Color of Forgiveness (30 page)

“I’m ready.”

“If it gets too awful, we’ll just make up
some lame excuse that we have to go and get the hell out, all
right?”

“Stop it,” she says with a grin as she
pushes on his arm. “Your parents were wonderful. I’m sure the rest
of your family is just as great.”

Dylan smirks at her. “Just remember later
that I tried to warn you.”

They walk towards the porch and before they
even get to the front door, Sherri flings it open and comes rushing
at them. “Myra!” she sings as she grabs her in a huge hug. “It’s so
wonderful to see you again. You look just absolutely lovely.”

“Thanks.”

“Mom…” Dylan groans. “Let her breathe, all
right?”

“Oh, hush,” Sherri says with a laugh as she
lets go of Myra and throws her arms around Dylan. She hugs him
tight, and Myra loves the way she looks up at him adoringly. “I’m
just so happy you came. Now you know you don’t have to stay here
tonight if you don’t want to. You can stay with your dad and me
instead.”

“Don’t even try it, you wicked
mother-in-law,” a woman’s voice calls out from the doorway. Myra
looks up to see Natalie standing there, smiling broadly at her,
looking just as beautiful as she did the day Myra saw her at the
grocery store with Dylan.

“Get back on the couch, you disobedient
daughter-in-law,” Sherri shouts back at her with a wide grin on her
face.

“I’ll have you know that I am allowed to get
up for restroom breaks,” Natalie says in a loud voice. She grins as
she holds the door open, and they all step into the house.

Dylan gives Natalie a hug. “You doing all
right?” he asks, his eyes moving to her stomach.

“I’m doing as well as can be expected with
all of these people hovering over me like I’m an invalid,” she
says, causing Dylan to chuckle. “So, introduce me,” she says, her
eyes on Myra before nudging Dylan with her elbow. “I’m dying to
meet this gal that I’ve heard so much about.”

Dylan steps back and wraps his arm around
Myra’s waist. “Natalie, this is Myra,” he says, looking down at her
with pride. “Myra, Natalie.”

“It’s so great to meet you,” Natalie
says.

“You too,” Myra responds warmly.

“Can I give you a hug?” Natalie asks. “I
feel like I know you already.”

“Of course,” Myra says with a smile as she
leans in and kind of half hugs her since her stomach is in the
way.

“All right,” Sherri interrupts, “back on the
couch, invalid.” She points towards the couch with a mischievous
grin on her face. Natalie gives her a steely glare before sticking
her tongue out at her, causing everyone to break out into
laughter.

Sherri loops her arm with Myra’s. “I hope
you’re hungry. I’m a little bit ashamed at how much food I
made…”

“Trust me, Ma, I won’t let one bite of your
delicious food go to waste,” a man’s voice bellows. Myra looks up
and recognizes Chad from the photo album. “I’m still a growing
boy,” he says, rubbing his stomach.

Sherri sighs as she pats Myra’s arm. “Now I
remember why I made so much food,” she mumbles. “Myra, this is
Dylan’s big - actually extra-large considering he was ten pounds
two ounces at birth - brother, Chad. Chad, this is Myra.”

Myra starts to reach out her hand towards
him, but instead, Chad lunges at her, pulling her into a hug and
almost lifting her off the ground. “Welcome to the family,
Myra.”

“Chad...” Dylan snarls. “For god’s
sake…”

“Shut up, bro,” Chad retorts. “I was just
givin’ your baby girl here a proper Lawson welcome.”

“I swear to god…” Dylan says in a low
voice.

Myra’s eyes widen and she giggles when Chad
tackles Dylan and puts him in a headlock. “You know I love ya,
bro,” Chad shouts. He makes eye contact with Myra. “I
love
messin’ with him,” he says with a wink. In a flash, Dylan manages
to somehow punch Chad in the stomach and escape his chokehold.
Dylan looks like he’s about ready to punch Chad in the face when
there’s a flurry of activity as three boys come running into the
living room yelling, “Uncle Dylan!”

The two older boys run up and give Dylan
hugs. Myra’s heart melts a little as she watches Dylan hug the boys
and ruffle their hair. The younger boy, Joseph, stays back, seeming
to be shy.

“Hey, Joseph… How are you?” Dylan asks
quietly.

Joseph stares at the floor. “Good.”

“Myra, these are my boys,” Chad says
proudly. “This is Jackson, Jay, and Joseph,” he says as he scoops
Joseph up into his arms. “Boys, this is Dylan’s girlfriend, Myra.
Can you tell her ‘Hi’?”

