And Yet I Still Smile

Chapter 9 - Temptation

"It's about time I get to meet his mom. I was starting to think you were keeping us apart on purpose," Mom comments from the passenger seat of her trailblazer.

I can't wait to have my own car. My driving test was only three days ago, the day after my birthday, but I'm already impatient. I begged Dad to get me a car before I took my test, but he procrastinated too long, and well, here I am. A licensed driver without a vehicle.

"I've told you, his mom travels a lot. I haven't met her yet, either," I explain.

When I pull into Andrew's driveway, I notice a middle-aged blonde woman in a black sporty skort, the kind that looks like a skirt from the front but from the back you can see it's shorts and a blue tank top. She's wearing a gardening hat and gloves while kneeling over a flowerbed full of various plants. She struggles to stand before walking toward Mom and me.

Butterflies flutter in my stomach. I grasp my new necklace that hangs just below the angel necklace Andrew gifted me last year. OK, here we go. I'm finally going to meet his parents. I take a deep breath.

As I exit the car, a dog, whom I presume is Huntress, barks loudly from behind the privacy fence separating the front and back yards. Even if Andrew's mom wasn't already outside, the entire house would have been alerted to our arrival.

The blonde woman smiles at me and I immediately recognize the smile. It's not hard to see Andrew in her light features. "Hello, I'm Diana. You must be Sophie and this must be your mother. Nice to meet you both," Diana greets us.

"Nice to meet you too. Yes, this is my Mom, Linda."

"Great to finally meet you too. Hard to believe our kids could spend so much time together and this is the first we're meeting."

Seriously, Mom? Ugh, I have to get away before she embarrasses me even more.

As if he knew I needed rescuing, I hear Andrew chastizing Huntress behind the large fence. "Huntress, sit! Stay!" Andrew commands before he opens the fence gate, walks through it, and locks it up again.

"Hey Soph. Hi Mrs. Belcher, thanks for letting Sophie come over today. I know I'm stealing her away from you on the last day before our trip."

"Mom knows I'm helping you pack. I'll see you later, Mom. Andrew will drive me home around five," I wave bye to Mom.

Andrew leads me away from our moms, leaving the two of them to talk about whatever moms talk about. He stops on the front porch. "My, uhh, stepdad is home. He's a bit...odd. Consider this a warning. I'll do my best to get us out of there as soon as possible. I'm sorry in advance," he grimaces apologetically.

He can't possibly be any worse than my Pop. I don't know why Andrew is acting like his family could be any crazier than mine. There's no way.

"You want a water or soda before we head upstairs? I think Gary is in his office. If we hurry, we can avoid him altogether," Andrew asks while he leads me into the house.

It's been well over a year since I last stepped foot in this house. If someone had told me during my last visit that the next time I entered this house I would be dating Andrew, I would have thought they were insane. Ridding a house of demons isn't a task I ever dreamed of partaking in, but that's exactly what Andrew and I did the last time I was here.

Andrew has told me about his struggles with the demons plenty of times, but he never mentioned what effect, if any, they had on his parents. Huntress sure seemed relieved the day they finally left. I have no doubt animals can sense supernatural beings so I bet she's happy they're gone, but I wonder if his parents know anything about it.