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“Yes, I do.”
“How?”
I shrug, preparing to drop a bomb on her that I know she’s not ready for. “Because I already talked to Dad when I bought your engagement ring.”
Her eyes widen. “WHAT?” she screams and the entire restaurant turns to look at her. She looks around and I wave at the people staring as if to say sorry, as you were. “What?!” She repeats, this time at a more reasonable volume. “First of all, Dad knows?” She looks around. “When? How long? And ring? Seriously J, you’re springing this on me in public?”
I can see several different emotions crossing her face from shock to worry to excitement. “Okay, you’re right. Not my best idea.”
“How long has Dad known? And you’re telling me Mom doesn’t?”
“No, Dad does not want to be the bearer of that news. And I told him last weekend while he was here.” Our father had come to the city for a meeting and while the three of us had dinner the night before he left, I had lunch with him the following day while Gabrielle was in class.
“Oh my God, what did he say? How did he take it?”
“What’s on your mind, son?” My dad asks as he takes a sip of his beer. “I can still read you like a book.”
“Yeah. Better than I know myself, right?”
“One of the perks of bringing you into this world.” He laughs before cutting into his salmon. “What’s up though?”
I rub my hands together and lean back in my chair. “I want to talk to you about something.”
“Is that why you invited me to your apartment for lunch instead of making us a reservation somewhere? I’ve never known you to cook.”
“Please, this is still takeout. I didn’t cook this.” I snort. “But I did want to talk in private which is why we aren’t at a restaurant.” I wasn’t sure how my Dad would react, and I figured it was better if I handled it behind closed doors in case things got tense.
He takes a bite before he leans back in his chair. “Well, spit it out.”
“Not something I can spit out but I will try.” I suddenly feel like I’m sixteen years old again and I’m preparing to tell my Dad I scratched his Jaguar. Or the time my high school girlfriend had a pregnancy scare and I was preparing to tell my parents. Thank God she got her period the day I’d planned to tell them. But both of those situations pale in comparison to this.
“So Dad, ummm,” I know I talked a big game to Gabrielle, that our parents would understand and that they love us, but the truth is I’m just as worried to tell them. Specifically, my Dad who adores Gabrielle and is very protective over her. Not the same way I’m protective over her but in the appropriate fatherly way. “I’m seeing someone.” I start with the easiest part. “It’s serious.”
“Well, that’s great news. Why did you seem so nervous to tell me that? I’m thrilled. And your mother as well. Are you planning to bring her home with you next weekend?”
“Well…” I wince. “Yes.”
“Splendid. Son, I am very happy for you. I was beginning to think you’d never settle down. My God if you were this nervous telling me, I can’t imagine how you told Gabrielle. I do hope she knows. If she does not, I do not want to be in the same state when she finds out.”
“Wait, what?” I laugh nervously. “What do you mean by that?”
“Oh come on, James. Gab thinks you’ve hung the moon and the stars and everything else. She’s very protective over you She was in a mood for weeks when she found out you were seeing someone in New York. I’m also kind of surprised she didn’t spill the beans to Monica and your mother if she knew.”
“Wait back up a second, she was upset over me seeing someone?” I ask, wondering how I didn’t know that.
“Maybe not upset necessarily but she was certainly bothered, when you were dating that girl maybe two years ago? The news reporter?”
I nod, remembering the busty brunette from Los Angeles that I met at a bar one night when I was hammered out of my mind. “Oh right, but that wasn’t serious?”
“Well, Gabrielle surely did not take it well.” I wonder what he’s thinking about that. Surely he has some opinion over his daughter having such a visceral reaction to her brother dating someone.
I take a long sip of my beer, hoping that the liquid courage will kick in like now. “What do you think about that?”
“Think about what?”
“Gabrielle’s…disdain for me seeing someone?”
“I think she’s always kind of struggled with her feelings for you. At first, we worried that maybe your connection wasn’t the healthiest. It was odd, watching her develop these potentially unhealthy feelings for you. She was very attached to you early on and it just seemed to get more aggressive especially after what happened in Mississippi. But we figured you were who she needed to feel better. To feel like herself again. All that being said, she’s older now and it probably won’t bother her as much anymore—”
