"Elle honey." Nate whispered as he turned to face her in bed. They were
just lounging in bed and she was reading a book on her tablet, and she
stopped to look at him.
"Hi." Her soft voice immediately made him hard. Good grief, will this ever
stop?
"How come I haven't met your family?"
"How come I haven't met yours?" She replied with a sweet smile.
"I have none."
Elle frowned.
"Nate?"
Nate sighed.
"My parents were only children on both sides, all of their relatives were gone
now, I only had Jeff and well, you know how that went."
"Oh Nate, we can go see them tonight, mom will love you."
"I'm not pushing for this, but … never mind." He moved to get off the bed.
Elle quickly grabbed him and rolled him to face her again.
"It's a Saturday, we will go meet them. I am not ashamed of you Nate."
Elle grabbed her cell and called her parents and told them she was bringing
Nate to meet them finally.
"Are you sure honey? I know things were moving a bit fast with the two of
you and we don't want to tell you how to live your life." Elleyna said softly.
"I know you are still scared for me mom, but Nate is… not like that. He stands
by his word, and he always treats me with respect and I'm not dancing at the
clubs anymore, so that is a plus, right?"
"Tell her bring that man over tonight!" Leigh barked in the background.
"Hush sweetheart, and stop being a bully."
"Love you Dad, we will see you tonight." Elle laughed as she hung up.
They spent the day together, sharing memories good and bad, their love was
blossoming into something neither of them ever thought would be possible.
When Elle pulled up to her parents' home, Nate frowned.
"Elle?"
She tried not to look at him, knowing what his thoughts would be.
"Elle." He said more forcefully.
"Yes Nate."
"Why did you not tell me you needed help with your parents?"
"It's my burden to bear."
"I thought we were moving forward, we shared so many things today and you
left out THIS?" He raised his voice.
Elle flinched and Nate was immediately sorry.
He ran his hand over his head.
"I'm sorry honey but this is not something you hide from the man you love."
Nate was clearly angry.
Elle glanced at the house the lights were on and her parents were waiting on
the porch.
Nate picked up his cell and pressed a number.
"Myk, get a crew to pack up Elle's family and move them to the property in
Bay Gardens, I want it done tomorrow."
'Do I need a cleaning crew?'
"No, Myra goes twice a week."
'Oh yes, okay will get it done. Don't scare the in laws Nate.' Myk hung up
and rolled over on to Marcus who moaned loudly.
When Elle helped Nate from the car, her father ran down the footpath to help.
"We got it Dad, get back." Elle growled.
"Young lady, do not growl at your father. Nate, it is great to finally meet you.
Come, let get inside." Leigh took the chair handles and wheeled Nate inside,
leaving Elle speechless.
"Welcome to our home Nate."
"Thank you and I hope you don't take this the wrong way but I am moving
you out of here tomorrow. You are welcome to stay at one of my houses
until this one is redone."
"What?" Elle and both her parents said at the same time.
"Sir, Ma'am, I don't know what kind of people you are accustomed to but my
mother taught me to always show kindness, Everleigh is my woman, I want
to marry her and raise a family with her. There is no way I can allow the
people responsible for her upbringing to stay in a place like this and I mean
no disrespect."
Elleyna began to sniffle.
"Son, as much as we…" Leigh began to speak.
"Sir, I wasn't asking permission. A crew will come and help you pack up
tomorrow and move you to your new home. Are you renting?"
"Huh? What? Oh, yes renting." Leigh responded.
"Then consider this a gift from your son-in-law, I will have the deeds prepared
in your names. The guys are welcome to stay as well."
Elle stormed out of the house, Nate did not follow.
"Ooooh sis is pissed. A deep voice came from behind Nate.
"Hey son."
"Mom, Dad, and you must be Nate."
Nate held out his hand and shook Evan's.
"Nice to meet you." Nate said.
"Let's have dinner, when she is ready, she will come back." Elleyna said with
a snort.
