lower my head and capture her lips with mine, hoping she feels just how much I adore her.

A small moan escapes her before I pull away and turn back to my family. Cecilia instantly turns red knowing everyone heard her little pleasure noise. But me? I smile proudly, glad that everyone has witnessed the effect I have on Minnie.

“All right, now that everyone has been introduced, how about we eat. I’m starving,” I announce, getting everyone’s approval as we head to the dining room to eat.

Dinner is lively and full of laughter. Mom and Dad tell childhood memories, which make me and Spence cringe, but Cecilia finds them hilarious. That only entices my parents to dig deeper into their stories .

Once everyone has eaten and everything has been cleaned up, my parents drag my girl into the living room and pop out the old photo albums. I sit by Cecilia’s side on the couch as she flips through the pages, while my mother is seated in my father’s lap in his favorite recliner, and my brother sits on the other end of the couch.

“Who’s this little guy? I noticed you have pictures of him at home, too.” She has her finger tracing over my old best friend as a knot forms in my throat.

“Oh, John. Did you hear? She calls his place home,” my mother whispers a little too loudly at my father, pressing her hands to her chest.

I groan at my parents. “Mom, stop making a big deal about everything.” I look down at the photograph once more. “That’s Griffin, he was my best friend for fifteen years.”

“Griffin, like your team?” Cecilia asks softly, sensing this is a delicate matter for me.

I chuckle. “Yeah, my love for hockey started before I could even walk. On my fifth birthday, my parents took me to see the Griffins play for the first time. I was ecstatic, I thought nothing could ever make that day better. Then when we got home, this little guy was waiting in my room, proving me wrong. It was only fitting that I named him after my favorite hockey team. We were inseparable from that moment.” I’m smiling, even though my heart still aches thinking of him.

“You never thought about getting another dog?” she questions next, placing her hand on my thigh.

“After he died, it was really hard on me. The thought of replacing him was too much, and when I was ready, well, hockey took up too much of my time. So I didn’t think it would be in the dog’s best interest with how often I’m not home. Maybe one day.”

She rests her head on my shoulder. “Yeah, maybe one day.”

We stay like this, continuing to flip through the pages and laughing with my family for the next few hours.

I’ve always felt content with my family. But now with Cecilia, I feel complete.