Chapter 47

Shannon

~~~

Lionel’s fingers intertwined with mine, a soft squeeze from him calming my nerves. Shutting my eyes, I laid my head on his shoulder, trying to take my mind off our destination.

“I’m sure they will like you,” Lionel tried to convince me. “My parents always pressured me about Leslie because I’d never told them the truth of what she did. But now they understand and have given their full support of my decisions.”

I held my breath as I asked, “Do they know about Matthew?”

A shake of his head had me sighing in relief. I wouldn’t want them looking at me in such light. I presumed they weren’t going to take kindly to the news and would probably warn me to stay away from their son since no one could assure us of our safety regardless of Matthew being in jail.

“I can’t tell them about such a sensitive matter, more so when they’ve never met you. I think it’s best if we just keep it between us, but if need be, we will tell them in future, yeah?” He glanced at me for consent.

“Thank you for understanding,” I beamed.

He lifted our intertwined hands and kissed the back of mine. “Anything for my baby.”

The rest of the ride was filled with giggles from Lionel trying to lighten my mood and it seemed to work until the car came to a halt. My heartbeat picked up when I stepped out, Lionel’s hand around my waist steadying me from giving in to my weak legs. Smiles on his parents’ faces greeted us, my heart pounding harder at every step they made towards us. I couldn’t help but think of what would happen if they didn’t approve of me.

“Relax, I got you,” Lionel whispered into my ear, somehow managing to curtail my anxieties.

“How are you?” Mrs Adams opened her arms for me to hug her, a slight nudge from Lionel giving me the courage to cover the tiny space between us and wrap my arms around her. “I have heard so much about you. Nice to meet you, Shannon.”

“Nice to meet you too ma’am,” I said once we’d pulled apart.

Mr Adams extended his hand to me, his lips spreading into a grin, his resemblance with Lionel as clear as day. “I’m so delighted to finally meet you.”

“Me too, Sir.”

“Don’t be so formal, you’re family now.” He gave my shoulder a light squeeze, giving space to Kayleigh and Claire who enveloped me in a hug, their excitement to have me here radiating in waves. Calvin gave me a friendly nod before pulling his brother aside, mumbling something to him.

“I’m so glad you came, I have something to show you in my room,” Claire announced, clapping her hands in delight.

Mrs Adams shook her head. “That would be later, darling. We’ll have brunch first then you can show her around, yeah?”

Claire nodded, her delight only heightening as she tugged at my hand so we could go inside. My eyes took in our surroundings, the palace-like mansion beating the foresight I had of their home. At my left, different types of cars lined up in rows from the largest to the smallest. The pool at the far end had me craving for a dip, the scent of flowers from their well-groomed garden stealing my attention. Their property was large, expanding in all directions, making it hard to tell how vast it was.

“Are you going to sleepover?” Claire asked as we approached the door.

“No, I don’t think so. But we can do that at my house.”

Her face lit up. “For real?” I nodded with a smile. “Yaay! I can’t wait. I’ll go tell grandma.” She scurried back to her grandparents who were slowly trudging behind us while conversing with their sons.

“I met someone,” Kayleigh murmured as she pushed the door open. I couldn’t mask my amazement and was about to bombard her with questions when I was interrupted.

“Look who we have here,” Luke teased as he pulled me in for a brief hug. “It’s nice to see you, come on in,” he said before disappearing up the steps on our right. I turned to Kay, a knowing grin on my face as I propelled her to tell me more.

“Remember Jake? The guy I had a crush on way back? Well, we bumped into each other earlier today and he asked for my number,” she squealed.

“That’s so nice. But don’t jump to conclusions, he may need nothing but your business expertise. You shouldn’t forget that he’s done that before.”

She puffed her cheeks out. “That would break my heart, it’s scary. He better want more than that.”

“Let’s hope he’s not dumb enough to pass such a hottie.”

Once in the dining room, we sat facing each other. Lionel eased beside me and took my hand in his. Leaning towards me, he said, “I need to tell you something, but don’t panic.”

“What’s wrong?” I cried out.

“Calvin just told me that they know about Matthew. They had someone look up your background.”

My eyes darted to his parents who were settling at the head of the table and back to him. “This is bad.”

“It’s not. I just spoke to them about it, they’re more concerned for your safety than being judgemental.”

My reply was halted by the servants rounding the table to plate our meals. I dreaded every second that passed because I knew they were likely to bring the topic up. The hush in the room as we dived into our meals was deafening and I could barely down mine without feeling the urge to puke.

Lionel’s fingers drew patterns up and down my hand from under the table, his attempts to calm my anxieties unsuccessful. His parents’ frequent stares weren’t helping matters either.

“It’s time Luke and Calvin left the bachelor’s market,” Kayleigh suddenly said, breaking the quietude, roars of laughter following her statement.

“You have a good point.” Mrs Adams pointed a finger at the two. “You guys need to get serious with your lives.”

“We only live once. We have to explore the world before chaining ourselves for life,” Luke defended. It was pointless to try knocking some sense into them, they were far from settling down.

Calvin grinned, fist-bumping his cousin. “I couldn’t have said it better.”

“Claire needs a sibling to play with when adults forget about her presence,” Lionel murmured, my cheeks heating up at what he was hinting at.

“Is that code word for you want kids?”

He smiled. “Maybe.”

I glanced at Claire, she was quiet the whole time, her eyes filled with boredom, dancing around the table every time someone spoke and rolling them into her sockets every few minutes.

“Let they boys live, marriage is not for the faint-hearted,” Mr Adams remarked.

Mrs Adams shook her head. “Oh come on, it’s not that bad. Marriage is sweet.”

Her remarks were followed by silence, no one agreed with her. Logically, it was true. Marriage is not a piece of cake, especially the first few years.

“That’s why I’m excited that my son is heading there.” Looking at me, she said, “Growing up, Lionel has always been a responsible man, doing everything he can to make the people around him happy but himself. It was so heartbreaking to see him hurting the past years. You don’t know how happy I am to see the glow on his face now.”

Mr Adams’ hand went around his wife’s shoulder, staring lovingly at her before turning to us. “After all that our son has been through, we’re just happy that he found you. He found love. We want nothing but the best for you two and if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here for you.”

I nodded, my lips curling into a smile. “This means a lot to us, thank you.”

Lionel leaned to me to say, “I told you so.”

“You should have told us about the issue with Matthew, we would have done everything to put an end to his threats.” My head snapped in Mr Adams’ direction, my breath catching in my throat. But he wasn’t talking to me, his eyes were on his son. “You knew I had the connections but didn’t come to me, why?”

“I didn't think you would understand.”

Mr Adams sighed, it was obvious their father-son relationship had been bumpy for quite some time. “I’m just glad we’ve all moved past our tribulations, rekindled our bonds, and everyone is safe.”

We all nodded in agreement. What mattered was the present, everything was working out just fine.

“We should take a family picture,” Claire’s suggestion was met with enthusiasm- like they’d been craving for this moment.

Mrs Adams face lit up. “That’s a great idea, darling. Let’s take it in the living room,” she said, standing up and calling out to her assistant.

Lionel’s parents and Claire sat on the couch while we stood in a line behind them. With smiles on our faces and a constant switch of positions, the assistant took a couple of shots.

“They look so good,” Mrs Adams said once the camera was handed to her. Turning to me, she draped her hand around my shoulder. “You are part of the reasons why our family has been reunited. Thank you.”

“She’s right. Welcome to the family,” Mr Adams said to me, joining in the hug and soon after, everyone was gathered around us for a group hug.