Chapter 26 - Johnny - Take Me Home
“Thank you so much for dinner,” Becca says to my parents again on our way out. “The only time I eat this well is when my friend Alex invites us all to her place for dinner. Otherwise I’m strictly a takeout and microwave dinner kind of girl.”
A comically exaggerated look of disgust crosses my mom’s face, her nose and lips scrunching up, before her eyes light with mischief. “You know, Johnny is an excellent cook. He’ll just have to be in charge of dinner when you two get married.”
She knows Becca is not my girlfriend, but she can’t stop herself from trying. To be fair, even though I’ve always thought whichever girl I was with was ‘the one’, I’d never brought any of them home before. This is the first time my mom’s really had an opportunity to embarrass me in front of a woman. I think she’s enjoying herself a little too much.
“Don’t worry about that now,” Dad offers. “Come back to see us and we’ll feed you. And then you and I can talk beer some more.”
“It’s a date.” Becca hugs them both goodbye and after she’s checked to make sure we’ve transferred all of her camera equipment from Travis’ truck back to her car, we’re on our way.
We haven’t had a chance to discuss the kiss at my parents’ place, nor have we addressed her new level of comfort with hugging. Hell, I don’t even know if she’s planning on taking me home or if she’s driving me to her place in a bid to get me out of my pants.
I really hope it’s the second one.
But not if she’s still thinking it can only be one night. After seeing her with my family tonight, laughing, joking, playing with the kids, and just seeming like she belongs there, I want her even more. This is the reason I’ve always been looking for my other half. I want someone to join my family. Someone to helpmejoin my family.
My family loves me, I know that, but I’ve always felt a little outside of it all. I know that having a partner to be with me in my family will help me feel more accepted. It has never passed my notice that I’m not the same as the rest of them. For one thing, I’m the only one with tattoos out of them all, including Travis. And I’m certainly the most artistic out of all of us. The rest of the family is much more practical, choosing stable careers that provide benefits and a decent paycheck. Sometimes I think that even Travis is in the band with me more as a way to keep an eye on me than out of a legitimate desire to make music.
When we were kids Travis would be out in the shop working on something with Dad and I would be in the house, or in the yard, or at the library, sketchbook out, drawing everything I could see or imagine. That’s why I apprenticed at the tattoo shop. It was all about the art for me. And even now, with the volunteer work I do there, it’s about art and giving back. I think Travis would have been just as happy joining my dad in his carpentry and woodworking business as he is being the bass player in Sleeping Dogs.
So Travis fits in, and I don’t. But with a girlfriend like Becca, I’d be another Donovan with a family. And then I’d fit in too. Before that can happen, though, I need to make her my real girlfriend, not my fake one.
I’m so lost in my thoughts, I don’t even notice that we’ve arrived at Becca’s place. Looks like she’s taking me home after all.
“Ugh. Hold on one second,” she says, placing a hand over mine to stop me from getting out of the car. “I have to turn my phone back on.”
“Oh, sure. Okay.” I don’t know why I need to stay in the car for that, but it doesn’t really matter. Whatever Becca needs from me, I will give her.
“I bet I have at least twenty voicemails,” she says with a sardonic little smile. “No texts, though. At least not from my mom. Luckily she hasn’t figured out how to work texting yet.”
Twenty voicemails?! That’s insane. Why on earth would she leave more than one voicemail? Does she not trust Becca to get back to her when she’s available?
“I cancelled that date I was supposed to go on tonight to be with you and your family, and I’m sure she’s already heard all about it. The dates she sets me up with are fans of telling on me when I don’t live up to their expectations.”
“Telling on you? Are they children? Do they think you’re a child?”
“I don’t even know,” she says. “I’ve given up understanding my mother years ago. Oh, I was wrong.” She tilts her screen in my direction, showing me the total number of voicemails. “Twenty-seven. I think that may be a record.”
Twenty-seven fucking voicemails?! This woman must be insane.
She holds her phone down by her lap, allowing the voicemail to start. She pushes the delete button repeatedly, not even listening to the messages. I can hear her mother’s voice through the speaker, but I can’t make out any words. She sounds like she’s screeching, though, so it’s a safe bet that she’s not impressed.
“I have to call her,” Becca says, looking over at me. “Do you want to head in without me, or are you good to wait here for a few minutes?”
“I can wait for you.” To be honest, I’m more than a little curious about what her mom is going to say. What can she say? Becca is a grown ass woman and if she wants to stand up the date that her mother made for her, that’s her choice.
“Hi, Mom,” Becca says into the phone.
“Where… how… embarrassing.”
“Yes, Mom. I know. I’m sorry. I was with my boyfriend.” She looks over at me when she says boyfriend, and my heart beats a little harder.
“No… who? Where… him,”
“Yes, I do, Mom. His name is Johnny. Alex introduced me a few months ago.”
“When… tell… you know… probably… for you.”
