“Hi, sweetie. Why aren’t you here yet?”
I ignored that and barreled right in. “Momma, are you okay with me bringing someone?”
“You know I am. We always have room for more.”
“Yeah, but this is, um, this is a boyfriend.”
Silence. Then, “Ben!” Momma yelled, not even bothering to lower the phone.
“What is it?” my stepdad asked in the background.
“Asher’s bringin’ a boy home.”
“Yesssss. Finally, I get to pull out the shotgun—”
“No,” Momma and I yelled together.
“Momma. Momma,” I whined when she kept arguing with Ben about the proper way to greet this boyfriend of mine. I could understand their excitement since it wasn’t only a first for me but for any of their children.
“Hang on, Ben. Yes, sweetie?”
“He’s older. I just want y’all to be prepared.”
“When you say older, are you talkin’ your cousin Jasmine and Henry?”
“No. Oh, God no. He’s— Luke, his name is Luke, and he’s thirty-four.”
“Thirty-four? That’s no small change, honey.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, but it’s a nonissue.”
“Mhmm, we’ll see. And on a serious level of hookup to wedding bells …” She trailed off.
“We’re at shopping-for-apartments-wouldn’t-be-a-big-deal level.” That might be overstating it, but all of this had been moving rather quickly—something I did eyes wide open and with full understanding it could fall apart at any second—but that was life, right? Things changed in a heartbeat.
“And why am I just now hearing about this, young man?”
“You just said it, Patty,” Ben said. “Asher’s a man.”
They started bickering again, and I squeezed in my goodbyes while I could. By this time tomorrow, I’d be getting ready to head home. God, Luke was going to freak the fuck out.
Therewasstress,andthen there was meeting-your-boyfriend’s-parents-and-coming-out-at-the-same-time stress. This decision hadn’t been made lightly, but in the end, the answer was rather easy. Asher deserved it. He’d done so much for me. He’d been understanding and accepting. He deserved the same and more.
Was I scared shitless? Indeed.
Had I rehashed every life choice that got me to this point as if I were dying? Undoubtedly.
The last few days had been utter bliss. I stayed awake most of Friday night—the decision all but set in my mind—playing out how things might go when introduced to his family. It hadn’t helped. In fact, it made it worse. Still, I’d agreed to come Saturday morning. The excitement that stole through Asher was enough to ease my worries—for a while.
“What’s all this?” Asher asked when I dropped my suitcases near the front door. He glanced at me and grinned so hard dimples formed in his cheeks. “You’re so cute,” he chuckled.
“I wasn’t sure of the weather.”
“Mhmm. We’ll go with that.”
I rolled my eyes, something I’d indubitably adopted from him. “Get your bag and let’s go.” Of course, he only had the one bag, which he’d repacked after doing laundry this morning. Nineteen-year-olds didn’t take into consideration the possibilities that could happen on any given trip. No, I hadn’t overpacked; he hadunderpacked. This was fine. I was fine.
We were about three hours from his hometown. Basically, not long enough, and too long since it only increased my anxiety with every second. He asked several times if I needed to pull over for a break, possibly reading my nerves, but stopping wouldn’t change what was coming.
