Angel woke up the next morning and Hook was not in bed. She groaned. Why did she have to tell him everything yesterday? She knew how he would react. It was always something causing her to push him away. Why didn't she tell him on day one when they were talking about themselves. When she told him she was married and that Matthew was the one that cheated?

Because she was ashamed.

She slowly climbed out of the bed and into the restroom to freshen up. She combed out her hair from the messy bun and put it in a braid. She grabbed her phone and went to see what Hook was doing.

Of course, he was in the kitchen. Standing there all sexy in nothing but some pajama bottoms while stirring a pan of something.

She walked behind him and put her arms around his waist.

"Smells good," she said and kissed his shoulder. "What is it?"

"I made biscuits and gravy."

"Eeew! It looks weird."

"I know you're not talking about my cooking."

"I don't care what it looks like, long as it tastes good." She kissed his shoulder again. "You smell good."

"I haven't even taken a shower yet."

"Well, I like this smell on you." She squeezed him tight to her.

"Hey girl, get off me while I finish this. I need to go shower and dress, but you can start eating without me."

While he was showering she took pics of the sausage patties, biscuits, and gravy and posted it on the gram like she made the food. The first person that responded was Jared.

Yeah, right! Nice to have a man that can cook for you

She was done eating by the time Hook came back, putting his phone away.

"Your father called me."

"What?" This was not going to be good.

"He was checking on you. Making sure dude didn't come by last night."

"Why is he calling you?"

"He's worried Ang, no big deal," he said. "Oh, and he wants us to come over later for dinner."

She choked on her juice. That meant he would meet her mother.

********************

Dinner with her parents? Now, the joke was going to be on Hook, because as much as he hated her cooking, she learned (or didn't really learn) from her mother. Her mother did not cook. She was the takeout Queen. She Door Dashed food since before there was a Door Dash. Big Sunday dinner meals were cooked by the help, not her.

Though her father seemed to like Hook, that did not mean a thing. He did not know about Hook's past. If he knew he had a record and baby mommas, what would he think? She was not going to worry about that. She did not care what her parents thought. She was grown. If she wanted to be with Hook she was going to be with Hook.

She did not even pick out his clothes to wear. She was going to let Hook just be Hook and not Antione. He dressed in a fitted short-sleeved black shirt and gray slacks. He looked good. Tattoos on arms were on display and sexy. He freshly shaved his head and shaved his face. Those dimples popped when he smiled.

"What?" he said when she kept staring at him while he drove her baby.

"Nothing," she said with a smile.

"Are you worried I will embarrass you or something?"

"No! And I don't care what they think."

"Sure you do."

"I don't. And I keep staring at you because you're so gorgeous."

He grinned and those dimples! Oh, her heart.

He pulled down her parents' street and Hook let out a sigh.

"Now I am trippin'.  Look at these houses! You grew up over here?"

"Yes."

"Man!"

He pulled up into the large drive-way and there was another car parked there. She groaned.

"What?"

"That's Shay and her husband, probably their kids too. This is going to be interesting for sure."

They got out and walked up to the door. She didn't bother knocking she knew the door would be unlocked.

"Hello! Dad! Mom!"

She walked around to the living room area and saw her father sitting and talking with Elmer, Shay's husband. He truly looked like Mr. Rogers, maybe even dorkier. He wore glasses, tall build but lean, brown hair, pale skin, dressed in khakis belted at the waist and a polo shirt tucked in.

"Hey daddy, hey Elmer," she said, going to hug her father.

"Hey, baby girl." Her father squeezed her tight. "Sit. My man Hook it up! Hook, come on over. Let me introduce you to my son-in-law Elmer Goldwyn."

"Hook?" Elmer stated while he shook his hand.

She rolled her eyes. Then again, it was her reaction to his name as well.

"Just a nickname," Hook said, as they both sat on the sofa.

"Yeah, like Hook it up!" her father said, doing that little dip thing he thought was him being cool.

