Desert Flower

Matt and I were planning our wedding, in between both our jobs. We’d only been engaged two months, but we had to plan now because neither of us had time. My fiancé was preparing for his next tour, and I was rushing to finish edits for my book and was doing freelance photography now.

Matt's laughter filled our apartment as he cooked breakfast for the two of us. I smiled as I heard his melodic laughter and focused back on editing the book before I finished up the photos from the last rodeo I went to. Hunter hummed along to his favorite song, the Beatles’ “Help.” Our music tastes definitely diverged.

“I don’t want a big wedding, desert flower,” he said and brought a plate of scrambled eggs over to me.

“Not a problem. Thanks for the eggs,” I said and took a huge bite. “I don’t have many friends, and my family is fairly small. The reception might be different though.”

“Yeah, I remember. I’ve met all of them. Cleo and Brian are totally coming.” He sat down next to me and closed my laptop. “But, you haven’t met mine. Love, we’ve been engaged for two months and dating for two years. My family thinks I’m making you up.

“Every time we try to see them, you have a rodeo to take pictures of or a book thing to attend.” His smile had morphed into a rare frown.

I got up and sat down on his lap. “Hey, two of those times were your fault, Mr. Marine. But, you are right. Can we see them soon?” I kissed his cheek.

Matt smiled at me and nodded. “They’re not as crazy as your family, but they’re… intense.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sweetie, I’ll be okay.”

Matt and I pulled up to a huge ranch. I thought the ones driving to Denton were big, but this was almost the size of the King Ranch.

“Are you rich or something?” I asked.

It didn’t matter to me, but this was crazy. I tried to gracefully get out of his truck, but it was impossible when you were my height.

He fought back laughter. “Or something. Stay there, little one. I don’t want you getting injured on your first day meeting my family. I’ll never live that one down.”

He came around his massive truck and plucked me out of my seat. I let out a small screech and his laughter finally came.

“Shut up, bull rider. I’m always at the perfect height to hit you where it hurts.” I purposefully looked down at his crotch. Man, those Wranglers looked mighty fine on my fiancé. I smiled at that. Wrangler butts always drove me nuts, and this man was all mine.

“Why are you smiling at my dick, desert flower?” I don’t think that’s a good impression to give my brothers.”

I shook my head. “It’s a nice penis, Matt. It should be appreciated when it can be.”

He grinned and bent to kiss me. I reached my arms up to wrap around his neck, and he pulled me tight to his body. My feet were about a foot off the ground. Before we could get too into it, someone cleared their throat.

I dropped my arms from around Hunter’s neck which sent me to the ground immediately. Matt blushed. I had never seen him do that before.

“Hey, Grayson,” he said and turned to face the person who had cleared their throat.

The man was tall, almost as tall as Hunter. He had brown hair like my fiancé’s and light blue eyes. It was like I was staring at a shorter, older version of Matt.

“You best stop making out in the yard. Everyone is dying to meet your girl.” Grayson folded his arms across his massive chest. What was with this family and being huge?

I tugged on Matt's shirt. “Um… who’s that?”

Matt turned back to me and smiled. “My big brother. He’s in the army.”

“Marines are better,” I said and moved past Matt to shake Grayson’s hand. “I’m Evangeline. It’s nice to meet you.”

He laughed and his hand engulfed mine. “Pleasure to meet you!” He kissed my hand and someone growled.

“Don’t touch my wife,” Matt said, half-joking.

I rolled my eyes. Though I loved this man, his slight possessive streak got on my nerves. “Not your wife just yet, Corpsman.”

Grayson laughed again. “I like her! Come on inside now.”

Grayson and Matt grabbed our bags, and Matt took my hand and led me into the massive ranch house. We walked right into the kitchen where three other young men were. They all looked similar to Matt and Grayson; although, they had different hair and eye colors. I was fairly sure my mouth had dropped open in awe. Their parents had to be Greek gods.

