“Sorry Lauren, ignore him, he's just forgotten what that first flush of love is like, not got a romantic bone in his body. It's good to meet you; the pair of you will have to come over for dinner soon”
“Yeah” I say, “thanks, that sounds good” I watch as she touches Gabe on one cheek with her hand and kisses him gently on the other. “You look good Gabe, I'm so pleased to see you this happy” he smiles at her and gives her a hug. Strangely, I don't feel the least bit jealous, it’s more of a brother and sister display of affection between them and it makes me instantly warm to Sam.
Cooper and Jen are equally as nice but I sense Gabe’s nowhere near as close to this sister in law. I hear a commotion behind me and see a young woman coming down the stairs two at a time. She totally ignores Gabe and says, whilst trying to get her breath, “Lauren, oh my God, so good to meet you, I'm Stella” she hugs me before I can reply
“So glad you could make it, would you like a drink? Gabe hi, does Lauren have a drink?” I turn towards him; his eyebrows are raised as he looks at me.
“I'll get you a drink shall I baby?”
“Ohhh I’m your baby now am I? Glad we’re clear on that fact, yes that would be good please; I would love a drink… Baby”
“Lauren, I didn’t know what to say, how to introduce you, you’re more than a girlfriend, much more than that and I didn’t know what title to use to express the fact, I knew you would be pissed at me, sorry”
He shrugs and looks at me from under his lashes, with puppy dog eyes “Forgive me?” He kisses me gently on the mouth.
“Go, get me a wine, then I will think about it” I can’t help but smile as I watch him heading over to the fridge. I realise we have an audience when Zac starts to slow clap.
“Oh my fucking god, I do not believe this, the boy has got it bad, what have you done with my brother Lauren and who’s this pussy?”
Sam slaps Zac gently on the chest as Stella says “I told you, didn’t I, I told you how he sounded on the phone and how he speaks about her” Helloooo I am here.
The apple obviously didn't fall far from the tree with this family. The three boys look very much like their dad but with darker skin, Gabe, obviously, is the most handsome and he's taller and slightly more muscular. Stella is like her brothers in looks but her hair is darker, Ava looks a lot like her. They all have the blue eye thing going on, with Gabe and Stella having the very brightest blue. They are also all very outspoken, honest and have no filter when it comes to making comments.
“He called you baby again” Stella comments, “does he always call you baby, what is it you drink, looks like he's getting you a wine, oh yeah, he had a case of your favorite delivered yesterday, Jackie wasn't pleased. She said there's nothing wrong with the wine that she had bought. So you’re an interior designer? I could use some help with my place, you will have to come and have a look at it for me, I watch the block and all of those make over programs but I just can’t pull it all together, it never looks like it does on TV, mind you, there’s lots of things I’m not too great with, men being the main one of them, you will have to give me some tips on how you do it, you must have something special if you have got my brother falling at your feet, I thought he would just stay a single man whore for the rest of his life” Surely she needs to come up for air soon? I thought I could talk a lot but jeez, I was no competition for Stella. Gabe is back beside me, he passes me my wine, and I take a very large sip as I watch him do the same with his beer. We are leaning back on the huge granite kitchen island, he has his arm around me, and I am leaning into him, for protection possibly. Stella is just watching us intently now. Possibly thinking of her next line of interrogation. The rest of the family have switched their attention to the huge plasma on the wall, they all begin to shout louder and louder at a horse race being shown. Gabe becomes distracted as he cranes his neck to watch. In the end I lead him by the hand over to where he can see the TV. “Is this one of yours?” I ask
“Yeah, we have two racing in Sydney today… Come on!” He yells with the rest of them, I love horse racing when you have a vested interest in a race and the way people cheer their horse on. The whole lot of them gets louder and louder still and then they really shout and cheer as the horse comes in first.
“Yes” Shouts Gabe “You beauty” he turns to me and gives me a kiss. We are in a room full of people but I can't help the desire that runs through me.
“Get a grip and get a room” Zac calls out but Gabe is already pulling away from me, looking over my shoulder towards the stairs. My eyes follow to where he's looking, there's a dark haired woman staring right at us. I feel him tense and for the first time since knowing him, I watch as his eyes become like ice, this must be Jackie and he really doesn't like her!
She's tall with unnaturally jet black hair, her eyes are green with no warmth to them, her skin is dark, too dark, fake, and she is wearing a lot of makeup.