Apologies for the wait- I am working full time at the moment, so I haven't had much time to write. I will try to update more frequently, but it will be weekly failing that. Also, apologies if there are any grammatical errors in this chapter- I wanted to get it up as soon as possible, so I haven't spent much time proof-reading it.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed: anonymous reviewers, Alaska Krystal, Kiauna Gray, H-Musen, FindingSkyFan3, FinchyBenedict, SweetCang, IllustrentStellae, Rosie, Titania56, hayleyasha & Rosietheactress. Thank you for your lovely feedback, guys- I'm glad you liked it, and I hope you like this chapter!

Right, now onto an actual author note:

The netball girls' name may get confusing so here's a quick who's who as you'll get to meet them later on in the chapter:

Grace- GS

Gemma-GA

Rach- WA

Alexis- C

Hannah (Captain)- WD

Kate- GD

Emma- GK

36:

There was silence, and then screaming. Lots of screaming. Lots of deafeningly loud screaming. Mum was the first to react; she leapt from the sofa at the speed of light, and pulled Will into a hug, sending poor Monty flying. Will hugged her back awkwardly, smiling at me over the top of her head.

'Thank you.'

'No problem.' I replied. I knew how much he wanted to get to know my family.

'Just prepare yourself.' I warned him ominously. He'd be regretting wanting to get to know my Mother once he'd seen what she was like.

"I knew something was up with you when you returned from the convention! Why didn't you tell me?" Mum asked, finally releasing Will from her embrace.

"We wanted to keep it to ourselves for a while." I lied, moving so I was stood closer to Will. His arms came around my waist instinctively, drawing me closer to him.

'She doesn't know about Alice and Dragon.' I explained to Will. He nodded slightly to show he understood- a movement so slight that it was imperceptible to my Mum.

"Hmmm. Does anyone else know, Alexis?" She asked, looking at us with a huge grin on her face.

"Only Alice."

"And my family." Will chipped in.

"Alice knew and she didn't tell me or your father? I will be having words with her later!" I knew she was only half joking too. Although she wasn't seriously mad with Alice, I could tell she was still a little bit annoyed that she'd kept the information to herself, despite the fact that it was me that asked her to do so.

"Well, I've told you now." I said, trying to placate her.

"And thank goodness you did! I just can't believe Andrea met my son-in-law before I did!" She harrumphed. I stared daggers at her; I could do without her either scaring Will off, or giving him any ideas. I wasn't ready for marriage- we'd not even been officially together a week!

"So, Will." Mum said, turning her attention back to her new favourite person. "Come and have a seat, tell me more about you." She took a seat on the sofa herself, and patted the cushion next to her to emphasise her point.

"I'll go and make some tea." I said, allowing Mum to spend some time getting to know/interrogating Will. She was so enraptured by my soulfinder that she seemed to have forgotten I even existed. Will seemed to have that effect on people. Or, more specifically, women. With nothing more than a dimpled smile he could send my thoughts to mush, not that I'd ever tell him that. Leaving them to it, I slipped into the kitchen to grab some refreshments- I could tell this was going to be a long night. My mum could talk for England about nothing of consequence, so she'd be here all night talking to Will. We'd definitely need some sustenance.

I was right.

Mum questioned the pair of us for at least two and a half hours, by which time it was nearly midnight, and we were both nearly falling asleep. Mum, on the other hand, was acting like the energizer bunny on crack, bouncing in her seat, and flashing me a not so discreet thumbs up when she thought Will wasn't looking. She had rang Dad to tell him the news, but he was pulling a night shift and hadn't picked up, which was probably for the best. If he had, she'd have probably stayed here, and made us stay awake until he got here, so he could meet him too.

"Now, you must come for tea tomorrow night! In fact, I insist on it! I'll invite Jack and Savannah, and your father will be there too. Will can get to meet all the family!" She squealed. "Well, apart from Alice." She tacked on as an afterthought. "I do wish she didn't live so far away!" She bemoaned.

