Page 57 of Two Minutes for Holding

“Nice to meet you.” I smiled.

“We’ve heard lots about you,” Phil added. “And we won’t judge you based on anything Knox has told us.”

“Thanks.” I smiled, leaning into Clay while he placed his hands on my upper arms and rubbed them.

“Have a seat,” he whispered. “Want a water?”

I nodded and took a seat.

“How is the packing coming?” Mom questioned.

“Good, just about done. Hopefully, only another two weeks, and then everything will be ready.” I smiled.

“Perfect, and I wanted to let you know the apartment will be ready by then as well.”

“Great.”

We talked a little about things while we laid in bed last night, and Clay had expressed an interest in living together when I moved here. I wasn’t sure if now was the time to tell my mother or not. I looked over and met Clay’s eyes, but he only subtly shook his head, so I said nothing more.

“So, Aurora isn’t feeling so good?” I questioned.

Lorelai looked over at me and shook her head. “No, she was having some slight contractions today at work, so we sent her home early. She still wasn’t feeling too great tonight, and her doctor told her just to rest. I told her she should be off now, but she’s stubborn.”

“I hope she is okay.”

“She’ll be fine,” Mom added. “Dylan will call if anything happens. Lorelai made sure of that.”

Lorelai let out a laugh and nodded. “That I did.”

“I’m home. Everyone ready to eat?” Knox yelled as he shut the front door.

I looked over at Clay, who came over to where I sat and stood behind me, placing his hand on my shoulders to comfort me. Heplaced a kiss on the top of my head and whispered in my ear that everything would be fine.

“Yep, bout time you got your ass home!” Phil yelled, winking at me.

“God, who the hell invited you?” Knox chuckled as he came around the corner, a smile on his face, until he laid eyes on Clay and me.

“What the hell are you two doing here?” He frowned. “Lorelai, a word, please.”

Lorelai glanced over at us and rolled her eyes and followed Knox down the hall to the bedroom, where we heard the door slam. Muffled voices carried down the hall for a bit, and then Lorelai appeared, her eyes red and glassy.

“Ready to eat?” she said, smiling through what I was sure were tears as she nodded toward the table.

“Clay, Peyton, how about you take the seats down there? Phil, Candace, how about you guys sit across from them? Reese, please take the seat beside Peyton. I’ll sit here, and Mr. Grumpy Pants can sit at the head of table.” She winked in my direction and gave me a fake smile before heading to the kitchen, where she began bringing full dishes to the table.

The moment she sat down, Knox appeared and took a seat without so much as even glancing in our direction. The table was quiet as the food was passed around, and once all the main dishes were back in the center of the table and we’d dug into the food, Phil cleared his throat. I glanced over at Clay, only to feel his hand on my thigh and give it a gentle squeeze.

“For fuck’s sakes…” Knox muttered under his breath. “If I’m going to be forced to allow you to eat at my table against my wishes, the least you could do is respect where you are and not grope my sister. After all, I think you’ve done enough,” Knox muttered.

I could feel tears welling in my eyes at Knox’s words. I looked over at Lorelai, who sat there with a frown on her face and a look of disbelief. Phil then met my eyes and cleared his throat.

“How are the wedding plans coming, Lorelai?” Phil questioned, as if nothing had just happened.

“Fine, we are trying to still decide on invitations and cake flavors.”

“Oh, have you narrowed it down?” Candace asked.

“I have picked three invitations and two cake flavors. It’s my other half who is undecided. He doesn’t like any of my choices.”

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