Page 33 of A Valentine's Day Gift
There was another low conversation between Loretta and Vinny, and then Vinny was back. He kept his voice low. “Allie, I don’t want you to feel pressured. She said she just wanted to say hello. If you’re not up for this, I’ll tell her, okay?”
“I thought you threw me under the bus.”
“I would never do that. Really. No pressure. She’s just been asking about you. She’s a force to be reckoned with, though she means well.”
“Do you want me to go?”
“Very much. I feel good about where we’re at.”
She let out a shaky breath, reaching deep for what she wanted. And what she wanted more than anything was Vinny. “Me too. Okay, we’ll be there.”
“Thank you. I’m really looking forward to it.”
She swallowed hard, not at all sure if she was ready for what this dinner would bring. It was so much more than just a dinner, this meeting of families, especially for her boys. “I need to go. See you later.”
They said their goodbyes, and Allie disconnected with trembling hands. Now she had to explain to her boys not only that they’d be meeting the man in her life, but also other children, motherless children, who might also need her love. Would they be willing to share her? Could they accept actually seeing Mom with a boyfriend? All of the complications she’d feared fired through her brain—
Her boys adjusting to a man in her life that was not their dad.
Her ex’s reaction.
His mother-in-law.
Vinny’s expectations.
All those kids!
She girded her loins. First things first, she needed to talk to her boys.
Later that day, she made them burgers for lunch since they’d be having dinner tonight with the Marino family. They were so happy she almost felt guilty telling them the big news. She waited until they were nearly done eating before saying, “Boys, I have some news.”
They all looked up at her curiously, still chewing.
She took a deep breath and pasted on a smile. “You know I’ve been dating Vinny for a while now, and he’s invited all of us to dinner tonight.”
Gabe stopped eating. “Is that why we got burgers for lunch?”
“Yes,” she said.
Luke and Jared went back to their burgers.
She kept going. “And the nice thing is that he has three sons pretty close in age to you guys, so you’ll have someone to play with.”
Gabe frowned. “Mom, I’m thirteen. I don’t play. I hang out.”
“Sure, you can all hang out,” she said, giving all three of them a big smile. “How’s that sound?”
Luke spoke around his burger. “Are you gonna marry this guy?” This was the second time Luke had mentioned marriage.
It had crossed her mind, of course, but the idea of getting married again so soon after her divorce scared her. What if it didn’t work out? She didn’t think she could handle another divorce.
She exhaled sharply. “I don’t know. I mean, not anytime soon.” She cleared her throat. “That’s not where we’re at right now.”
“Was that a yes or a no?” Gabe asked.
“No,” she said.
“Good,” Luke said, “’cuz we already have a dad.”Got it, Luke, no replacing your dad.