"Mum, Will might have plans." I explained, voicing what I figured Will must be thinking. She couldn't expect Will to drop everything to meet my family, and he'd be too polite to tell her he couldn't make it if he needed to do some work.

"No, Lex, it's okay; I'm free. I did have a reservation for us, but I can cancel it. I'd prefer to go for dinner with your family instead of in a restaurant." Mum beamed at his answer.

"Perfect! I'll get Alexis' baby photos out ready!"

"No you won't!" I countered. I did not want her to get out all the photos of me as a chubby baby. I was so fat, in fact, that I looked like the Michelin man logo, except I was made of fat rolls, not tyres. Not a good look. Not to mention the horrible 90s orange romper suits I often sported courtesy of Dad's rather questionable fashion taste.

"I'd like to see them." Will replied, twiddling one of my curls between his thumb and forefinger.

'Traitor.' I thought to him. He shrugged in response, winking at me.

"Then it's sorted! Come over for six, tea will be on the table for seven, and I'll have the albums out ready." I groaned, knowing that the battle was already lost.

"We'll be there, Mum." I confirmed. "I've got a netball match at 1, but we'll be back by then."

"See that you are." She picked up one of the boxes of pills and threw them to me. I caught it before it hit my chest. "Same time every day, Alexis. They're not effective until you've had a month's worth, so you'll need to use some other contraception until then. I want planned grandbabies, not accidents."

"Mum!" I hissed at her. I could have done without Will hearing that remark. She shrugged at me in response, totally unperturbed.

"They'll be beautiful babies." She continued, eyeing Will from top to toe as if assessing his fatherly suitability, and potential for producing cute infants. "Yes, they'll be beautiful. Anyway, I'll be off. I'll see you both tomorrow." She hugged us both before heading out the door. I let out a sigh of relief when she left.

"So I'm meeting your family." Will wrapped his arms around my shoulders, and pressed a chaste kiss to the side of my head. I leaned into him.

"Indeed you are." I replied, suppressing a yawn. "I am sorry about Mum. She can be a little…." I tried to search for the appropriate term, "overbearing at times."

"I like her."

"Good." I smiled at him, glad she hadn't completed ruined our chances. "You ready for bed?"

"Definitely- I'm beat." Turning, we headed for the bathroom to change, before crawling under the covers. It hadn't felt right sleeping in a bed by myself for the past week, so feeling his warm body against mine was bliss, and I was asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.

XXX

Dealing with my mother, it turned out, was actually the most effective form of birth control. Having her present just before you were about to get to the good bit definitely killed the mood, and abstinence was definitely the best way of avoiding an unplanned pregnancy.

We slept in until late the next morning, taking Monty for a quick walk before going to collect Rach for the match at half eleven. Hannah insisted we got to the courts at least 30 minutes before the match began, and, as we weren't playing at home, it meant we had to set off earlier than I would have if we were playing at home.

Will had come along for the match too, and he had Monty on his lap in the front seat for the entirety of the journey. A journey, which turned into a very awkward journey courtesy of Rach, who managed to make far too many not so discrete sexual innuendos at every available opportunity. She even started asking Will about plumbing in America, and how big his hot water pipe was. She promised she'd never use that bloody pipe analogy again, and my glares at her in my rear-view mirror let her know that I wasn't impressed with her line of questioning. She hadn't realised that Will would be in Derby this weekend, so I could only hope her surprise at his appearance was what led to her rather inappropriate questions. Thankfully, Will didn't acknowledge her underlying questions, or ask why my face had turned a rather charming shade of fire engine red, which was just as well.

We arrived at the courts exactly half an hour before the match was to start, meaning, thankfully, that Hannah didn't have a panic attack. Henley, who we were playing, had a very strict policy on animals, so Monty wasn't allowed onto the courts, even though he was very cute. Instead, he and Will had to sit on the grass outside, something that Will insisted he didn't mind.

