“Elli, baby, come on.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.” She turned, leading him through two more rooms that held family pictures of the grandkids. When Shea spotted some of Elli, he stopped.

“Hold on,” he said as he looked up at what looked like a collage of her. There were her school pictures, along with other candid shoots. The best one was one of her on a stage, her arms above her head as she sung something; she looked so happy it was breath taking.

“Where was this?”

“Um, a school thing I did when I was 17.”

“So you were in musicals?”

“I was.”

“Why did you stop?”

“I gained all that weight.”

“Oh,” was all he got out before Elli was pulling him along. Elli stopped in front of a huge white door. Since the room was red, it stuck out like a sore thumb. She took a deep breath before pushing the door open. The room was full of chatter. Everyone inside was talking at once, not paying attention to the fact that they had just walked in. Shea observed everyone. He could tell they were Elli’s family: everyone, except for the two blondes, had the same features Elli did. Except they were all bone skinny. With all of them dressed so classy, it was intimidating. Shea was glad he wore his suit.

The oldest woman in the room turned and looked at them. He assumed it was Elli’s mom, even though she did not look old enough to have four children and six grandchildren. She rose slowly, as everyone turned to look at him and Elli. Everyone had different reactions. The two blondes took in a deep breath, while Ell’s brother’s mouths dropped. Elli’s sister had an evil look on her face, while her mother just stared at them. Elli’s father stood up and came towards them with a grin on his face. He was the happiest out of the whole bunch.

“Elli bug, darlin’, aren’t you looking too beautiful for words?”

He took Elli’s hands in his, kissing each of them before kissing the side of her mouth. Elli was beaming as she turned to look up at Shea.

“Daddy, this is Shea Adler. Shea, this is my daddy, Michael Fisher.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” he said, taking Michael’s hand in his. He had a good grip.

“I’ve heard nothing but good things, Shea. It’s good to finally meet you. I’ve seen you play, and I’ve been impressed with you since day one.”

“Thank you,” Shea said with a nod as Michael turned to the older woman, who had joined him.

“Shea, this is my mother, Olivia Fisher. Mother, this is Shea Adler,” Elli said.

Elli being so proper it was messing with Shea’s head, but watching her mom look him over was worse. She took his hand, shaking softly as she looked him over from head to toe.

“So you’re Shea Adler,” she stated, not asked.

“I am.”

“And you’re dating my daughter, Eleanor?”

“Mother,” Elli said with a bit of warning in her voice.

Shea looked at Elli, a grin on his face.

“Yes, I am, for almost a month and a half now. Right Elli?”

Elli smiled up at him.

“Right.”

“Hmph. Have you met my daughter, Victoria?”

Olivia moved out of the way as the leggy brunette came over to them. She was walking with a little more sway than needed. She was all legs, small br**sts, and nothing but skin and bones. She had the same features as Elli, but hers were much harsher.

“How do you do?” Victoria basically cooed as she took his hand in hers, “Wow, you have big hands.”

Shea could feel Elli getting mad beside him.

“Nice to meet you,” he said and dropped her hand, even when she tried to hold on.

Shea looked past her as Elli’s brothers came up with their wives on their arms.

“Shea, my brother Liam, his wife, Adina. Liam, Adina, my boyfriend Shea Adler.”

Liam took his hand in his, shaking just as strong as his dad did. Even Adina had a good strong hand shake.

“Nice to meet you.”

“My other brother Noah, his wife, Lauren. Noah, Lauren, my boyfriend, Shea

Adler.”

Noah shook his hand hard, while Lauren just stared at him with her mouth hanging open. She must be the one that was in love with him. He smiled sweetly at her, causing her to blush deep red before she high tailed it out of there.

“My wife is a big fan,” Noah said with a grin. Shea smiled.

“Yeah, Elli told me when I met the kids,” Shea said, taking Elli’s hand in his.

“Ellibelly, it’s so weird hearin’ you be called Elli,” Liam said to Elli before looking back at Shea, “We never call her just Elli, it’s always been Ellibelly or Eleanor.”

Shea nodded, looking over at a very embarrassed Elli.

“Daddy calls her Elli bug,” someone said.

“Yeah, but that’s Daddy,” someone else said.

Shea wasn’t paying attention to them. He hated that Elli was getting embarrassed, even though Grace had said it would happen. His sister warned him about this kind of stuff, but for some reason it still bothered him that Elli wasn’t comfortable. He wanted to leave, because he knew she wanted to.

“Well, come on now. Dinner is almost ready from what Ms. Harris says,” Olivia said, still staring at Shea.

She was looking at him like he didn’t belong, or maybe she was looking at Elli like that. Hell, he didn’t know, but the woman was creeping him out.

Everyone walked ahead, leaving Olivia and Michael with Shea and Elli.