Page 120 of One Night

"He wet his pants?"

"No. He farted, each time he coughed. God, it was so embarrassing. He was letting them rip as we were leaving the theater and everyone was staring at us."

Imagining this has me laughing so hard my stomach hurts. "Oh my God, that's hilarious."

"Not for the poor people he had to walk in front of to get out of our aisle. They got it right in the face."

"Please, stop," I say as I laugh. "I'm getting a side cramp from laughing so hard."

"Just a typical outing with the Mickelson family."

"That's classic. I love your family."

"Well, if you ever become one of us, at least now you'll know what to expect. You can't say I didn't warn you."

Become one of us? What is he saying? That we might get married someday? That's the only way I'd ever be part of his family.

I'm not ready to even think about marriage, especially now. In fact, I'm thinking I might never get married. What's the point? It only leads to heartache and disappointment and divorce.

"Dylan, I should go. It's late and I'm tired. Can I call you tomorrow?"

"You can call me whenever you want, day or night. You know that."

"Okay, then I'll talk to you tomorrow. Have a good night."

"Yeah, goodnight."

My tone turned cold at the end there. I didn't mean for it too but I started panicking when he hinted at marriage. Maybe I need to slow this down. Dylan and I are getting too serious, too fast. Even if I love him, I'm not ready to make any kind of commitment, especially after today, witnessing the end of my parents' marriage. Right now I feel like I may never be able to commit to anyone, which means I owe it to Dylan to at least slow things down until I can figure out what I want.

***

Over the next few days, my sisters and I busy ourselves with movies and shopping, anything to get us out of the house. Now that we know about the divorce, my dad's been packing up his stuff and my sisters and I don't want to be there to witness it. He has this week off, but my mom had to work, or maybe she chose to so she wouldn't have to be at home.

I've been talking to Dylan every day. It's the highlight of my day. He always finds a way to make me laugh. And he's been keeping me updated on the hospital fundraiser, which was last night. Since he's there in town, he kept working on it this week while I was gone. I'm calling him now to see how it went.

"Hey, it's me," I say when he answers. It's noon on Sunday and I wasn't sure if he'd be awake yet. I assumed he had a late night helping clean up after the event.

"Hey, you." I hear the smile in his voice. "How's it going?"

"The same. Not much new here. So how was the event last night?"

"Great! They raised a lot of money on the silent auction. I don't remember the exact amount but it was more than they thought they'd get."

"Did you dance?" I ask kiddingly, knowing he wouldn't dance without me there.

"And who would I dance with? My girlfriend's in Michigan."

"You still could've danced with someone. Like maybe Mary?"

He laughs. "Yeah, that'll be the day. She'd probably break my foot with those big clumpy shoes she wears."

"Did you see her there?"

"Yeah, but she didn't talk to me. But I talked to one of the former interns who was there. When I asked him about Mary, he told me she's like that with everyone. She's just a cranky old lady who can't mind her own business."

"So it's not just us. That's good to know."

"Liza was there. She was with that doctor."

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