29/Taking One for the Team

"Mom! Dad!" Eric saw his little brother emerge from the house running straight to their mother's side. "Wow! What are you doing here?"

Without an ounce of warmth, Vanessa Hawthorn slapped her younger son's shoulder as soon as he approached her, completely stopping him in his tracks. "Why didn't you tell me Eric was nested?"

A deep frown quickly appeared between Alex's eyes, which was near immediately replaced with widened eyes as he shot a look back at his brother.

"You didn't know?" Their mom quickly ignored her youngest son looking around until she found her husband. "Eric's nested!" She announced raising one hand towards Eric's car.

"Mom! I'm not!" Eric quickly interjected, mortified at the thought his neighbors could be witnessing all the commotion happening on his property. "Stop saying that!"

"Don't try to keep it from us, I heard the conversation you were having with this young lady." She reached through the vehicle's open window, offering a hand to Lila. "I'm Vanessa Hawthorn by the way. Future grandmother to your child, and that's my husband, Tom Morgan."

Lila smiled stiffly accepting the hand. "Uhh, Lila Braddock."

Eric's eyes locked with Lila's. In this pile of crap they found themselves in, at least she had the decency to look remorseful.

"And you're clearly the one who nested my son," the lone female family member stated matter-of-factly, leaning against the window frame.

Eric's face snappped towards Lila. It wasn't her place to speak to their parents about what was happening in Alex's body.

"Uhhh," her eyes slowly sought his. "Eric?"

He figured it was a great time to speak up before more lies were spewed by any party. "Mom, nothing has been decided, actually. A dissolution has been scheduled-"

"Nonsense," Vanessa immediately waved at his words. She pulled Eric's car door open. "Let's go inside and talk about this."

"Mom!" Eric gave a hard stare at his mother. "This is between me and Lila."

When Eric stepped out of the vehicle, his mom leaned into him. "Should I have your dad go buy a shotgun?"

Eric immediately flinched. "We don't want to get married!" He responded loudly.

"Is that what it'll take?" Lila came around the vehicle joining mother and son. "Will you cancel the dissolution if I marry you? because I'll do it. I'll do it today, if that's what you want."

Vanessa immediately clasped her hands together. "A wedding and a grandbaby!" She turned to her husband, hugging him and kissing him. "Finally! Our branches are expanding!"

"Yes!" Lila stated animatedly. "Maybe you can help me convince Eric to cancel the dissolution appointment. I've been trying to tell him I'm willing to raise the offspring all on my own but even that isn' good enough for him."

"Nonsense!" Vanessa grabbed Lila's arm, pulling her to Eric's front door. "Between you and me, I'm sure we can convince him." She leaned towards Lila, "I'll lay the Granny guilt heavily, and if I can't convince him with my words, maybe you can take him upstairs and convince him using your God-given talents," Vanessa took a moment to look Lila up and down. "Yes, you are exactly what he likes, aren't you?"

Lila chuckled.

"And if you still can't convince him, come downstairs and talk to me," Vanessa continued as they entered the home. "I'll give you a few pointers that helped me convince my husband to go through with a second nesting process."

Lila covered her mouth, but her eyes were full of mirth.

"Mom!" Eric barked. "Drop it already!"

To his surprise, Lila grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the stairs. "On second thought, why wait? Come on baby! Let's try your mom's way first!"