“Your wife’s staring, bro,” one of the young men with blond-brown hair and green eyes like Matt's said.

I snapped out of my drooling fest. “Not his wife yet.”

Matt looked at me and frowned a little. “You keep saying that. It makes me think you don’t want to marry me.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ on stilts. Of course I want to marry you, but I’m not calling you my husband until the ring is on your finger, you big idiot. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me wife until your ring is on my finger too.”

His brothers laughed and Matt joined in. “Calm yourself, desert flower. My brothers don’t need to know you’re a spitfire just yet. Oh, and my ring is already on your finger.” He pointed at my left hand.

Once again, I rolled my eyes. “Well, whatever. Introduce me too all of these guys.”

“Yes, ma’am!” He saluted me and pointed at the blond one who had talked first. “That’s Lachlan. He’s the youngest. The short blond one is the second youngest, Cayden. And that last one with the black hair is the second oldest, Parker. Grayson is the oldest, and I’m in the middle.”

“Your poor mother. That’s a lot of men to push out of your vagina,” I said quietly. They were all giant, even Cayden who was the shortest. It was crazy how big they all were. I imagined their parents were giants too.

Cayden looked at me. “What? You don’t want kids?” All of the rest of the brothers turned and looked at me.

I could feel heat rising to my cheeks and looked down at my feet. I wasn’t keen on kids, especially with my history of cysts.

Matt jumped in before I could answer. “We haven’t talked about it. Cool it guys, she just met you.” He smoothed my hair down. “Let me show you our room.”

Matt took my hand and our bags and guided me upstairs. His thumb rubbed against the palm of my hand as we walked to a room down the hall on the second floor. Pulling open a door, he pushed me inside.

The room was blue and grey with a few posters of bull riders on the wall. There was a full-sized bed and two dressers. Another door was on the left-hand side, and I was fairly sure it was the bathroom. On the right was a door with a mirror attached, probably the closet.

“I’m sorry about them, desert flower. They… they’re just happy I have someone. And it took me a long time to get to a point where I was comfortable in a relationship. I just… I love you, Evangeline.”

Smiling, I kissed him. “I love you, Matt. Kids are gonna have to be discussed later. I’m not very keen on pushing something out of my vagina… not to mention my propensity for cysts.”

“Enough of that. We’ll talk kids later.” Matt smiled and kissed me, guiding me to the bed. “Let’s talk later.”

“I’m not having sex while your brothers are in hearing distance,” I said on a laugh.

He growled and kissed me again. “Don’t care.”

He started to kiss my neck and was just about to pull my shirt off when the door was kicked in. I let out a high-pitched squeal.

“Hey!” Grayson and Parker poked their heads into the room. Hunter was still sucking on my neck, and I was a nice, bright red. “Dude, Mom wants to meet your… desert flower,” Parker said with a huge grin.

Matt pushed off me and slammed Parker into the wall by the door. I shot off the bed and tried to get between the two of them. “Matt!”

“Don’t call Evangeline that. Only I get to.”

I felt slightly taken aback. Was he serious?

“Jesus Christ on stilts. Can you two give us a moment?”

The two nodded and went outside the door, closing it. I’m sure they were listening, but I was tired of this possessive streak of his. “Come here, Matt. We need to talk.”

He looked at me and then down at the floor. “Yeah, okay.” He came over and sat by me on the bed.

“This crazy possessive thing you’ve got going on needs to stop. We’re equals in this relationship, not things that belong to one another. Your brothers are joking, you should know that.”

He looked me in the eye. “I know. I’m sorry, Evie. I just… you’re my first serious relationship, and I don’t like them picking on me or you. I don’t like them picking on me by using you.”

“Lose the streak, Matt. I can take care of myself. I was doing it long before you came into my life.”

He smiled brightly. “Yes ma’am.” He kissed me and that was when the door was kicked in again.

