and slim with curly brown hair that he’d passed on to their children.
Jack smiled at both of them, even though he had to admit that he felt a tad awkward that this was their first introduction. Still, he plastered a smile on his face. "It’s a pleasure to meet you all."
Chloe smiled. "Likewise," she said. "Jace has already told so much about you."
That didn’t surprise him. Jack actually liked Jace. He was fiercely loyal to Eli, and that would never be a bad thing in his eyes. "All good I hope?"
She laughed. "All good! You make my brother happy, that’s all I care about."
Jack looked over to Eli, and his face was red. He wrapped his arms around Eli’s waist and kissed his cheek. That would always be his first priority.
Jack looked back at Eli’s sister. "His happiness will always be my first priority. He and Damon are everything to me."
She studied him for a beat before nodding. "I believe you."
He simply smiled. "Well, these are my brothers, Colt, Braeden, Aiden, and Quinn is Aiden’s husband. Then we have Lila, our newest little one in Quinn’s arms. Then the triplets…Haley, Leo, and Keith." He pointed each of them out, then turned his gaze back to Chloe.
"You all have beautiful children," she gushed. She looked at her husband. "Maybe we should have another," she said, winking at him.
He liked Eli’s family. Jack looked to Eli, and he rolled his eyes, then chuckled.
"Now that we have the introductions out of the way," Eli’s mom spoke up, "We’re all dying to know why we’ve been summoned here." She looked between them like she was trying to read the reason on their faces, then her eyes went down to Eli’s hand, then back to him. "Official meeting of the families... is there an announcement that needs to be made?" She looked at Eli. "Should I get my binder out?"
Chloe groaned. "No mom. No binder, please. Besides, isn’t it out of date?"
He looked at Eli’s raised brow.
"My mom has a wedding binder," he explained.
"Ahhh." Jack nodded then looked over at Eli’s mom. "We may need that soon."
She smiled at him and shot him a thumbs-up sign. And got an elbow to his gut from Eli.
"Don’t encourage her or you might end up wearing a hideous peach vest." Eli groaned.
"Peach is a lovely color," Eli’s mom defended and looked around for support.
"No peach, Mom…" Eli sighed shaking his head. "And that’s not why we asked you here." Eli slipped his hand into Jack’s and when he looked at him, Jack saw he was a bit choked up. He touched Eli’s arm, and he looked up. Even though his eyes glistened, Jack didn’t see anything but happiness in them.
"Are you getting married?" Haley asked, spitting out the question that might have been on everyone’s mind.
Jack chuckled at his niece’s directness even though he wasn’t surprised by it.
"She’s sometimes a little too mature for her own good," Quinn said, sounding very proud of his daughter.
"Not yet, but very soon," he told his niece.
"Papa said I’m a big brother." At his words, all eyes went on Damon.
Eli started laughing, and Jack joined him.
"Well, guess we don’t have to share the news then." Jack shrugged.
Everyone laughed, then jumped up rushing over to congratulate them. Jack didn’t care how the news was shared, just that it was.
His whole family was here. And his new family, too. He couldn’t believe that not long ago he’d been all alone in the world.
Jack slipped his hands up Eli’s shirt before he tugged it up and over his head, tossing it to the floor. "See…that wasn’t so bad," Jack said, laughing.
"Our families love each other," Eli said.
"Not as much as I love you," Jack whispered as he grabbed hold of Eli’s pants and pulled him closer to him. They kissed, the hunger capturing all Jack’s senses.
"And I love you," Eli said, speaking between kisses. Jack tugged on Eli’s pants, yanking them down while he pulled him back to the bed. He fell down on the bed and sat there, then pulled Eli into his lap. Eli rested his hand against Jack’s chest as they kissed, his leg wedged between Jack’s legs. They stayed in that position, just kissing one another, all thoughts of the evening disappeared from Jack’s mind.
"Daddy!" Damon called. Immediately they parted from the kiss.
Jack touched his chest, feeling his heart pounding away.
"Coming!" Eli called out, he grabbed his shirt and slipped back into it as he hurried out of the door.
Jack used