Town meetings weren't high on Delilah's things to enjoy, but sometimes they were fun to watch.
Samantha had gotten a cold, so she was there to, and Matt was still looking a little ill after his bought with the flu. Taylor had been ranting about the parking space that was 'unfairly' giving his customers unfair tickets, but Samantha had pointed out that it was because Taylor wanted to park there all day.
"This town meeting will come to order," said Miss Patty.
"No one is listening to me," Taylor said.
"Oh, Taylor, calm down," said Miss Patty.
"I can't calm down, I'm being persecuted," said Taylor.
Matt rolled his eyes.
"I promise that we hear you," said Miss Patty.
Andrew stood up, "We've been hearing you for twenty minutes."
"Well, excuse me, Andrew, but some of us have businesses to run that don't involve peddling drug paraphernalia to kids," Taylor said.
"It was a lava lamp, Taylor," said Andrew.
"There is no use for a lava lamp unless you're on drugs," Taylor said.
"Lava lamps are cool whether drugs are involved or not," said Elijah from sitting next to Samantha.
Taylor glared at him, probably thinking that Elijah was some kind of drug user.
"Now we've already agreed to look into your accusations, let's just move on..."
Lorelai came in holding two drink carriers and a plastic bag that had takeout. She passed the two drink carriers to Rory and passed the four drink carrier to Delilah, who was sitting behind Rory.
"What'd I miss?" asked Lorelai as she passed two hot dogs to Rory and passed the plastic bag to Delilah, who opened it, to get a hamburger out, leaving the fries for her partners to eat, while Rory explained what was going on with Taylor.
"Miss Lorelai, he wants Andrew to get looked into because he sold a lava lamp, so now apparently he sells drugs to kids," Matt whispered to Lorelai.
"But lava lamps are cool," whispered Lorelai.
"That's what Eli said," Delilah whispered.
"Shh, here's Mayor Porter," Samantha said as the mayor went to the podium.
Mayor Potter spoke, "I have been mayor of this fine town for a long time. I tend to think of all of you as my children. Unfortunately, sometimes children have to be disciplined. Now I'm going to say something and I'm only gonna say it once...we have leash laws, people."
"Daddy's getting angry," said Lorelai.
Delilah tried think of a time when she had seen any dogs running around unleashed, but she couldn't.
"Rover will not leash himself," said Mayor Porter. Samantha coughed into a tissue. "I would like to now move on to something of even greater importance. As you all know, this coming Friday is the anniversary of the legendary Battle of Stars Hollow."
They clapped.
"Penny will be circulating a sign up sheet for those of you who would like to participate in the reenactment of foresaid battle," Mayor Porter stated.
"Do you think Luke is going to argue about the reenactment?" asked Samantha, reaching for some fries.
"He always does," Delilah whispered.
Mayor Porter started reading from flash cards, "It was frigid November night, some two-hundred-twenty-four years ago. The brave Stars Hollow militia stood in wait for the Red Coats, tired and hungry, twelve proud men took their positions in the town's square, braving the elements and imminent death in their valiant efforts—"
"Oh, for God's Sake, do we have to go through this every damn year!" yelled Luke. "I thought we were here to discuss town issues."
"This is a town issue," said Taylor.
"Excuse me, who's talking?" asked Mayor Porter.
"It's me, Harry, Luke," said Luke. "You've known me since I was five-years-old."
"Oh, Luke, yes," said Mayor Porter. "Sit down. Now as I was saying, twelve heroic men assembled with guns drawn ready to meet their maker."
"What are you talking about?" Luke said, "Twelve guys stood in a row all night."
Mayor Porter continued, "Waiting for the Red Coats—"
"Who never showed!" interrupted Luke.
Mayor Porter said, "Now just a minute!"
"Twelve guys stood in a row all night, waiting for an enemy that never showed. They got stood up. They should've been wearing prom dresses," Luke said.
"I've had just about enough of this," said Taylor.
