AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mom! Don’t you knock?” I shriek, diving under the covers to hide my naked body.
“I—I’m sorry!” she cries, closing her eyes. “U—um, hello, Lennon,” she stammers, her face glowing red.
“Oh, um… good morning to you too. I—uh… how are you today?” Lennon stutters, clearly blindsided by the unexpected intrusion.
“Well, I was fine,” she says, almost throwing the plate and cupcake onto the bed, then spins around, hurriedly heading toward the door and running her hand through her hair like she always does whenever she’s stressed. “I didn’t think I had to…” then suddenly, she stops, turns around again and glares at me. “Hold on a minute. Why am I the one apologizing? You know the rules, Darcy. If you wanted Lennon to stay the night, you should have asked us first. If I’d known he was here, there’s no way I’d have ever have just walked in on you.”
“That logic is screwed, Mom,” I retort, my cheeks red with embarrassment. “Lennon or not, you can’t just invade my privacy like this. You have no idea what I do in here when I’m alone,” I growl. I hear a snort from Lennon’s direction. I shoot him a death glare and he promptly stops laughing. I turn my attention back to my mom and plead, “Can you please go so I can get dressed? I do appreciate the cupcake and I’ll be down in a few minutes, okay? And, I’m sorry, Mom. I should have asked you,” I say, contritely. I knew I had to take some responsibility for the situation.
“Fine,” she mutters and quickly rushes out of the room, closing the door behind her.
“Don’t say a damn thing,” I growl at Lennon. His eyes twinkle as he stares innocently at me.
“What could I say to you that you’re not already thinking?” he grins. He wanders over and kisses me tenderly on the lips. I melt into him, my stress levels dropping instantly. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”
I break the kiss and still insist he leaves through the window and goes to the front door, just on the off chance that Mom hasn’t told Dad. I know it’s unlikely, but I’m hanging onto that hope more than anything else.
I nervously pad down the stairs, one at a time, refusing to think about the incident, because it’s just too embarrassing. The only thing that could’ve topped it was if she’d walked in while he was going down on me.
“Morning, Darcy,” Mom says breezily. Her eyes lock onto mine as I walk into the kitchen. I try to read her expression, but she’s not giving anything away.
Dad looks up from the table and smiles at me. “You’re up early,” he says, smiling. “Anyone would think it was your birthday or something.”
I roll my eyes at his attempt at humor and sit down opposite him, but inside I’m dancing. It’s no secret I’ve always loved my birthday, even more so now I have someone like Lennon in my life, and Dad takes every opportunity he can to remind me I’m still a big kid at heart. At least, in his eyes, I am. Before I can think of a comeback, there’s a swift knock on the door.
“Lennon? Already?” Dad grumbles, shaking his head. “He’s here that often, why doesn’t he just move in?” Mom snorts and I shoot her a glare.
“Dad,” I warn him. He shrugs and promises to behave.
“I’m surprised he’s even up this early,” Mom says with a knowing grin. Ignoring her, I’m about to stand when Dad puts his hand out to stop me.
“My daughter doesn’t answer the door on her birthday. At least, not on my watch,” he mumbles, and I wait until he walks out of sight before I interrogate Mom.
“You didn’t tell him?” I ask, eyeing her skeptically.
She simply shrugs her shoulders and says, “It’s your birthday. I’ll let you off, just this once.”
“Mom,” I say with a sigh, wishing she didn’t always treat me like I was ten, “I’m nineteen years old. I’m grown now.”
“Then start acting like it,” she replies. “You think I care that he stayed over? It’s the fact you hid it from us, Darcy. Just tell me next time, okay?”
