Chapter 68

Nathaniel’s POV.

“Oh my god really?! When should we come? We can arrange things right away,” Dad began to bombard me with questions, happiness evident in his tone.

“No need, please, we’ll be coming to New York,” I laughed.

“Oh, are you taking her to see your home?” Mom asked in a gushing manner.

“She’s actually from New York too; she just spent the last few years living and working in Australia,” I explained, finally telling them much more about my lovely girlfriend.

“Oh wow, that’s quite exciting,” Mom replied, and I could almost see the warm smile she’d have on her face right now. “Tell us about all her favorites so I can make sure it’s prepared for her,” she mentioned.

“There’s more… Selene and I have a son, Roman,” I ripped the band-aid off to prepare them.

“Roman– a boy,” Mom muttered.

“A son…” Dad replied, sounding confused.

“How old exactly?” Mom then asked.

“Well, Roman is five; he’s a lovely little guy,” I replied, watching the boy from the window where I stood.

“I bet he is. We’ll then make sure to tell me about his favorites too so we can have that,” Dad cleared his throat.

“You guys are handling this far better than I thought you would,” I frowned. No questions? No nothing?

“Well, if there is more to talk about, I think it’s better we do that in person, no?” Dad shrugged off.

“I suppose so,” I hummed.

We continued to talk about a few other things, mostly random, and my mind was a bit absent. I was surprised by how well they consumed the information. I couldn’t believe it was this easy; my heart settled, but I still had some worries buried away somewhere. Did they understand what I meant? That I’m bringing their grandchild to meet them for the first time?

Is this perhaps them trying to act cool, they’ve accepted their fate and now just want to be a grandparent already? Regardless, I decided to focus on calming Selene. She was nervous the entire time leading up to our flight and even as we landed in the States.

“Selene, you’ve got nothing to worry about,” I cupped her face with one hand as the other held Roman’s sleeping body against mine.

“What if they hate me?” She asked in a whisper as I led the way to our car. “What if they judge me for how I handled things?”

“I accepted how things were, I made the damn best of the situation,” I said truthfully and stopped in my tracks. I caressed her face yet again and stared deep into her eyes, “I expect the same from them. I care far too much about you and our perfect boy to let anyone make you two feel unwanted. Ok?”

“Ok,” she whispered.

“I’m serious, Selene, I’m mad about you and our perfect little family, I won’t let anything or anyone upset you,” I said again, and this time she seemed much more convinced.

“Thank you, Nathaniel,” she smiled briefly.

“You’re welcome, baby,” I smiled and continued to our car, “Now, I have a surprise for you.”

“What’s happening?” she asked as we got into the car, a driver waiting to take us to my home. Kai and Anya had separated from us; they were heading to the place where Kai spent most of his time.

“To ease your worries, I decided we’d spend our first day with your friends. I planned for you and Roman to meet up with them tomorrow, and they asked to take you to brunch and such and everything is already figured out,” I finally told her. It was hard to pull off considering most of her friends were either intimidated by me or just hated me, but I managed to get them all together, and I knew how much they missed each other. “All you have to do is get dressed and go.”

“But your parents?”

“Can wait one singular day, I know you missed your friends and I want you to be as happy as possible,” I winked. The calmer and happier she was, the better.

“You are the best, Nate,” She wrapped her arm around me and hugged me closely.

***

I had a few changes made to my house. Roman now had his own playground in the yard, his own bedroom, and everything just to his liking. I made sure all his favorites were found here so he wouldn’t miss home too much.

“Daddy, I love my room!” Roman ran up to me and hugged my legs. “Come look, mama, come look!” Roman took Selene’s hand and began to show her around. She already saw everything but still went along with Roman’s enthusiasm.

When Roman was done, Selene walked up to me with a smile. She wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my chest. “I love what you’ve done with the place, but I hope you know Roman will forever ask you to go swim in his kid’s pool,” she informed me.

“I’m well aware,” I chuckled.

“Seriously Nathaniel, this place is stunning,” she looked up at me.

“Only the best for my people,” I caressed her face. “I love you, Selene, I will always do whatever I must to make you happy,” I confessed. This was the first time I’ve said this out loud, but I’ve been walking with these thoughts for a while already.

“Nate, you said I love you,” Selene’s jaw dropped.

“I know, and I mean it. If you’re not ready yet, you don’t have to say it, but I want you to know it,” I smiled briefly.

“I love you too, Nathaniel, so, so much,” she confessed, and I could feel my heart explode with happiness. She got on her toes and captured my lips between hers for a gentle kiss.

“Ewwww, don’t kiss my mommy,” Roman said annoyed and ran toward us. He was so cute; we broke apart and laughed. I picked Roman up and swung him in the air. “You’ll have to share with me, buddy.” Roman groaned dramatically and looked over at his mother with the sweetest look he could muster up, trying to convince her to do the opposite of what his I just said. I shrugged at him and Roman continued to pout.

"Are you pouting about having to share?" I asked with a gasp then began to tickle him.

Selene's point of view.

I finished doing my hair and then walked around the room to grab my outfit. I still had to unpack properly; everything of mine was scattered around. I picked up a sundress and donned it. I was able to get ready without ever once being interrupted. I love Roman more than life itself, but ever since I had him, I hadn’t known what peace was. I didn’t mind it for one second, even if I was given a chance to redo everything, I would've still had him.

Nathaniel was such a huge help when it came to Roman. He looked after him, and I could hear them beyond this room. Loud giggles and heavy steps on the floor as they ran around. My phone buzzed, and I walked over to see who it was. Kai. I picked it up immediately.

“Hey, how are you?” I asked as I answered. We haven't had much contact since we arrived yesterday, and we separated ways the moment we landed.

“I’m great, I’m going to show Anya around a bit. Are you meeting his parents today? I can get in town by tonight if needed,” Kai spoke, showing just how caring he was. Even when he had his plans, he always looked out for me in ways only my brother could. The years we spent apart had been hard, but I’m glad he’s back in my life. I’m glad I still had someone looking out for me like he did.

“No, no, tomorrow night,” I assured him, not wanting him to disrupt his own plans for my comfort. I could handle the meeting with the parents myself. “Nathaniel arranged for me to meet my friends first,” I informed him.

“Really? That was nice of him,” Kai said and seemed confused. I was too at first, but I suppose Nathaniel listened to me when I mentioned how I missed my friends. He did anything and everything to make me happy.

“I thought so too,” I smiled, staring at my reflection. I traced the outline of my golden chained necklace, yet another gift from Nathaniel.

“Well, have a great time with Anya,” I wished.

“I will. If you need anything, don’t be scared to ask, ok?” Kai stated, true to his big brother nature.

“Yes, Kai, thank you,” I smiled.

“Goodbye, Sel,” he hummed, the sound of Anya calling him in the background quite faint.

I smiled as I ended the call. I then exited the room to see Nathaniel holding Roman upside down, tickling the life out of the boy who clung to his father. They both froze as they looked at me, almost as if they thought they’d be invisible if they didn’t move.

“It was his idea,” Both Nathaniel and Roman said. I narrowed my eyes on them, and Nathaniel gently put Roman back down. They both stared at each other then gave a subtle nod as if I wasn’t in the room to see through their plan.

They both chased me and started tickling me; I tried to fight back, I tried to win the tickle war, but I ultimately lost and had to put up my white flag. “Keep tickling, and I’ll never make blueberry pancakes ever again,” I threatened, knowing just how much they both loved those pancakes. They immediately stopped tickling and looked at me with a smile.

“Come on, we made breakfast,” Nathaniel took my hand and led me to the dining room. Excitement filled me as I followed.