“T! You up?!” A voice called out before they heard knocking at the bedroom door that had Baron scrambling to alert everyone. They heard the man screaming in a high pitch tone when Baron got close to the door.
“Shit, what do you have in there? Is it gonna eat me?” The knocking continued followed by jiggling of the door handle.
Presley shot up looking for her pajamas to throw back on while Trent smiled at her.
“The door’s locked, babe,” he assured her while he slowly pulled on a pair of boxers. “Go away!” Trent called out with a grin on his face.
Presley was stepping back into her light, cotton shorts when the voice on the other side of the door continued.
“Don’t make me pick the lock like back in the day, you fucker.”
Trent walked over to Presley as she was quickly throwing her hair up into a messy bun. “Babe, are you okay if I open the door for him? He won’t stop.” He chuckled.
“I mean, are you okay with that?” She tilted her head. “Look at me, and I didn’t even brush my teeth yet.”
“You’re gorgeous all the time,” he assured her, ignoring his brother who continued to complain just on the other side of the door. “You can sneak into the bathroom though if you don’t feel comfortable yet.”
Presley pecked him. “I want to at least brush my teeth, can’t have that first impression.” She smiled. “You got Bare?”
“Yep, he’s fine.” Trent swatted Presley’s backside as she headed for the bathroom. He walked over to the door and put Baron in a sit as he unlocked it. He only cracked it at first. “Don’t come in here acting like a dumbass, the dog needs to meet you before he sees all that,” Trent warned.
His brother nodded and then reached down for Baron who didn’t take long to decide he was a friend.
“Cameron!” They heard Connie calling from the first floor. “You better leave them alone up there!”
“He’s not!” Trent called back down to her.
“Sorry, honey, I did try to stop him. Hey, send Baron down, I’m making breakfast.”
Trent let Baron out of the room to find his new grandma in the kitchen. “No greasy foods, Mom! He can have eggs and berries, but don’t give him anything else from the breakfast spread.”
“Sooooooo….” Cameron pushed past Trent to enter the room. They were roughly the same height, but Trent had about thirty pounds of muscle on his brother. “I’ve met the nephew, where’s my new sister-in-law?” He looked around the room.
“It’s not even nine, what are you doing here, ya dick?” Trent reached for a pair of shorts to pull on over his boxers.
“C’mon, baby bro. You didn’t think, out of all of us, I wasn’t going to be the first one to meet her? I had to make sure you weren’t just fucking around with Mom’s hopes and dreams. Plus, I just had an estimate a few streets down, so I figured I’d pop in to wake you guys up.” He shrugged and hopped on the bed to lay on his side.
Presley slowly opened the bathroom door, still in her pajamas. She had fixed her bun a bit, brushed her teeth, and added another, more form fitting tank top under her pajama top. She had to improvise when she realized she didn’t have a bra or another option for clothing in the bathroom with her.
“Well, good morning.” Cameron rolled off the bed and made his way to Presley. “Okay, so Mom didn’t lie, she’s a dish for sure.”
Trent smiled with pride at his brother as he approached his blushing girlfriend.
“Good morning, I’m Presley.” She tried to reach her hand out to him but Cameron playfully swatted her hand away.
“Absolutely not, Sis.” He hugged her. “We’re family now.” He let her go and informed her, “I’m T’s older, hotter, smarter, funnier, more successful brother – Cam.”
Presley laughed. “Okay, funnier for sure, I’ll give you that right away.”
Trent laughed out loud.
“Holy shit, the delivery was executed to perfection, I hardly caught on that it was a dig. Mom said she was sweet, but damn, can’t wait to see this strategy unfold – you’ll be a worthy competitor.” Cameron rubbed Presley’s shoulder. “I like her, can we keep her?” He looked at his brother with an overly dramatic begging expression on his face.
Trent walked behind Presley and put his arms around her before he pecked the side of her head. “That’s the plan.”
“Mom must really like you, Presley.” Cameron’s face turned into a smirk and he looked at his brother. “She never let us have sleepovers with our friends of the opposite sex like this in the same room … especially not with a locked door.” He suggestively pumped his brows.
Trent flipped his brother off and tried not to laugh as Presley blushed.
“I guess that rule’s obsolete once you’re in your thirties and still living at home or something.” Cameron shrugged.
“Fuck you.” Trent laughed.
“Well, come bug Mom with me while she’s cooking breakfast. I’d love to get some one-on-one time before the entire crew’s here.” Cameron offered his brother a friendly jab and gestured that they all head downstairs.
“Should I maybe clean up before going down for breakfast?” Presley looked up to Trent.
“It was a house with an infinite number of kids every morning for breakfast. We have no expectations of being out of your pajamas at this hour.”
“Yeah, plus we need to hurry. You know Mom isn’t going to listen to your feeding restrictions for the dog, right?”
Trent shook his head. “She’s the kind of grandma who doesn’t listen when the parents try the whole ‘no sugar’ thing. I’m sure Baron’s down there eating his weight in bacon and sausage right now. I tried to tell her to limit it to eggs and berries knowing full well all that would do is limit the servings of everything else.”
“Oh gosh, he’ll never want to come home now,” Presley giggled as Trent’s arm fell down to hold her around her waist and walk them down to the kitchen.
“Cameron!” Connie put her hands on her hips. She was still in her robe and presumably her pajamas as well. “I told you not to bug them.” She offered Presley an apologetic smile.
“Don’t worry, Mom, he got burned as punishment already.” Trent flicked his brother on the back of the head and then walked over to the espresso machine. “Babe, one or two shots this morning?”
Presley held up a peace sign. “Thank you.” She stood at the kitchen island with Connie. “Can I help you with anything?”
“Oh, honey, no, please just make yourself comfortable up at the bar over there.”
“Is Baron down here still?” Presley looked around.
Connie’s face curled into a smile. “So, you boys know how your father has always been the one to deny us of a dog? Tell me why he’s the one who just snuck a few pieces of bacon to him and then took him out for a morning trot.”
Presley’s eyes went wide. “Oh, should I catch up with them? Baron’s like clockwork with his bathroom activities – I’m sure Dennis doesn’t want to deal with that.”
“Oh!” Connie’s voice was even louder this time as she laughed. “He made sure to bring two bags with him.” She shook her head again. “You, Presley, may have just chiseled enough off his anti-dog-owner heart by bringing Baron here.”
“He’s a great dog.” Trent added, “Pres has raised him well.”
“Does he like kids?” Cameron asked as he picked a piece of scrambled egg out of the pan his mom was still cooking.
“He loves my little nephew who’s almost five – they’re besties.”
“Mine are five as well. They love Paw Patrol so I’m sure they’ll love hanging out with an actual dog.”
“So, you have the twins?”
“Yep,” Cameron confidently replied while rubbing his own chest. “I tried to tell you, I’m the superior brother, right down to my little soldiers.”
“Cameron!” Connie scolded him.
The boys tried to stifle their laughter while Presley bit her lips to suppress her smile.
“Ah shit.” Cameron was looking at his phone. “Busted. Sara just sent me a screenshot of my location, she’s going to be pissed I met you without her.” He hopped off the barstool and kissed his mom’s cheek before he headed towards the backdoor to leave. “Bye, kiddos! See you in a couple hours,” he called out as he walked into the backyard.
Trent set Presley’s coffee down in front of her and she tilted her head up towards him for a quick peck, which he happily provided. “Thank you.” She didn’t let Trent go very far before she continued, “your brother is Jake 2.0, I would love to see those two together.”
Trent laughed. “You’re not wrong, but careful what you wish for.”