"Sit down, Taylor," Luke said.
"Menace," Taylor said.
"Suck up," replied Luke.
"Luke would win that fist-fight against Doose," Elijah said to Samantha, who nodded.
Delilah offered her co-worker some fries, who actually took some.
"Don't worry, they have this argument each year," Delilah said to Elijah. "Sadly, no fist-fights actually break out."
"Luke would win, though," said Elijah.
"Have any of you ever considered the fact that you're glorifying a war we fought so we could keep land that we stole?" asked Luke.
"That is a good point, Luke," Delilah called to him.
"If you don't like it here in America, why don't you two go stand in line for toilet paper in the USSR!" snarled Mayor Porter.
"The USSR doesn't even exist, anymore, Mayor Porter," Delilah said.
Luke nodded in agreement.
"A sense of community is so important, isn't it?" asked Lorelai.
"It's what made our country great," said Rory.
"...that is a know fact, if you're both so interested in facts!" Mayor Porter continued.
"And I call this town meeting over," Delilah said loudly.
Delilah couldn't sleep and heard something in the living room. She got up and nearly shivered when the cold hit her. She went into the living room.
"Sorry!" said Lorelai.
"What are you doing up?" asked Rory.
"I couldn't sleep," said Lorelai.
"Why is so cold in here?" asked Delilah.
"The window is open," said Rory, walking to the window.
"Wait, close your eyes and breathe," said Lorelai. Delilah went over to the window and breathed in. "I smell snow."
"Yeah, me too," said Delilah.
"Well, it's that time of year," said Rory, closing the window.
"And it's that time when Mom tells us she gave birth to us during a snowstorm," said Delilah.
"Can't you smell it, Rory?" asked Lorelai.
"You know, it's like dogs and high-pitched noises. I think it's something only you and Lila can smell."
Rory sat down next top Lorelai and Delilah sat on the other side of Lorelai. Rory tossed a blanket over the three of them.
"I love snow," said Lorelai.
"Really? We had no idea," said Rory.
"Everything's magical when it snows, everything looks pretty. The clothes are great." Lorelai listed them, "Coats, scarves, gloves, hats..."
"Thermal underwear, wool socks, ear flaps," added Rory.
"Do you know that the best things in my life have happened when it snowed?" asked Lorelai.
"We do," said Delilah.
"My best birthday," said Lorelai.
"Your first kiss," said Rory.
"When I said my first word which was 'Mama'," Delilah said.
"Yours and Lila's first steps," said Lorelai. "They all happened when it snowed."
"Feet," said Rory, spotting their feet. She put the blanket over their feet.
"I feel good," said Lorelai. "Tingly."
"That's called frostbite," said Rory.
"You are mocking your mother, the woman who birthed you and your sister," said Lorelai.
"Especially during a snowstorm," Delilah added.
"That too," added Lorelia.
"So, how soon is it supposed to hit?" asked Rory.
"Hmm. Tomorrow," said Lorelai. "Definitely tomorrow."
"Okay, then tomorrow it is," said Rory.
"What?" asked Lorelai.
"How do you feel about standing out in a snowstorm to get donuts and coffee?" asked Delilah.
"At midnight?" asked Lorelai.
"At midnight," Rory stated firmly.
"That's why you two are my favorite daughters," said Lorelai affectionately.
"So, how many times are you gonna listen to that?" asked Rory.
"'Til it stops being sexy," said Lorelai.
"Stop! That's my teacher you're talking about," said Rory. "I have to respect him."
"Okay, well, if it makes you feel any better, while he's being sexy, he's also being grammatically correct," said Lorelai.
"Better," said Rory. "Thank you."
"Sorry I woke you two up," Lorelai said.
"That's okay, it's all fodder for the tell-all," said Rory. "Goodnight."
"Night, Rory," Delilah said.
"Night, Lila," Rory said, heading to her room.
"Night, Mom," Delilah said getting up from the couch.
"Good night you two," Lorelai said.
