Count On Me - Sequel (Laughing into Love)

Chapter 2: Parents

"So we have Sal and my mom" Melanie hums out, laying on Brian's chest and running her hand up and down his bare chest Monday night. "How did your parents take the news?" She asks him.

"They are thrilled and can not wait to meet you." He squeezes her waist and pulls her closer towards him "actually, our episode of jokers airs on Thursday and I was thinking we could have a viewing party. Maybe post a picture on social media?" He moves to sit up a bit to see her face as he asks her.

She looks at him and bites her lower lip "you think that's a good idea? I mean, it's just the episode of when we first went on a date, I don't think we need to share anything about it on twitter or something."

He replies "I want everyone to know that you're all mine." He kisses her on the forehead "it'll be fun, we'll have our families over, friends, and everyone can meet each other."

She takes a moment to think about it but agrees "okay, sure. Invite everyone. But it's going to be here! My apartment is not going to be clean in a matter of three days." She chuckles and he agrees.

They spend the rest of their time in bed figuring out everything they'll need for Thursday and then fall asleep soon after.

Melanie tries to call her mom every day but she doesn't answer. She leaves a message Thursday morning "hey mom. I'm sorry if you're mad at me for walking out or for getting engaged so quickly but I'd really like you to come out today to meet Brian's family. Call me back, okay? Love you."

She informs Brian that her mom still isn't returning her calls and doesn't know if she'll be coming. He assures her that it's okay and that our parents could meet another time. That night, Melanie paces the room waiting for the first guests to arrive. Luckily, it's Joe and Bes and they easily make things lighthearted and calm her nerves as they catch up and joke waiting for the others. Caroline comes next with her boyfriend and then some more of Brian's friends. Bryan comes, holding the door open for Brian's parents. Melanie knows who they are as they walk in, seeing photos, and she excuses herself from Murray and Caroline to meet with Brian. He grabs her hand and they walk towards his parents "mom, dad, i'd love for you to meet my fiancé, Melanie Monroe."

"Hi, it's so nice to finally meet you!" His mother scoops in to give her a hug.

Brian goes on "that's my mom Carol, and my dad Jim."

"It's nice to meet you as well Mr. and Mrs. Quinn. Thank you for coming tonight." She accepts Jeremy's hug and says to them.

"Please, you're practically family. Call us mom and dad." Jim smiles largely at her while still holding onto her arms at the sides. He then sees one of the guys behind him and goes off to say hello.

Carol laughs "and if that's too much too soon then you can just call us Jim and Carol."

Brian hugs his mom and Melanie thanks her "thank you, I think Carol and Jim will do just fine. At least for now."

"So, Brian refused to tell me anything about how he proposed." She says out loud. Brian eyes her with a smirk, probably not wanting to tell them what happened before or after everything went down. He throws her a wink as they all walk further in his home "I'm hoping you'll share with me some of the details."

"Oh yeah, of course" She nods, already spinning it in her head "we were just spending some time in front of the fireplace, enjoying the warmth when he leaned over to look at me with the sweetest smile on his face." Brian offers her a glass of wine, which she refuses and Melanie goes on "I asked him to tell me what he was thinking and he just asked me to marry him. Honestly, I thought he was joking at first and asked him. But he just explained to me how much he loves me and how he wants to marry me and of course I just said yes!" There was no way Melanie was going to go into the details of all the questions they talked about before she said yes. Jim and Carol adored Melanie and couldn't be happier for their son. Everyone had a good time watching the show, until the end. Both Brian and Melanie cringed as they watched his parents watch them talk about sliding down poles and being good in bed. At the end, everyone cheers the couple on and about an hour later everyone has left. "That was good, right?" Melanie exhales as Brian shuts the door, Casey and his wife the last to leave.

Brian replies "it was perfect, my parents adore you." He quickly turns around and wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her close to his chest "yet again, why wouldn't they?" He starts to leave kisses down her neck.

She chuckles, lightly pushing at him to stop. She doesn't really want him to but gets out "I'm actually relieved it's over, I was so scared."

He continues to kiss her neck as she moves it aside for him to get better access to it. He mutters "why? You're amazing."

"It's just meeting parents is a big step, I wanted it to be perfect." She replies.

He chuckles and asks "like when I met your mom?"

She chuckles back "well, that weekend was a big step in more ways then one for us. So, you really think they liked me?" She pulls her head away so she can see his eyes, wanting to read them.

He rolls his eyes, wanting to kiss her further and stop talking but answers anyway "they loved you, and I love you." He smiles, waiting for her to smile back.

She does and he takes the opportunity to return his lips to her skin. "Why don't we leave the dishes for tomorrow and clean up ourselves tonight?"

"You know, that sounds like the perfect plan." Melanie agrees with a heavy sigh "why don't you go run the bath and I'll go get some candles."

"Oh?" Brian lifts his head back from her and his eyebrows are raised "it's that kind of night?"

She shrugs one shoulder slightly "it might be" and she walks off to get her hands on as many candles as she can find at his place.