(Okay so I know I said this story was over, but I got a few reviews so I decided to go ahead and add another chapter, thanks for the reviews, happy you all liked it)

Dinner came sooner than expected for Rusty, although Sharon had promised Rusty her children would love him, he still had his doubts. Rusty had a hard time believing Sharon had been married when first moving in with her but time had changed his ways of thinking. Her children often called a few times during the week, to catch up or rant about something going on, it always made Rusty smile to see Sharon so happy to talk them.

The car ride to the Italian restaurant seemed long, which Rusty was thankful for, it gave him time to think about what was happening to find some way to prepare. Although he already felt like a part of Sharon's family, meeting her kids changed everything for him. What if her kids didn't like him? Would Sharon kick Rusty out? Would she love him any less? Rusty sat back in his chair and let out a small sigh looking over at the cars passing.

Sharon smiled hearing Rusty's small sigh loosening her grip on the steering wheel still keeping her eyes on the road as she smiles, " They got you a gift, they are very excited about meeting you."

"A gift?" Rusty began to panic sitting up quickly feeling the restraint of his seat belt against his chest, keeping him pinned back " but I- I didn't get them anything!"

"Rusty it's your birthday; they wanted to get you a gift." Sharon smiled trying to hold back a laugh knowing Rusty was uncomfortable but knowing the night would go smoothly. "Just relax sweetheart, I promise you, you're going to have a great time tonight."

"Yeah, yeah okay" Rusty sat back in the seat slumping down a bit trying to put his mind at ease, "are you sure your kids like Italian? I mean we could go anywhere they want." Rusty was pretty sure everyone liked pizza or pasta, so it was a pretty safe bet when he decided on the family owned Italian restaurant.

"Rusty you need to trust me, I'm not going to leave your side tonight, but my kids don't bite I promise." Sharon smiled as she parked the car and undoing her seat belt sending a smile in his direction "just have fun tonight, come on I'm sure they are waiting."

As they stepped into the restaurant Rusty felt his heart beating a mile a minute, Sharon scanned the room full of faces and found her two children sitting in a corner booth giving her a wave, "come on" Sharon grabbed Rusty's hand walking him over to the booth, smiling wrapping her arm around his shoulder as they reached the table. "Rusty I want you to meet my kids, this is Conner, and Olivia" Rusty smiled nodding and mumbling a quick hello as Conner moved over in his seat giving Rusty a place to sit as Sharon takes a seat next to her daughter.

Conner looked comfortable; nice even, he had green eyes like Sharon and lighter hair. He was dressed comfortably in his jeans and a t-shirt, similar to Rusty's outfit, putting him a bit at ease. When it came to Olivia, she was a clone of her mother all except for the eyes. Her light sink, he smile and nose, it was like someone had put Sharon in a time machine.

Olivia smiled at Rusty sitting on opposite sides looking him over, "It's so great to finally meet you Rusty, our mom talks about you all the time." Conner gently nudges her shoulder keeping his eyes down at her side and she smiles grabbing for the large bag sitting next to her, "here, this is for you!"

Rusty smiled, he wasn't used to getting gifts, it made him feel uncomfortable and the center of attention which he didn't enjoy, yet he took the gift being polite, "Should I open it now?"

"Yeah go for it" Conner replied giving Rusty the go ahead to open the bag and peaking inside through the tissue paper, pulling it and seeing a long paper rolled, he took it out and unrolled it a bit, it was a poster of one of his favorite horror movies Sharon refused to watch, "Wow, thanks!" Rusty beamed across the table turning the poster to show Sharon, "Can I put it on my wall?" Sharon smiled giving Rusty a small nod when Conner interrupted, "Mom told me how much you like the scary movies, I figured this was a safe bet. You will have to come over to my place sometime, I have the entire collection" Rusty smiled; maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"Keep looking, there's more." Olivia smiled and waited for Rusty to pull out his next gift. As Rusty reached his hand into the large bag he pulled out a large box, it made a bit of noise like something was rolling around and he set the bag aside, putting the box on the table and slowly opening the paper to find a new chess board and once again, a smile found its way onto his face as Olivia began to speak. " I know you already have one, but this one you can travel with, I know you go with mom after work to the station, and this way you can play, she said you were trying to teach Bazz how to play but he was having trouble following on the computer."

"Buzz" Sharon and Rusty both corrected her simultaneously, "Oh good, I thought Bazz was a strange name." Sharon giggled and shook her head as the waiter came over to get their drink order.

Yes, Rusty could handle this, Sharon was right, her kids would love him. They both seemed genuinely excited finally meet him and Rusty smiled to himself, this is where I belong.

TBC ? You tell me.