He grinned while she smoothed his collar and brushed a stray piece of lint from the front of his shirt. "Hey," he whispered, grabbing her and pulling her in close. "Why are you so nervous? It's not like they're your parents."
No. He was right. They weren't her parents. But they were her tribe. And why he didn't comprehend the importance of her girls in her life...well...it was baffling to her.
"You don't understand..." she murmured. How could she explain?
Could she tell him that when one of them crashed, they all rushed to put her back together? Meetings cancelled, flights scheduled, all plans rearranged...all for each other. No questions ever asked. Except maybe When? Or Where? Or Are you okay?
Could she tell him that when one of them flew, they all soared? Holding hands in the blinding sun, laughing at the sky, winking back at the stars. No goal was ever out of their reach. Not together. Sometimes they needed a bigger running start or to jump off a higher point, but it could be done. Together, anything could be done.
Could she tell him that when one of them was wronged, they all jumped to fight? When one of them was sad, they all cried? And when one of them loved hard, they all loved just as hard.
But if it was wrong? If it wasn't truth? They all knew it.
This was their first time meeting her new love. She wanted them to see what she saw. But also, she wanted to see what they saw.
She shrugged, shook away her worry, and then grinned back. "What will be, will be. It's just...they're everything to me. And you are, too."
Epilogue: Her tribe loved him. It had a little to do with the honesty of his smile and the directness of his gaze, but far more to do with the way he looked at their girl. He never took his adoring eyes off of her, and that was just fine with them.
