"If you hurry, there might be a little something for you to eat," she told him, as she stopped him in the doorway to the living room. Her arms reached up around his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss.
When they had finished, to their surprise, they saw Barrett and Willow on the living room couch, looking at them with wide eyes. Chandler and Brynn shared a look of trepidation.
"We're busted," she whispered.
Chandler took a deep breath. "Time to come clean, then."
Chandler squeezed her hand in reassurance before they made their way over to the couch to talk with the kids.
"Okay guys, looks like it's time for a little talk," Brynn said. "Where do I start? Um...Chandler and I have been spending a lot of time together, and over that time, we've developed feelings for each other."
"What Brynn is trying to say is that we are together. Brynn is my girlfriend, and I'm her boyfriend. Does that make any sense?" Chandler jumped in on the explanation.
"We know what boyfriends and girlfriends are. We aren't four years old, Daddy," Willow said, rolling her eyes.
"Do you guys have any questions for us?" Brynn asked.
"Are you getting married?" Barrett asked immediately.
Chandler looked right into the young boy's eyes. "We haven't discussed it, but I love your mom very much. We aren't getting married right now, but we might in the future."
"So when you get married, are you going to get rid of me and Willow? My friend Joey lived with his mom and when she got married, her mom gave him away."
"What?"
"No!"
The two parents shouted the denials in unison. Barrett blinked at them, his eyes even wider. Brynn put her hand on his head and ruffled his hair.
"Barrett, I love you so much, I could never get rid of you. I love Willow too, just like Chandler loves you. Neither of you are going anywhere! You'll be lucky if I let you move out and get married before you're thirty."
Willow sat there quietly, not quite sure what to say. She had so many questions in her head she was afraid to ask. Fortunately, Chandler knew his daughter well enough to see it.
"Willow, honey, what do you want to ask? You can ask us anything you want. No one will get mad, and no one will laugh at you."
Willow hesitated. "Is Brynn going to be my new mom? And if she is, could she leave us too?"
Brynn looked at Chandler with sudden tears in her eyes. She opened her mouth to answer, but Chandler shook his head.
"Willow, come here," he said, and patted to his knee. Willow slowly made her way over and sat in his lap. Chandler took a deep breath. "Honey, your mom didn't leave you on purpose. She died in an accident, and no one could control what happened. If she could, she would be here with you now, but God wanted your mommy to be with him. Do you understand that?"
Willow slowly nodded.
"There are some things in life that we can't guarantee, but I know this for sure. Brynn will never leave you willingly, and neither will I. As for her being your new mom, that's something you will have to decide on, in time. If we get married, then you can choose whether to call her mom or not, but it's not something you need to worry about right now."
Willow nodded and hugged her father. "I love you, Daddy," she whispered, being brave and trying to fight the tears. But then she saw that Brynn was crying too.
Willow hopped off her dad's lap and put her arms around Brynn's neck. She hugged her tight.
"I think I'll call you Mom," she whispered in Brynn's ear.
Brynn smiled through her tears and nodded, not able to speak at the moment, as she didn't trust her voice. When Willow let go of her neck, Brynn wiped the tears away.
"Any more questions?" she asked.
The kids shook their heads.
"Now, who's ready for me to make some breakfast?"
"Me!" Both kids shouted in unison.
"I have an even better idea. Let's go out for the breakfast buffet. It's been quite a morning, and I think I need to treat my three favorite people to some breakfast!" Chandler told them. The kids jumped up and down. "Okay, go get dressed, brush your teeth, and we'll leave."
Barrett ran up the stairs like a shot, and Willow ran out the back door to go to her house to change, leaving Chandler and Brynn alone in the living room. "Well, that didn't go too horribly." Brynn said with a half-smile.
"I think everything is going to work out just fine. Now, go get ready or else I'll drag you to the buffet in your pajamas!" Chandler told her, and smacked her bottom when she turned to leave.
