Hard to Find

Chapter Thirty Four - The Parnell's

He turns around so we're facing each other. His big hands cup my face and he brings his nose to mine and closes his eyes. I mimic him closing mine. He takes a deep breath, nuzzling our noses together. "I am so thankful for you."

His words hit deep. My instinctual reaction is to get closer. When I do our noses slip past one another and our lips meet. The kiss is slow and gentle as I take in every part of him. Our hands dance over the surface of each other's clothed skin.

This time I cup his face. "You ready?" I ask. He nods and I kiss his freshly shaven cheek.

We head to a restaurant on the waterfront, which we made reservations for. Neither Jayden nor The Parnell's exchanged phone numbers for safety, so we have to wait until the hostess guides them to the table we are at. The restaurant's patio has a lovely view of the Patapsco River. The sunset couldn't be anymore calming, it's a perfect spring evening.

Jayden squeezes my hand under the table. I lean toward him and whisper a quick I love you. His face lights up with a smile and he whispers it back.

"Here you are," the waitress interrupts our moment. In a millisecond, we turn our heads to see a quaint couple standing hand in hand. Knowing we are staring directly at the Parnell's, Jayden and I instantly stand to greet them.

"Hi," Jayden extends his arm to shake their hands. "Thank you guys for coming, I'm Jayden."

The man—Dean Parnell—graciously takes Jayden's hand, giving it a good shake while I take Amelia's and introduce myself.

I've always considered myself good at reading people. At work, it's my responsibility to make sure I put children in suitable homes. First impressions are principal, I'm supposed to notice if something is off within an adoptive family. And right off the bat, there is nothing but positive feelings from The Parnell's.

"It's lovely to meet you Jayden and Skylar." Mrs. Parnell looks me directly in the eyes with the warmest smile then turns toward Jayden. I see his shoulders bow slightly from their introduction, most likely from a release of tension. He seems to feel comfortable too.

We each take our seats and order drinks. I take in both of their soft features. They're much older than us, at least ten years. I wasn't expecting them to look how they do; they look different from the Leeman's.

"How was your drive here?" I ask, trying to diminish the slight awkwardness present.

"It wasn't too bad, it was nice to take a little road trip. So you both are from New York?" Dean inquires as we look through the menus.

"I was born in Ohio and moved to Manhattan for college," Jayden answers first then I follow. "I was born in Rhode Island and moved to Manhattan when I was fifteen with my older sister."

"We were both born and raised in Virginia." They look at each other with a smile. "We love visiting New York though, especially around the holidays."

We all talk about how beautiful the city is in the wintertime. Jayden and I recommend some restaurants for them to check out the next time they're visiting, and they recommend us places in Virginia if we ever visit. I can sense the excitement radiating off of Jayden at the thought of us visiting the state Ellies in.

Neither of us has mentioned anything about Ellie yet. It's strange because that's why we're here. But we'd rather get to know them first, before jumping the gun and bombarding them with questions.

After ordering our meals and some more small talk about what we do for a living, Amelia asks us eagerly, "How long have you both been together?"

Jayden and I look at each other in surprise, never having been asked that question. "Only a few months now. We met through family and everything happened so fast. Skylar has helped me through a lot." Jayden laces my fingers in his, blatant enough that the Parnell's can see. I like that he left out the part where we almost had a one-night stand, I'm not sure how much they'd enjoy that part of the story.