Before I could get out of the truck, my mom flung the front door open and sprinted across the front yard.
She didn't care that her fuzzy socks were going to get dirty or that her wet hair was still wrapped up in a towel, taking the shape of an ice cream cone. I met her halfway, and she slammed into me, wrapping her arms around me.
"Hey, Mom," I said, hugging her back.
I heard sniffles.
"Mom," I complained. "Stop acting like I'm coming back from war."
"This is the longest we've been apart. Leave me alone and let me have my moment."
"Awe, you missed me?"
She answered with a snicker as if to say don't call her out on it.
A very distinctive chuckle came from behind me, and I mentally rolled my eyes. I bet any money that was from Dean.
"Not surprised he's a momma's boy," Dean mumbled.
I knew it."Mom," I whispered. "You're embarrassing me," I joked.
I didn't care, but Mom would never let me go if I didn't break this up.
"Alright, alright." Mom pulled away and looked up at me with a beautiful grin.
She cupped my cheek with one hand before pinching them.
"OW!" I grumbled.
"You're eating well." Then she stepped back to examine me. "You're taking care of yourself." She nodded with approval.
"Don't sound so surprised," I mumbled.
"I'm not. I was just stating facts."
"Yeah, right. Anyways, Mom, I want you to meet the guys." All three of them take that as their cue to step forward.
Mom held the towel up with one hand as she used the other to wave at the guys. "Hi, I'm Stephanie, or you could call me Mrs. McNamara. Nice to meet you guys."
I feigned shock, leaving my mouth in the form of an O. "Wow, you didn't assault them with hugs? Are you sure you're my mother?" My mom had always been a hugger. It's in her nature.
Mom gave me the sweetest of smiles before evilly pinching my biceps, causing me to flinch. I rubbed my arm, knowing it was slowly going to turn red. This was my mother. No alien abductions took place here.
The guys all chuckled then introduced themselves.
"Are you boys' hungry? I cooked a feast because if all of you eat like Greyson, then we wouldn't have enough otherwise."
"You know I'm technically still a growing boy, at least until the age of 21 or something," I told her.
"Yeah, scientists have backed up that fact," Dean nodded.
"You would agree to any excuse that lets you eat more food," Tobias muttered under this breath, causing Dean to scowl at him.
"You're one to talk," Dean fired back with the quickness.
Tobias shrugged.
"As you can already guess by now, I'm the only normal one here." Tatum smiled politely at my mom.
Tobias and Dean grunted in disagreement, and Tatum looked offended.
Mom, on the other hand, was highly entertained.
"I can see why you like them," Mom said to me, but she wasn't quiet about it.
"Come on, let's get inside before more of the neighbors get to witness me in this state." She gestured to her hair and outfit.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, and we walked inside.
"You have a lovely home," Tatum said, admiring the place.
"Thank you," Mom said as we followed her into the kitchen.
"WHOA WHOA WHOA!" Dean made a scene in the hallway. He paused in front of one of dad's RIAA-certified gold plaques on the wall. "This is a piece of rock music history." He said in awe. "Quick, take my picture!" He shoved his phone at Tobias, who reluctantly obliged.
"You guys were huge fans of Roman's?" Mom asked in both shock and approval. She instantly likes almost anyone who is a fan of dad's music.
Tobias snapped a couple of pictures with Dean making various poses.
"If Grey is up for it, maybe he can show you his old room, which was his studio, office, and man cave rolled into one. Gosh, Roman used to love to spend hours upon hours in there," Mom told them as we continued to walk into the kitchen.
I chuckled, sliding into the breakfast nook. This is where the two of us, mostly have our dinners, but it's large enough to hold about eight people. "One time, mom got annoyed with dad after he said he'd come to dinner in five minutes. She barged into the room, grabbed him by the ear, and she dragged him down the hall."
Mom laughed at the memory. "In my defense, his five minutes were long up."
The room filled with laughter as all the guys slid into the breakfast nook. Mom sat at the end next to me.
She pointed out all the dishes in the middle of the table, and then she let us dig in.
