Anything For Them

by Lola StVil

  “I agree, but he doesn’t know that yet. For him, he’s watching the picture in his head burn right through. But when he gets to know you, as an adult, he’ll see that there’s a new picture. And in that picture you are still married, still have kids and a good job. But the only difference is there’s a man next to you instead of a woman.

  “It’s a big adjustment for him to make. But don’t give up on him. So long as he’s willing to call and talk, you be there on the other end. He won’t be able to resist letting you back into his heart, how could he? You’re amazing!”

  Argo looks at his reflection in the mirror. “I want to argue, but you’re right, I’m freaking adorable. I mean like Blue Ivy adorable.”

  We laugh just as Aaron runs into the room. “Mom, remember you said not to get dirty?”

  “Yes…”

  “Is ketchup dirty?”

  ARGH!

  ***

  Jackson wanted to pick us up, but I told him we were fine to drive. I rarely use my car because the trains are faster during rush hour. But I love driving, and since it’s Sunday evening, the traffic is pretty light. Also, Jackson would have had to come all the way to the other end of town to come to get us and go back up to his parents’ place. It didn’t make sense. I explained all that to him, and he still argued with me. I promised him if he let me drive my car over there, we could make out in the back seat. He agreed.

  Another reason I wanted to drive was so that I could get my bearings. It’s been years since I had to meet a man’s family. Tom’s mom was nice and very welcoming, but I can’t recall what I said or did to make her like me. I’m out of practice. Driving here on my own allows me to take one last moment for myself. And boy do I need it. When I pull up into the driveway, my mouth drops. I figured the house would be big, but I wasn’t expecting an actual mansion.

  “Mom, that house is super big!” Aaron says.

  “Yeah, it really is.”

  “It looks like a rapper’s house. Jackson’s mom and dad live there?”

  “Yeah,” I reply, feeling somewhat overwhelmed. The house boasts large columns, a circular driveway, and a vast, well-manicured lawn. It looks like something out of Architectural Digest. My hands are suddenly cold and clammy. I swallow hard and try to keep my anxiety at bay. I just need a few minutes before I enter; yeah, just a few more minutes.

  Five minutes pass.

  Just a little while longer.

  “Mom, I have to pee.” I look at Aaron in the rearview mirror and promise him we’ll get out in a second. And then my mind drifts. What if they don’t like us? What if I don’t like them? What happens when they find out about my past? Will they warn Jackson to stay away? Can I really blame them? And if that’s the case, what happens if this thing doesn’t work out? How will I break the news to Aaron?

  “Mom!”

  I hear Aaron, but my doubts somewhat mute his voice. I keep hearing the same thoughts over and over again in my head. This entire thing might be pointless. Shelby could have told everyone she suspects that I’m a liar and that I have a dark past. Why didn’t they cancel tonight? What are they planning? What the hell am I walking into?

  “Jackson!” Aaron shouts.

  I was too in my head to notice that Jackson has come out of the mansion and is now standing by the car, looking in. Aaron pounds excitedly on the car window; I unlock the car door. Aaron unbuckles his seatbelt, gets out of the car, and hops up and down. He looks up at Jackson with a pleading expression; Jackson laughs and says, “Through the front door, make a right.”

  “Thanks!” Aaron says as he takes off into the house. I’m still somewhat stuck with my hands gripping the steering wheel. Much to my surprise, he doesn’t tell me to get out of the car; instead, he gets in the back seat and lies flat on his back.

  “What are you doing?” I ask as I look at him in the rearview mirror.

  “I need a quick session, Doc. It’s important,” he says.

  “Oh, so this is a session?”

  “Yup. Here’s my problem. I’m hopelessly in love with this stunning redhead and her awesome kid. But she somehow managed to glue herself to her car. It’s that super glue, the kind that just won’t come off. So, how do I get her unstuck from the steering wheel?”

  “You could love her despite what she’s attached to,” I reply.

  “I don’t know, Doc. What would become of your sex life? Car sex is the number one cause of sex-related injuries. I’d be taking my life in my hands.”

  “Then you have to get her ‘unstuck,’” I reply with a silly grin.

