Page 71 of Unmistakably Us

Stacy linked arms with January and led her in. She and Gus exchanged giddy looks the whole time, making January wonder what the hell they were walking into. No one else was in the house…which isn’t fucking suspicious at all considering there were about a dozen vehicles in the drive.

Walker pulled back the blinds and opened the sliding glass door, and that’s when January saw all the smiling faces of the Reids beaming at them. The yard was decorated like a wedding reception with flowers in pale pink with big black ribbons. Each arrangement had just one deep purple verbena.

The two long tables were draped in pink linen and set with black dishes. A small parquet dance floor sat on the pool deck. Old-fashioned street lamps tied with pink ribbons placed at the four corners added a romantic glow in the waning sun. Pale pink string lights illuminated the rest of the yard against the dusky sky.

There were pink and black balloons floating on the entire surface of the pool with one purple one around the middle. Last, but not least, a giant banner draped across the front of Frank’s workshop congratulated Mr. & Mrs. Chapman.

January took it all in with awe. She turned her questioning gaze to Logan while tears of joy threatened to burst forward. “Did you…”

Her husband swept her up in his arms, her favorite place to be. “No, babe. I wish I could take credit for it, but I just answered a few questions. This is all them. I can only assume Andy provided them with some lead time because holy shit, I don’t know how they managed.”

Their moment of awe was over as the family they chose rushed forward and jockeyed for hugs and congratulations. When Michael embraced Logan and called him brother, January let the tears fall, and when Logan whispered I love you back to him, she flat-out ugly cried.

* * *

Logan wasn’tsure what shocked him more, that Michael had fully accepted and loved him as his brother, or that he had actually said the word himself. Other than January, it was an emotion he never thought to share with others.

After a round of hellos and congratulations, some laced with tears, Frank popped bottles of champagne and Francis distributed the flutes.

A few rounds of toasts later, Francis shooed everyone out on the dance floor. Someone fired up some tunes, and they all danced for what felt like hours. Logan only got to dance with January for the first song, which Michael made known was his contribution, “Colorful” by The Verve Pipe.

After that it was Tori, Augusta, Stacy, Erika, Macy, Francis, Jewel, Ariel, even Marco demanded a dance with the bride and groom. Logan was too exhausted to dance much more, so he sat at the table with the men while the ladies danced in a circle to “Girl’s Just Wanna Have Fun,” even Francis. By the time Cyndi Lauper was fading, everyone returned to the tables hungry. After dinner came the part that normally made Logan uncomfortable, but tonight, he embraced the family share session.

Under the table, he ran his hand up and down January’s clothed leg, relishing the hitch in her breathing every time he traveled just a little higher.

“I’ll start,” Michael interjected. “First of all, I just want to say I am thrilled to have my big brother here, where he belongs.”

Glassed clinked and everyone toasted. When the sound lulled, Michael continued, “As far as something to share, hmmm, let me see.” Tori slapped him on the arm.

“You’re so dramatic, like a teenage girl. We’ve decided to become a foster home. We’ve met with tons of people, filled out a mountain of paperwork, and just got our approval last week. So, we should be getting our first foster this week.”

Francis grabbed her daughter in a fierce hug. Frank embraced Michael, and everyone seemed to be misty-eyed. Michael had shared with Logan the issues they seemed to be having, and Logan was happy to see his brother and Tori ecstatic at the possibility. Looks like one apple didn’t fall far from her maternal tree, while the other was as far from his paternal tree as humanly possible.

“Next,” Tori demanded and sat back down. “Top that, brother.” She taunted Walker good-naturedly.

“I do believe I fucking will.” Walker and Erika stood. “But, I’ll let Dax go first.” He turned to Tori and stuck out his tongue, which she returned. “You’ll understand why in a minute while you eat your movie-loving heart out.”

All attention turned to Dax with Stacy vibrating at his side, clearly proud of her old man. “Imagine Ink was named Top Tattoo Parlor in Florida by Fine Lines Magazine. We couldn’t talk until the formal announcement was made. Anyway, the crew that did the shoot for the big reveal is the same crew from that reality show from Destin, the one with the rich kids on the beach.”

Stacy interrupted, “I love that show, guilty pleasure and I’m not ashamed. Oh, sorry babe, go ahead.

“Anyway, one of the kids wanted his work done by the artist called Florida’s rising son—”

A very enthusiastic Walker cut off Dax, “That would be me.”

“Shhh, you said Dax was first, so let him finish.” Walker visibly deflated after being shushed by his mother.

“Thank you, Francis. As I was saying, Walker inked the kid for their reality show, and we can finally tell because the episode should’ve aired about thirty minutes ago right after the magazine’s list came out. My phone is blowing up, so it looks like word is out and we are going to be so busy, I’ll need to think about adding a new artist or two now that the rising son is so far up in the clouds, he may never come down.”

Another round of “good for you,” “congratulations,” and “very proud of you,” along with hugs went around the tables. Stacy is right. This family does hug a lot. But at least Logan could understand it; this was a huge deal for both Dax and Walker.

Tori stepped up and hugged her brother. “Wow, Walker, that’s awesome. I’m proud of you, baby brother. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little jelly that you got to meet the rich beach bums.”

“Oh, wait, hold on to your hat. It gets so much better.” Erika’s eyes were glittering with excitement while she teased her sister-in-law. Logan didn’t know what could be better than that.

Walker grinned. “The producers were taken with my dashing good looks and fabulous personality. They offered me a small part in an upcoming film. Said I had the perfect look. It’s only one scene, but it’s with your favorite actor of all time, Tori. I get to call him a cock stain or something, throw a punch at his stunt double, and then he wrestles me to the ground and puts a bullet in my skull.”

Tori’s jaw was on the ground. “Get out! You mean—”

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