Jay steps up first and holds out his hand.
“Hi,” he says politely.

Myra smiles warmly at him and shakes his
hand. “Hi, it’s very nice to meet you.”

She turns to Jackson, expecting him to do
the same as his brother, but he just stares at her with his arms
crossed and an angry scowl on his face.

She tries to not let it hurt her feelings
and looks over at Joseph, who’s still in Chad’s arms. He holds up
his hand up and gives her a small wave. “Hi,” she says, waving back
at him.

“Aunt Sabrina is Uncle Dylan’s girlfriend!”
Jackson shouts. Myra gasps, a sharp pain shooting through her
chest.

“Jackson,” Natalie says sharply in an angry
mom voice from her prone position on the couch. “We’ve already
discussed this. Now go to your room.”

“Fine!” Jackson shouts as he takes off
running up the stairs.

Myra feels Dylan’s hand on her back. “Sorry.
You okay?” he whispers in her ear.

“Yeah…”

“Myra, I am so sorry about that,” Natalie
says. “Come over and sit by me for a minute.” She waves to the
loveseat before she directs her conversation to Jay and Joseph.
“Boys, you can go to the basement and play your videogames, okay?”
They happily chase each other out of the room.

Dylan laces his fingers with Myra’s and tugs
her over to the loveseat.

“I’m gonna go talk to Jackson,” Chad says as
he walks towards the stairs.

Dennis, who’s been standing quietly in the
background steps up and holds his hand out to Myra. “It’s wonderful
to see you again.”

Myra quickly shakes his hand. “You too,” she
says.

Sherri sits in a chair across from Dylan and
Myra; Dennis walks around to stand behind her.

“Myra,” Natalie begins, “please don’t let
what he said upset you. I talked to the boys before you came here.
Joseph doesn’t remember much because he was so young. But Jackson
and Jay; they’re both older and they remember. It’s hard for them
to have had an aunt for so long and then suddenly that aunt is no
longer their aunt. Jay seems okay with it all, but Jackson’s
confused and angry.”

“I totally understand, and I’m so sorry to
have upset him,” Myra says.

“It’s not your fault,” Natalie says. “He’ll
warm up to you once he gets to know you a little more. Just give
him some time, okay?”

Myra nods.

Sherri stands. “Why don’t you two go
upstairs and get settled in, and I’ll set the table for lunch?”

Myra looks at Dylan. He nods at her and
picks up their bags. He holds Myra’s hand tightly and doesn’t let
go of it not even once as they make their way upstairs to the spare
bedroom.

* * *

Dylan drops their bags on the floor next to
the bed and sits down, pulling Myra down next to him. He keeps her
hand in his as his other hand reaches up and rubs the back of his
neck. “Look, I’m really damn sorry about my family. Mainly Chad,
that asshole,” he says with a groan. He still wants to beat his ass
for calling her “baby girl” and for putting him in a damn headlock.
“Don’t let that shit with Jackson bother you, okay?”

“I won’t.”

“You better not,” he says as his eyes lower
to her lips. “I don’t want you upset, ever.” He reaches his hand up
and runs his thumb over her lower lip, causing her to shiver.
Leaning down, he kisses her lips softly. His hand pushes into her
soft hair as his tongue tastes her bottom lip. Her hands snake up
his chest between them, and he feels her pushing him back.

He very reluctantly pulls his lips away from
hers and frowns down at her. “What?” he asks.

She kicks off her shoes and moves behind him
on the bed. “You look really tense,” she says as her fingers touch
the muscles in the back of his neck. “Try to relax,” she murmurs as
she starts massaging his neck.

He drops his head and relaxes his shoulders
as her fingers massage and loosen his tight muscles.

“Fuck that feels good…” he groans in a raspy
voice.

“Here,” Myra says as she tugs on his
shoulders. “Lay on your stomach, and I’ll do your back too.”

She doesn’t have to tell him twice. He lies
on his stomach, his arms stretched out over his head flat against
the bed. His cock grows hard when he feels her straddling his legs
and feels her warm hands moving up underneath his shirt. “Mm…” he
moans. He can’t believe how amazing her hands feel. She tries to
push his shirt up higher, but he doesn’t want anything in the way
of her talented fingers.

“Move for a sec,” he says. He quickly yanks
off flannel shirt and T and tosses them to the floor.

“Hop back on.”

