Page 92 of Undeniably Perfect
“Yep.”
He wrestles me to the ground. “If I say that I’ll think about it, will you leave it for now.”
I ponder his request. “OK, for now.”
He grins and kisses me. “Now, let’s eat. I’m starving.”
Epilogue
One month later…
“You sure you have the right flight information?” I ask Tabby for the tenth time.
She gives me a pointed look as does Lanie, who is here to pick up her college bestie, Heidi, who flew in for the weekend. Lanie types something on her phone and a moment later, Heidi appears behind us.
There is lots of screeching and jumping around. Passersby look toward us to see what all the commotion is about. Women.
“Don’t think that,” Tabby says, nudging me.
“Think what?”
She rolls her eyes. “I know you better than you know yourself now. Trust me, Brix is totally going to jump up and down, too.”
I snort a laugh. “Right. Brix, the manly doctor dude who we FaceTime with weekly. Not a chance.”
She grins at me, and I shake my head.
She shoots Brix another text. I stand waiting for Brix to appear. Last week, I got to meet their grandparents. They were polite but not overly warm. I could tell immediately that Tabby loves them, but they just don’t get her. So, that leaves Brix. I know they are close. I can tell by their nicknames for each other and the fact that they live thousands of miles apart but still know what’s going on in each other’s lives. I’m curious to meet the one family member in Tabitha’s life who has her back, who’s had her back through everything. Once Tabby shared the details of her mother’s death with me, it was like the dam had been breached. She started sharing more and more of her past with me. And my takeaway from that is Brix has been her protector since she was born. I owe a lot to this man who as a child essentially raised another child who became this woman that I’ve fallen madly in love with in a few short weeks.
“He’s just leaving customs. He should be here any second,” she says excitedly flashing her phone with the text message in my face.
I rub her back, and she grins a face-splitting grin at me. “I can’t wait to meet him,” I say.
“You guys already met.”
“FaceTime doesn’t count.”
She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. You’ll love him.”
“I’m sure I will, kitten. I’m sure I will.”
Lanie introduces Heidi to Tabitha, and I hug Heidi and ask about her flight before Heidi and Lanie launch back into a heated discussion of what they will do this week.
Tabby and I both stand there staring at the exit doors. The excitement is palpable as I look around. There are probably fifty people standing around waiting. Some have “welcome home” signs, some are in groups talking excitedly, others are by themselves and staring at phone screens. Every time the doors open, everyone looks up to see if it’s their person.
The door opens for what seems like the millionth time and a face I now recognize appears. I watch as Tabby takes off running toward her brother. Heidi and Lanie turn, and I see Lanie’s eyes widen. I roll mine. Yeah, Brix is a good-looking dude, but come on, Lanie, put your tongue back in your mouth.
I watch as my girl leaps into her brother’s arms, forcing him to drop all his bags. I smile. Our family is all together, finally.
Tabitha
I’m crying and laughing and squeezing the shit out of Brix. It’s been too long since I’ve been able to hug him. I missed this guy!
I pull back and stare at him, just making sure he’s not a mirage.
“You’re finally here,” I say with the world’s widest smile on my face.
“Yep, and if you let me go, I can go get the rest of my stuff so we can get out of the airport, and I can change into non-smelly traveling clothes.”
