Trish takes me to a cute little diner for lunch. "I know it doesn't look like much, but the food here is amazing."

We seat ourselves and within a few minutes the waitress brings us water and then takes our order.

"So, Tessa, what are your intentions with my son?" Trish asks with a straight face.

I quickly swallow my water before trying to answer her. "Um, well, I-I..."

"I'm only kidding!" She laughs. "Hardin is the one I should be addressing that question to. Please, tell me how you and Hardin started dating. He's only told me a few things about your relationship."

The waitress brings our food and after she leaves us alone again, I begin to answer Trish's question. "We started as friends. Well, actually... we first met in the library when we both needed the last copy of Wuthering Heights for a project. I convinced him to stay and read with me. He was quite rude and grumpy, but things went so well that by the end of the night I felt like I knew him my whole life. He seemed reluctant at first to be friends with someone as chipper as me, but I wore him down." I laugh. "I'm not really sure when the line between being just friends and falling in love began to blur, but after my boyfriend, who also happened to be Hardin's best friend, cheated on me, he was there for me... and one thing led to another. We started dating shortly after and we've been together for just over six months now."

"That's quite a story. Hardin never spoke about you to me until I dragged it out of him when I demanded to know why he was suddenly always so happy." She laughs.

"I like to think he's grown so much since then. We even have a couple we've double dated with!"

"Hardin has sure come a long way. I'm not sure how much you know about his past, but he's had a hard life. It was only the two of us for most of it and I tried my best, but he still went down the wrong path. You have no idea how many nights I prayed he'd find his way back. Then one day my prayers were answered. He called me and proudly informed me he was sober again. He didn't say it at the time, but I know you had everything to do with that, Tessa. He also told me his nightmares stopped once you moved in with him. As a parent, all you want is for your child to find happiness in life. I was afraid he never would, but with the way he talks about you, I know he finally has. I see it in the way his eyes light up and hear it in his voice when he talks about you. My son is finally happy."

"I-I don't know what to say. Th-thank you for telling me all of that. I'm touched to know how much I've helped him."

"No, Tessa," Trish says as she reaches out to place her hand over mine. "Thank you. Thank you for loving my son when he wasn't strong enough to love himself."

"You're going to make me cry." I sniffle.

"No tears! I just wanted you to know how much you've done for our family. I finally have my boy back."

Trish and I continue to eat our lunch in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before she asks me about my charm bracelet. "I love your bracelet. Is there a story behind it?"

"Yes. Every single charm is from Hardin."

"You're kidding!"

"No. Your son is quite the romantic, even if he refuses to admit it." I giggle. "A lot of these are from our anniversaries."

"Anniversaries?"

"Oh, Hardin and I make sure we celebrate our anniversary every single month. He usually gives me a new charm as an anniversary gift. It's become our thing, I guess." I smile.

"That's such a sweet idea."

"This seahorse was the first charm he bought me when he took me to the aquarium. I don't know if Hardin told you about my attack, but I was going through a really difficult time and this was the first thing that made me smile again. Ever since then, he's kept adding to it."

I show Trish the heart with Hardin's name. "This is from our one month anniversary." I also show her the infinity symbol. "This is from when Hardin proposed. I didn't want a ring yet, so he bought me this."

I continue to show Trish each charm and tell her a story about how Hardin gave it to me.

"If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were talking about someone else's son." She laughs.

"It's really nice to be able to tell you about this... since I don't have my own mother to tell."

"You're going to be my daughter in two months. I want you to think of me like a mum. You can always talk to me." Trish gives me a warm smile that I return.

"Thank you."

"I can hardly wait until you two give me grandchildren!" she blurts out.

I start choking on my drink. "You're as bad as Hardin!"

"My son talks about having children? Okay, who is he and what have you done with my real son?" she jokes.

We finish dessert and Trish pays for lunch before we leave to go to the spa.

While at the spa, we get manicures, pedicures and I get my first professional massage ever. It's a wonderful day— the kind of day I've always wanted to have with my own mother.

Before we go inside her house, Trish turns to me to say, "Let's not tell Hardin we actually did talk about him for most of our day."

"Agreed." I laugh.

"We're home!" Trish yells through the house.

"It's about time. I thought you kidnapped my fiancée, mum." Hardin rushes over to me and takes my hands in his. "Did you two have a good day? Did everything go alright?" He searches my face for an answer.

"Yes." I smile. "We had a great day. I love your mom. She's so fun and a pleasure to be around."

"Oh, well, good. I'm happy you got along so well." Hardin smiles.

"Yes, Hardin, your mum is actually likeable." Trish laughs.

"So, did you two talk about me the entire time?" He smirks.

"Nope! Not a word." I giggle. "But I did get my first massage today!" I chirp.

"From a woman, I hope." Hardin glares at me.

"Actually, it was from a really tall, dark and handsome guy. His hands were magical." I giggle. "They knew all the right places."

"Theresa... do I have to teach you a lesson about how you're only for me again?"

"Well, I wouldn't complain, but I'm only teasing! I had a woman."

"Good."

"Your mom is the one who had the guy." I giggle.

"Oh, really?" Hardin turns to face his mom and raises an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, calm down, Hardin. I'm a single woman. I'm allowed to have a little fun."

"Excuse me?! He better have kept his hands to himself!"

"I don't need protecting, Hardin. Neither does Tessa."

"I don't like how you two are when you're together." Hardin glares at both of us. "And I certainly don't like strange men feeling up my fiancée or my mum!"

"Is he always like this?" Trish asks.

"Yep. You get used to it, though." I giggle before following Trish into the dining room.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here! You both need to learn to not be so... so..."

"Shush!" I say as I press my fingers to his lips. "Now, let's eat." I smile.

We eat dinner together while Hardin lectures us. He spends most of dinner informing us about how men only have one thing on their minds and forbids his mom from going back to that spa.

After a very 'informative' dinner, we spend the rest of the night watching a movie together and I finally feel like I have a real family.