“Nice to see you too Richard. Business has been doing well.”

“I’ve heard some of your songs on the radio. I’ve got to say, it’s kind of neat that I know that you wrote them.” Richard complimented me.

“Oh yes, and I’ve even caught him singing along to them in the car.” Tessa said grinning at her husband.

“Can it Tessa. The boy doesn’t need to know all of my secrets.” They smiled at each other in a loving way.

Em laughed and looked up at me with her radiant smile. The conversation between the three of them continued until the doorbell rang.

Emilyn went to answer it, while I stayed in the kitchen and offered to help Tessa with setting the table. She handed me some plates and I made my way in to the dining room table. I walked back into the kitchen to be greeted by a very annoyed looking Harper swiftly followed by Kyler—a shit eating grin plastered all over his face. Tessa clapped her hands excitedly.

“Oh my, it’s my lucky day! Another handsome boy to sit at my table. Kyler honey, how are you?” She gave him the same hug she gave me.

“Hi Mrs. Tucker, how are you?” Kyler actually lifted her off the ground.

Emilyn covered her face with embarrassment.

Harper walked over to kiss Richard on the cheek.

“Hey Dad, dinner smells good.” She leaned in to whisper in his ear, but what she said was loud enough for all of us to hear. “You going to let that asshat manhandle your wife like that?”

He chuckled. “Eh, let her have some attention from a younger man. Does her good sometimes.”

Harper grinned at him and he gave her a look of a loving father.

Ky walked over to the stove and picked at the ribs, before licking his fingers. “Mmm… this tastes amazing Mrs. T.”

“Ky man, would you get your fingers out of the food?” I shook my head at him.

“What?” he said innocently. Harper rolled her eyes.

“Why don’t you kids go sit down and Richard and I will bring the food through in just a second.” Tessa said.

We walked into the dining room. I pulled the chair out for Em and took the seat next to her while Kyler and Harper went to the other side. Ky sat down leaving Harper still standing.

She grabbed her chair and pulled it out for herself. “Rude.” She said under her breath, flopping down in her seat. Ky didn’t even notice.

“Hey, Shorty?” Ky leaned across the table toward Em.

“What?” She said.

The look on his face said he was about to say something genius. “Did you ever realize what other meaning your Dad’s name has?”

She looked at him confused. Oh shit, he was so not going there. Okay, he actually was.

“What’s another name for Richard?”

“Jesus.” Harper said.

“What are you getting at Ky.” Em still wasn’t catching on.

“Dick. Dick is short for Richard. So did you know that your Dad’s name is also Dick Tucker?” His shoulders started shaking from laughing so hard.

Being male I couldn’t help myself… I may have laughed silently as well.

“Ow!” Ky yelled from across the table. He was rubbing the back of his head where Harper had slapped him.

“Now that’s funny!” She laughed.

We were all laughing at Ky as Em’s parents came into the room. Dinner went fairly smoothly after that. Harper got a few more digs in at Ky, and Em shared her news about the ultrasound. The girls all gushed and asked questions. Richard sat back beaming at his daughter, clearly happy and excited to be a grandpa.

“Oh my god, my baby is giving me a grandbaby.” Tears filled Tessa's eyes. “Richard, our baby is having a baby.”

“Baby’s having babies.” Harper teased while laughing.

“Better catch up woman! I’m no baby. I’m the same age as you and you’re not getting any younger.” Em poked at her.

Harper rolled her eyes, but looked over at Ky. He was devouring his ribs, effectively ignoring the conversation. Harper’s look wasn’t lost on me though. Em caught it as well.

The rest of the dinner went well. Kyler wised up and kept any smart ass comments to himself, Harper joked with Em’s Dad, Tessa couldn’t keep her hands off Em’s belly, and my stomach was puffed out and stuffed.

As we were all getting up from the table to start clearing our plates, my cell phone started ringing. The Black Eyed Peas were singing ‘My Humps’. What the fuck? Looking over at Ky, I could see he was almost on the floor laughing. Emilyn’s parents stopped what they were doing and looked at me questioningly. Yeah… a song about my lovely lady lumps wasn’t embarrassing me at all!

Pulling my phone out of my pocket I asked Ky, “How in the hell did you get a hold of my phone again?”

“Oh wise one, I will never tell you of my secrets. I’m stealth… like a ninja.” And with that, he continued to laugh.

Jesus Christ I was going to have to put a password on my phone. Looking down at the screen I saw Val’s name. Shit! I cleared the called and hoped Em hadn’t seen who it was calling me. She looked over as I put my phone back in my pocket.

“Didn’t you need to get that?” She clearly didn’t get a look at the name—much to my relief.

“Nah. It was just a telemarketer.” I hated lying to her but I wasn’t going to let Val ruin my night with Em and her family, especially when everything was going so well. Her parents hadn’t even brought up the time I left. They were just interested in talking to me about my music and how it felt to own a house at home. I thought I’d dealt with the Val issue when she was texting me this morning, but I obviously hadn’t been clear enough. She’d wanted to know where I’d been and why I wasn’t in LA. I explained to her that I had moved back home and that I was trying to fix things with Em. She needed to know that things with her had never been serious for me. So I had no idea why the hell she was still bothering me.

“Are you about ready to head home? I’m tired and I have to work early in the morning.” She said, accepting my lie too easily.

“If you’re ready to go, then let’s get you in the car.”

“Finn, would you mind stepping in to the living room so we can talk for a second?” Em’s Dad quietly asked me.

I nodded, feeling my heart thundering in my chest. Shit, here we go. He was going to tell me that I was the world’s biggest douchebag, and to stay away from his daughter. Em was talking to her mom, but glanced over at me before I walked out of the room with her dad. She didn’t seem worried at all.

He stopped short just inside the living room, turning to look at me.

“Thank you for taking care of my daughter Finn. She looks happier than I’ve seen her in years.”

This was definitely not what I had expected from him. Shocked, I tentatively said, “You’re welcome?” Richard heard the question in my voice and grinned.

“I figured you’d be a bit uncomfortable around Tessa and me, but don’t. Let me lay it all out there so you know where we stand.” This was good I thought to myself. “We knew you had to have had your reasons for leaving all of those years ago. We didn’t like what it did to our daughter, but we respected your choices. Tessa and I always thought you were a good kid Finn, and we still do. I should have never pushed her to be with West like I did. For the past ten years we’ve had to sit back and watch the light in her eyes fade...” He stopped and looked down, then glanced back up at me. He seemed to be collecting himself. “Today is the first day I’ve seen my daughter truly happy in almost a decade, and it’s all because of you son.”

The emotion in the room was nearly choking me. Richard had tears in his eyes, and I was not far off either. “Wow, Richard I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything son. Just know that you are always welcome in our home, and Tessa and I are thankful that you are in our lives.”

Shit… I coughed and then took a deep breath to push back the lump in my throat and clear the tears in my eyes. “Thanks. That means a lot. And I want you and Tessa to know that I never stopped loving Em. Even now with the pregnancy, I still love her. I’m never leaving her. She’s my whole life.”