“I love you,Nikki.”
Was I ready to start a family? I wasn’t sure. But I knew that I loved Nikki and we were going to have a happily everafter.
As much as I wanted a happily ever after, I was stricken with guilt. It had been eighteen months since I had spoken to my mom and brother. I was happy in my current life and away from the drama that came along with my family. But this was something that I was happy about and believed deep down that they’d be happy for metoo.
Around Christmas, I began looking for an engagement ring for Nikki. I wanted to marry her and start our family right. Each time I walked around the jewelry cases in the department stores, I would get excited about having kids. I would be the bestdad.
I even began going to the library at school and checked out parenting books. I knew I would need all the tips that I could find because I had no recollection of anything from my youth that was good or that I’d want to instill upon mykid.
After weeks of shopping and saving, I bought a ring. I kept the ring out on my desk in my apartment as I wrote my screenplay. It was motivation for me. If I could sell the screenplay, it would help provide for the littlekid.
I parked my pick-up in front of Nikki’s parent’s house because there’d be no way in hell I’d park my oil leaking truck on their stone driveway. I got out of my truck and made sure my shirt was tucked in properly. I was about to tell them that I was going to propose to their daughter; this was doing it right. As I rang their doorbell, I couldn’t help but think about my mom. I should have told herfirst.
“Hi, Ryan, come on in,” Nikki’s mom greeted me as her dad walked to thedoor.
I followed them into their posh living room and sat on the edge of their perfectly fluffed sofa. I began my speech by telling them how much I loved Nikki and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life by her side. Her father sat quietly while I spoke, and her mom held her hands on her lap and wore a face-splitting grin. I opened up the box to the ring that I picked out and set it on their coffeetable.
“I’m going to ask Nikki to marry me,” I proudly said and looked down at thering.
“Oh, Ryan, Nikki will love the ring,” her mom said as she carefully picked up the box. “Is it white gold?” she asked while she tilted her head from side to side as she tried to figure out thematerial.
Her dad took the box from his wife and put his glasses on to examine the ring. I suddenly felt like it wasn’t up to their standards. Like my factory seconds Polo shirt hadn’t been. Like me. I wasn’t up to their standards for theirdaughter.
“Is it platinum, Ryan?” she asked me as Nikki’s dad sputtered out alaugh.
“Dear, he’s a film student. Platinum,ha!”
He pulled the ring out along with the rose-colored pillow that it had been nestled on and he looked at the bottom of the box. He showed his wife, and then me, the fabric tag that said “sterling silver.” He put the ring and pillow back in the box and handed it back tome.
“What are your plans for the future, Ryan? You can’t seriously think that you’re going to support my daughter and children while living in some pipe dream world of writingmovies.”
I swallowed hard and looked down. I was tired of hisshit.
“I’m so close to earning my degree. I’ve done it all on my own. Even though you don’t approve of the path I’ve chosen, you should at least recognize that I’m a hardworker.”
I hadn’t been prepared for her father’s nextwords.
“Ryan, you need to get your head out of the clouds and dedicate your work ethic to taking care of my daughter. I know you grew up without a father, but you will not leave my daughter or abandon your kids. You need to stop daydreaming, Hollywood boy, and change your major. Go into business or finance. Something that will give you opportunities. Something that will give my daughter and the children achance.”
Stunned, I sat there trying to wrap my head around what he was tellingme.
“You have your foot in the door in the hotel industry,” Nikki’s mom pipedin.
“Hotels have excellent benefits. You know that because you’re finishing school with their help,” her dadadded.
“I bet they like you working for them,Ryan.”
I nodded at her mother’s assessment. I was well-liked at worked. I always showed up plenty of time before my shift, and I worked hard all through the day. They did likeme.
“UNLV has the best hotel administration program around. You could switch to that degree track and have your degree in no time. Then you can move up at your hotel.” Her dad smiled as he delivered his final sales pitch to encourage me to change my degree of study. “Then you won’t have to worry about relying on that creative side of your brain to have to make money to live. It’s cute in high school, or maybe in the slums of North Hollywood to dream big like that. But now you’re an adult, Ryan. You’re about to marry our daughter and begin a family. I trust that you’ll make the right decision at the end of thissemester.”
My head was going to explode. How could their daughter be so kind and sweet and nothing like them? I forced myself to nod, and I reached forward to collect my ring and the box. I stood and readjusted the ring to make sure that it was sitting back perfectly on thepillow.
“Then when you start making some decent money you can upgrade that silver ring to a gold one,” her father said and slapped me on the back, as if we were friends. I shook his hand, nodded to Nikki’s mom and left. I forced my feet to walk and not allow myself to run at full speed away from thehouse.
These people were fucking insane. It’s no wonder Nikki said that her parents usually scared off her boyfriends. No fucking shit. I could seewhy.
When I got home, I immediately got online and sent Kim and April a message. Neither of them were online, but they’d see itlater.
