The mussels tightened in her stomach as they pulled into Matt's driveway. No matter how many times Jeff told her she had nothing to worry about, Emilie still could not shake her doubts. What kind of woman did Jeff father invasion for his youngest son? Was a Jewish music store manager from Long Island good enough for his family? Was he expecting more then she could ever be? Every worse possible scenario played out in her head. With every thought Emilie felt as though she was diving deeper into insanity.

"It's now or never Em." Jeff said as though he knew what she was thinking.

"Are you sure about this? We could still turn around right now. I mean there's still time to..."

"Emile!" Jeff yelled before she began to ramble. "Everything is going to be okay."

He smiled that sweet smile that seemed to let her know that everything was going to be okay. Emilie couldn't help but think about how strange it was that nothing Jeff would say could loosen her up but with one smile every nerve in her body relaxed. She still worried, but with Jeff by her side she could face anything. They got out of the car and made their way to the backyard.

"There they are!" Matt yelled seeing the young couple turning the corner. He was standing with a group of people holding a beer in his hand. He looked so laid back in his jean shorts and button up Hawaiian shirt with a pair of sunglasses resting onto of his black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. He motioned for the two to join the party, which Jeff happily responded to. Emilie stood quietly to the side while Jeff said his hellos. Emilie took the opportunity to study each of Jeff's friends. She had seen picture of all of them but now she had to place the names with the faces. The man with the long curly black she recognized right away as Shane Helms. The wacky one of the bunch and Jeff's best friend was easy to spot considering he was the only one with a Green Lantern tattoo on his right arm. The slightly shorter man with the long light blonde hair was Shannon Moore. He and Shane were tag team partners in WWF's rival company WCW. Emilie had only seen a few of their matches, since he never really watched Nitro, but from what she saw she was very impresses. Standing to him, with the dirty blonde hair that fell down to his back, was Christian York and the other man with the long brown hair was Joey Matthews. Unlike the other four Joey and Christian did not wrestle on television. They mostly traveled around the indie circuit doing shows for Ring of Honor or OMGEA Wrestling.

"And this must be the prominent songstress." Shane said referring to Emilie.

Jeff took her hand and pulled her closer to the group.

"Emilie these are my nearest and dearest friends. This is Shane, Shannon, Christian, and Joey."

"The way Jeff talks about you we were beginning to wonder if you really existed." Christian laughed.

"Well you never know with some people." Shannon said staring straight at Joey.

"You guys are never gonna let me live that down are ya?"

"Nope!" they all shouted in unison. Emilie felt as thou she had won half the battle. Jeff's friends were absolutely great. They were funny and exciting, exactly the type of people Emilie hung out with back home. They made her feel so welcome, like she was part of their group. They all just stood there laughing and joking around until Amy and Shannon's girlfriend Crystal appeared from the house carrying trays of uncooked food. Emilie couldn't believe how much meat there was. Stacks and stacks of steaks, hamburgers, hotdogs, and any other form of cow.

"What is this, a barbeque at Jeffrey Dahmer's house?" Emilie laughed.

"Hey we're wrestlers." Shane answered "We need protein to keep up our stamina in the ring."

"The ring? Is that what you crazy kids are calling it these days" She shot back. Shane smiled at her; he was surprised by her wit. Normally the girls Jeff brought by were more tits then brains it was refreshing to be able to have a conversation with one of them. Not that Shane didn't notice her striking features, her long blonde hair, those deep sapphire eyes, and that body. 'Stop it Shane! It's Jeff's Girlfriend!' he mentally scolded himself. Before he allowed his mind to wonder any farther Amy came running over nearly tackling Emilie.

"You made it! I'm so glad you're here!" Amy yelled as she hugged Emilie out."

"Oh sorry." She said letting go.

"It's okay. So is he here yet?"

"Who Gilbert? No he's coming by later."

"God I wanna get his over with."

"Don't worry Em, he's gonna love you."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Because it's true. Would I lie to you?"

Emilie just smiled. Amy threw her arm around her shoulder and two walked over to join the rest of the gang. As the day went on Emilie's fears faded. She was having so much fun with the crazy bunch that she had nearly forgotten about Gil's arrival. They all sat round the picnic table Matt had set up while they waited for the food to cook. They laughed as they shared all their most embarrassing moments in and out of the ring. They were even treated to Shannon and Shane's performance of "Sing along with 3 Count." They were all so caught up with their entertainment that they didn't even notice the older man standing behind them until they heard the clapping.

"Bravo!" The man yelled as Shannon and Shane faces turned bright red. "You boys know any Johnny Cash?"

"Hey dad" Matt shouted to his father as everyone rose to greet him. Jeff looked over at Emilie who appeared as thou she was about to faint. He put his hand on hers, softly rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.

"Come on baby. It's the moment of truth."

Emilie took a deep breath as she and Jeff made their way over to Gil. He was exactly the way she had imagined him. A slightly heavy set man with gray hair and stern face yet kind eyes.

"Dad I want you to meet Emilie. Emilie this is my dad."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Hardy." Emilie said as she shook his hand.

"Please darling" he said with a heavy southern accent "call me Gil."

"Okay Gil."

"So you're the young lady that's got my boy's heart doing somersaults."

"Um I guess I am."

"Well I'm happy to finally meet you."

With that he smiled and went to enjoy the food that Matt had just placed on the table, leaving a relived Emilie standing along side Jeff.

"See, was that so bad?"

"What? I was never worried" Emilie said as they walked over to join the others.

The air grew cool as day turned to night. Everyone had moved inside for coffee and desert, everyone but Emilie. She sat on the back porch looking up at the night sky. She use to love watching the stars but the bright lights of New York made it impossible to see the beautiful starlit sky. But not here. Here she could see straight into the heavens. It was just then she realized that she hadn't thought about the city once during her stay. It was strange, Emilie had always thought that New York was the greatest place on earth but since she met Jeff her whole perception of the rest of the world had changed. Suddenly Cameron seemed like the perfect place to live.

"Mind if I join ya?" a deep southern voice said behind her. Emilie turned around to see Gil standing there.

"Please do."

Gil sat down next to her and looked up at the sky.

"Beautiful night isn't?"

"Yes sir, absolutely beautiful."

They sat there in silence for a few moments until Gil talked again.

"He talks about you a lot. I know he'd kill me for saying this but he's never reacted this way to any woman he was involved with."

"Well I'm very taken by him as well."

"I know. I can tell by the way you look at him."

"Well you raised two very fine boys. I'm sure it wasn't easy without your wife."

"Yeah, she was a good woman. Jeff's more like her then he realizes."

"What was she like?"

"Smart, funny, very loving, and daring. She'd try anything once, sometimes it was hard to keep up with her. You remained me of her. It's the smile. She had a beautiful smile."

"You know you're very easy to talk to. Truth be told I was very nervous about meeting you." Emilie said softly.

"Now why on earth would make you so nervous?"

"I don't know. I just knew how important you were to Jeff. I guess I was scared you wouldn't like me."

"Well if it's any consolation I like you very much darling." Gil said as he patted her on the back before he began to stand up. "You better come inside and get some cake before the guys gobble it all up. I swear those boys are like human garbage disposals."

Emilie laughed as she watch him disappear into the house. A large smile formed on her face. She felt like Sally Fields excepting an Oscar. 'He likes me, he really likes me.' She thought to herself as got up to join the party.