"Special talent." One corner of his mouth lifts. "Possibly inherited."
Chapter Twenty-Six
Victoria
Lucas and Chloe are unusually quiet once we arrive at the Bennett house. Christopher parks the car in the driveway, and then all of us are on the way to the house. Christopher leads the way, Lucas walking quietly beside him. I take Chloe in my arms, rubbing my palm up and down her back. She sighs loudly, her nose scrunched.
"What is it, sweetie?" I whisper to her. She merely shrugs, shaking her head. Right. I'll get to the bottom of this later. Christopher pushes the door to the house open, and we all step inside. A whirlwind of voices resounds from deeper inside the home, mixed with laughter and colorful exclamations.
"Mom, Dad," Christopher calls out loudly. As if waiting for the signal, a couple steps into the corridor, hurrying toward us. Ah, and now I can see where Christopher gets his height and build. His father is just as tall as he is, with broad shoulders and an impressive physique. He is a giant with kind eyes and a friendly smile. Mrs. Bennett is petite, and warmth radiates from every pore of her face. Looking at Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, I can't help but be reminded of Mom and Dad. They have that closeness and care for each other that I've only seen in my parents before.
Sienna greets his parents first, and then Mrs. Bennett steps in front of Lucas, who says, "Hi, Mrs. Bennett, I'm Lucas. Very pleased to meet you."
“Pleased to meet you too, Lucas.”
I do a mental fist pump that my boy sounds all grown up.
"And you must be Chloe," Mrs. Bennett says.
Chloe, who is still in my arms, extends her small hand to Mrs. Bennett.
"Yes, ma'am. How do you do?"
What the heck. How do you do? That's so unlike her… or any four-year-old, for that matter. Mrs. Bennett shakes Chloe's hand.
Then she turns to me and says, "Nice to finally meet you in person, Victoria."
"Likewise, Mrs. Bennett."
"Call me Jenna." She kisses my cheek, and then I shake hands with Mr. Bennett. "Let's go to the living room so you can meet everyone."
"Wow," Chloe whispers when she sees the large group.
"Prepare for your head to spin as I introduce you to everyone," Christopher says. We do a round of introductions, after which my head truly spins. It helps that I already know Alice, and Pippa and her family, though this is the first time I'm meeting the two lovely additions, six-months-old Mia and Elena.
Things become even more blurry when we proceed to his brothers. I might have met Blake, Logan, and Sebastian, but I struggle to keep up with whose spouse is whose, and I hope I won't mix up the brothers' names. Speaking of mix-ups, the most memorable of the introductions is the one to his identical twin, Max. I just can't wrap my head around the idea of two Christophers running around.
; "Ah," Max exclaims. "Your girl got all tongue-tied in front of me, brother. I still got game."
I grin at him, realizing I just got a partner in crime to give shit to Christopher. Besides Blake, of course. That one seems to be game for anything anytime.
"I heard all about you kissing his girl in high school," I inform Max. "Such bad form."
"Christopher's no saint," a beautiful blonde exclaims, appearing next to Max's side. "I'm Emilia. And that one"—she points to my man—"tried to pass himself off as Max with me."
Emilia winks at me, and at once I know that I have an ally. Sometime in the near future, she and I will plot against these two.
"Say, I heard a rumor that you and Daniel"—I point to Blake—"are the party brothers, while these two"—I turn my thumb in Max and Christopher's direction—"are the serious brothers. Care to enlighten me? They don't seem to understand the concept of serious."
Blake shakes his head. "I know. Blatant discrimination."
The next hour is somewhat of a blur. Sienna is entranced in a conversation with Logan's wife, Nadine, and Lucas is talking Blake's ear off about soccer. Chloe sticks to Jenna the entire time. When Mrs. Bennett announces dinner is ready, we all move into the dining room.
***
After Thanksgiving dinner, I finally seem to have lost some of my jitters. The delicious stuffed turkey helped, and the wine too. We eat dessert in the gazebo outside.