"Watch it, mister. I have the ability to make your nights very lonely, don't forget," Brynn teased, as she walked up the stairs. As soon as she was out of sight, Chandler walked out the back door to go home and change himself, and to help Willow get ready. He smiled the whole way.
As Brynn took a quick shower and got ready to go to breakfast, the conversation with the kids played through her head again. Something stuck out in her mind, something she was going to talk to Chandler about as soon as she could get him alone. She just hoped he wouldn't freak out about it, and given his previous actions, she worried that he might.
After breakfast and a stressful trip to the grocery store, the four were finally back at Brynn's house. Brynn and Chandler sat down in the living room, trying to plan the details of the party taking place the next day.
"We got all the food we'll need for tomorrow, as long as a million unexpected people don't show up. Now we need to call and invite everyone. Hopefully we won't have to make another trip to the store. Now, you call the people you want to invite, and write down who's coming on this pad of paper. I'll use my cell phone to call the people I'm inviting, and when we're done, we'll see how many can make it on such short notice. If I have to, I'll go back to the store, alone, to get more stuff," he said, looking over at the rambunctious kids.
They made their calls, and ended up with a pretty large list of people. Luckily, Brynn had enough food to feed everyone. She looked over his list, and saw that all the people who were coming were those she had met before. The only one she was nervous about was his mother. She knew she needed to talk to him before they told his mother about their relationship, to bring up what happened this morning.
"Chandler, remember our talk we had with the kids this morning?"
"How could I forget?" he laughed.
"Well, they brought something up. I had no clue how to answer them, and I wanted to know what you were thinking about it."
"Oh, you mean the marriage question?"
She laughed. "How'd you know?"
"Well, it was pretty obvious you were taken aback by it." Chandler shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. You know that I love you, and you make me happy. I can't see my future without you in it, and that kind of makes marriage a logical step. Not that I'm ready for that right now, and I don't think you are either, but I'm not exactly opposed to the idea for the future."
Brynn was pleasantly surprised by how honest and forthcoming he was. Her worries were quickly fading.
"So if your mom corners us and asks that question tomorrow, I'm letting you field it, since you do such a good job explaining it," Brynn said, as she wrapped her arms around Chandler and kissed his lips lightly. "Now, let's get cooking. We can make some of the dishes today so we don't have as much to do tomorrow."
Chandler smiled and pulled her in for another kiss, ignoring her work orders for the time being.
On Monday morning, Brynn woke again in his arms. She looked up into his eyes, to find them open and looking right at her.
"Wow, you're awake before me this morning. That's rare!" she teased.
"Well, I wanted to watch you sleep for a change. Besides, you told me that we had to be up early to get ready for the party. I can't help it if you're lazy!" he joked.
"You're right. I better get moving!" Brynn said and went to climb out of bed. She almost made a clean getaway before Chandler grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to bed.
"Not so fast. I haven't gotten a good mo
rning kiss yet. You aren't getting away that easily!"
Just before things started to heat up, Brynn pulled away. "You're just trying to sidetrack me. I have to get in the shower, and you need one too."
"Well then, let's save water and take one together," Chandler suggested with a sly smile.
A million thoughts ran through her head, all of them decidedly wonderful. Brynn walked to her bedroom door and twisted the lock. She then walked to the bathroom and turned the shower on.
She stuck her head out the bathroom door. "You coming?"
Chandler gave her a wicked grin.
Brynn got into the shower and let the water cascade over her body. As she looked out the glass panels of the shower stall, she could see Chandler coming toward her. He stepped in and ducked his head under the water before giving her a kiss.
"I figured the shower will help to cover up the sounds of us making love, but we still need to be quiet," Brynn said as she wrapped her arms around Chandler's neck. She carefully wrapped her legs around his waist, careful not to slam into him too hard to send them both flying out of the shower. He braced himself against the wall as he balanced them both under the water.
Chandler looked at her as her hips wiggled over him. "Are you ready already? No foreplay or anything?"
