Page 78 of Heal
'Hey, you can't do that." Lisa slapped his hand.
"I just did." Beau smiled as he sucked the frosting off. "I can't wait to have a piece of that cake."
"Well, you're going to have to wait until we get home. Grandma is sending it home with us." Lisa smiled.
Beau swallowed hard. Had she just called his mom Grandma? He didn't want to make a big deal of it, but emotions hit him hard hearing Lisa accept his mother as her own family.
His mom met his gaze and gave him a knowing smile. "I've invited Lisa to come help me with the Christmas baking when she has time."
"As long as you two promise to make enough that we can have some at our house, I'm happy to let her come over whenever she's not busy." Beau tugged on Lisa's ponytail.
"Warren said he was going to help me learn some Christmas cakes and cookies too. Maybe I can teach you those also once I learn from him." Lisa sounded so excited.
Beau wondered if Lisa had ever had anyone willing to teach her how to cook and bake before? Had any of her foster parents welcomed her to help them? "Then we'll have to go shopping and get me bigger pants after Christmas."
"Maybe if you ask nicely, Santa will bring you some," his mom teased.
"Well then, maybe I need to ask him." Beau leaned down and gave his mom a kiss on the forehead. "You two close to done?"
"You in a rush to leave?" His mom asked. "Your father push you away already?"
Beau grunted.
"I'm glad you came over anyway. We should be done in about ten minutes. I had Gina pack some leftovers for you guys to take home." His mom started to pull things out of the fridge and set them in a bag for them to take.
"You missed a good movie, Beau. They had cool race cars. They went so fast. Can you drive fast like that?" Jeff rushed into the kitchen.
Beau reached down and picked him up. He was still so thin for his age, but slowly they were getting both kids up to weight. Even pregnant, Lisa was still so thin. "I could, but I won't. They have speed limits for a reason. Besides, I don't have a fancy race car like they did." He set Jeff on the edge of the counter. "You about ready to go home?"
Jeff looked over at Beth, who stood in the doorway of the kitchen. "Yeah, as long as Beth promises to come visit so we can watch the next movie soon."
Beth nodded. "I'll be over Saturday if Beau doesn't have plans. I thought we might go out to a movie that day. Lisa can join us and we can get lunch and do some shopping too."
Beau moved to hug his sister, whispering in her ear, "thank you."
She smiled. "They're great kids, Beau. You did good."
"Thanks." He pulled away.
"If it's okay with Beau. I need to get some stuff for school so we could do that," Lisa said.
"Ah, I would love you forever, Dear Sister, if you helped out with back to school shopping."
Beth rolled her eyes. "Consider it done. Besides, we can't let Beau help you pick out things for school. We know he has no taste. He wears those doctor's scrubs all the time."
"Those scrubs are comfortable." He laughed. "Okay, guys, gather stuff up. Let's get home before it gets any later." It was only six, but he really needed to put some distance between himself and his father.
They laughed and talked as they gathered and packed things. By the time they got to the car, it was nearly seven. He pulled out of the driveway, relieved to be gone, but ecstatic that his kids had bonded with his mom and sister so well.
He talked to Lisa about the dinner and made small talk while Jeff fell asleep in the back of the car. It was the first Thanksgiving he'd really enjoyed in years. Probably because it was the first one he'd spent with family who really mattered and accepted him for who he was.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Parson rubbed his stomach, hardly able to breathe because he'd eaten so much. The Thanksgiving meal had been amazing, and he'd actually enjoyed the time with his parents. Not once had they mentioned his job or tried to convince him he needed to come work in Hollywood. No, they'd spent most of the night questioning him about Beau and asking when they were going to get to meet him.
He promised them he'd make introductions at the fundraiser if not before.
He was watching football with his dad when his phone rang.