“Jesus Christ on stilts!”

Parker laughed. “I like that phrase a lot… desert flower.” He pushed off the wall he had been leaning on and started running down the stairs. My fiancé looked at me, smiled, and chased after his older brother, laughing and threatening as he went.

Grayson looked at me and cocked an eyebrow. “What exactly do you see in him?”

“A six pack and a huge—“

“Jesus! So you like my little brother just for his body?” He glared at me, anger flashing in his eyes. “Isn’t that a bit shallow of you?”

“You are so much like Matt. Learn to take a joke, Grayson. He’s smart and funny, and we can talk about anything for hours even if we’ve already talked about it.” I moved past him. “Now, isn’t there a mother I’m supposed to meet?”

Grayson gave me a small smile. “Yes, there is.”

He walked with me downstairs. As we entered the kitchen, I saw Matt still chasing Parker, and Cayden laughing as the two duked it out. I only had a sister, so it was odd to see fighting because of a joke; though, it was probably play fighting. Although, my sister and I did fight a lot and it was pretty physical, it wasn’t quite like this.

Lachlan smiled at me. “You got them all riled up. No stopping them now.”

A woman with dark brown hair to her shoulders and eyes as green as Matt's walked up to her youngest son. At least, I assumed this was their mother. “Oh sweet boy, there is definitely a way to stop them. Watch and learn.”

She walked over to her two children and crossed her arms over her chest. I was right about her being tall. She towered over me easily.

“You two best stop it, or you won’t be getting any supper,” she said it so calmly and quietly, I was shocked when the two stopped and hung their heads.

“Now, Matt you introduce me to this young woman right now,” she said and pointed a finger at me.

Matt walked over to the woman. “Yes, mama.” He took her hand and walked over to me.

“Mama, this is Evangeline. She’s my fiancée.” He smiled and kissed his mother’s cheek.
I held out my hand to shake hers, but she pushed it aside and hugged me instead. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you! I’m Matt's mom, Grace. Feel free to call me Mama Lucas or Grace. Your choice.”

I gently hugged her back. “It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Lucas.”

She pulled back and gave me a look only mothers can. “What did I just say? Mrs. Lucas is my mother-in-law.”

Blushing, I looked at Matt. He was smiling and looked so very happy. “Sorry… Mama Lucas.”

“That’s better! Now, come to the kitchen and tell me about yourself. I want to know all about the woman who captured my Matt's heart.” She took my hand and led me to a stool in her massive kitchen. “Boys, wash up and help me with supper.”

I liked her already. She was like my mom and knew how to handle her grown kids. It was amazing to watch.

“So, Evangeline. Tell me about yourself.” She washed her hands in the sink and started to pull out ingredients for something I loved to eat: chicken fried steak.

“Do you need help?”

“Oh, thank you, but I have five helpers coming now.” She pointed at her sons, who were making their way to the kitchen. “Lachlan, you’re on salad duty. No nuts. Miss Evangeline is allergic from what your brother tells me. Cayden, please start peeling the potatoes. Parker, you’re making the gravy. Grayson, I want you to grill the asparagus and Matt, make drinks. Get to it! Now, Evangeline, tell me about yourself.”

I was left a little in awe of this woman. Her sons followed her orders without whining, something I always seemed to do when my mom asked me to help. Shaking my head, I looked at Mrs. Lucas. I definitely liked her.

“Well, I’m from Reno, Nevada. I actually met Matt at the rodeo there. I’m a sports photographer, but I specialize in rodeo photography. Um, I’ve written a few books. I’m working on another right now. I run and used to play soccer. I have an older sister and… that’s about it.”

“Oh, that can’t be all!” Matt's mom started to pound the steak flat. “What school did you go to? Why photography? Why those sports?”

