Page 92 of Letters to the Lost

“I’m ok. Let’s go shall we?” She pastes on a fake smile for the kid, his hand held tightly in hers as she steps closer to me.

“They will probably be closest to the wine,” I tell her, attempting to joke and get a smile from her, but it’s no use.

She’s hurting, her emotions shutting down as she tries to paste on a happy face. Chase keeps up with us, his hand gripped tightly in Autumn’s, a wide smile plastered on his face as his blue light-up shoes slap against the tile.

“You good buddy?” I ask him.

“Yup!” he chirps, “Will there be chips near the wine?”

“I’m sure we can find some if there isn’t. I know where Autumn keeps the fun ones if she would share with you,” I say, trying desperately to lighten the mood.

“Really?! Will you pleaseeee share your chips with me?” He stops abruptly, tugging on Autumn’s hand while jumping up and down on his toes.

“Sure buddy,” she says, but the smile she attempts to give him doesn’t seem to reach her eyes.

“C’mon Princess. I got you,” I reassure her.

Hopefully, it’s just nerves at meeting my parents. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it’s been tonight with her anxiety meeting all of ours.

My parents come into view. Both are in their usual attire of black trousers and a shirt, mom being the only one out of the pair wearing heels.

Her hair slicked back in her signature ponytail; she offers us a bright smile as we approach.

Autumn grabs my hand in hers, gripping it so tightly I’m sure it’s losing blood.

“Autumn dear! I am so happy to meet you. Zander here has told us so much about you,” Mom rushes to introduce herself, her hand closing over our joined ones.

“Thank you. It’s lovely to meet you both too. Zanders told me some about you, but you know how hard it is to get him to talk about things other than food,” Autumn jokes, her tone is still off, but I can tell that she’s trying.

“Oh, don’t I know it? His father is just the same. Men of few words,” Mom laughs, Dad stands there his eyes assessing as it scans over the room.

“Dad.” I greet.

“Son. Autumn.” He nods his head in his usual greeting.

“See,” Mom smiles, interlinking her arm with dads.

We watch as he smiles down at her with love and affection before slipping back to the stoic expression, his hand stays on her waist as she talks to us all. Chase stands silently, the only giveaway of his presence being the slight scuff of his shoe as he shuffles a little.

“Zander told me you own your own security company,” Autumn says, she’s relaxed a little more now we’ve been talking for a while, her body leans into my side so I slip my hand around her waist loving how she feels tucked against me.

“We do! Zander wants no part of it, unfortunately, but we love our work. Maybe if you both have children, we can pass it on to our grandbabies,” My mom chirps with excitement, clapping her hands together like it’s the most amazing idea she’s ever had.

“Erm…” I start, wanting to intervene but not speak on Autumn's behalf on such a matter.

It’s not something we’ve ever spoken about, and I refuse to assume if she does or does not want kids, even if the idea of her making me a dad fills me with joy.

“You’re having a baby?!” Chase whisper shouts.

“Oh my god,” Autumn groans, burying her face into my side.

“Please don’t have a baby!” Chase shouts, getting upset, his eyes welling with tears as his bottom lip wobbles.

Autumn extracts herself from my side immediately at the sound of Chase’s distress, bending her legs and making sure she’s at his level, she hushes him and pulls him into her arms as he cries.

“I’m going to take him out of here, give him some room to breathe. It was so lovely to meet you both,” She stands with his body clinging to hers, his little arms wrapped tightly around her neck.

“You good Princess?” I rush to make sure, my hand on her back to steady her as she balances the kid in her arms.

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