"I'm ready. Just give it to me!"
Chandler did as she asked of him. He slid into her, trying to find the best angle so that the water wouldn't wash away all her natural wetness. When he put his back to the water, he found that it worked, so he did just that. He backed her up against the shower wall as he quickly drove her to the brink of her climax.
The sounds she tried to muffle as she came triggered his own release. She watched him as he came, her smile huge.
"Sorry, I couldn't wait much longer," Chandler said, blushing.
"Chandler, that's what a quickie is all about," she said. "It was perfect!"
Now that their sexual desire was sated, they took turns washing each other's bodies, trying not to take too much time.
After their shower, Chandler ran over to his house to get dressed. Brynn got herself ready for the day, then got started in the kitchen. By the time Chandler got back, the kids were eating bowls of cereal for breakfast. Brynn offered one to Chandler but he declined, and helped her prepare the food for the party instead.
A few short hours later, friends and family started to show up for the cookout. Barrett was so excited to see that Mike Mussina was one of the first people there. He dragged the player into the house to show him how his mom had decorated his bedroom, then he introduced him to his dog named 'Jeter'. Mike laughed at that one, and couldn't wait to tease his buddy Derek about the dog that looked so much like him. Barrett hung on Mike's every word, and didn't want to leave his side for anything. Mike ended up in the back yard with Barrett and Willow, teaching them the basics of pitching.
Zaiden and Nyla showed up shortly after, carrying dessert to share. They had offered to help with more than that, but after all their help in the past couple of weeks, Brynn told them dessert was more than enough. Zaiden and Nyla were proud to see their hard work had paid off, and that Chandler and Brynn were both happy again.
Finally, Mrs. Tiller arrived. Chandler and Brynn were on the deck, grilling up the meat and chicken, when they saw Willow run a blue streak across the lawn. She shouted "Grandma! Grandma! Guess what! Daddy's got a girlfriend, and she's going to be my new mom!"
Chandler and Brynn looked at each other with wide eyes and shot down the deck. When they got there, it was worse than they thought. Not only was Chandler's mother standing there, but Brooklyn's mother had walked up also.
"Chandler, what's going on?" Mrs. Tiller asked.
"Mom! Nice to see you!" He hugged her, then turned to Brooklyn's mom and said, "Linda, nice to see you again. It's been a while."
"Linda called me up, and asked what I was doing today. I invited her to come along. I didn't think you'd mind," Mrs. Tiller said, not quite sure what to make of the situation.
Willow hugged both her grandmas, and went to stand between Chandler and Brynn, holding one of each of their hands. "Both my grandmas are here. Isn't that so cool?"
"Of course, we don't mind you asking Linda to come along," Chandler said, and gave her an awkward hug. He turned to Brynn, who was feeling very self-conscious around the two older women sizing her up.
"Brynn, you know my mom," Chandler said. The two women said hello to each other. Chandler went on and introduced her to the other woman: "And this is Linda Childs, Brooklyn's mother."
Brynn gulped and nodded. "Nice to meet you. Can I get you ladies something to drink?"
"Nice to meet you too," Linda said, without any warmth. "I don't think I'll be staying long, so I'm fine without anything to drink."
"Now Chandler, what is this nonsense that Willow is sprouting?" Mrs. Tiller asked.
Chandler turned to Willow. "Willow, why don't you go play with Barrett for a little while?" When Willow started to protest, Chandler gave her a look that said not to disobey him. After she left, Chandler turned back to his mother. "I think Willow is getting a little ahead of herself, but yes, Brynn and I are in a relationship."
Linda's jaw dropped. "Isn't it a bit soon?"
"With all due respect, Linda, Brooklyn isn't ever coming back. She died almost three years ago, and I think it's time I moved on with my life," Chandler told her, trying to remain calm. "Well, I've heard enough already! I think I will leave. Just know that I'm not through with you yet! Good day!" Linda said, and turned around and walked out.