  “How?”

  I think for a moment. Suddenly, I find myself no longer being playful. “Tell her that no matter what happens inside that house, it won’t change the way you feel about her. Tell her this thing between you two is real.”

  He sits up, no longer joking. His eyes are dark and serious. I take off my seatbelt and turn to the back seat, facing him.

  “Mia, there isn’t a goddamn thing that can make me stop loving you and Aaron. My family will love you, just as I do. But even if by some small chance they don’t, it would not change anything between us. Do you hear me? Not one damn thing. You and Aaron are more than my ‘right now.’ You two are my future. If you want to blow tonight off, get some pizza, and watch a movie, then let’s go and do that.

  “If you want to spend the night with Aaron, bowling badly and eating junk food, I’m good with that too. I don’t care where we go or what we do, as long as I get to do it with the two of you.

  “But if I get a vote, I’d love for you to come inside. I want them to meet the reason why I’m happy. I want them to meet the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  I place my hands behind his head, bring him close to my face, and claim him with a long, ardent kiss.

  Someone knocks on the window. “Mom, let’s go! They got grilled cheese! And you know what it’s shaped like?!”

  Jackson and I reply in unison, “Sharks.”

  “YES!”

  We laugh and get out of the car. Jackson takes in my outfit and whispers in my ear, “You look beautiful, baby.” I beam. Aaron eagerly takes my hand and guides me into the house.

  The inside is even more impressive than the outside if that’s possible. The marble floors, crown molding, and large-scale art make the home almost too picturesque to be real. The foyer has an exquisite bouquet of fresh flowers that’s nearly as tall as Aaron.

  Standing next to the arrangement are Jackson’s parents. His mother is a walking tribute to aging well. Mrs. Hunter is wearing a floral designer dress with expensive yet understated jewelry. If I age half as well as she did, I will be grateful.

  “Mia! It’s so good to meet you,” she says as she moves in for a hug. She smells so good. I’d ask what her perfume is, but I’m sure it’s not within my budget. She introduces me to her husband. Mr. Hunter’s tall and just as handsome as his sons.

  “So, you’re the reason my son has been walking around smiling like crazy, huh?” I’m not sure what to say, but I can feel my cheeks grow warm. “Jackson, you did alright. It’s nice to meet you, Mia,” Mr. Hunter says as he embraces me.

  “This is my son, Aaron,” I reply once we fall apart.

  “Hi,” Aaron says with a toothy grin.

  “Well, you’re just too adorable for words. Come here, let me look at you,” she says, taking him in.

  “Hey, my turn,” Mr. Hunter says. He turns his attention to Aaron, who is trying to sneak a peek at the food being placed in the dining hall across from us. Mr. Hunter’s voice is booming and serious as he speaks to Aaron.

  “Now, I don’t care for slackers. So, you have a job?”

  Aaron looks up at me, not sure what to say, and I hold back my laughter.

  “Well, son, do you?”

  “Ah, no…” Aaron says.

  “You married?”

  He giggles. “No.”

  “No job and no wife, what do you do then?”

  Aaron shrugs his shoulders and grips m
y hand. “I um…go to school.”

  “Oh, well, that’s more like it. You work hard in school?”

  “Yeah,” Aaron says with newfound confidence.

  “Well, if that’s the case, then I guess you can stay and have dinner with us. A hardworking young man needs to be fed. Dinner’s not quite ready yet. I know I saw some young people who looked to be about your age—they said they were my grandchildren, so I had to let them in the house. They are around here somewhere…now, where were they going…oh yes, to the game room.”

  “Game room?!” Aaron replies as his eyes light up.

  “Yes, it’s an arcade room with toys and other such craziness. You wouldn’t be interested in seeing it, would you?” If Aaron nods any harder, his head will snap right off.

  “Well, now, you have to ask your mom if you can go,” Mr. Hunter says. Aaron looks at me as if his very life depends on my next thought.

  “Go ahead, honey,” I reply.

  “Come on; I’ll show you the way,” Mr. Hunter says. Aaron takes off like a rocket.

