Two In One

The Bad Dinner

I haven't told Ryder yet. I know I keep telling myself I will. But I can't find the right time to. He's so excited because the tour is so much closer than we thought . He can't stop talking about it.

After a few days had passed he made a big request.

"My Mom wants to have dinner with us tomorrow night."

I was less nervous about saying yes, seeing as I've already met his mom. But it's still a little nerve racking. Going to see the place he grew up in, meeting his foster sister and his other older sister. But I know he'll do anything and everything to make me comfortable. So I agreed to it.

We left the next night at 6:30 so we could be there by 7:00. In the backseat, Ryder had a little bag filled with tissue paper. There was a princess on the outside, so I assumed it was for Lacey.

"Lacey's birthday is next week. She's been dying for one of those Frozen barbie dolls."

"Which one did you get? Anna or Elsa?"

"I don't know. They all looked the same to me. I just grabbed the one that looked like her."

"Judging by the picture I saw, you got Anna. The red-head with the white streak in her hair."

"How do you know so much about this movie?"

"Ever since the movie came out, the title has been spelled B-O-G-I-E. It's on at least twice a week in my house."

"Lacey's got you beat. She watches it everyday."

"Well then, she and Bogie can be best friends forever while I buy some noise canceling headphones. I almost forgot, is Mitch coming?"

"Yeah, he left this morning. He went to pick my sister up from the airport. She was visiting family in Florida."

"You never mentioned your sister. What's her name?"

"Sonnet. She's got two part time jobs she's a social worker and an assistant at a publishing company. And on the side she does theater. You know she's kind of a bohemian much like yourself."

I laughed at his words as he continued to talk about her.

"And the funny thing about her is, she can sing opera but she's slightly tone deaf. So when she practices she has to wear noise canceling headphones and record it then go back and listen to it."

As he drove, he continued to tell me about his family. Like how Lacey was in seven foster homes before she came to them. And how his mom used to be a surgeon but moved to work with emergency patients because he was always coming in with injuries.

Once he pulled into the neighborhood, I realized it was a lot more fancy than I had expected. The houses were only a little bigger than mine, but they were in much better shape. Ryder pulled into to what seemed to be a never ending driveway and looked over at me.

"Don't pass out Sody. You haven't even seen inside yet."

I stared back out the window at the full garden blooming around the front porch. He parked the car and we both got out. He walked over to me and pulled me in for a quick hug.

"I probably won't get to talk to you too much tonight."

I pulled away and looked up at him.

"Well in that case, I'll see you tomorrow," I said before giving him two quick pecks on the lips.

We both looked up when we heard the front door open and his mom walked out. She was wearing an apron and had her hair tied back.