Waters,” I said, sticking out my hand.
I waited for the reaction I’d dreaded might happen, but it didn’t come. Instead, she greeted me with a warm smile, shaking my hand, which only made the guilt pull at me even harder.
“It’s Mia, please, and it’s a pleasure to meet you. You’ve made our Eliza very happy,” she said, and I let the sincerity settle in my chest. Eliza was happy. I was happy. It really was all that mattered.
Her mama wrapped her arms around her and pulled her toward the door, and I followed. There were a handful of other people in the great room of the house, including Ginny who greeted me with a friendly hug.
After a brief round of introductions, Mia said, “Eliza says you’re joining the Air Force.”
I looked at ‘Z in surprise. How little did her family actually know about me?
I nodded. “Already joined. Finished IFS―Initial Flight School―and now I’m going to Flight Training in Texas.”
Her mama didn’t have a chance to respond, because Eliza was jumping past me in order to throw her arms around the man who’d entered the room.
“Daddy!” Eliza exclaimed. Her hug was returned in force by Derek Waters, lead singer of Watery Reflection. While I’d known she was his daughter, seeing them together was like a splash of cold water going down my back as the reality set in.
What would this man think of me marrying his daughter without him knowing? Would he think I was using her for their fortune and fame? My stomach churned, and my jaw locked up again. By the time she’d released him and turned to me, my face was probably a wall of tension instead of the smile I normally wore and had been determined to keep on, no matter what happened this week. I was already failing.
“Daddy, this is Brett,” she said.
I stuck out my hand, and he took it, smiling with an open and honest expression on his face. Joy at meeting someone his daughter brought home. I hated, again, the fact that we hadn’t told them the truth. That we’d lied through omission.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Waters.”
“It’s Derek, and the pleasure is mine.”
I looked to Eliza, but she shook her head, and I frowned at her. How long did she intend to go before we told them? The longer we waited, the worse it would be.
But the moment passed as her brother, Ty, sauntered in with his friend, Maleena, whom I’d met on occasion. Everyone was greeting each other all over again, a well of affection and camaraderie filling the room. Family. A family that was now mine, but that I didn’t truly feel a part of yet, which made my stomach clench.
After the greetings had passed, I squeezed Eliza’s hand and looked down into her face, willing her to start the conversation, but ‘Z just shook her head again. It was causing the sister and brother to wonder. I could see it in their eyes and their shared glances. They knew something was up.
Just when I was about to spill the beans, whether Eliza wanted me to or not, Ty dropped a bombshell about dropping out of college to enter the pro football draft. I sighed and bit my tongue. Our surprise would have to wait, but not for much longer.
The group at the house grew larger, the noise and laughter growing with it.
‘Z had already explained to me the family tradition we’d be walking into. One where they journeyed from one house to the next to help take down holiday decorations and eat Christmas leftovers. It was the most unique way to spend the day after Christmas I’d ever heard of, but I appreciated it for what it was. A way to keep them all together for a few moments longer.
What it meant for me was that I was meeting almost her entire extended family on the same day. Both the ones who were related by blood and the ones who were related by choice. At each stop along the way, as ‘Z introduced me to yet more people, I thought she’d break the news. But instead, she stayed silent.
It was eating at her as much as it was me. She was bouncing off her toes, talking at that mile-a-minute speed she did when nervous, and zipping back and forth between the trees and the storage boxes. But she still didn’t come clean. She held back, and I didn’t understand why.
As she and I drove to the last stop