“Are you pregnant?” Mom exclaimed, cutting me off.
“What? No!” I exclaimed, now the shocked one in the room.
“Well then, what is it, Honey?” Dad asked. “You’re making me nervous.” He chuckled uncomfortably, fidgeting in his favorite chair. I laughed at that.
“I broke up with Hunter,” I told them. “A few weeks ago.” Mom’s face softened.
“Oh, Hon. I’m sorry,” she said and patted my arm trying to be soothing. I smiled at that, I wasn’t upset about the breakup at all.
“No, don’t be sorry, I broke up with Hunter because of another guy. I have a new boyfriend,” I admitted. “And I was wondering if he could come over this week for dinner, he would like to meet all of you,” I told them. Their faces transformed into knowing smiles.
“Of course!” Mom exclaimed overjoyed.
“How long have you two been together?” Dad asked curiously.
“Officially, only two weeks,” I answered. “But it’s pretty serious,” I told them, letting them know where I stood.
“That’s great Leah. We are so excited to meet this young man,” Mom said for the both of them.
“What’s his name?” she asked, excited.
“His name is Axel.” I blushed, thinking about him.
“Well, tell him he’s more than welcome to join us for dinner this Friday night.” Dad smiled at me.
“Thanks.” I smiled, getting up to hug them both. This was exactly the reaction I was hoping for and needed to hear the most from them. I left my family home feeling good and excited; I couldn’t wait to tell Axel the news. I’d been feeling happy a lot lately. Axel seemed to have a contagious happy and carefree attitude. I was finally in a positive and healthy relationship that was reciprocal. With my family about to meet him and welcome him into the family, I couldn’t see how things could get any better. Everything in my life was finally going right.
“Babe, I’m home,” I called out, as I unlocked the door to the apartment, with the key Axel had given me after our first night back together. His head popped into view from around the corner and he welcomed me in with a giant bear hug, lifting me off the ground and gracing me with a flurry of soft kisses.
“I missed you,” his deep voice whispered in my ear, before moving his lips to my neck, undoing me, just as he knew how to.
“I missed you too,” I moaned out in pleasure. “Guess what!” I exclaimed, “Mom and Dad are so excited to meet you! They said you’re more than welcome to come over for dinner this Friday,” I relayed. He stopped kissing my neck, to look into my eyes, his wide green forests twinkling as he broke into a giant toothy smile, clearly just as pleased as I was.
“That’s great news babe.” He grinned at me and slowly lowered me to the ground. “How’d it go with Jackie?” he asked, looking deep into my eyes and finding what I was keeping from him.
“She’ll get over it,” I said simply, not wanting to let Jackie bring down my mood. His smile faltered a bit but it wasn’t gone.
“Okay,” he said and then pulled me towards the bedroom. “Now we should celebrate.” He winked mischievously, making me laugh. With Axel, there was always something to celebrate, me doing well on a test, getting donuts, it being a nice day outside, it being a rainy day outside. Anything he could think of, it always made me laugh and made me fall a little more in love with him. I needed that kind of positivity in my life and he was full of it.
“And what are we celebrating this time?” I questioned, smiling as I sank down into the bed. He made quick work with my shirt and bra, tossing them aside.
“The first step to joining our families,” he said, like it was obvious and it made my heart soar.
“I love you,” I said without even thinking, the words came naturally to me now and I loved telling him exactly how I felt about him.
“I love you too Leah,” his raspy voice said, before his mouth was occupied and did delicious things to my body.
AXEL REMAINED NATURAL AND CAREFREE, as he drove as to my parents’ house for dinner. I was amazed by how calm he always was. I always found the first time meeting parents was awkward and uncomfortable but by the way Axel was acting, you would think we were going to see his parents and not mine. He parked in the driveway and we walked up hand-in-hand. I didn’t bother knocking and just opened the door leading us in.
“Mom, Dad, we’re home,” I called out, as we took off our shoes and hung our jackets in the closet. Mom and Dad appeared out of nowhere, as if they had been waiting for us.
“Honey, Axel, so happy you both are here,” Mom said hugging me and then taking an eyeful of Axel in and the man candy he was, while Dad shook Axel’s hand, looking him up and down, seemingly impressed as well.
“Nice to have you here, Son,” Dad said, making me almost choke up. Dad had never called Chris son, so already, I felt like this was a sign of approval. Axel’s smile widened even more, if that was possible and then he went to greet Mom, who threw her arms around him in a hug, which he returned.
“Come on in, I want to hear all about you,” Mom said, ushering him inside the kitchen. We followed her in, Axel eyeing all the family pictures on the walls as we went into the kitchen. Mom fixed us a pot of tea, as we sat at the kitchen table.
“Smells amazing,” Axel complimented.
“My lasagna.” Mom smiled, delighted, it was one of my favorites.
“Yum,” he said. Lasagna was one of his favorites too.
“So, tell me Axel, when did you and my daughter meet?” Dad asked, his arm casually wrapped around Mom’s shoulders. Axel and I
