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“Wait, you want to talk to them on your own?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Max pulled his hands from mine and leaned back on the couch. “If I had a better idea of how it would go, then I’d ask you to come with me. But if mom starts crying or dad starts yelling, I’d rather be the one they are mad at. I thought about it on the way over here. I’ll tell them I’ve been crazy about you for my entire life and that I want their approval to date you. Dad’s old-fashioned like that anyway, and I’m sure it would make him feel better regardless of who I am. If I can’t get their support, then we will discuss it. This way you won’t be subjected to the emotions that come along with explaining how I’m in love with my foster sister.”
His voice sounded defeated, as if he had already come to the realization that our parents would be against us and this would be the end.
“No.”
“What?”
“No. You aren’t going alone. I can handle them. If they don’t approve, then that’s their problem.” His eyebrows rose but before he could start to argue, I kept talking, “It’s time you recognize I am a woman who can make my own decisions too. Yes, of course I want mom and dad to be okay with this, but if they aren’t, that won’t change how I feel about you. I’m not going to let you tear us apart because you think it would be better for me to have them happy with me than it would be for me to be with you. You are the best thing for me, Max. I am tired of questioning myself and my feelings. You are it for me.”
He was shaking his head the entire time I spoke until finally I reached for his face and held it in my hands. “You have no idea what an amazing human you have become. I get it, I do. But you aren’t the fucked up eighteen-year-old that came to live with us. You are kind and generous. You bust your ass at work and have built an entire business in this small town of ours. Mom and dad are so proud of you, but you just can’t see that.”
He pulled his head from my hands and turned toward the window. I held my breath as I waited for him to say something, anything, that would help me understand what he was thinking.
“Okay, let’s go.” He pushed up from where he was sitting on the couch and looked back at me. “Do you need anything before we leave?”
“Wait, right now?”
“Yeah. I want us to get past all this.”
I stood and grabbed my purse while he made his way to the door. His excitement at being with me seemed to fade faster than I expected as the uncomfortable feeling of dread settled into both of us. I held his hand while we made our way back to my parents’ house, but neither of us talked. There is this comfortable silence that I had grown used to from him, but this wasn’t that. This was so uncomfortable that I spent the entire ride shifting in my seat.
When we walked in the house, my mother made a big show of happiness that Max came by and looked over his shoulder while she hugged him, giving me a questioning glance.
“I just love having my kiddos here,” she said as we settled into seats at the oversized kitchen table.
“Where’s dad?”
“He should be down soon. He went up to the attic after Eve left to pull out some decorations I needed to set the table for Christmas Eve.”
“I should go help.”
Max went to stand but as soon as he did my dad made his way into the kitchen, “No need son, the woman is crazy. There are no little pine trees in the big red bin like she says there are.”
“Yes, there are. I saw them when I went back up for the cookie cutters. I don’t know why I send you after anything. You couldn’t find your ears if they weren’t attached to your head.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the small digs my parents always threw at each other. Growing up with them helped me understand how life, love, and relationships are meant to be fun. I always took myself too seriously, and they led by example, showing me often that it wasn’t worth the energy.
“Not that I’m not happy to see you both, but what are you doing here?”
“George!”
“What? It’s an honest question. Max avoids this place like the plague this time of year, not that I can blame him. These women are nuts,” he said, turning in our direction, “And Noelle, you just ran out of here an hour ago like your hair was on fire.”
The dad gaze that he set on us both made me uncomfortable. I felt Max’s hand on the top of my knee as I shifted again in my seat.
“There is something we would like to talk to you both about, and I didn’t want to wait until after the holiday.”
“Is everything okay, honey?” Mom asked as she reached for Max’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze.
“Yeah, everything is fine. Well, better than fine, but since it involves the family, we wanted to talk to you before things… progressed.”
I watched the look on my father’s face as he caught on where this was going. He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest as my mother started in with twenty different questions, not giving anyone time to answer.