"This is so good, Mrs. M," Tobias spoke first, layering another helping of mashed potatoes onto his plate.
"Mhmm," Dean mumbled with one cheek full of food and nodded vigorously.
"Delicious," Tatum said, moaning into his bites.
I shook my head, but I couldn't help but smile at all their reactions.
"I'm glad you like them," Mom said happily. Watching people enjoy her cooking warms her heart. "Eat your bellies full, please. I won't need all these leftovers."
The guys gave her a thumbs up, passing the dishes back and forth.
In-between bites, we all took turns telling mom about our wedding gig. She was so excited that we had booked something like that, and she said that this could be the start of something even bigger. Dean, being Dean, agreed and said that the band has star potential.
We wrapped up dinner with some Oreo brownies and almond milk.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I fished it out.
Mia's name lit up the screen, I quickly replied.
"It's Mia, isn't it?" Mom asked, poking my cheek and making me aware of the fact that I was grinning like a fool.
The guys all chuckled under their breaths, and I pinned them with a look. Then they each pretended to be extra into the desert in front of them.
I schooled my face and cleared my throat. "Yeah, she was just checking in." I shrugged nonchalantly, slipping the phone back into my pocket.
"Hmm," Mom said, eyeing me suspiciously. "I won't pry. Not today anyway." She gave me a smile that promised she would bug me about this later, but for now, I was grateful that she wasn't going to push it. She probably decided to have mercy on me because the guys are here. "Anyways," she braced her hands on the table and stood. "I'm going to try to do something with all of this." She motioned to her hair that's still perfectly wrapped in a towel and exited the kitchen.
"Your mom is cool," Tatum said first, taking his final bite and sipping on his milk.
"I agree," Tobias nodded.
"Yeah, she's pretty awesome." Dean chimed in. "She reminds me a little of my mom. Except for my mom always dresses like a senior citizen and wouldn't be caught dead with a towel on her head. Her cooking skills, though, they're amazing."
"Of course it is. She's a chief," Tobias pointed out.
Dean waved off his comment, silently communicating that wasn't the point.
Tatum stood and gathered all our plates. "I'll put them in the dishwasher."
"Thanks," I told him.
"So, what's the plan for the rest of the day?" Dean asked, stretching his arms out.
I messaged the back of my neck with one hand. "So um... I kind of wanted to visit my dad. Then we can do whatever you guys want afterward. There's a lot of stuff in town that won't close until late."
"Can we go with you?" Tatum asked, taking me off guard.
My eyebrows pinched together. "I..." I didn't know how to feel about this.
"I think the three of us would like to pay our respects as well," Tobias said before I could finish. "It would be an honor. But it's not okay with you. We understand."
I took turns meeting all of their gazes, and I could sense that they genuinely wanted to be there with me.
I nodded. "Yeah, sure." Their faces lit up.
Dean double patted my back. "We're here for you, bro. That and you're kind of stuck with us, but you already knew that." He gave me a lopsided grin.
I chuckled. I'm oddly okay with that.
A few minutes, I told mom we'd be right back as we were heading out. I opened the front door and nearly walked into a man who had a bouquet in one hand while the other was a fist raised in the air.
"Can I help you?" I asked him. Who was this guy? He must have the wrong house.
He lowered his hand and straightened up. I had a few inches on him, so he had to tilt his head up to meet my gaze. "Hello there." He opted for a small wave. I saw his eyes glance over my shoulder, probably looking at the guys crowding behind me.
He cleared his throat before speaking again. "I'm Gabriel. I'm here to see Stephanie."
I quirked a brow and took a step back. So this is the guy my mom's been dating. I took a good look at him. He looked as if he could be her age or maybe younger. I think she might have mentioned that. He wasn't dressed like her type. I mean, I always thought my mom was into the bad boy-looking types, but this guy was dressed like an elementary school history teacher.
Anyways, I'd like to think he's smart enough to figure out that he's talking to her son. But in case he still had no clue. "Is my mother expecting you?" I asked him, crossing my arms against my chest defensively.