"We'll be fine, Lex." He had Monty cuddled to his chest, as he talked to me outside the gate. Rach was waiting for me just inside, but I wanted to talk to him before I went in to check that he was okay with looking after Monty.

"I'll take him for a walk if he gets agitated."

"That sounds like a very good idea." I scratched Monty's ears gently as I spoke.

"And I've got his tennis ball, so we can play fetch." He produced the mangled yellow ball from his pocket as proof.

"Seems like you've got all your bases covered."

"I like to be thorough." The look in his eyes made my stomach turn to goop. I'd much prefer him to be thorough in other aspects, aside from caring for Monty.

"I'll take you up on that."

"See that you do." He countered with a wink, before kissing me softly on the mouth. "Good luck, sweetheart." He said, as he wandered over to the grass verge opposite the courts, in order to get a good view. Rach had been hovering at the entrance of the courts, and had overheard most of our exchange. She intercepted me as I walked through the gate, linking her arm through mine, and dragging me forward.

"So, is there anything you'd like to tell, me or thank me for buying, Alexis?" She asked, as we walked towards our team who were huddled at the far end of the court.

"I'd like to ask you about your interest in Denver's plumbing systems." I raised an eyebrow at her, and she cackled, not in the least apologetic.

"Honestly, Rach, I really hope he didn't realise what you were really asking."

"Hey, I was subtle- he had no clue!" I rolled my eyes at that. Anyone with half a brain cell had known exactly what she was on about.

"So… how are American pipes?" She giggled, and I glowered at her in response.

"We haven't."

"What? He said he came round yesterday! Alexis, I bought you condoms and lingerie- what more do you need?"

"We were going to, but my mum was there. I wasn't expecting her" I whispered, aware that we were now nearly level with our team. As much as I loved all the girls, I didn't want to broadcast my sex life, or lack of one, to them.

"You got cock-blocked by Liz?" Rach squealed, keeling over with laughter, and drawing everyone's attention to us.

"Yes." I admitted, dropping my kit bag on the sidelines and joining the others.

"What's so funny you two?" Hannah asked with a smile, watching Rach's antics. She was literally holding her stomach, and struggling to breathe.

"Nothing." I muttered. "She's just being herself. Is everyone here?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Glancing round I saw that, indeed, everyone was present. Gemma and Grace, our two shooters, were putting some shots up at the other end of the court, whilst our defenders, Kate and Emma, were stood stretching with Hannah.

"All present and correct." Emma, our GK chipped in with a smile. "We wouldn't dare be late- Hannah would have our heads." She elbowed her teasingly, and Hannah blushed. She had such a reputation for being perpetually early, and expecting everyone else to do the same.

"Are you sure she's okay, Lex?" Emma asked, looking at Rach. "She doesn't look like she's breathing." At that, Rach stood up straight, and came over to us, tears streaming down her face. She leant on me for support, drawing in ragged breaths through her nose.

"I'm fine, guys." She managed to get out. "It's just… Lex got cock-blocked by her Mum!" And she was off again, cackling away like a hyena. Everyone's gaze swung back to me, and I groaned, raising my palm to my forehead and rubbing it. I did not need, or want everyone to know about this.

"Well that sucks." Kate replied. "At least it's not like you were just about to for the first time with him, or anything, though." I didn't answer her question. She took my silence as my answer.

"You haven't, seriously? And he's your boyfriend?" Her emphasis on the word 'he' was obviously well placed, as Kate's jaw, along with the rest of the team's dropped as they turned to admire Will in all his perfection.

"Alexis, how have you not?" Hannah turned to me, gawping. "Are you not human?"

"Not what?" Grace and Gemma asked, as they came over to us from the post they'd been shooting at, each with a ball under their arm.

"She's not slept with Will yet." Kate filled them in.

