MANNY©

Chapter 17

Sometime in March, in New Jersey 

"Rae, baby, come on. It'll be okay." Tyler told her, smiling while he stood outside his car with Maddy and Kal on opposite sides of him, each holding his hands. "Yeah, Mama. Don't be scared. We'll be with you." Maddy chimed in with encouragement. "M-M-M-M-M-A!" Kal said in his own way as he looked about while rocking back and forth.

Tyler grinned looking from them back to her as she sat in the front passenger seat, shaking her head. "Mama, if you come in with us I will give you a big bear hug and a kiss," Maddy said with a compromise to her mom, which made Rachael's head turn in surprise. She smiled at the thought of her daughter promising to give her more love in exchange for taking a step towards completing a task she had half done.

"Yeah, Mama," Tyler said in a joking manner. "I'll give you a big bear hug and a kiss also." He smirked while giving Rachael a sly wiggle of his brows. Rachael stepped out of the car and began to laugh hard. "Okay. Okay, you three. I'm out and I'm ready." She stated before she grabbed Maddy's free hand.

They began walking when Rachael began feeling scared. "Why do I feel like I am walking into an inquisition?" She mumbled so only Tyler could hear. "Relax." Tyler leaned in to whisper while they made their way up to the building's front door. "You knew from all the times I talked to her on the phone and went to visit her, that we're close. Besides, you being my lady is an automatic guarantee that you'll meet my-."

He was cut off when the front door opened up. "Tyler!" A woman's voice said in a happy tone very loudly. Tyler grinned before letting go of the kids' hands to rush up to grab the woman so he could give her a big hug and kiss on the cheek. "Mama!" He said with joy in his tone.

They pulled apart to let Tyler make introductions. "Mom, here they are!" He said with pride. "Maddison Daisy Ryland, she goes by Maddy. And this is Kaleb Dylan Ryland, he goes by Kal. And this is their mom. The love of my life. Rachael Nicole Ryland." He glanced between them with a look of happiness while introducing them all to each other. "Rae, Maddy, Kal this is my mom, Alyssa Sumner."

"Nice to meet you," Rachael said, extending her hand out towards Alyssa.  The woman stood there for a moment before pulling Rachael into her to hug. "Rachael, its so great to finally meet you. I have been waiting to meet you." Alyssa said with a genuine smile, before releasing the fellow single mom from her embrace. "Well, come in. Come in." She told them, ushering them all in before leading them to the family room. Rachael gave Tyler a look while he gabbed her hand and smiled.

It had been forever since she met a guy's parents. And she had never met Charlie's family because he said there wasn't anyone to meet. Whenever she would bring it up especially for Maddy, he would get angry. Rachael sighed and wondered if everything would go okay.