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A tiny squeak of surprise escaped my throat as he pulled me against his body and lowered his head to kiss me. It took a moment for me to realize what was happening and to respond to the pressure of his lips on mine but I made up for that hesitation by returning the kiss with so much enthusiasm, he stumbled backwards a step or two.

“I do,” his voice sounded so far away as his lips left mine.

“Mmm?” I remained in the optimal kissing position as I wondered why he stopped.

“Ice cream,” he kissed the corner of my mouth. “I want ice cream with my pie.”

I smiled and nodded.

Then I realized what he said. “Hmm?” I peeked out at him from underneath my lashes.

He chuckled, his lips grazed my cheek. “You asked who wanted ice cream with their pie and I said I do.”

“Oh my God,” I lowered my head to his shoulder as I flashed back into reality and realized that we were standing in front of his family. I don’t think my cheeks have ever burned as badly as they did at that moment.

Jordan’s arms tightened around me. “You wanted me to tell them,” he whispered softly. “I couldn’t think of a better way, could you?”

When I didn’t answer he moved back enough to gaze down at me. “Babe?”

Clearing my throat, I turned my head towards his family; they appeared to be frozen as they stared at us. With a smile, I gave Jordan a kiss on the lips and then stepped back to serve up dessert. “Who wants ice cream with their pie?” I asked again as I scooped a big spoonful out of the pail and waited for Jordan to place the pie section in a bowl for me.

Eric, who seemed to be the only one at the table who wasn’t shocked by Jordan kissing me, smiled up at me and said that he would love some ice cream with his pie. When I placed the bowl in front of him, he plunged his spoon into his dessert and then brought it to his mouth.

“What the hell are you doing!?!?!” Mike screamed as Eric’s lips closed around his spoon.

Eric’s eyes widened as he stared at Mike. “Eating,” he mumbled and then turned to me, taking the spoon out of his mouth. “Was I supposed to wait?”

Before I could even answer Mike was asking him how he could possibly eat after what just happened. “What the hell is going on?” He demanded as his eyes skipped over me and landed on Jordan.

“We are having ice cream and pie,” he replied innocently.

“Ice cream…” Mike glanced around the table at his family. “Am I the only one who seen that?”

“You told me I was delusional,” Nick accused. “I asked you what was going on between you and you lied to me!”

“No I didn’t. You said that Jordan was happy and I told you reasons why he was.”

“I can’t believe you lied to me,” Nick shook his head. “How could you keep that from me?” The last question was directed at Jordan. “I thought we told each other everything!”

“I wanted to tell you,” Jordan told him. “There were so many times I almost did –”

“Why didn’t you?”

Jordan glanced at me. “We thought it would be best to keep it to ourselves for a little while, to be sure that we could do this before telling everyone.”

“You’ve been keeping it a secret?” His mom looked upset. “For how long Jordan? Why didn’t you want us to know?” She didn’t even look at me. “I’m sure Anna’s family knew.”

“No they didn’t,” Jordy replied. “The only one who knew was Jenna.” He chuckled, “If it wasn’t for my daughter, I don’t think I would’ve found out that Anna wanted to give us a chance.”

“Jenna?” Harriet turned to look at her granddaughter who was trying really hard to grab her daddy’s bowl of dessert. “What did Jenna have to do with it?”

“Well…” Jordan told his family all about the morning he overheard me talking to Jenna about him. As he spoke, I finished serving up dessert and listened. Hearing him tell the story made me smile. The excitement in his voice as he got to the part where I realized that I’ve loved him for years, made me smile. I couldn’t stop myself – nor did I want to – I slipped my arms around his waist and gazed up at him while he spoke.

“It’s been a month?” Nick shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you kept this from us for that long.”

Conversation circled around Jordan and me dating for a while but as they talked, I noticed that John wasn’t paying attention as he ate his dessert and went for more. I watched him work his way through his second bowl and wondered how on earth he could sit there and pretend that nothing big was happening when he was one of the ones who didn’t understand why we weren’t dating before.

I guess Harriet must’ve noticed me watching John and realized that he didn’t say anything. “I think it’s wonderful that Jordan and Anna are finally together, don’t you John?”

Silence fell around the table as everyone turned to John. Beside me, Jordan stiffened and I knew that he was holding on to the hope that his father would finally be happy for him about something.

“Don’t,” I whispered.

“Don’t what?” He brushed his lips against my cheek. “Don’t hope that my dad is happy that I’m with the woman that I love?”

I sighed. “Jordy whatever he says won’t change how happy we are – you don’t need his approval. You’re a good man and I’m very happy with you.”

“You’re right,” he turned all his attention to me. “It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks, you are all that matters to me.”

Although he said that, and I believe he really meant it, it didn’t stop him from slumping back in his chair when his dad looked up from his bowl. Staring straight at Jordan, John pointed his spoon in his direction, and said “It’s about time,” before returning to his ice cream with the biggest grin on his face.