Page 95 of Indigo Sky

I didn't want to grin, didn't want my parents to weasel their way into this bubble of bliss, but I relented easily with a sigh and the comfort that she wanted to meet them. She wanted to be a part of my life—allof it—and I couldn't find it in me to fight against it.

So, I rolled out of bed, pulled the eyepatch on, and grabbed a pair of sweatpants for me and some boxers for her to accompany the T-shirt she’d borrowed before bed. We got dressed, passing looks of appreciation, anticipation, and so, so much contentment that I couldn't believe I'd begun the day terrified.

When we got downstairs, I entered the kitchen first to find Mom at the table with her book and Dad at the stove, where he scrambled eggs and fried strips of bacon and sausage patties. Mom noticed me first, her eyes peering over the frames of her silver-rimmed glasses perched at the tip of her nose.

She laid the paperback on the table, pulled the glasses off, and smiled before saying, "Good morning, honey. What's this I hear about you wanting to skip work?"

I squeezed the back of my neck and cleared my throat, suddenly forgetting that I was a thirty-one-year-old man and not a thirteen-year-old boy. This was more awkward than I had anticipated, and what if I made Mom and Dad awkward byintroducing them to Kate now, when I knew they knew she'd just been in my bed down the hall from theirs?

"Yeah, I had a late night, and I, uh …"Just tell them, you fuckin' moron. The quicker you get it over with, the better. "I actually have … company."

Mom feigned cluelessness and lifted her head higher. "Oh? You hear that, Dave? Rev hascompany."

"What's that?" Dad turned from the stove, wearing theKiss the Chefapron he'd had since before I could even remember. "What sort of company?"

I blew out a breath and fought against an eye roll at this performance that would never win an Academy Award. I reached for Kate, hiding from plain sight behind the adjacent wall, and pulled her beneath the cover of my arm. I glanced at my parents and the smiles they were trying to keep covered beneath a guise of indifference, and I was filled with an appreciation that ran so deep that it touched the marrow of my bones.

"This is Kate," I said, scratching the back of my head. "Kate, this is my mom and dad."

Mom was already up from the table, reaching out for Kate's hands, and said, "Kate, it's so nice to finally meet you. Please, call me Susan."

Dad reached over with one hand extended, a spatula in the other. "Dave."

Kate glanced over her shoulder at me as Mom insisted she sit beside her at the small four-person table.

Her eyes said,Look at this; you were worried for nothing, and she was right.

Because as I sat down beside my dream girl and Dad brought over plates of eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast, all I could think was,This moment—right here, right now—is perfect.

And it was only made more so when Dad sat next to me and reached over to grip my shoulder as he leaned over and muttered into my ear, "She's a good one, bud."

I laughed. "You just met her, Dad."

"Yeah, but … you chose her," he said before patting my shoulder and leaning back into his chair. "That's enough for me."

***

We ate with my parents, and they did what any parents would do and shared embarrassing stories from my childhood. I took it all in stride, grateful they had stories to tell, grateful I hadthemat all, and Kate laughed andawwed at the appropriate times. She fit into this picture with her pink hair and sunshiny smile, like she'd always been meant to be there, and that was more than I could say about any girlfriend my parents had met before. Granted, there wasn’t a long list of them, but I guessed there was a reason they said,When you know, you know.

And I knew.

Mom and Dad did too.

I could read them well enough to see their little shared glances, the messages they sent across the table. They had fallen for Kate about as quickly as I had, after I'd already fallen for Indigo Sky, and I knew it would break their hearts as much as mine if she were to ever leave.

"Well, kids, I have to get going.Some of ushave work to do today," Mom teased as she stood from the table, leveling me with a taunting glare.

"I should get ready too," Dad said with a morose sigh. "I can't wait to retire."

"What do you do?" Kate asked Dad while swiping the last strip of bacon before addressing Mom. "I know you and Rev work together, right?"

"Rev worksforme," Mom corrected gently with a smile. "I own the gym, though you'd never know it, looking at me." She let out a small laugh at her own expense. "I had one baby, and my entire body just let itself go."

"You're fine, sweetpea," Dad assured her, reaching out to squeeze her hand.

He looked at Kate and said, "I've been a foreman in construction for thirty-five years, and I amtiredof it."

"Oh, wow," she replied, genuinely impressed.

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