  “Don’t run!” I yell after him. It’s too late; he’s already gone. Mrs. Hunter laughs.

  “There’s nothing he can break in this house that my boys and my grandkids haven’t already broken. Don’t you worry about it. Come on in here,” she says as she walks me towards the dining hall.

  “You all go ahead; I need to speak to Mia, alone,” his mother says. I exchange a worried glance with Jackson. He smiles reassuringly and kisses my cheek.

  “You’ll be fine,” he says.

  I agree to a chat with his mom. She takes me to her charming and fragrant garden in the back and asks me to sit on the bench next to her.

  “This is my favorite place in the house. This is where I go when those boys are turning my heart into a yo-yo with their high-speed chases and warehouse raids,” she says. She’s joking, but only partly. Jackson told me when his mom is anxious because one of them hasn’t checked in and is out in the field, she goes to the garden.

  “I can’t imagine what it’s like to worry that much. I worry about Aaron, and he’s just one kid. But to worry about five? I don’t know how you do it.”

  “Edibles.”

  I chuckle, and she looks over at me and raises her eyebrows. Wait, is she serious? “Mrs. Hunter, you don’t…”

  “Shhh, the boys don’t know. It’s not all the time. Just every once in a while during book club, and when the boys go on cases that are especially dangerous. I have a guy—Banshee. He gets me what I need. A brownie, a cookie, whatever.”

  “Wow, okay. I guess if it helps relax you and it’s not like you have kids at home, so…What did you want to talk about?”

  “I usually run background checks on the women my boys are dating. They don’t always listen to me. That’s not the way I raised them. They have their own minds. But I look out for them like they would look out for me.”

  “If you want me and Aaron to go—”

  “Certainly not.”

  “This isn’t about what you found out about me?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re going to tell him to leave me?”

  “I am going to tell him the same thing I’m telling you. You are now part of this family. Your worries are ours. So whoever or whatever is after you is after us. We will take care of you, and more importantly, Jackson will.”

  “You’re okay with us being together?”

  “Without a doubt.”

  “Why? I thought the background check…”

  “I don’t need your background check. Someone vouched for you.”

  “Jackson?”

  “Men know nothing. The person who vouched for you is Shelby.”

  “Shelby stood up for me?”

  “Yes, she came into my office and said, ‘Her background check is blank. But take her in. Bring her close.’ Shelby’s protective of this family. If she says you’re worth it, you must be.”

  “Can I ask, what’s her story?”

  “You know how brave and courageous my boys are?”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard the stories.”

  “Well, not one of them can measure up to the courage Shelby has shown. And they know that. They have their fun teasing her, but at the end of the day, they’d die for that woman. And she’d gladly die for them.”

  “Sounds like she’s really something,” I reply, mostly to myself.

  “My sons always pick great women. And I see that Jackson is continuing that tradition. You are raising a sweet kid, and I’m told it’s only yourself doing so.”

  “My ex wasn’t cut out for fatherhood.”

  “It’s easy to tell Jackson’s taken by you. I just want to know that you feel the same way.”

  “I do! Jackson is everything I ever wanted in a guy.”

  “You love him?”

  “Yes. Very much.”

  “Good. Then tell him whatever it is you’re hiding. Because while Shelby didn’t tell me all there is to know about you, she did mention the discrepancy in your name. And if you want this to work, I’m thinking Jackson should meet Mia Avery.”

  Jackson’s mom and I enter the large stylish dining hall. It has high ceilings, French doors, and an antique chandelier. The long dining table in the center of the room has been beautifully set. Three of Jackson’s brothers are in attendance, in addition to their wives. They greet me warmly, and I feel bad that I actually hesitated to come inside.

  “Are we missing someone?” I ask.

  “Shelby and my brother are out of the country. He doesn’t get a lot of downtime, so when he has time off, he always whisks Shelby away,” Wyatt explains.

  “Trust me, when that woman is on vacation, we’re all on vacation,” Logan quips.

  “She’s a lovely woman,” Jackson’s mom says.

  “C’mon, Mom, Endless is exhausting,” Jackson replies.