He can hear Myra giggle as she straddles his
legs again. His eyes close in fucking ecstasy when her hands begin
kneading and massaging the muscles of his back and neck. His cock
presses uncomfortably into the mattress, but his back feels so good
that he doesn’t really care.

“Damn, Myra, your fingers are like fucking
magic or some shit,” he mumbles.

Myra’s soft laughter makes him grin. All of
his muscles relax, giving in to her touch.

* * *

Later that evening, as they sit around the
dining room table eating, Myra can’t stop smiling as she listens
intently to the beautiful noises of “family” that this incredible
group of people surrounding her. She hangs onto each word, every
laugh and every glance. She savors each story told, every heated
argument, as well as each teasing word uttered. It’s all lovely
music to her ears, and puts a longing deep in her heart to be part
of a family again.

Her eyes trail over to Natalie lying on the
couch, her plate perched on the coffee table pushed up next to it.
Earlier, the men dragged Natalie’s huge dining room table into the
living room next to the couch so Natalie wouldn’t be left out of
any of the dinner festivities. For some reason, that really touched
Myra. They all seem to care so much about each other.

She feels like she practically knows them
already. Dylan isn’t big on conversation, but boy his family sure
is. They talk non-stop and sometimes at the same time, and she
loves every second of it.

“Wait,” Chad shouts. “Remember when Dylan
had a mullet?”

Myra can’t stop the giggles that burst out
of her when she looks at Dylan’s face and pink cheeks. “It wasn’t a
mullet,” he mumbles.

“It was
so
a mullet. Myra, he was
like in first grade or something like that. Ma, you’re gonna have
to dig out those pictures later and show her.” He looks at Dylan,
his brows pulling together. “You wanted to be some rocker…”

“It wasn’t a mullet,” Dylan repeats,
frowning. “I wanted to be Jon Bon Jovi.”

“That’s it!” Chad shouts as he laughs
loudly.

Myra can’t get over how much she loves
Dylan’s brother; a physically intimidating man with a soft heart
who lives with a smile on his face and a joke on his lips. He has a
constant mischievous twinkle in his eye, and you can’t help but
giggle over everything he does and says.

“Myra,” Sherri says. “I’ll definitely show
you the mullet pictures and more. You
have
to see his baby
pictures. Dylan was the cutest baby you’ve ever seen. He was born
with a head full of hair, but he had this terrible cowlick in the
back that stuck straight up for years. I tried everything to get it
to lay down, but it just wouldn’t cooperate. He looked like Alfalfa
from The Little Rascals, just without the freckles.”

Dylan groans next to her and leans his head
against her shoulder. “Kill me now,” he whispers.

Myra giggles. “I’m going to start calling
you Alfalfa,” she whispers back to him.

He growls and pinches her lightly on the
thigh.

She smiles as she looks over at Sherri
again. She’s completely blown away by Dylan’s mother. She doesn’t
work outside of the home so she’s at Chad and Natalie’s every
single day cooking, cleaning, and running the boys to all of their
various activities. Her family is her life. She’s the most amazing
mother and grandmother Myra has ever seen; so completely selfless
and so giving and full of love. She just radiates warmth, and has
made Myra feel like she belongs here with them.

“So, Myra, I heard you’re a writer?” Natalie
says from the couch.

“I’m trying to be a writer,” Myra says,
smiling. “I was a copy editor when I lived out in Philly, but it’s
always been my dream to write.”

“That’s amazing,” Natalie says. “I could
never do anything like that. I wouldn’t have a clue even where to
begin.”

“She’s really good,” Dylan says, looking
proudly at Myra. “It’s a western with cowboys in it.”

“Oh, man, I wish I’d been born back in those
days. I’d have made an awesome cowboy,” Chad says as he pretends to
pull out a fake gun from his belt and makes “pow-pow” noises as his
thumb shoots bullets into the air, causing everyone to laugh. “And
I could totally see my Nat wearing one of those dresses with a
corset, looking all hot and gorgeous.” He winks at her and blows
her a kiss.

“Chad, stop it,” Natalie says, grinning.
Myra can just see the love the two of them have for each other.
Myra really likes Natalie. She finds her to be feisty and fiery yet
incredibly caring and loving. She has a real connection with Dylan
that most in-laws don’t have, especially ones of the opposite sex.
Myra was completely unprepared for the tenderness Dylan has shown
Natalie since they arrived. Her eyes even welled up once when she
saw Dylan touching Natalie’s stomach and smiling when the baby
kicked.