“I expect to be thoroughly rewarded.” I joke.
Chapter 31
Elle
Well shit.
I finally get a call from my landlord saying there aren’t any open units because of the displacement of so many families. I really don’t know what to do, I can’t keep taking advantage of Archer’s hospitality, but I don’t really know where else to go. I take a deep breath and shake my head. That sounds like something future Ellie will have to deal with. Right now, Archer and I are loading up my car to make the five-hour road trip to my parents for my brother’s baby’s gender reveal.
Since my brother and parents live on the opposite end of the state we are driving up today for the party tomorrow.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m both excited and nervous to meet your parents.” Archer admits on the drive up. “Really?” I look at him.
“Yeah.” He continues to focus on driving and spares a quick glance my way. “I want to make a good impression.”
“Uhm, in case you forgot, you’re Archer freaking Bell. You’re like one of the most popular players in the NFL.” I remindhim, earning a chuckle.
“Okay, but I’m pretty sure most men and women want to make a good impression on their significant other’s parents and family.”
“And I’m pretty sure you’re already the favorite kid.”
“Okay, tell me more about your family. I want to know everything; I feel like they have a leg up on me. Since a lot of my information is public.”
“Okay, well I’ll start with my parents. My mom”
“Joyce.” Archer interjects.
“Yes, Joyce is a teacher just like me. However, unlike me, she’s a psychopath and teaches middle school algebra. She likes to crochet, cook extravagant meals and makes a mean margarita. She met my dad—”
“Jim.”
I try and fail to squash my smile at his eager interruptions. “She met my dad, Jim in college where they fell in love and married as soon as they graduated. They are part of a beer bowling league that they attend once a month. They have a really annoying shih-tzu named Madame Barks-A-Lot, or Lottie for short. Mom likes to dress Lottie up.”
“Okay I have a solid picture of Joyce, tell me about Jim.”
“My dad is probably the nicest guy you will ever meet. He owns his own construction company. He’s a huge fan of the Wolves. He runs marathons in his spare time. He also likes to paint landscapes.” I think a bit more, “He also makes his own beer.”
“Okay, that’s cool as hell. Now, you siblings, you have three, right?”
“Yes, I have two sisters and a brother. Estelle or Stella, as we call her is the oldest. She’s an event planner and she’s married to Tyler, who works for my dad now. They have three kids. The twins, Ruby and Margot are three and really into princesses. They also have Oliver; he’s about eight months old now; I think. He’s the cutest baby, super chunky.”
“Then there is me and I feel like I don’t need to go into much detail there. After me is Easton. Whose baby we’re coming up to celebrate. Easton is a zookeeper; he works with the giraffes. He’s married to Nikki. They’ve been together since high school; it’s kind of disgusting how cute they are together. Nikki is a labor and delivery nurse. They have two cats. Dwight and Angela.”
“Officereferences, nice.” Archer merges onto the highway that signals we’re getting close to my parents’ house.
“Then you have Erica, who is the baby of the family. She’s sixteen, madly in love with you, and will probably want you to take a million pictures with her. She plays varsity volleyball, and I wouldn’t put it past her to have all her friends over tonight to prove to them that she ‘knows’ you. She’s the one who begged our parents for Lottie, and loves that ugly thing with all her heart and soul.”
I pause trying to think of other facts I can tell Archer about my family but I’m drawing a blank. “Easton will probably have a ton of his friends over for the party as well, he and Nikki are still close with their high school friends. They both attended college locally and obviously stayed local so there will be some people I went to high school with at this party. You metme on our first day of freshman year at State so I feel like you knew me about the same time they did, but I’m sure they will try to embarrass me, because they are turds.”
“I can’t wait to see your childhood room.” Archer grins. “Your parents haven’t changed it right?”
“It was the same as it always was this past summer.” I wince, knowing that I have shirtless teen magazine models on my walls. Yikes, Elle. Not a good look. I should really take those down, but I just never bothered.
Woo boy, Archer is in for a treat when he sees my room. I’m really regretting not changing my room over the summers I was home from college. Well maybe my mom finally decided on how she’s going to redo that room and saved me from embarrassment.
We pull into my parents’ long driveway, where surprise, surprise, my family is outside waiting for us. Okay, they’re not actually waiting, waiting for us. Dad is grilling on the back porch with a beer with my mom and Erica. Erica and her friends are sitting around the sunken fire pit, roasting pizza pies, hot dogs and s’mores. Luckily the girls Erica has over are her best friends since kindergarten and are basically family. Relief floods through me that it’s really a rather normal Friday night at the Taylor household.
Parking my SUV Archer helps me out of the car as Lottie rushes our ankles, barking furiously. I give Lottie the obligatory pets, before taking Archer’s hand and leading him to the backyard oasis my parents have cultivated.
