Page 16 of Snow One Like You

“Not joking,” I mouth to him, loving how red his cheeks become at that news.

Which is exactly what mine do when Calvin pulls me closer and whispers in my ear, “We should get one for our new place.”

Mom, with her supersonic hearing, latches on to two of those words, our and place. With a clap, her favored way of showing happiness, “You’re moving in together?”

Dad’s face becomes blank at he stares at Calvin. Calvin, to his credit, doesn’t fidget. He stands tall and confirms, “I just asked her, so we haven’t started looking yet.”

“And how many bedrooms are you wanting?” My mom has no shame. “I root for at least three extra.”

Calvin, having giving up trying to speak to where only my ears can hear him, asks in a normal voice, “Is she putting in a request for the number of children we have?”

**Calvin**

“She is. Just say okay, otherwise she’ll start researching the best positions in which to conceive.” A peek at Rain and Sunny show both of them nodding, letting me know Snow is not pulling my leg.

Not sure where I should start, I decide to go with, “You aren’t upset we’re not getting married first?”

“We weren’t technically until a few years ago,” Rain informs me. Knowing Snow is in her mid-twenties, I’m a bit confused.

“They never said their vows,” Snow adds, unhelpfully.

“Common law,” Sunny explains. “All we care about is Snow’s happiness. If you can give her that, a signed piece of paper isn’t what’s important.” I’ve never had this kind of conversation with a woman’s parents, or any kind for that matter, but even I know this isn’t the norm. “Grandkids, however, are. So, work on that.” My future mother-in-law just urged me to have sex with, and knock up, her daughter.

As Rain and Sunny head toward the kitchen, presumably to put the finishing touches on dinner, I pull Snow to the side and grumble, “Next they’ll be giving me a copy of the Kama Sutra.”

I laugh at my own joke. Snow does not. “Not tonight,” she responds, completely serious. “They’d have to order it because they won’t give you their personal copy.”

Then, as if she didn’t flip my world upside down with that statement, she begins walking away to join them. “Think they’ll give me brain bleach, or a therapy session, as a housewarming gift?”

Chapter Seven

Snow

December 11th…

“This feels almost impossible,” I say, trying not to whine as Calvin and I leave yet another showing, neither of us closer to finding the house we both feel is the perfect one to turn into our home.

Calvin takes my hand and squeezes. It could be in sympathy, as he’s feeling the strain, too, but I’ve also noticed, he just enjoys touching me. If it’s not something like this, then his arm is around me, or his palm is smoothing my strands. Coming from an affectionate family, I soak it in.

First time he realized he was doing it, he seemed surprised, as if he couldn’t figure out why he was twirling my hair around his finger. That’s not to say he stopped. He simply shrugged and carried on, our conversation continuing as smoothly as if nothing happened.

He’s a tall man, built for intimidation, which I’m sure comes into play during interrogations, and he carries a gun, yet he’s a big old softie for those he cares about. I saw him in detective mode once, a request coming in while we were at dinner. Since he was on call, and we happened to be mere minutes away, he’d responded and asked me to wait in the car. Only after ensuring I was far enough from the scene should anything unexpected occur, did he leave me to take care of it. Seeing him withdraw his weapon from its holster, his stance become tense as he advanced on the situation, was a sight to behold.

There was no denying that he was meant to be on the force. It’s where he belongs, which is why I can’t put off telling him about my parents any longer. I was fooling myself by claiming we wouldn’t last, a disservice to Calvin for sure. It was fear, plain and simple. He knowswhothey are, of course, but now he needs to knowwhatthey were.

There’s a tiny part of me that wonders, as froufrou as it sounds, if we haven’t found the right place for us yet because there isn’t one. Perhaps this information will be an insurmountable obstacle. Nope. I don’t buy that. Calvin is mine and I am his.

“Snow?”

“My parents used to be con artists,” I blurt, scolding myself for not having any tact in sharing that fact. I brace for the reaction that’s no doubt coming any second now. He’s a detective, sworn to uphold the law, while my dad and mom willingly broke it for quite a few years.

“I know, baby.”

“Wait, what?”

“I. Know. Baby.” I hear the words, but they don’t make sense.

“How are you so calm?” He chuckles, and damn, it’s still sexy as hell, and presses a kiss to the top of my head as I lean against his ride that we haven’t gotten in yet. Honestly, I’m a little shaky on my feet.

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