“Your mother wanted to put lights on the porch to greet you guys,” his dad said.
“You know how much I love Christmas lights. And you said he hasn’t had many nice Christmases but he loves lights,” Russell’s mom said to him.
Me?
“She wanted to make it nice for him. And you too,” his dad added. “But especially for him.”
Me?
“Thank you, Mom. He’s standing right there and can probably hear you guys.” Russell turned around and had his arm around his mom’s shoulders. That was my cue. “Ryan, I’m so happy for you to meet my mother, Lily, and my father, Stanley.”
I smiled and stepped forward at the same time his dad did. Stanley held his hand out for me to shake. I took hold of it and looked in his eyes while we shook hands. Russell had his father’s eyes.
“Pleasure to meet you, Ryan,” Stanley said.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” I said. Once our hands dropped, Russell’s mom stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me.
“Hello, Ryan! Oh, we’re so glad you guys are here. We’re so happy to meet you,” she gushed.
“Thank you for inviting me into your home,” I said. I looked at Russell when I felt his hand on my upper back.
“Perhaps we should go inside where it’s warm,” Russell suggested. “I’ll unplug the lights, and we can help you with them tomorrow.”
“We should have time,” his mother agreed and then turned toward the steps. “We need to get the house ready tomorrow for the dinner guests on Thursday. Would you boys like anything to drink? Coffee? Tea?” Lily offered.
“It’s a bit late for coffee, but some tea sounds delightful,” Russell replied and looked over his shoulder at me. “How does tea sound?”
“Yes, please,” I answered.
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I walked into the house, but I wasn’t expecting for it to feel as warm and inviting as it had. I also wasn’t expecting it to be so updated inside. The decorations were very farmhouse but modernized. The entryway looked like a Pottery Barn ad.
There was a picture frame sitting on top of the white console table in the entryway. At first glance, it looked like Russell, but it was possibly his dad. Though older, they looked a lot alike and were close to the same height.
“The pictures you had sent of the kitchen didn’t do it justice, Mom. Everything looks great in here.”
The kitchen looked like it had recently been redone. There was a rustic lantern chandelier over a white wooden table. White wooden chairs were pushed in. There was a breakfast bar with chairs that matched the chairs at the kitchen table. The counters were white marble with a pinkish or rose swirl throughout them. All of the appliances were stainless steel and appeared to be new.
“Thank you, sweetheart. Your father hung the chandelier—does it look crooked to you?”
“No, not at all,” Russell replied after he cocked his head to the side and looked at it from a few different angles.
“Are you sure? Sometimes I walk into the kitchen and I swear it’s crooked,” she said. “Ryan, does it look crooked from where you’re standing?” Lily asked me.
I glanced at the light, and it didn’t seem crooked at all to me. I shook my head and looked at her.
“It doesn’t look crooked to me,” I said.
“There. Now you have two new opinions on the light. It’s straight. Even if you didn’t believe Russell, you should believe Ryan. He has the youngest eyes out of all of us. Now, weren’t we getting them some tea?”
Lily picked up a wooden bowl from the counter and set it on the breakfast bar. Inside the bowl were a bunch of different K-cups. After Russell and I picked out the ones we wanted, Lily took them to the fridge. Her fridge had one of those Keurig makers in the door.
“Warm, right?”
“Yes, please,” Russell answered.
We all went into the living room once we had our teacups and the little plates they sit on. This was another room that didn’t look like an old house. The paint appeared newer; everything looked immaculate. Everything about them so far had been very “Russell.”
After Russell sat on the couch, I sat beside him while his parents sat on the couch across from us. Though Russell leaned back and draped his arm over the back of the cushion behind me, I sat on the edge of the cushion and leaned forward. I silently prayed for him not to touch me in front of his folks. It was way too soon for him to touch me in his parents’ house. While I sipped my tea, I noticed a wicker basket with knitting or crochet stuff in it sitting on the floor beside the couch they sat on.
