Page 20 of Forever Foolish

“It’s fine,” she urged tenderly, moving to his side. “They’re trying to be supportive and worried at the same time.”

“Why would they be worried?”

“Because some horribly wicked girl might take advantage of their precious baby boy…” she chuckled thickly and saw his eyes widen as he yanked up his phone.

“Then I’m calling them back!” he retorted, dialing immediately – and Chloe grabbed his phone, laughing as she pressed the disconnect button, smiling at him… as a knock echoed in the background once more. “Theyreeeeallyneed to go away so their ‘precious baby boy’ has a chance.”

“You should let them in. Let’s enjoy the evening, and then that will satisfy their curiosity so we can continue seeing each other,” she said playfully, holding the phone away as she met his eyes. “I don’t plan on going anywhere, so the sooner everyone gets used to there being an ‘Us,’ then the better off we are.”

As J.J. started to walk toward the stairs, he turned and looked at her.

“This is against my better judgment,” he began,smirking ruefully. “Let me apologize now for anything they say because they do mean well.”

“I know. I’m the ‘enemy’…”

“Hardly that. You willneverbe my enemy – ever.”

Thirty minutes later,Chloe was answering all sorts of questions from J.J.’s parents as they sat at the small table in the kitchen. The table was only designed to seat two, but somehow, four chairs were crowded around the thing. Four plates were squeezed onto it, and there was hardly any room at all for cups or utensils— even worse yet, there was no space between them. J.J.’s mother, Lucy, was directly across from her, watching her with a curious kindness and avid worry. His father was sitting to her left, frowning and silent.

“So, tell me when all of this changed?” Lucy said simply, folding her hands in her lap. “I’d love to hear all of the details… and I do mean – all of them.”

“Mother…”

“Don’t interrupt your mom, J.J. – this is important.”

“Dad…”

“Shhh.”

“If my sister shows up too, I will officially ask you all to leave. I mean, you do realize just how badly ‘Mommy’ and ‘Daddy’ are cramping my style – right? This is our first date, and you’ve both barged in on us.”

“Barged in? What was happening that your family coming over is considered an interruption?”

“Well, Lucy, um…” Chloe began nervously and J.J. interrupted.

“Mother, would you have wanted your parents to be there when you were datingDad?”

“I had nothing to hide.”

“Because we were adults,” his father chimed in.

“If twenty-seven isn’t an ‘adult,’ then when do I get to officially grow up in your minds? You realize that Iaman adult, right?”

Things were getting tense, and Chloe knew she wanted there to be an easy comfort between them all. She didn’t want to be the cause of a wedge between his parents. This was his family, and if they were talking about a future or settling here together, then his family would be a lot closer than her own. She reached under the table and took J.J.’s hand in hers, causing him to look at her quickly.

“We began as friends,” Chloe said quietly, looking at his mother. “This was not something that either of us intended to happen. In fact, for a while there, we argued quite a bit.” – and she glanced at J.J. only to see a warm smile touch his lips as the memories flowed between them within a second as they held each other’s eyes.

“I think I finally woke up when I realized just how much I missed Chloe,” J.J. began, giving her hand a slight squeeze, not looking away from her eyes. “We began texting, talking…”

“It’s taken a long time, but we’ve finally found our way here,” she finished his sentence as he raised her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles. He was openly showing how much he cared, not hiding a thing from his family, and it was humbling to see such love and dedication in his gaze.

“I love you,” she whispered softly, forgetting that they were surrounded by his parents as his eyes widened slightly and then melted with awareness. She had never uttered those words aloud before – and didn’t intend to before anyone else.

Only to hear J.J.’s father clearing his throat pointedly.

“Oh, um,” Chloe stammered, realizing they had an audience – only to feel J.J. kiss her palm as his voice was strong, clear, and unwavering before everyone.

“I love you too – and nothing will ever change that.”

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