***

After two tall margaritas Shawna tapped out to take a nap before dinner. I took a quick swim in their oval-shaped pool to cool off, then called Sydney to catch up. I told her all about Sehun's family and a few of his hellraising tales, and she thought Ellie disliking me was the funniest thing in the world. "Hahaha! She just straight-up hates your , huh?"

"Apparently so." I leaned back in the lounge chair, crossing my freshly shaven legs and shaking my foot nervously. "Do you think I should talk to her?"

"Man, hell no. That'll probably make her hate you more. She'll either come around or she won't; besides, his parents like you. That's all that really matters."

I took another sip of my drink, setting it down on the ground next to me. "I guess. Changing the subject, are you still seeing that guy Jeremy?"

She made an exasperated noise. "We're not seeing each other. We have and occasionally share a meal together."

"Syd, I'm pretty sure that's the definition of dating."

"Ah, damnit." She was thoughtful for a moment. "I think I really like him, you know? I haven't really dated anyone in a long time, he's got me all tingly in my lady bits."

I laughed loudly, louder than I meant to when the patio door opened. Sehun stepped out onto the deck and started making his way over to me. "Sehun's back, I got to go. Can we have dinner or something when we get back? I need to meet this young man who's been courting you."

"Sure thing, Mom."

I hung up just as Sehun made it to my chair on the other side of the pool. I peered at him through my sunglasses as he sat shirtless on the lounge chair his oldest sister previously occupied, curling a side of my lips flirtingly. "Hello there, handsome. Did you have fun with your sister?"

"I don't want to talk about my sister right now, I want to talk about what you have on. When I told you to change I meant put on more clothes, not less."

I was wearing a jet black bikini with gold trim and ties at the sides and neck. It had been stowed away at the back of my closet for years, waiting for the day I finally felt good enough about my curvy physique to wear it...the more toned muscles I'd acquired at the gym didn't hurt, either. "You don't like it?"

"The problem is I like it too damn much, and there's too many people around for me to do anything about it."

I brought my arm behind my head and stretched my back, pushing my s upward into the thin material. "Sorry Tex, you have about five more days of not doing anything about it."

"Oh no, that." He pulled out his phone and started tapping furiously. I rose and leaned in front of him, my shadow eliminating the glare on the screen. "What are you doing?"

"I'm finding us a hotel room so I can take that thing off, with my teeth. Now get your out of my face so I can focus, woman." I snatched the phone out of his hand and held it behind my back as he pouted, gripping the back of my thighs to keep me still. "I'm goin' crazy not being' inside of you, Soojung."

"I know. I miss you too." And the truth was, I really did. I was still mad about the whole secret Vegas marriage thing, but I had gotten used to touching and kissing and just being physically glued to him. It was like an itch that I couldn't scratch, and I really needed a good scratching. "If it'll help distract you, Ellie hates me."

He didn't bother looking up at me. "No...she doesn't."

The guffaw that escaped my mouth was unintentional. "You're a terrible liar."

He stood, his strong hands moving up to my back, steadying me as the sudden movement caused me to sway a bit. "I think she's just sore about the whole eloping thing, she'll come around."

"You know...if you wanted to move back to Texas, we should. I could apply late to a school here, and work until then. I don't want you to feel like we have to stay in Connecticut."

He kissed me innocently, making me desperate for some prolonged contact. "Not now. We'll talk about it when we start havin' kids, okay? It might be good to have family around to help."

I gave him a tipsy smile and tugged on the belt loop of his jeans. "What if I want to start practicing for kids right now?"

Drawing my body into his, he nibbled on his favorite place on the side of my neck. "Don't tease me, lil' girl, I will have you knocked up in two point five seconds. And no more of my sister's margaritas for you, you on tequila is worse than the whiskey."

"Jesus, can't you two stop groping each other for five minutes?" Ellie's disapproving voice sobered me up a little. I tried to pull away but Sehun's hold on me tightened. "Bug, you're being' rude as hell, what do you want?"

"I want to walk into a room without you two mauling each other. Mom says go wash up for dinner."

I heard the patio door slam shut and sighed. "I'm going to go shower, I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Want some company?" Sehun asked with a seductive grin.

"Do you want your family hearing us in the shower? You're not so quiet either, Mr. Oh." He reluctantly let me go, and I made sure I put some extra sashay in my walk just for him.

***

I came downstairs just as everyone was sitting down at the dining room table. I took my place between Georgia and my husband, who immediately grabbed my hand underneath the table. Georgia told me all about high school and teenage girl things that I knew nothing about as we passed around bowls and plates of mashed potatoes, pot roast and vegetables. The conversation was light until Shawna's husband, Rob, inquired about my post-graduate plans. "I'm still in the process of choosing which grad school to go to, but I'm leaning towards staying in Connecticut."

"What! No!" Ellie wailed suddenly, all eyes turned in her direction. "That's not fair, you were supposed to move back here, and now you're stayin' up there 'cause of her?"

Sehun looked at her strangely. "Bug, what the hell is your problem today?"

Ellie threw her silverware at her plate angrily. "My problem is her. First you call us crying' because she dumped you -"

"I was not crying."

"Then all of a sudden you guys get married in secret, and now we're never going to see you because she's selfish and clearly wants to keep you all to herself."

Sehun's jaw clenched sharply as he tried to keep his cool. "Bug, you don't know what you're talkin' about, and you need to chill the out. Right now."

She crossed her arms and threw me a hateful look. "No, you shouldn't have gotten married. What is it, is she pregnant? She found out you have money?"

"Ellie, shut the hell up!"

"Why?! We're all thinkin' it anyway."

"Eleanor Elizabeth Oh, you knock it off right this second!" MaryAnne scolded her daughter, but it didn't seem to stop the insults from coming.

"She's nothing more than a selfish, gold-digging ."

"That is enough!" Eli shouted as slammed his fist on the table, making the plates and glasses jump. "Get out of my house."

Ellie's eyes widened, not expecting to elicit that reaction. "Are you serious?"

"As a damned heart attack. You are out of line, and I will not tolerate disrespect to anyone, especially family. Now get out before I throw you out." He returned to cutting up his roast, discussion closed. Ellie stood angrily, knocking her chair backwards onto the floor before storming out of the room.

Everyone was silent, and I kept my eyes downcast because I knew they were all staring at me. "Excuse me." I placed my napkin on my plate and stood, wrenching my hand from Sehun's to follow the sullen teenager. I grabbed our rental car keys and my purse by the front door and headed out, where Ellie was smoking a cigarette at the bottom of the steps. "I am not going' back in there," she stated bluntly.

I shut the door behind me, in case she decided to start yelling again. "Oh trust me, no one is asking you to. So, come on, let me have it."

She narrowed her eyes at me and blew out a cloud of white smoke. "You broke his heart, then you got married without us there. You're selfish, and you're not good enough for him."

"You know what? You're right, I'm not good enough for him. I'm sorry you weren't there to see us get married. I'm not trying to disconnect him from his family, we can make more of an effort to come down here more often, and you're always welcome to visit us in our home. But here's the thing," I tapped the keys against my palm impatiently. "You may not like the way we got married, but we aremarried, and as long as he wants me around that's not going to change. If you keep throwing hissy fits every time I'm here, you're going to damage your relationship with him. You know