"Where's mom and Shay? In the kitchen pretending to cook?"

"Sounds about right," her father said.

"Dad, Hook's a great cook! He made this pasta dish last night it was really good. Even Jared came over and loved it."

In rushed Dahlia, five, and Elmer Jr., three and a half, screaming for no good reason and then jumped on her lap.

"Tee-Tee!"

"Hey," she said, rubbing Dahlia's long dusty brown hair. "Big girl! Aren't you too big for auntie's lap?"

"No!" she said.

"I love you TeeTee!" EJ was climbing up on her trying to kiss her. Then he jumped off her and crawled over to Hook's lap. "Hi!"

Hook looked too comfortable with him on his lap.

"What's up, lil man. Fist bump." Hook held out his fist to EJ and EJ tapped his fist to his.

"I'm EJ," he said with a giggle. "I'm three!"

"I wanna play!" Dahlia jumped from Angel and moved closer to Hook. "I'm five! I'm a big girl, TeeTee said I was."

"Hook, are they bothering you?" Angel had to ask.

"EJ, Dahlia, don't bother your aunt's friend," Elmer said.

"They're fine," Hook said.

Shay walked in and stopped when she saw them.

"Kids! Get off that man, come wash your hands."

They quickly moved from Hook and followed Shay out the room. Angel looked at Hook, he seemed comfortable with the chaos of those two wildcats. Then again, he had two bigger ones.

Her mother walked in.  "Food's ready."

Her mother was a little thing, compared to both her daughters being tall. She was around five feet four, not as slim as she was in her youth, but still stunning for a woman in her sixties. No wrinkles on her honey brown face that was made up and perfect. She had curly, dark brown hair pulled back in a bun. She got her style from her mother because she was dressed in designer wear from head to toe. She always thought of her mother as Claire Huxtable, between being a lawyer and that sass.

"Mom, you have to meet Hook." She stood and hugged her mother.

"Oh yes, I heard," her mother stated, looking him over with a strained smile, no teeth, just her "I don't know you, I don't like you," fake smile.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hamilton," Hook said, holding out his hand.

She didn't even acknowledge his outstretched hand. "Sorry, I just washed my hands and we're about to eat," her mother said and walked away and into the formal dining room.

Yes, a disaster waiting to happen.

A disaster her sister, Elmer, and the kids would witness.

The kids sat on one side of the large ten-seat dining room table that had the good China place setting out. Elmer sat next to EJ, Shay on the far end by Dahlia. Her father at the head, her mother at the end. Hook sat near her father, with Angel beside him. A maid was dishing out their food to their plates.

The dinner that someone prepared was spinach and cheese stuffed chicken over a wild rice mixture with a side of white asparagus and a side salad. It was not her mother's cooking. It was okay, but Hook still was a better cook. The asparagus was just lacking. The chicken no flavor. She would question the Blackness of her mother, but she knew she didn't cook it. Must have had a "Karen" in her kitchen. Nothing a sprinkling of salt and pepper couldn't fix.

"Hook? Uh, Hook, what is it that you do?" her mother asked, cutting into her food, taking a bite of the chicken without even adding salt. Yep, her mother was a Karen.

"I own a-"

"Honey, I told you he owns a car repair shop," her father said.

"Oh, well that's lovely. So you get your hands dirty every day."

Angel cringed. She side-eyed Shay who chuckled.

"The cars don't fix themselves, do they? You have to get your hands in there to get it done. You have a car, right? You want to go under the hood and pull out the AC compressor?"

Damn, Hook was going to go toe-to-toe with her mother and she was here for it!

"My wife barely knows how to pump her own gas," her father stated with a chuckle.

Her mother raised an eyebrow at her father. He went back to eating his food knowing he was dismissed from the conversation.

"I pay people to do it. They're called the help for a reason," her mother said, motioning for the maid to fill her wineglass.

"Mom, Hook's not the help. He owns the place. He's the boss." She held up her glass to the maid so she could get through this dinner.

