Blank Skies

41

Rebecca

I walk into the living room and you can feel the energy buzzing. My real mom and dad are sitting on the couch talking and sharing a laugh with some of the younger kids. I wipe my hands on my jeans and walk closer, "Hi." My voice makes the room fall silent and my parents look at me.

My mom's eyes scrunch up, "In my defense I didn't know it was you guys the other day or else I wouldn't of ran off like I did." I try to laugh it off, "It's okay." She nods looking at my birth father. She looks back at me and stands up, "I'm Hannah." She tucks some hair behind her ears nervously, "That's Greg." She gestures to my dad on the couch, "It's nice to finally meet you guys."

Wow that's all you can say?!

I sigh at my own words, "I can't help but notice the ring on your finger, you're engaged?" She asks and I smile, "Yeah." I chuckle, "He's here actually." She smiles and nods, "I see that smile." I nod, "He's a bit of a dork." I joke to break the tension and it works.

"Well I want to meet him." She offers and I nod, "And you will, but he's kind of in the middle of something." Jack wraps his arm around my shoulder, "Dinner is ready ladies." He pulls me with him and I trip over my own feet. By the time we get to the table we're both laughing and the tension has eased away.

We all sit down at the long table and I save a seat next to me for Andre. A smile erupts on my face when he walks into the dining room holding a glass of wine. He sits it down in front of me before pulling his chair away from the table.

My dad has already started passing the food around the table. Andre turns his face towards mine, "Hey." He whispers while everyone is in their own conversations, "Hey." I whisper back leaning in. He kisses me softly and sweetly, "Gross." Jack says in a girly voice and I laugh, "You're just jealous." His face drops and Andre laughs softly, "Yeah I don't think so."

I shrug as I put some food on my plate, "Stop you two." My mother says and tries to laugh it off.

****

I sit down on the couch with my family surrounding me, "This is better than I ever imagined." My birth mom speaks up, "I'm so happy that you're happy." She smiles with a little girl sitting on her lap. The little girl reminds me of myself when I was her age, "Me too!" She says playing with the ends of her shirt.

I have three younger siblings and a older sister. The youngest are triplets and are absolutely adorable. My mom laughs, "Aw sweetheart." The little girl smiles, "Tommy said it too!" She says excitedly, "So did Mikey!" The little boys are playing with a couple cars they brought with them.

Andre is sitting beside me with his arm around my shoulders and his body is slightly turned towards everyone. His body heat is keeping me warm on the inside and the outside. If he wasn't here I wouldn't be able to do any of this. Andre's the man I need in my life for forever.

"So tell me something." My birth father says leaning up and looks at me, "What's your favorite hobby?" I smile thinking of my piano in the other room, "I play the piano." My fingers coil around the mug in my hand holding my coffee. He smiles, "Do you hear that? We have a musician in our family."

Family.

Wow.

I smile and sip my coffee, "We put her in lessons when she was little." My mother says sitting across the room with a wine glass in her hand. Bitch. I bounce my foot up and down slightly and Andre senses my annoyance and he nudges my leg. I lean forward and stand up, "I'll be right back." I say smiling and walk to the kitchen.

I sit my cup on the counter and take a deep breath, "You're welcome." I look up and see Andre walking in trying not to laugh. I roll my eyes and throw the kitchen towel at him, "You didn't do anything." He rests his back against the counter and crosses his arms over his chest, "How are you?" He asks looking down at me I shrug, "I don't know."

"It's weird, and I don't really feel anything." I sigh tucking a piece behind my ear, "What do you mean?" He asks and my eyes meet his, "There's nothing." I whisper. He nods, "And I feel awful for it." I take a deep breath, "Why don't we get out of here?" Andre's words catch me by surprise, "What? We can't just leave."

I roll my eyes chuckling, "Why not?" He shrugs, "I can take you home and you can clear your head and relax." He says and I stand in front of him, "Dre," I lay my hands on his, "Lets go." He says leaning up off the counter, "Dre!" He chuckles and kisses my forehead, "Shush and come on." My mouth drops open and he smiles big, "I got this."

He walks in front of me, "Hey guys we have to leave early." He says loud and clear, "What? Why?" My mother says from her bitchy seat, "He has to work early and I promised I'd help a friend with something in the morning." I say and my birth parents stand up. Andre gets our jackets, "Oh okay well drive safe." My mom says as she comes to hug me.

I hug them both and slip on my jacket, "We better get going, but we're going to do this again I promise!" I say and Andre shakes my dad's hand, "It was nice to meet you guys." He says and my dad nods, "You too." I lay my hand on Andre's back and my touch makes him look at me, "We're off, see you guys later." He says smiling and we make our way out the door.

On the way to the car he giggles behind me, "Painless." I roll my eyes, "You're awful." He clicks the button on his keys that unlocks the car, "Me?!" He laughs. I nod and get inside the car, "You went along with it!" He continues to laugh and I giggle, "You didn't give me much of a choice!" He shakes his head and starts the car, "Oh okay." He blows a raspberry.

We buckle up and make our way out of the neighborhood.