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Chapter Thirty-Four
Tessa
This is it. I have no idea how they’re going to react because it’s not just us moving in together after dating for a few months. It’s the whole damn package. Falling in love, moving in together, getting knocked up. There’s not a chance that my mother isn’t going to be a little taken aback by it all. I really did hide that I was even dating someone since anytime I mention it, my mom gets all weird and starts asking a million questions. Then when it goes south, I have to explain why. It’s easier to act like it’s not happening.
But there’s no pretending now.
I walk over and greet my parents, introducing them to Dylan and there’s no way they don’t know why they’re here. If you’re even slightly observant, you can tell we’re moving in together. I think it’s the other part of the conversation that will knock them on their ass.
“Mom and Dad, this is Dylan, and Dylan, these are my parents, Pam and Mick Kramer. You might remember Dylan’s sister Hannah. We played volleyball together in high school.”
“Some place you’ve got here, Dylan,” my dad comments, looking around. And all I can hope is my dad doesn’t ask how Dylan managed to afford a place like this while working maintenance at a winery.
“Thanks, it’s pretty great,” Dylan replies, keeping things casual, he walks over and introduces our parents to each other, and our moms begin swapping stories of long volleyball tournaments and sweaty gyms. They’re laughing and chatting as if they’ve been friends forever. While they’ve met before, I don’t remember them being so friendly back then.
Dylan slings an arm around my shoulder, kissing my temple, he whispers, “See, babe, nothing to worry about.” I take in a slow breath, trying to tell myself to calm down. I’m an adult. I live on my own, support myself and if I want to move in with my boyfriend and get pregnant, why should it matter to my parents. But here I am still crapping my pants, nervous as hell.
We all sit down at the table with Hannah bringing over a plate of appetizers and asking anyone if they’d like wine. She pours glasses for all of us, my heart hammering in my chest, thumping so loud that I swear everyone in the room can hear it.
I can’t drink this fucking wine!
But if I don’t everyone will know, or maybe I’m overthinking this.
I look over at Hannah and then at Dylan, both have picked up their glasses and are sipping away. When Dylan finally makes eye contact with me, he stupidly lifts his glass as if to tell me to drink up. Under the table I give his knee a squeeze, trying to get him to realize that I can’t drink the wine, but all he does is lean over and kiss me, whispering, “I love you,” in my ear.
“Great wine,” my mom comments. “This from Somerville’s?” she now asks, looking for the bottle. “You should try it, Tessa. It’s great.” She motions at my glass, obvious that I haven’t taken a drink.
“It is good,” Hannah says, saving me. “Would be nice if my brother was able to score me a job in the kitchen there. This wine would pair nicely with my mushroom risotto.”
“Hannah’s a chef,” Dylan’s mom explains. “Right now, she’s working at The Yellow Door.”
“Oh, I read a review of it recently. It sounds fabulous. We’ll have to head into San Fran to check it out soon,” my mom replies, and Hannah shakes her head vehemently.
“Nope. You don’t want to do that,” Hannah chides.
“Hannah,” Dylan’s mom chastises. “It’s not that bad.”
“Mom, you don’t work there. The guy is a complete jerk. No one should be supporting his business even if the food is amazing. The food is amazing because his chefs are working their asses off.”
“That’s awful to hear,” my mom replies, sympathetically. “Tessa, is there something you can do? Maybe you can talk to the owner of Somerville’s. You have gotten close with her.”
Of course I want to help Hannah out, but before I can answer, Dylan cuts in. “We aren’t here to talk about Hannah.” He glares at her and as much as I’d like to avoid the reason we’re here, he is right.
“Yes, yes,” Dylan’s mom agrees. “Let’s hear all about how you and Tessa met.”
“We met at the gym maybe six months ago,” I say smiling, kind of proud of myself that I don’t have to hear my mom gasp at the idea that I was using dating apps previously. I’m so glad those didn’t work out, although it worked for Tommy and Penny.
“Yeah, we’ve been dating off and on ever since,” Dylan adds and I feel myself scoff out loud, attempting to cover it up by coughing.
Is that what he’s calling our nightly hook ups now? I guess it’s better than telling our parents that we were fucking for fun.
“So we decided the next step would be to move in together,” Dylan adds, and my heart rate skyrockets again. It’s all leading to us telling them we’re going to have a baby.
“Tessa, you really got lucky here,” my dad says. “Much better than your apartment.”
“You said you met at the gym, but now you both work at Somerville’s?” Dylan’s mom says, sounding a little confused.
“Yeah, just a strange coincidence,” I tell her shrugging as I reach for my glass of wine but quickly set it back down.