Chandler turned to his mom. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this. But, yes, Brynn and I are together now, and I hope you can accept it."
"We'll talk about it later. Right now I need to calm Linda down," Mrs. Tiller said, and followed Brooklyn's mother out of the back yard.
"Well, that went smashingly, didn't it?" Brynn asked sarcastically, pale as a ghost.
Chandler sighed. "Brynn, I don't care what Linda thinks. All that matters is that you and I are happy with what we have. My mom will be okay. I think she's just in shock right now, especially with the way Willow told her about us. We really should have done it in private, not at a cookout. I realize that now." He pulled her into his arms and held her tight. He kissed the top of her head, then backed up to look into her eyes. "I love you. That's all that matters!"
"I love you too," she said, with a sad smile.
He gave her another quick kiss. "Good, now let's party."
Chandler took Brynn back up to the grill, and took over for Zaiden and Nyla, who had filled the vacancy when the grandmas showed up.
Nyla put her arm around Brynn's shoulders and blew a raspberry on her cheek. Brynn laughed and returned the gesture. After that, Brynn's mood lightened and everyone had a great time.
Chapter 20
After the last guest from the cookout had left, Brynn and Chandler looked at each other with a sigh of relief that it was finally over. They looked around Brynn's backyard to see how much of a mess they were going to have to clean up before they could call it a night.
"Well, it's not too bad. I think that placing all the trash cans around the yard helped to keep it cleaner," Brynn said optimistically. "Good idea, Chandler. I knew I keep you around for some reason!"
"Hey, I'm not just another pretty face, I'll have you know!" Chandler teased back.
"You got that right!"
The clean-up went fast, giving Brynn and Chandler some time to sit on the deck before they parted ways. The kids were already asleep, each at their own house, as tomorrow was a work day for Brynn and Chandler. They had agreed that the only sleepovers would be on the weekends, when none of them had school or work the next day.
As they sat enjoying their remaining time together, cuddling on the porch swing, Brynn heard a noise at the side of the house. "Chandler, I think someone is over there," she whispered.
Chandler got up from the swing to see what the noise was. As he rounded the corner of the house, he saw s
omeone walking towards the street.
"Can I help you?" he called out.
The figure stopped and turned around, giving Chandler a view of her face. "Mom?"
She started walking back. "Sorry, I just came over to talk to the two of you. But, when I went back there, you were cuddled on the swing that I didn't want to interrupt, so I was leaving. I guess you heard me though."
"We weren't doing anything, just talking. Come on back...I think there are some things we need to discuss," Chandler told her.
"Mrs. Tiller!" Brynn was surprised when she saw who it was with Chandler.
"Mom just came to talk to us, and thought she was interrupting, so she left. I think we all need to have a little talk though," Chandler explained.
"I agree. Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything to drink? How about some food? We have so much left over from the cookout," Brynn rambled nervously.
Mrs. Tiller sat down. "Would you happen to have any wine? It's been a long day!"
Brynn brought out a bottle of White Zinfandel and three glasses. After Mrs. Tiller got her glass, she took a drink and smiled, looking a little more relaxed as the wine entered her system.
Chandler started the conversation. "Mom, we wanted to apologize for the way everything came out today. I think Willow is just so excited at the prospect of maybe having Brynn as her mother, or mother figure, that she just blurted it out and expected everyone else to be happy too. She's too young to realize that not everyone will be as happy about it as she is."
Mrs. Tiller nodded.
"We wanted to sit you down and tell you ourselves that Brynn and I are together now, but I guess that didn't happen. We should have told you yesterday when we told the kids."
"How long has this been going on?" Mrs. Tiller asked. "I thought you were just friends?"
"Well, we were, up until about two months ago," Brynn said. "Even during our friendship, we felt something for each other. It just took us a while to do something about it. Things have been kind of up and down in our relationship, not really knowing where it was headed, but I think we've worked all that out now."
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