AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We brewed extra in case you wanted any,” she informs me, proving how well my parents know me. They really are the best.
“For your nerves,” Dad helpfully supplies with a grin. I turn and glare at him, but he just shrugs and adds a bit of sugar to his cup.
“Leave her alone, sweetheart,” Mom admonishes him. “You remember what it was like when we first met.”
This has his smile turning upside down until he realizes what that means for Austin and I. “Go to your room. You’re grounded.”
“For what?” I laugh.
“By the time you get there I’ll have figured it out,” he admits, making Mom snicker.
“Trumped up charges, Dad, really?”
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you and your mom from being hurt.” This has me pausing as I fill my favorite mug after putting a teabag in, his words sounding ominous. Mom must think so, too, as I see her send him a questioning glance. I wonder if these texts are getting to him more than he’s letting on?
I purposefully sit in the chair across from him, wanting to get a better view of him. He seems tired. “Dad, you feeling okay?” He pats the top of my hand, assuring me he is, just tired. “You’d tell us if you weren’t, right?”
“Of course, pumpkin.” As my dad has never outright lied to me, I accept his response for now, putting a pin in it to revisit it later if his appearance doesn’t improve soon. Changing the subject, he informs me, “I’m looking forward to meeting your…Austin.”
Mom and I giggle as he stumbles over the label, more than likely not wanting to refer to him as my man, or even my boyfriend. Not that he is either, unfortunately. All he is, which he seems content to be, is, “My friend, Dad. You can say that f-word, can’t you?” He balls up a napkin and tosses it at me. Pointedly shifting to my mom, he states, “She gets this from you.”
“Thank you,” she retorts, taking it as a compliment he wasn’t giving.
“Can we at least get a boy cat or dog, so I’m no longer outnumbered?”
“But you rock as a girl dad.”
“You think so?” He asks.
“Definitely,” Mom and I confirm.
“Well then,” he mumbles, wiggling his shoulders from side to side and smiling smugly. It’s true, too. He has. Everyone sees them as a Hollywood power couple, to me, they’re my parents, and I’m blessed because of the people theyare,not what they did and the advantages and/or perks I get from it. “Also, you aren’t distracting me,” he mentions a few minutes later. I snap my fingers and mumble a “shoot,” as if he caught me, making him grin.
“He may not be your boyfriend officially,” Mom interjects, “but he does appear to fill the role with how often you two are together.”
“I want him to,” I admit in a whisper.
Dad sets down his mug and plugs his ears, not so subtly letting us know he doesn’t want to hear this. Mom waves him off, shooing him out so we can have girl talk. Considering I’ve never brought a boy home, let alone showed any interest in one, it’s understandable that she’s so excited.
“This is the one that sent you the goodies when you were sick?” I nod. “He’s a keeper.” Dad groans at this, to which Mom reminds him he can go in the other room or put on his noise cancelling headphones. He winks at me, then excuses himself, saying a father doesn’t need to be present for this. As he leaves the kitchen, Mom snickers, stating, “He lasted longer than I thought he would.”
“I heard that,” he hollers, letting us know he was standing outside the room eavesdropping.
“That’s what you get,” Mom retorts, causing him to laugh, the sound fading as he gets further away.
For the next hour, Mom and I chat, me telling her stories about Austin while she shares some – PG, of course – about when she and Dad first met. As they are ones I hadn’t heard before, I’m all ears, soaking in the details.
When she asks what’s wrong, I confess my greatest fear. “I think I love him, Mom, but what if he only sees me as a friend?”
“Sweetheart,” she starts, gaze full of knowledge I haven’t even begun to tap yet in regards to this, “a boy doesn’t do something like that for a friend.”
———
I think about what she said while I get ready for dinner. I don’t want to go all out, making it more of a formal affair than it is, but I do want to look presentable. For once, I care about fashion. Unfortunately, I’m clueless when it comes to clothes – what colors do and don’t go together, what’s appropriate for this occasion, and so on. Thankfully, my mom is happy to help and we come up with a skirt with black and pink flowers and a sleeveless white shirt that molds perfectly to my generous curves without being too much. My hair I leave down, as Austin has mentioned before that I should wear it that way more often, and I left the natural curl in it.
Glancing at myself, I smooth the material and worry I’m making a fool of myself, but seeing my favorite white canvas shoes on my feet makes me feel a little better. I’m still me.
My phone dings, a text from Austin waiting for me.
