At my comment, her mom blushed as she took my hand and shook it. “Verynice to meet you, too, Axel.” Her emphasis on the first word was not lost on me, as she was clearly very excited at the prospect of us being together.
That made me feel good. I had never really done the whole “meet the family of someone you are dating for the first time” before. Of the few women I dated back in Sweden who I would have considered serious, I already knew their families beforehand. Once I moved to the U.S., I had only ever dated casually, and it never got serious enough to meet someone’s family.
Stella’s mom pulled her in for a hug and then stepped back to invite us inside. “Please come in. Your father is in the living room watching his hockey game.”
Good to know her father and I would at least have one thing in common to talk about—hockey.
“Arthur, Stella and herfriendare here,” her mother announced as we walked into the living room.
“Mom.” Stella rolled her eyes at her mom but smiled.
“What?” Her mother feigned ignorance at being chided by her daughter. “I don’t hold hands with my male friends. It was just an observation that I wanted to share with your father.”
Her dad, who had been sitting in a large leather chair staring at the TV, was now looking me up and down in full assessment mode.
Knowing I was meeting her parents today, I had definitely taken the time to look a little nicer than I normally would have for a casual Sunday off work. I had on black jeans and a blue dress shirt.
I felt underdressed, seeing her dad wearing gray dress pants, a light-purple dress shirt, and a purple polka-dot bow tie.
However, the best-looking person in the room was Stella. Meeting with the crews at Scandinavian Sweets hadn’t taken as long as we thought, so that gave us a little extra time to run back to my place to change.
Stella had changed into an emerald-colored sweater dress that brought out the green in her hazel eyes. It had a modest neckline and went to her knees, but there was no hiding the body underneath that dress, and she looked like a fantasy come to life.
This was made even harder now that she was bent over hugging her dad, her gorgeous ass on full display.
Do not get hard in front of her parents. Do not get hard in front of her parents.
“You still have that bow tie, I see,” Stella said as she hugged him.
“It carries special meaning,” her dad replied. “I’m never getting rid of it.”
“When we adopted Stella,” her mom said, leaning over to speak to me, “her CASA—child appointed special advocate—told us she loved Disney princess movies, and her favorite dress was purple polka dots that she wore all the time. So for adoption day, Arthur insisted on buying that purple polka-dot bow tie, and he’d worn it every Family Day since.”
My mouthed formed into a grin at how much these two cared for their daughter. There may not be blood between them, but their love and affection were abundantly clear.
Her father got up from his chair slowly and with Stella’s assistance, and I realized how frail her father’s condition was as he made his way over to me.
“Arthur, this is Axel, Stella’sfriend.” Her mom drew that last word out with a smile on her face.
“The one who holds her hand. Got it,” Arthur said, throwing a calculated grin over to Stella, who rolled her eyes in response.
“Axel, sir. Nice to meet you.” I stretched out my hand when he reached me. I made sure to addsir,because Ruthie had mentioned it was something you said to a man you were trying to make a good impression on.
He took my hand, albeit weakly, and shook it. “Do you hold hands with all your female friends?”
“Dad!” Stella gave a strangled groan.
We hadn’t defined whatever this was yet between us, but I knew exactly where I wanted it to go. So I took a chance, put it out there, and waited for her reaction.
“No, sir. Only the beautiful ones I’m lucky enough to be dating…like your daughter, sir.”
Stella gave a small smile as her cheeks turned pink, while her father’s face filled with an approving grin.
“Oh, aren’t you just so sweet,” her mother crooned. “Axel, what can I get you to drink? I have tea, soft drinks, wine, water, or I can make some coffee, if you’d prefer?
“Water is fine, thank you.”
Stella’s mom got us all drinks as we sat down in the living room together. I sat with Stella on the couch, her father in his original chair and her mom next to him, sitting on the armrest.