  “No, she’s wonderful, and you need to stop calling her that,” Shay scolds Jackson.

  “Mia, come have a seat,” Skylar says. I go over who’s who in my head. Skylar is the first-grade teacher, and she’s married to Cash. They have twins. I ask where they are and Skylar says they are upstairs sleeping.

  “Speaking of kids, I should probably check on mine,” I remark to Jackson. He walks towards the panel on the wall where a white box is mounted. It looks like some kind of security system. He taps on a few keys, and the monitor display turns on. I am watching Aaron play with Jackson’s niece and nephews in the game room. He’s having the time of his life.

  “Don’t worry, Mia; we’ll call them down when everything is ready,” Winter promises.

  Jackson walks me to the table, and we sit side by side. The staff enters and begins placing large stainless-steel chafing dishes on top of the tables along the walls. The buffet they are setting up smells heavenly. My mouth waters and I remind myself that it would be wrong to open up the lids and start tasting everything. But then I spot someone doing just that.

  “Logan! We haven’t started dinner yet,” his mother scolds.

  “C’mon, old lady; you know we don’t stand on ceremony here, I’m starving,” Logan replies as he takes a chunk out of an herb-roasted turkey leg. Logan is a little taller than Jackson and just as sexy. “You don’t want your only son to starve, do you?” Logan asks.

  “Hey, you’re not her only son!” Wyatt reminds him.

  “That’s right, I have four lovely sons,” Mrs. Hunter replies.

  “Four?” Jackson asks.

  “Well yes, I used to have five, but I’ve demoted you.”

  Wyatt and Cash start laughing. “What have I been demoted to?” Jackson asks, pretending to be wounded.

  His mom thinks for a moment and then says, “Distant cousin, twice removed. The kind that we forget to invite over to Thanksgiving dinner. You know, the kind of relative whose name you misspell in the Christmas card.”

  I didn’t mean to laugh, but I did, and Jackson’s mouth dropped. “Really, babe, you’re taking her side?”

  “W
ell…a month is a long time not to call your mom,” I reply.

  “Hey, I am not the worst son in here. Logan convinced Rose to get inside a box so he could ship her to Florida,” Jackson says pointedly.

  “She wanted to go to Disney World; I was doing her a favor,” Logan explains.

  “You put her in a box?” I ask.

  “I made an air hole,” Logan says. I shake my head in disbelief.

  His mom continues the story. “I was downstairs, and I saw Logan stumping down the steps with a big cardboard box. He said he was throwing out old toys. Then I heard Rose cough.”

  “Rose was worse because when Mom saw her, the first thing she said was, ‘Cash made me do it,’” Logan says.

  “I wasn’t even home at the time. You see, Mia, you see how I get blamed for things that I didn’t do. The fact is, I was and continue to be the perfect son,” Cash adds.

  “Lies! All lies! I was the perfect son,” Wyatt informs me.

  Logan replies, “That’s because you were too scared of Mom to get in trouble. But me, I’d get in trouble even when I didn’t do anything wrong. My sweet mother grounded me for driving to the store to get chips.”

  “You were twelve!” his mother reminds him.

  “Yeah, but I wore my seatbelt the whole time.”

  “You did what? God, you guys were awful,” I reply.

  “Okay, we had issues, but don’t let Mom fool you. She had her moments too,” Jackson says.

  “Me? You would pick on a fragile old woman with fading eyesight?” Mrs. Hunter says, adding a well-placed cough at the end of her speech. The women and I laugh as she winks at us surreptitiously.

  “Don’t even try it, old lady. Mia, my first day being a cop, in fact, my very first hour on the force, our mother decided to tail me,” Wyatt says.

  “You followed him?” I ask her.

  “Well yes, just to make sure he didn’t encounter anything he couldn’t handle. And I was very helpful, wasn’t I?” she asks Wyatt.

  “The guy I arrested was smoking weed and spraying graffiti on the wall. I go up to him. I feel very professional, like yeah, I got this handled. And then my mother gets out of her car, grabs my suspect by the ear, and forces him to apologize for his actions. Then she makes him call his mother and tell her what he’s done.”