Page 44 of Bi-Partisan

When I get into the living room, I’m greeted by a stoic man—basically the spitting image of Adrian if you added thirty years and cut his hair a little shorter—and a short, mid-size woman with gray hair hugging Adrian around the middle.

“Happy birthday, pumpkin!”

“Thanks, Mom,” Adrian says, the words coming out a little strained, like his mom is squeezing him a little too tight. “Hi, Dad.”

“Happy birthday, kid,” his dad says, clapping him on the shoulder as his mom lets go.

“Now where is this boyfriend we’ve heard almost nothing about?” his mom asks.

“Right here, ma’am,” I say, offering them my best charming smile. “I had to chase him out of the kitchen because he was workin’ too hard on his own birthday party.”

“That sounds about right,” his mom says fondly as I set down the tray and pitcher of flowers on the coffee table. Then she drops her voice to a whisper—or more of a stage whisper since I can still hear her—and nudges Adrian. “He brought you flowers? I like him already.”

His hushed warning is immediate. “Mom.”

Apparently, I’m not the only one that hears her because I hear Casey stifle a laugh.

I can’t help grinning as I walk over to formally introduce myself, sticking my hand out to his father first. “Hi, I’m Jamie.”

“Brandon,” his dad says, grasping my hand and giving it a firm shake.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.” I repeat the gesture with his mom. “Ma’am.”

“Nancy,” she says with a warm smile. “I hope you don’t mind if we interrogate you a little. Adrian’s been a bit of a closed book when it comes to you.”

“I think he's always a bit of a closed book, but I like that about him. It balances me out,” I say, wrapping an arm around his lower back and smiling at him. Although, I have to admit the knowledge that Adrian hasn’t said much about me, other than acknowledging my existence in his life, stings a little. “So interrogate away.”

“Shall we sit?” Nancy asks. “Also, Casey Summers, I see you over there avoiding giving me a hug.”

Casey gasps dramatically. “I would never.”

After a round of hugs between Adrian’s parents, Casey, and Sophie, and a quick introduction to Mina, we all settle around the coffee table. Mina and Sophie take residence on the floor while Nancy and Brandon sit in chairs pulled in from the dining room, and Adrian seats himself on the couch between Casey and me.

“So, Jamie, Adrian says you’re a congressman,” Brandon starts.

“That’s correct, sir. I’m in my first term,” I say, even though I’d put money on them already knowing that. Even if he hasn’t told them much about me, I would be shocked if they didn’t at least Google me. I would if I were a parent of someone dating a person with their own Wikipedia page.

“You’re awfully young,” Nancy says.

“Yes, ma’am. It’s still a little surreal, to be honest.”

“Why politics?”

It’s a question I get a lot, so my practiced, although slightly toned down, answer is on the tip of my tongue. “I’ve always wanted to do everything I could to make my community better. As a kid, I always tried really hard to be the kid who raised the most money for the math-a-thon for St. Jude even though I’m terrible at math. Then I volunteered for the Obama campaign in 2012 and fell in love with politics. I was so thrilled when I got to work as a policy writer for the governor’s office. But I never considered actually running for any sort of office until the governor himself suggested it.”

“You must have made quite the impression,” Brandon muses.

“I think it’s more that I’m outspoken and loud about it,” I say with a nervous laugh.

“He’s being modest. I always knew he’d run eventually,” Mina cuts in, and I shoot her a look.

“You did not,” I fire back.

“Did too,” she insists. “You were on a tirade about gerrymandering after one of your political science classes sophomore year, and I said to myself, ‘my best friend is going to run for office someday.’”

“I can believe that,” Adrian says, and I give him a funny look. “You get really worked up about gerrymandering.”

“Well, it’s a big problem,” I say defensively.

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