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“That is entirely up to you.”
She looked at me.
“I told you I like him.”
At least she didn’t call him “this one” like she tends to do.
“What’d he bring?” my mom asked.
“Caramel apples and peanut butter Smidgens from Gertrude Hawk.”
My dad joined in the conversation.
“Oh, you’re sharing those.”
“Let’s eat dinner before we start a war over dessert,” I said.
“Life’s short, eat dessert first,” my mom said.
“Funny, that wasn’t your motto when I was a kid.”
“It definitely was, it just didn’t apply to you,” she said. “But you’re an adult now, so I
guess it can.”
“Nice. Another perk of adulthood.”
Mom and Granny Vi went into the kitchen to put the finishing touches on dinner. I’d
helped earlier, but they both told me they have it under control now.
I took Simon’s hand and we walked into the dining room followed by my dad and Kevin.
“Who was your favorite Party on the Patio band?” my dad asked Simon.
Most fathers ask about a guy’s intentions or future plans, but being a musician, he
says he finds out all he needs to know by getting their music preferences. Anytime we went out somewhere that had a jukebox, his favorite thing to do was put a bunch of money in and have my boyfriend pick songs. Although to be fair, he also had Anna do it. He told Kevin to propose to her when she picked “Rosalita” by Bruce Springsteen, “Stone in Love” by Journey, and “American Woman” by The Guess Who.
“That’s a tough one. They were all pretty good. The Jimmy Buffet one was fun, but I think that’s because it had the whole Buffett party atmosphere. AC/DC and Journey were good too, but I think I liked the Fleetwood Mac band best. Was it Tusk?”
My dad smiled. Stevie Nicks is one of his all-time favorite singers. She’s number one on hisfreebie list. So any fan of Stevie or Fleetwood Mac is a friend of his.
Mom and Granny Vi walked into the room carrying a platter and serving bowls. They set them down and sat.
“We’re pretty informal here,” Granny Vi said to Simon. “So feel free to just help yourself.”
Even though that’s the case, my past boyfriends usually sat back and waited for me to fill their plate. Simon dug right in and he complimented the food. Every time Brian ate with my family, instead of saying it was good, he’d talk about a healthier way to cook whatever we were eating. Sometimes he wouldn’t eat at all. It was very annoying.
Another nice thing is that Simon is holding his own conversations with everyone at the table without me having to mediate. I’ve heard him discussing computers, his job, and his dad. Right now, he’s telling my dad about his parents’ trip.
“El, we should do that,” he said.
“What size RV do you think we’d need to fit all the junk you’d want to bring?”
“My stuff is not junk.”
My parents started bickering as they tend to do. I looked at Simon and rolled my eyes. His answering smile made my stomach flip. Which is a nice change from the knots it used to feel when my past boyfriends were around my family or friends. I don’t know why I was so nervous about Simon meeting my family. He’s so easygoing, I should have known he’d fit right in.
