Break In My Heart

48. Grateful

Above I've attached Sweet Love by Anita Baker. Enjoy!

"Are you sure this looks good? I don't want it to look like I just threw something together," I asked as I looked at myself in my full body-length mirror.

"For the millionth time, Addison, yes, you look fine," Azalea said from her position on my bed. I'd enlisted her help to make sure that I looked the best I could for today. Any minute now, Tyler and his father would ring the bell and join my family and me for Thanksgiving dinner, and though Mr. Barnett seemed to grow a liking for me over the past month and my fathers absolutely adored Tyler, nervousness still bounced within me at the thought of everyone being together. Sweat coated my hands and I quickly rubbed them against my jeans. Azalea and I had settled on a simple beige turtleneck– which I'd chosen specifically for Tyler since he'd told me he liked how I looked in turtlenecks– along with black slacks. I had my hair gelled back in a way that looked structured without looking too unnatural. I allowed Azalea to define my eyebrows the way she'd so desperately been waiting to do which consisted of painful tweezing and a very small eyebrow razor. But when she was done, I could definitely see what all the excitement was about. I looked good.

But that didn't kill the anxiety that was still running rampant in my veins.

When I looked back at my sister she was laying on her stomach kicking her feet in the air as she typed on her phone, likely with Josh. After having dinner with us, she was going to meet Josh and spend time with his family. "Azalea please, I–"

My words were cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing. I cursed under my breath as an evil grin spread across Azalea's face. "Sounds like Prince Charming's here," she said in a sing-song voice that made me groan.

"Azalea," I whined, causing her to laugh.

"Relax, Addison, I'm just messing with you. Here, I'll let them in while you calm down. Sound good?"

I nodded. "Yes please."

She playfully rolled her eyes as she started making her way to the door but stopped when she was right next to me. "You know you're buggin' for no reason, right? I mean, come on, relax. You know our dads won't be hard on Tyler and based on what you said, Ty's dad likes you. So your boyfriend's dad is meeting the family? If he can put up with your annoying butt, he can put up with anything."

Her last comment made me hit her, which she responded to with a mere laugh.

"Go get 'em, tiger," she said before she disappeared out of my room. I looked at myself one last time to make sure everything was perfect before I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and said a silent prayer. When I was done, I turned on the lights and forced myself to walk out of the door, not leaving any room to back out or over think again.

When I made it downstairs, Tyler and Mr. Barnett were already in the kitchen putting down trays of food they'd brought. As soon as our eyes locked, a grin spread across Tyler's handsome features. "Hey, babe," I greeted as I walked over to him and placed a quick peck on his lips before I turned to his father and gave him a hug. "Hello, Mr. Barnett. Thank you both for coming over. This is my sister, Azalea." My sister, who'd been helping my fathers prepare something, waved before giving Mr. Barnett a hug since she was more of a hugger than a handshaker.

"Nice to meet you, Azalea. Thank you all for inviting us," Mr. Barnett said as the hug broke and he looked around before his eyes landed on my fathers. "You both have a beautiful home."

"Thank you," Papa proudly said as he approached Mr. Barnett with Padre right next to him and extended his hand. "I'm Madison, this right here is my husband Noah."