Page 13 of Love in Times of Contempt

She leaned across the car and kissed him. His heart turned into cotton fluff, the small moment reminding him, once again, that he was the luckiest guy on earth.

"Okay," she said. "I'm ready."

They got out of the car. He rushed to the trunk to get their bags, before leading Ana to his parents' door.

Giddiness filled every cubic inch of him, fueling the smile almost splitting his face in half. He didn't try to subdue it now; he'd talked to his family about Ana often, and it excited him that they would finally get to meet each other.

The double doors to his parents' house opened, and both his mom and dad were there, smiling.

"Oh, it's so nice to see you!" His mom hugged him tight, the warmth of it reaching to his soul. His dad followed.

Liam put a hand on Ana's lower back. "Mom, Dad, this is Ana."

"Hello," Ana said and, if he was not mistaken, she giggled when his mom pulled her in for a brief hug.

"Hello, Ana, it's lovely to meet you. Finally! I'm Julia. This," she said pointing at his dad, "is Steve."

"Come on in." Liam's dad shook Ana's hand and invited them in. He dropped a couple of slaps on Liam's back. "Welcome home, son."

Liam exchanged a smile with his dad, noting the older man's eyes shining with pride.

"We'll show you the rest of the house in a minute," his mom said, guiding Ana up the stairs. "We'll leave your things in your room first."

Ana glanced around his childhood home, with its staircase tucked to the side, and a living room, dining table, and kitchen island bar in a big open space. She followed his mom up the stairs, studying the mix of photos and paintings covering the wall next to them.

"I'm going to want to look at each one of them," Ana told Liam over her shoulder.

"You'll stay here," his mom continued. "It's Liam's old bedroom. When he gifted us the reno, we changed it a little to be more of a guest room."

Liam left his and Ana's bag on the bed in his old room. After giving Ana a quick rundown of the house, they settled in the kitchen where his mom and dad finished cooking dinner. Ana sat next to Liam at the kitchen island. He placed a hand on her thigh— patted it twice.

His dad offered to make them drinks while his mom puttered in the kitchen.

"Can I help you with anything?" Ana offered.

"Oh, no, not tonight, please." His mom dismissed the comment with a wave of her hand.

Liam leaned close to Ana, and spoke in a lower volume that did nothing to hide his words. "Don't insist. I know that tone of my mom's. It's her polite firm tone."

His mom smirked. "I agree. Listen to him on this one, Ana."

"Okay." Ana smiled. "I will, this time."

Liam squeezed the flesh of her thigh.

"Liam told us you two met through work?" Dad asked.

"Yes." Ana nodded. "We worked close together for a month or so last year for one of my documentaries and, well… things sparked from there."

"Right, yes, he'd mentioned that." Dad gave them their drinks, and moved the chopping board to the island to prepare a salad. "The documentary is coming out soon, correct?"

"In a month, more or less," Liam said. "Ana has refused to show me the final cut, so I guess it'll be a surprise for all of us."

Ana shook her head at him. "I told you I want you to have the full impact when we see it at the festival. And you've seen like 98% of it already, anyway."

"When are you going to that festival again?" His mom asked. She washed yellow peppers and, cutting the tops off, gave them to his dad to chop and add to the salad. It seemed like a simple gesture, but it told Liam how in sync his parents still were. It made him hope the same for him and Ana; a future where they wouldn't need to talk to stay coordinated. Where they knew each other so deeply that they moved as one.

A smile curled his lips. He believed they'd get there, sooner rather than later. Liam leaned to the side and kissed Ana on the temple.