Just a One Night Stand

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

A strong sense of déjà vu hit Drew as he knocked on the door of his family home. The door opened and as usual, his Mama opened the door. She threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly before she ushered him in. She brought him to the living room where someone rushed into his arms.

He looked down to see the blonde haired beauty of Cassie. He hid his disappointment. Though technically, he worked with Madeleine, as she still worked with his father and his focus was on their newest project, they barely saw each other at work. He rested his chin on the top of his head as he scanned the room.

In the room was: His parents, his Pops and Grams, his Lito and Lita, two of his Tias, their husbands, his 4 cousins, his two sisters, their partners, his niece and nephew, Cassie was in his arms and bingo! There was his girl, the love of his life, Madeleine. Next to her was her sister who had Brandon on her lap and her mother next to her. Melanie was talking to Brandon and her mother quietly whilst Madeleine played with his 6-month-old niece. Her facial expressions were absolutely comical as she spoke words in English, French and gibberish to the little one in her arms. The living room was so packed that there was nowhere to sit at all but that was okay – Madeleine could sit on him and then he'd have a seat.

"Hey Drew Bear!" Cassie greeted, seemingly happy. His heart broke a little bit. Though her voice suggested that she was happy; he knew she was anything but. She, after Melanie's friend Olivia had persuaded her, had decided to tell her parents of her sexuality. Understandably, Olivia wasn't happy that Cassie had been hiding her from her family nor was she happy that Cassie was so antsy about just being with her.

The two had met on the evening after the gala, when Cassie had gone to apologise to Madeleine for her hostile behaviour. Coincidentally, Olivia had stopped by Madeleine's to pick up one of Brandon's toys that Melanie had forgot to take with her. Sparks flew as soon as they'd met each other and Madeleine told Drew how she'd caught the two locking lips in her kitchen not long after.

"Hey Cassie! You still haven't even grown an inch." Cassie opened her mouth to berate him but stopped when her phone started ringing. She fished it from her pockets and immediately, a genuine smile broke out on her face.

"Just a minute." Cassie excused her self and went to the hallway but Drew distinctly heard her saying, "Hi Liv, my love." She greeted. Drew smiled. He knew she was still hurting about her parents' rejection of her existence but she was slowly healing thanks to Olivia's consistent affection and validation.

Drew walked towards Madeleine immediately, brushing those thoughts aside. As soon as he was close enough to her, he bent down and placed a kiss on her forehead. She stopped making silly faces at his niece and gave him a face he adored – Brandon called this face her "Drew" face and Drew understood exactly why. Her face would soften just so and give him loving eyes but as soon as she realised it, she'd replace it instantly with an eye roll. He loved that facial expression so much. She wasn't one for gooey lovey stuff and being emotionally vulnerable – hence the eye roll but that first look gave away her honest and frank love for him.

Once Cassie came back in the room, their family began with the traditional game of charades. This was the first family game night that the Dubois family would be joining and, as predicted, it was even better than usual. His Mama and Madeleine's mother – Elle as she told everyone to call her – got along as though they'd been best friends for years and not just known each other for a day. Brandon and Chiquita had each other for company so they were able to talk about all sorts together. Melanie fit right in with their little group – Luis and her getting along too well. She was able to coax him into talking a lot more than usual and kept putting smiles on his face. He noticed that Luis kept sneaking looks at Melanie when he thought no one else was looking and Melanie would do the same.