“No, but my parents did. Then they ran into a family in the parking lot that hadn’t been able to get enough tickets for the grandparents to attend, and they gave their seats to them. So, they were present in the general area, but they didn’t actually see the graduation.” He looked over at me. “I should stop telling you this stuff about my parents. You get the flush.” He touched my cheek to show me what he meant, but I was already aware. I actually felt angrily hot all over, not just my in my face.
“Where are they now?” I asked.
His brother had managed to find them a place to park their RV, but Ronan was paying for a car to bring them from that location to our hotel so that we would go to the wedding together. “I have to, because I don’t know what trouble they’d get into if they went alone,” he said, but then checked my face and clammed up, refusing to provide any more details about the problems they could cause. “You’ll all get along,” he informed me, and I nodded. I was certainly going to try my best.
He was ready within fifteen seconds after our arrival at the hotel, tie included. I’d done a practice run at Taylor’s and Kiya’s condo with their help and another on my own, so I was clear about howlong it would take me. “I’ll be in the bathroom for thirty-five minutes,” I told him. “Then I’ll need help zipping up my dress.”
“Cool. I’ll amuse myself by practicing on the zipper on my pants…that didn’t sound right.” He checked his phone. “My parents should be here soon, too.” He still looked tense, maybe about them getting into trouble?
I got my stuff laid out around the bathroom sink and then started to work. This wasn’t a process I enjoyed very much but it was necessary, of course, for a wedding. And Ronan already looked so nice in his suit and the tie that he hated. Before we’d left, I’d seen him polishing the shoes he was wearing, carefully wiping and buffing them. I was serious about looking nice, too.
And I was also serious about getting along with his mom and dad. No matter what I’d said to Kiya, Tay, and Victoria, they had been unable to give up on the idea that it was a huge thing for me to meet his family. I was more concerned about making this day as easy for him as possible, by being polite and not letting on that I thought they were idiots. Since I was adept at hiding my feelings, I trusted that they would never know.
Before I was totally done, I heard someone knocking at the hotel room door. “That’s my parents,” he called to me. “Get ready, here they come.” I was quiet as he opened it so I could eavesdrop. They were so happy to see him and so excited about their other son getting married.
I rushed through my last few steps and came out to meet them. They smiled and introduced themselves as Gerald and Margaret as their son zipped me up (he hadn’t needed the practice onhis pants), and I said hello and it was also nice to meet them. They seemed normal to me, but there wasn’t much time to confirm that. Ronan started hurrying us to the elevator and then through the lobby and out to a car. I’d never seen him act so drill-sergeant, not even when he’d been doing actual drills on the football field.
“Dad, this way. You’re in the back, Mom, other side,” he said, almost barking out the commands. I went along quietly and took my place between his parents, since he didn’t fit in the rear seats himself. I did notice that there was quite a bit of pet hair on his mom—like, a whole lot, enough that it was transferring onto me as well. His dad, Gerald, was likewise sprinkled with it and didn’t do any clean-up as we rode, but I noticed Ronan picking strands off himself in the front seat.
It wasn’t a long trip to the location of the ceremony, a municipal building, and as we went, his parents asked me questions. Margaret wanted to know my name—my full name, she clarified.
“Cate Alexis McNaughton. It spells ‘cam,’” I answered. Then the questions continued.
“I’m twenty-two,” I responded next.
“Yes, I graduated from college a year ago with a business degree.”
“I work for the Woodsmen team so that’s how we met.”
“I don’t have any family, no one that I’m close with. I guess it is a shame.”
“No, I’ve never been to Missoula. I’ve never spent significant time in Montana.”
“I don’t have any pets and they’re not allowed in my building. I don’t mind dogs at all.”
“I’m a pretty good speller. I won a bee—that doesn’t matter.”
“I don’t drink much hard liquor but I’m not against it. What did you say, Gerald?”
“No, I don’t speak Swedish. It’s called Malört?”
“Definitely orange. It wasn’t my favorite before, but I love it now.”
“Um, if I really had to pick, I guess it would be the power to see through walls. But I never gave it much thought.”
“I do know how to drive a manual.”
“No, thank you. I’m not hungry right now.”
At that point, Ronan interjected. “Dad, why do you have hard-boiled eggs in your pocket? Put them away.” Then the car pulled to the curb and stopped. He helped his mom out first and I scooted across and took his hand.
He brushed at my dress. “What the hell is all over you?” he muttered.
“It’s fur,” I said. I was still in the answering mode.
“I know, but why…oh, no. Mom, let me see inside your purse.”
She had a small animal in there, one about the size of an Affenpinscher, but luckily it was an actual dog and not a mouse. “Why?” he asked her.
