Page 22 of After the Rain
“Yeah, of course.” His voice is quiet, and I walk over to him, gripping his chin in my hand and forcing him to look at me.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him.
“Nothing.” I raise one brow at him, and he huffs out a breath.
“What do we, erm, say? About… us? Do we pretend that nothing’s changed or…” I pull him into me in half a second flat and claim his mouth in a bruising kiss.
“You’re mine. And we’re telling them all that. I’m not letting Archer and Cole loose anywhere near you if they could have any ideas that you might be single.”
“I see Archer and Cole all the time,” he chuckles.
“Yes, and I’m always there glaring at them behind your back.”
He pushes me away with a laugh before asking, “What time do we need to leave?” I check my watch.
“About midday?”
“Perfect,” he says. “I have time to bake some dessert before I get ready.”
And that’s exactly what he does.
At twenty past twelve, we open the door to Mum and Dad’s, Rain balancing a tiramisu cake in a Tupperware in his hands while he toes off his Converse. The usual cacophony of voices can be heard, and Pax soon disappears, no doubt in search of Wren.
We place our shoes on the rack and our coats on the hooks in the cupboard by the door, and when Rain turns slowly to face the back of the house, I grab him from behind, wrapping my arms around his waist. I kiss the side of his neck before whispering into his ear.
“You doing OK, baby?! He relaxes instantly in my hold, and I know that checking in was the right call. He’s nervous, although I don’t know why. He’s met my whole family already, and everybody loves him.
“I’m OK,” he says, leaning back into me. “I’m just a bit nervous, I guess?”
“Is that a question?” I tease.
“Shut up, knobhead,” he snarks with a snort of laughter. “What if-what if they were fine with me when I was your… what was I? Lodger? Roommate? But the thought of us actually together is like… they might think I’m too much trouble or bring too much baggage or something?” His lithe body shakes a little with his words, and a small crack forms in my heart that he could possibly think this. I spin him around and take the Tupperware box out of his hands, placing it on the console table in the hall before taking both of his hands in mine and folding them up against my chest.
I kiss the tip of his nose, and his eyes close. “Rain, baby. I want you to listen to me right now and listen bloody good. My parents have been wishing for me to meet someone for years. They’ve both sent me texts over the past month hinting about you and hinting not very subtly that I’m so clearly interested in you, judging by my, and I quote, ‘moony eyes’ over you. But they have also been worried about you. Not judging your history, which, by the way, you didn’t owe them. But you are so goddam brave, you gave it to them anyway. They’ve been worried about how you’re doing. They asked Nash how you were healing. I’m telling you, baby, they have adopted you already. I hope you meant it when you said you loved me because as soon as I tell them we are together now, you will inherit three annoying brothers, a smart-arse sister, and two very overbearing in-laws with an unhealthy attachment to country music and ice hockey.”
His smile has grown with each of my words, and when I finish speaking, he presses his forehead to mine.
“Are you sure? Like really sure?” he asks in a small voice, a hint of worry threading through his tone. I nod emphatically and lean in to press a chaste but deep kiss on his lips. “Good. Because I haven’t had any family since I lost my mum and…” I swallow the lump in my throat when I see tears form in his eyes. “Fuck. I think I really need some family, Aidan.”
I wrap him tight in my arms. Reassuring him with my body before I do the same with my words.
“You have them, baby. You have them. And you have me. For as long as you want me. I’m yours, and you’re mine.”
Pax, sensing the overwrought emotions between us, has made his way back to us and is pressed against both of our legs, and our fingers brush together as we both rub his head to reassure him that we are OK. I kiss Rain once more before picking up his Tupperware, then grabbing his hand and dragging him down the hall to the kitchen, where literally everyone is waiting for us.
“Everything OK?” Mum asks, wiping her hands on a Boston Bruins tea towel that she’s had for years and refuses to throw away despite it being somewhat threadbare at this point.
“Everything’s good, Mum.” I release Rain’shand and press a kiss to Mum’s cheek. “Rain made a tiramisu cake for pudding.” She beams in surprise. Literally nobody in my family cooks. Mum was always the queen bee of the kitchen, and the end result is that we can barely get by, so having someone bring something that wasn’t purchased must be a treat.
“Thank you, Rain,” she gushes, rushing over to him and wrapping him up in a tight hug, kissing his face as she does. “Let’s have a look at it, shall we?” Rain smiles timidly, follows her back around the island, and takes the lid off the tub. He carefully lifts the cake out by the drum it’s sitting on and places it on the highly polished silver stand Mum has smoothly placed beside him. I swear she’s a kitchen ninja. I didn’t even see her getting that out of the sideboard.
She fusses over the cake and places it proudly in the centre of the counter before kissing Rain again. “It looks delicious, sweetheart. Thanks again. You’ve started a new tradition now, though, you know? You’ll have to bring something every week.”
I see the tears well in his eyes again, and I go to comfort him, but Mum just shoos me away with that fucking tea towel. She cups his cheek and gives him such a soft, motherly look, wiping his cheeks before I hear her whisper, “Welcome home, sweetheart.” Rain sobs quietly and wrapshis arms around her so tightly that I know his heart just mended a little bit. Losing his mother was so hard on Rain, and I know he hates the fact that she died knowing his situation with Dan was so bad. But now, he has someone again who will shower him in all the motherly love he’s needed for too long.
I leave them to their moment in the kitchen and head around to the table where my dad, brothers, and sister are, for once, minding their own business and playing cards – well, Uno – at a vaguely reasonable volume. When Rain and Mum rejoin us, the volume increases as everyone says hello to Rain. I barely got a grumble and a nod from these fuckers as they were too engrossed in their game, but Rain gets all the love and attention he deserves. He can’t help but draw people in, and I’m so fucking lucky that the man he wants is me.
Seventeen
