Shaun And Lea: Made for each other

Part 8: Parents

Hershey
December 2020.

They were waiting for us at the end of the landing hall. Pam and Mike, my protective and sometimes intrusive parents.
When they saw us crossing the gate they waved, Dad with his usual friendly and cheerful smile. I smiled as quickly as I could, Shaun however looked apprehensive. I touched his hand to reassure him.
" Everything okay?"
He, who, while walking along in his luggage cart, was looking in the direction my parents were standing, turned his face to me.
" You'll do fine, don't worry. We'll go to my house, stay with my parents for a while, have a bite to eat, and go to bed. Tomorrow we'll take half the day off to go for a walk and enjoy our stay. Okay? No need to worry."
"Ok." He nodded.

"Lea, you look great!" Dad wrapped me in a tight hug.
"She looks great!" Mom joined in forming a triple hug.
I felt the comfort of the feeling of being held by both of them.
" And you must be Shaun! So nice to finally meet you" Dad, in a quick gesture held Shaun's hand squeezing it in wobbles. Two seconds later he let out in bewilderment as he looked at Shaun's uncomfortable expression and my mother's raised eyebrows.
"Shaun, it's very nice to be able to meet you, Lea used to tell us a lot about you."
"It's very nice to meet you, Lea has also told me a lot about the two of you."
My parents looked at me.
"I hope she spoke well." Dad said and laughed.
Mom followed him. I tried to smile and Shaun, a little confused opened a short smile.
"Shall we go? You guys must be exhausted and want to get some rest."
"Ah, we sure are. All I want is a nice shower."
"I tidied up your room. We changed the old mattress because we thought you'd be more comfortable."
"Another mattress change. Apparently this is a family habit." Shaun considered.
I laughed. My parents looked at each other uncomprehendingly.
"It's just that we changed mattresses at home recently and Shaun is still adjusting."
"Oh, Shaun. I'm sorry. I didn't know it could be a problem, if you want we can replace the..."
"It's okay. We're only going for two days, Shaun won't mind. I relaxed my tone of voice, stroking Shaun's arm."
"Yeah, I won't. It's just another mattress to sleep on for two nights."
"That's great! Then let's go."

>>>

" So, now that we're settled in we can take a walk around. I want you to see a place."
I said as soon as we went downstairs for breakfast.
The house was almost empty. Donnie was still asleep and Mom and Dad had gone out to do the rest of the Christmas shopping.

We took one of my parents' cars and drove one kilometer along the main road in the neighborhood, cutting through the old gravel road that led to the cabin where I used to spend the winter vacations with Dad, Mom, Rodie and my brother Donnie.
On the way, I showed Shaun the school where I went to high school, the pub I used to go to with my friends from that time.
"Did you consume alcohol as a teenager?"
Shaun asked.
"Yes, every Friday we would run away from PE class. Of course, we had to give some of our allowance to the junior inspector to let us out the back door without getting fingered, and we would come here to play pinball and drink beer."
"And your parents never found out?"
"They knew because I told them. It made it all the more exciting to see them mad. I was grounded, no going out, no TV for weeks. But since they were never called to school it was an unspoken rule between us to keep it quiet, to avoid trouble for them."
Shaun, who had heard everything, analyzed carefully. He turned his eyes to the window.
"You were quite rebellious, Lea. Your parents were patient with you, and must have loved you very much to have dealt with and accepted your difficult moments. I wish my parents had loved me enough to accept me as I am."

I swallowed hard at the unintentional sincerity and harshness of those words. I had nothing to answer that. I remained silent.

"You were right, the pine trees here are very beautiful. They remind me of the ones in San Jose. The snow on the branches and the top make them look like vanilla cupcakes."
"They were a reminder that you were there."
Shaun looked at me again, with his typical smile of satisfaction and tenderness.