“I would love to see your horses,” she beams at him.
“Well, dear, you can come for a visit whenever you like,” and from the look on his face, I can tell he genuinely means it. As if Fallon won my father over in seconds just by talking about his bloody horses.
“I haven’t ridden in years,” she replies.
“Then you must come for a visit soon,” my mum finally pipes up, her voice even louder than usual.
Poor Fallon almost jumps out of her skin. Her head moves so fast in our direction, I don’t know how she hasn’t given herself whiplash. Now she knows what I have had to deal with allof my life. The number of times the woman has sneaked up on me is ridiculous.
She stands as we get closer, smiling timidly at Mum, but she doesn’t give her any warning before she pulls her into her arms.
“You are beautiful!” She exclaims. “My ignorant son over here hasn’t told me anything about you, but I had my suspicions there was someone on the scene.”
For fucks sake, here we go. I knew this was the reason she turned up out of the blue. I bet she has been stalking my social media to see what I'm up to.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs Smyth. I’m Fallon,” she laughs nervously.
“A beautiful name for such a beautiful girl,” she smiles, before zoning her eyes on me. “And why haven’t you told me all about her sooner? I swear, getting information out of you is like drawing blood from a stone.”
“Mum,” I groan. “Do we really need to do this?”
“Leave them alone, Sharon,” my dad interrupts. “Now, will someone make this old man a cup of tea. Your mother has had me driving for hours just on the off chance we found your secret woman friend here.”
“Geoff!” Mum exclaims.
Worrying that the pair of them might be too overbearing, I look over at Fallon, and my whole body visibly relaxes once I see the twinklein her eyes. She likes them, thank fuck. She looks like she is watching a comedy show, the way her gaze bounces between them as they bicker.
“Fal?” I say quietly and nod my head to the kitchen.
She follows me instantly, probably needing the escape as much as I do. So much for a day of doing nothing; now we’re stuck with my parents. Well, if she wants to stay, that is. Shit. She is probably going to escape home at the first opportunity she gets.
“I’m sor…” I begin to apologise for their craziness, but she beats me to it.
“Oh, my god. I love them! They’re so nice, they remind me of my parents,” she says as she wraps her arms around my middle. “Is it okay that I’m here? I don’t want to get in the way of your time with them. I can always order an Uber?”
Is she joking? I’m not letting her leave my side.
“I think they’re here to see you, not me,” I laugh, anxiously. “When I last went back home, her Spidey senses told her I was seeing someone, and she grilled me about it until the moment I left.”
“That’s nice, though, it shows how much she cares.”
It shows how much she wants grandbabies. It’s all I ever hear from her. Fallon could be a shrivelled-up prune, but as long as she hasa working womb, my mother would be happy. I keep that thought to myself, though.
Leaving my girl a chaste kiss on the side of her head, I busy myself with making drinks.
This is going to be a long day, I can tell already.