His eyes widened for a second, realizing that I wasn't going to make this easy for him. "I um... well... no. She hasn't been answering my phone calls since yesterday. We had a minor misunderstanding." His face grew guilty.
Dean stepped up next to me. "Excuse me, sir, define misunderstanding." I nodded, wanting to know what he meant by that too.
Panic swept across his face. "It's complicated, adult stuff." He scratched his beard.
Tobias was next. "Give us the PG version then. If we hear something we don't like, we're slamming the door shut," he said, deadly serious.
Gabriel grew pale. "I-I-I..." he shook his head. "It's not..."
"BOYS!" Mom shouted from behind us.
We all turned into innocent angels. We answered with a mixture of "Yes, mom, yes, ma'am, and yes, Mrs. M." Tatum even threw in a polite smile. Out of all of us, he was usually the one least likely to get into trouble.
Mom glared at us from the bottom of the stair. Her hair was now half dry and half wet, making half her head look like she had gotten electrocuted.
"Lay off the man," she gestured with a stretched arm.
"Come on, we were just messing with him," I said. "He showed up with flowers looking like he committed a crime."
Mom rolled his eyes. "That's because he did," she grumbled.
"What!" I turned my attention back to him and scowled.
She ran forward and grabbed his arm, pulling him inside. They breezed right past us and went upstairs to her room. I heard a door slam.
Was I supposed to be okay with this? I realized I couldn't very well interfere in every aspect of my mom's life but still. I sighed.
"Anyways," I said, trying to pretend I wasn't peeved; my mom just let that guy in after admitting he had done something wrong. I was making a mental note to talk about it with her later. The last thing I wanted was some guy thinking he could take advantage of my mother. Then again, Mom can handle herself pretty well. It would be hard for anything to slip by her. I rubbed my temple, thinking of what the situation might be between those two, then I changed my mind before it wandered too far. "Let's go for real this time."
I motioned for the guys to head out behind me.
"Wait, can we take the mustang!" Dean blurted out, pointing to the car in the driveway.
"It might be a tight squeeze." We're not exactly little guys.
"That's fine. Tatum and Tobias can cuddle together in the back." He threw them a looking over his shoulder before yelling, "Shotgun!" And sprinting down the driveway.
Thirty minutes later, we were pulling up at my dad's resting place. Dean carried the flowers since the passengers were obligated to hold these things.
The guys stayed a step behind me, letting me lead the way. I made it to dad's tombstone and kneeled in front of it. "Hey, Dad," I whispered. "I was in town and thought I would stop by." I gave him a quick life update and then added. "I brought some friends today that would have loved to meet you."
Dean walked over first and kneeled next. "Hello, sir, I'm Dean." He placed the flowers in the vase. "Huge fan and an even bigger admirer." Then Tatum and Tobias followed, taking a knee as well. They introduced themselves then they each started to talk about what they loved about his work.
"I'm sure you already knew this, but you left your son with some serious talent, and he was obviously wasting it, but now he has come to his senses." I elbowed Dean, and he grunted, holding his rib cage.
"He's right," Tobias said. "We're nowhere close to being the star he was, and who knows if we'll ever get there but what matters is we're all in this together."
"If any group can make it, why can't it be us?" Tatum joined.
"My talent can take us far." We shot an annoyed look over at Dean. "I mean, it's good to have you guys as backups, though," he added.
Tobias shoved him, forcing him to lose balance, and we all laughed at his expense when his butt he the grass.
"Fine, we're all talented in our way." He jokingly rolled his eyes.
Tatum shook his head, but he had a smile on his face.
"So Grey, I know in the beginning we said we'll give you until the end of summer to decide if you wanna stay in the band, but I think you unconsciously made a decision already." He rested a hand on my shoulder, grinning.
I looked around at all their faces and smiled.
I wasn't looking for new friends, and I indeed wasn't looking to join a band. But I've slowly made myself into a member of this brotherhood that I never knew I needed.
I stuck my hand out in front of me. "Save the knights," I said.
One by one, they each joined in, repeating the same thing.
"You guys are stuck with me," I told them, cementing my place in their world and them in mine.