"But why? He's so into you, and he is gorgeous!" Grace thought out loud. Thankfully Will was faced away from us, throwing a ball to Monty across the field, so he hadn't noticed all of us staring at him.

"Yeah, the last time he was here, it was as if you two had walked straight out the pages of a Nicholas Sparks novel. You are so cute together." Hannah sighed, smiling at me.

"And his bum is so pert!" Gemma ahhed, watching as Will bent over to retrieve the tennis ball Monty had dropped at his feet.

"Guys, once you've all finished sexually objectifying my boyfriend, maybe we could get back to the match?" The other team were already shrugging into their bibs, and we hadn't even properly warmed up yet.

They all turned sheepishly at that, muttering apologies which I waved off with a smile. His pert posterior was definitely worthy of their attention.

"Just make sure your Mum's not around tonight, Lex." Rach grinned, nudging me once everyone had calmed down.

"She won't be; we're going to my parents' for dinner, and then we're alone for the rest of the weekend."

"Right, now just put on some lingerie, and that's all you'll have to do." She added, and the others nodded in agreement.

"The skimpier, the better." Gemma added with a knowing grin.

"And keep us updated on the whatsapp chat!" Hannah squealed excitedly. We had a 'team chat' on the messaging app, so we could all keep in touch with one another, although its subject was usually netball, not how well my seduction of Will was going.

"If I say yes, can we get back to netball?" I asked, watching as everyone nodded in sync.

"Fine. I'll let you know what happens. Now, let's smash it."

"Yes, Lex!" Rach cheered. "Let's smash Henley, and then you can smash Will!"

"Not what I meant, Rach." I groaned, but she'd already started running down the court to warm up, laughing as she did. The rest of the girls were snickering too, and I shook my head. At least they hadn't asked for pictures.

XXX

Unfortunately, we lost to Henley. It was really close, but we missed a few chances, and it cost us. We all headed home straight after, but not before they all reminded me to keep them updated on my progress with Will. I thought Rach was bad, but having five other girls interested in your sex life as well as Rach, was definitely worse.

Monty had behaved himself for most of the match, and Will had managed to watch the majority of the game, before he had to take him on a quick walk around the premises to calm him down and expend some of his energy. We dropped Rach off on our way, and headed to my flat so I could shower and change out of my sweaty netball kit.

By the time I'd showered it was two, so we took Monty on a quick walk and did some work until we needed to get ready to leave for my parents' house. I had lessons that I needed to finish planning, and Will had to answer his emails and make a few calls, so it was a fairly productive afternoon.

"You wanna start getting ready?" I asked Will as I glanced at the clock. It was five past five, so we had about 35 minutes until we needed to set off to ensure we were on time.

"Sure." He agreed, shutting down the lid of his laptop. "You mind if I take a shower?"

"Knock yourself out." I smiled. "The towels are in the airing cupboard."

"You sure you don't want to join me?" He grinned cheekily at me.

"I showered less than four hours ago, Will- I'm fine." He pouted at that, but I refused to budge.

"Go: I've got to finish off this before I can get ready." I said, pointing to the half-completed worksheet I was designing for my class's spelling test on Thursday.

"Fine, but you're missing out, sweetheart." He wiggled his hips as he made his way towards the bathroom, slowly pulling off his top as he did so and shucking off his jeans, leaving a trail of clothes in his wake.

I giggled at his attempt at a strip tease; he definitely had the body of a stripper, but he didn't quite have their moves. I heard the shower running minutes later, and, after finishing off my worksheet, I headed into my room to change, collecting his clothes as I went.

Closing the door behind me I took a deep breath, and headed straight for my wardrobe, fishing out the bag of lingerie that both Will and Rach had bought me. It was time to put the girls' advice into action.

So, there we go; I hope you liked it!

Do leave a review to let me know what you thought! Thank you for all your support, guys; I wouldn't write if it weren't for you reading & reviewing x