"So, you didn't go to college?" her mother asked, giving him that fake smile again.

"I went to a trade college, so yes, I went to college. There was no need to go to a four-year, I knew cars and I just needed to get certified in it."

Her mother chewed for a moment, took her linen napkin, and wiped the corner of her mouth, didn't even look Hook's way when she asked.  "You knew cars from stealing them?"

Angel dropped her fork. "Hey, mom! That's enough!"

"No, no, Angel, it's cool. Yes," Hook answered. "Breaking into cars and stealing them, stripping them, selling the parts. Sure, I did that in my youth."

"Okay, well, I'm going to take the kids in the other room," Shay said getting up. "I don't think they need to learn how to hotwire a car."

"Honey, I don't think he..." Elmer started.

"Come with me," Shay said quietly. "Someone will be crying soon and it won't be the kids."

Once Shay and her family walked into the breakfast nook with their food, Angel turned to her father. "Dad, aren't you going to say something about how mom is treating Hook? He's a guest."

"I think Hook can handle this on his own," his father simply said, finishing his food.

Oh, this was a set-up. Her father had to know her mother would attack Hook because he told her all about him. Who's side was he on anyway?

"No disrespect Mrs. Hamilton, but everyone was not born with a silver spoon. I respect that you raised Angel with everything she ever needed, but I didn't have that. My father abused my mother, who in turn killed him before killing herself. No big fancy house or private school, or fancy cars. That's my life."

"Hook, you just wanna go?" she asked him.

"Why?" he said, pretending he was enjoying that food like he pretended he liked that first meal she fed him. "I'm having a lovely conversation with your mother."

"Lovely indeed," she said, sipping her wine. "So you've been to jail?"

Angel groaned and sank down in her seat.

Hook didn't miss a beat. "Yes. Juvenile in my youth and Federal jail for eighteen months later."

"So, you have a record. Mr. Hamilton and I are both attorneys."

"I know."

"Criminal attorneys, we deal with a lot of...people like you."

"Great! Everyone deserves a good lawyer. I'm sure though, the ones that can afford you are sweet and innocent."

"Rarely, but I can see through the bullshit."

Angel grabbed her wine and took a big gulp. This was very uncomfortable. Sure, Hook was not properly groomed like a college-degreed professional with an Ivy League background, but they shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Hook had more class than Wash U and SLU Law grad Matthew they adored.

Hook should just get up and leave. He did not deserve this. She felt bad for bringing him. She remembered how she judged him when she first met him because he was covered in tattoos and drove a tow truck. Because he dropped out of high school and had a GED. Judged him because he had two baby mommas at a young age. She was worse than her mother.

"You're not a bullshitter," her mother said to Hook, then smiled. "I like him, Angel."

Her mother smiled? Her mother liked Hook? What in the frickin' fracking world?

"Uh...what just happened?"

"Dear, pour your man some wine, it's nice to see you happy for a change," her mother said.

She looked from her mother to her father, then her mother again.

"You were testing Hook?"

"Oh come on sweetie, I ran a whole background check on the man, Mr. Antione Lawrence. You do know your mother is a top criminal attorney and not going to let anyone near my baby that's not worth it. We messed up with that Matthew, it will not happen again. Not on my watch."

"I didn't have to do a check," her father said. "Any man that is willing to put his own life on the line for my daughter is good in my book."

"Daddy, mom, you guys are awful! I thought you were judging him because-"

"You're thirty-two years old, I don't care who you date, as long as you're happy," her father said.

"Now, Mr. Hook, I heard you're a great cook. Maybe next time you'll cook for us instead of us eating this bland food," her mother said.

A/N: I love her! I love the mom! She's bitchy, and snarky, and goes for the jugular. You have to read it in a Claire Huxtable voice, along with the look, the smirk, the eye glare she gives off. One of my favorite TV moms ever. And how well did Hook handle himself? He may had some help with that.

Hit the star if you liked the chapter and I need some comments!

XOXO
Kimberly