Everyone sat down and began to pass around dishes. Nate knew he
overstepped his boundaries but the house was dilapidated. In his mind any
attempt to repair would bring it crashing down.
"Elle, what is your problem?" Evan said as Elle came through the door and
sat down next to him.
Elle pointed at Nate and her parents.
"Oh I get it. Nate, Elle has been giving our parents money from the day she
started working, they never took any. You meet them for the first time and
all of a sudden, they are accepting your offer. She is offended."
"I know but she has been around me long enough to know that I would do
this, it's prolly why she avoided bringing me here. I actually thought she was
ashamed of me being in a wheelchair."
Elle gasped. That's what he thought? Oh dear.
"Elle honey, listen to me. Years ago, when a man wanted to marry a woman,
her father or family had to provide her with a dowry, it had to be substantial.
We have nothing to offer Nate for you. Do you have any idea how that makes
us feel? Yet here he is giving us something."
"But that's just it… I love her because of who she is and you both have a
hand in that. I have never met a woman like her, she gives with her heart
not her head or hands. I am proud to be with her and I am glad that I have
the finances to provide her family with a proper roof over their heads."
Elle began to cry.
"Waterworks!" Evan snickered.
"Stop teasing your sister." Leigh growled.
"Elle, you owe Nate an apology."
"It's okay, I understand her quite well, we will settle this when we get home."
Nate said softly as he smiled at Elle.
Everyone ate and laughed and talked but Elle remained quiet for the rest of
the visit. When they were ready to leave, Elleyna gave Nate a biscuit tin with
some of her homemade treats and watched as Leigh pushed him out to the
car.
"Everleigh James I am disappointed with your behaviour. You have bragged
to me about the kind of man Nate is and yet you get angry when he portrays
exactly who you described."
"He didn't talk to me about it mum."
"You kept it from him, how do you think that makes him feel? We didn't
accept to upset you, we realise the gift for what it is. He was sharing his
wealth with us even though you aren't his wife. How many men do that? Go
on home." Elle hugged her mother and left.
Back at Home
"Elle." Nate said as he pushed the front door closed.
"What Nate?"
"So, you are angry with me?"
"Damned right I'm angry! You are always saying to discuss things and you
show up like a knight in shining armour and my parents fall all over you!"
"I'm sorry you see it that way. Would you have rather me show up, eat drink,
come home and feel no guilt?"
"Guilt? Over what?"
"You think that because it's night that I didn't see the MOH spray painted on
the side? I'm not blind neither am I stupid! They should not be living in those
conditions, and you should have told me." Now Nate was angry.
"I didn't need you to fix my problems!"
"I see. I have work to do, I will see you at the office in the morning. Good
night Elle."
Nate rolled away and headed to his study. Closing the door, he sighed and
went to his desk. He turned on the A/C and got to work.
Around 3am, he heard his study door open. He had gotten tired and lay
down on the sofa and fell asleep.
"Nate are you awake?" Elle whispered.
Silence.
Elle quietly walked over to him and sat on the floor.
"I'm sorry Nate, I feel so conflicted. You know how I feel about you but
sometimes your decisions make me feel inadequate. Do you know how
many times I have tried to get my parents to move out? A few words from
you and they were ready to leave. I'm not angry at you, I know you heart
was in the right place. I'm sorry Nate."
"I'm sorry too honey." Nate said.
Elle gasped, she didn't realise he was awake.
"Elle, am I not the one you should come to when things are rough? If you
are sick, need money, a ride, if you hurt yourself, am I not on the top of the
list of people you should call?"
"Yes but…"
"No, that's it, full stop. I am the one you come to first. There is no way your
parents should be living in that house and I am not sorry for the decision I
made. I understand your reaction, believe me I do.
Elle surged upward and kiss Nate on the lips.
"I love you Nate, I won't worry about it anymore, thank you for looking out
for my family."
"Well you are my family now."
"Yes, I definitely am. Come to bed with me."
"Okay, let's go."
They went to their bedroom, got naked and fell asleep in each other's arms.