I blinked. Her questions were faster than any journalists’. “I went to the University of North Texas. My major was journalism, and I found I liked photography the most. And I love and understand most sports, so photography it was. As for sports? Well, I’m fast, so running was a no-brainer, and everyone plays soccer as a kid, and I just fell in love with it.”

Matt smiled at me as he started to put out ingredients for margaritas. “Tell her why you can’t play anymore.”

I sent him a joking glare. “When I was twenty, I had major knee surgery. My dad says I’m part zombie. They replaced the ligament that attached my femur to my patella with a cadaver’s ankle muscle and secured it with three plastic screws. I don’t play anymore because my femur has shallow grooves, and I don’t want another surgery. That was a hellish summer.”

All activity in the kitchen stopped. Parker looked at me then to Matt and said, “You’re marrying a zombie?”

“You’re not really a zombie, are you?” Lachlan looked up from the salad he was carefully making.

“No! I mean, not really. The cadaver part has its own blood supply now, so it’s very much a part of my body. But, my dad likes to joke around.”

Mrs. Lucas looked at me. “Your dad sounds… unique.”

I laughed harder than I had in a while. “That’s a good description of him!”

“Tell us about your family. We’d love to meet them before the two of you get hitched,” Parker said.

“They’re… unique. Matt's met them. What do you think of my family?” I hid my smile behind my hand.

“They’re… something,” he said and looked down at the margarita ingredients. “Your mom is pretty cool. Your sister is sweet enough. But you dad is something else entirely.”

I laughed again. “My dad is a character. The first time Matt met my dad, my dad threatened to drop him down a mine shaft. Oh, I’ve never seen a grown man look so shocked. Well, any that haven’t met my dad, that is. Dad’s still not sure how to feel about Hunter or my sister’s husband.”

“Well, that’s not nearly enough info. Tell us more, dear,” Mrs. Lucas said as she rubbed Crisco onto the flattened steak.

“My mom and dad have been married since 1980, so about 41 years. They had my sister and me really late, but we had great childhoods,” I said, “Dad was a geologist and then sold chemicals and concrete for several years before finally becoming a science teacher. He retired last year. Mom has been an accountant for ages. My sister, Mary Jane, is a hydrologist. She’s studying droughts in California and Nevada. But what about you guys? What do you do?”

Before anyone could answer, the kitchen door swung open and in walked a huge man with blond hair and blue eyes like Grayson’s.

“Did y’all start dinner without me?” He had a deep voice. It reminded me of the first time I heard Matt talk. “Now, that ain’t fair. Who’s this?”

“Hey Dad, this is my fiancée, Evangeline.” Matt smiled at me and dropped more ice into the blender.

Matt's dad walked up to me and kissed my hand. “Good to finally meet you. I’m Mark.”

“Nice to meet you as well.”

Mrs. Lucas kissed her husband on the cheek and then turned to me. “Well, to answer your question: I am also a teacher. I’ve been teaching high school since the boys were in it. Mark and I haven’t been married as long as your parents, but we have been for a good while.

“Mark is a rancher, a fairly successful one. Grayson is in the army as a captain. Parker owns a dude ranch, and you know what Hunter does. Cayden is finishing a Master’s in business so he can help Parker, and Lachlan just graduated with a degree in physical therapy. So, exciting stuff for the Lucas family.”

“That sounds nice. I really like your home Mrs.… Mama Lucas.” I smiled at them, and Hunter chose that moment to blend up the margaritas.

“Well thank you dear. Mark, Evangeline is a rodeo photographer. That’s how the two of them met.”

Mark faced his middle child. “Thought you stopped riding bulls.” He sounded angry.

“I did, but I couldn’t pass this one up. It was just starting, and I got leave for the first time in months. It just so happened to coincide with a rodeo, my first in four years. I had to seize the moment, and it’s worked out well for me.”

Mark looked at me and grinned, exactly like his son did. “Well, no arguments here.”

“You might have one,” Parker said, “She is a zombie.”

Notes

I know y'all are there! Comments please???