“My mom has been talking about meeting my girlfriend for days now. I promise, there is nothing to be nervous about.”
Rumi turns to me, her brows raised. “Girlfriend?”
Oops.
“Too soon?” I ask her, wanting to punch myself for letting the word slip out.
I can’t help but think of Rumi as my girlfriend, even though the word doesn’t feel important enough to use for how I feel about her.
“I just wasn’t aware I was your girlfriend,” she says, her head cocking to the side as she watches me closely.
Blood rushes up to my neck, and I already know I’m doing this all wrong. “I don’t know if on my mother’s front porch is the right place to have this conversation.”
Rumi’s eyes turn to slits, but I see the blush in her cheeks. “We’ll put a pin in it.”
“Deal,” I say quickly, reaching for the door handle and pushing it open.
At least my royal fuckup got Rumi thinking about something other than how nervous she is to meet my mom.
The warm and comforting atmosphere instantly envelopes us as we walk through the door. The smell of savory spices and sweet aromas fills the air of the house I grew up in, allowing the thoughts of my conversation with Rumi going to the back of my mind.
For now.
“Jacky?” I hear from the kitchen as we toe off our shoes in the entryway—my mom having the same rule as Ava when you enter her home. I set Evee’s diaper bag down, so I can place a hand on Rumi’s back to lead her through the house and into the kitchen.
“Hey, Ma. We’re here.” Her back is turned to us as she bends to pull something out of the stove. She’s wearing the apron she’s had since I was a kid over the casual dress she’s wearing, her dark hair streaked with gray twisted back in a clip.
Before she turns around, I grab the muffins from Rumi, knowing my mom is a hugger. And, just as expected, my mom turns, her eyes immediately going to Evee in my arms and then to Rumi as she claps her hands in front of her chest. “Rumi,” she exclaims. “It is so good to finally meet you two.” She rushes over, pulling her into a tight embrace.
Rumi looks surprised at first, but then she quickly recovers, wrapping her arms around my mom’s waist. “Thank you so much for having us,” she says as my mom finally lets her go. “This is my daughter, Evelyn,” Rumi says, introducing the littlegirl in my arms. “But we all call her Evee. She just woke up before Jack picked us up to come over here, so she’s still a little tired.”
“Well, look at you,” my mom says, her hands coming to her mouth. I can see the way her eyes glisten as she looks at Evee. “She is the cutest darn thing I have ever seen.” She gives Evee a little wave. “Hi, honey bun.”
Evee twists her head more into my neck, playing shy like her mom all of a sudden. And even though I can’t see her, I know she’s looking at my mom with those pretty blue eyes, making my mom fall more and more in love with her.
“Oh, I could look at her all day.” My mom turns back to the kitchen where dishes line the counter, and I keep to myself how truly I know the feeling. “I hope you two are hungry. Emmy should be here any minute too, so we’ll wait for her to eat.” My eyes roam everything my mom prepared—a tofu scramble, sautéed vegetables, a loaf of banana bread, fresh fruit, and a pot of coffee. There’s more that I can’t see, and it warms my heart to see how she went above and beyond for Rumi, wanting to make sure she had options to choose from even with her dietary restrictions.
“We brought these too,” I say, handing the muffins to my mom.
“My roommate made them,” Rumi interjects, and I twist my lips to the side to hide my smile at the way her nerves are showing.
“They look wonderful,” my mom says, taking the container from me and setting them down next to all the other food.
“Can I help you with anything, Ms. Hasting?” Rumi asks my mom, but she just waves her hand.
“Please, call me Angela. And no, but thank you. Please, sit. Let me get you something to drink. Jacky, your energy drinks arein the basement fridge.” My mom turns to Rumi. “I don’t know how he drinks those things in the morning.”
“Right,” Rumi agrees. “I could never drink one of those cold, bubbly drinks right when I wake up.”
The two go back and forth, sharing laughs at my expense, but I don’t care. I grab Evee’s high chair from where I put it at the dining table last night when I stopped by, pulling it to the counter where Rumi is sitting. Setting Evee down, I head downstairs to let my mom and Rumi chat.
While it’s been a few weeks since the drive-in movie date—the one that resulted in way less movie watching than I had initially anticipated, not that I’m complaining in any way, shape, or form—Rumi and I have really found our routine with one another.
June is slowly fading with July just around the corner, but we both find time to see each other within our work schedules—spending time at each other’s houses, hanging out with Ava and Anderson, Emerson, and Luke and Annie and their friends, but we are taking things slow.
Knowing we both weren’t necessarily looking for a relationship when we found one another, we’re both on the same page that we aren’t rushing this.
I think we both know that whatever this is between us could be the real thing, so we want to let it happen naturally as we continue finding out footing—something I royally fucked up by announcing to her that she’s my girlfriend when we have yet to talk about this transition from friends to something more.