On the way to school, Delilah, Matt, and Samantha ran into Lane, who was wearing her marching band uniform.
Delilah had a container of cranberry muffins. "Hey, Lane, you want some cranberry muffins?"
"Yes, please," said Lane. Delilah opened the container and let Lane take two. "Do you know Rich Bloomenfield?"
Samantha frowned, "That weird guy who always wears the Star Trek shirt?"
"Yeah," said Lane. "He doesn't wear it all the time."
"He sits behind me in my science class. I feel like he glares at me," Matt said.
"Probably because your hair is nicer than his," Samantha muttered and coughed into a tissue.
"Anyway, didn't you know him in the sixth grade?" asked Delilah.
"Yeah, but I need to know, how do I get his attention?" asked Lane.
"Trip while walking down and land with your ass up in the air, like I did," Delilah joked.
"I'm being serious, Lila," Lane said.
"Throw a paper ball at him and when he looks at you, say you meant to hit the person next to you. It only works if the person next to him hates you," said Samantha.
Lane looked at the two girls, "I need a guy's view on this one." She looked at Matt, "Hey. You're a guy."
"Thanks for noticing," Matt said dryly. "I don't know. Just go up to him and say something like, 'Hey, can you believe how ugly these band uniforms look?' He might agree and talk to you about it. Ask him about Star Trek and see if he'll talk to you about it."
"Is Star Trek the one with Darth Vader?" Lane asked.
"That's Star Wars," Matt said.
"I need to watch Star Trek," said Lane.
"Ask him about his view on the books," said Delilah. "I have seen the books at the Black-White-Read Bookstore. Ask him if he considers it part of the show or not."
"And ask him if he can watch the show with you," offered Samantha.
"Don't ask him too many questions about it, he might get annoyed with you if you keep interrupting the show," Matt said.
Lane was nodding.
"You want me to go to the bookstore and get one so you can pull it out to read it to try and get his attention?" asked Delilah.
"Yeah, that will be great," said Lane.
"I'll go get it, my mom wouldn't care if I ditched," said Matt.
"She wouldn't care if you died in a ditch," Delilah pointed out. She kissed Matt before he took off.
"Yeah, thanks Matt. Thanks you guys," said Lane. "You three have been good help."
"We're happy to help," said Samantha smiling at Lane.
Lane ate lunch with them, which was weird considering how Lane never ate lunch with them, since she was worried over rumors starting over them being a quad, and it somehow getting back to her mother, who would home-school her and never let her outside in two seconds.
Matt had returned around second period, apparently the owner had lectured him about how education was important and how he shouldn't skip school, because Matt's mother wasn't parenting him.
When they were eating, Matt gave Lane two books, who gladly took them.
"Thanks for helping," Lane said to them.
"It's no problem," replied Delilah. "I've known you since kindergarten. I'm always here to help you out if you ask."
"So, if I ask you to put on a grass skirt and a coconut bra and ask you to do the hula, would you do it?" asked Lane.
"I need to think about that one," Delilah replied.
Lane laughed, "I'm just kidding."
Delilah smiled at that.
"Let us know if anything happens between you two, all right?" Samantha asked.
"Sure," replied Lane.
They ate their lunch in silence for a minute before Samantha asked, "All right, what's up, Lane? You seem a little more dejected than usual."
"Nothing, my dad had to go on some business trip again," replied Lane.
Delilah walked in the Independence Inn to see that her mother was on the phone.
"I guess I'll just put on my red, white, and blue leotard, grab my golden lasso and Lila, and fly the invisible plane on over."
Oh, she must be talking to Grandma, Delilah thought.
"Well, if it's as bad as you say it is, I don't see how Lila and I will get there," said Lorelai. There was a pause, "I guess so." There was another pause, "Okay." Another pause before she continued, "Mom, why don't you wait and see what the weather does before you fill out a change of address card for her." There was another pause, "Put her on a sec."
There was a slight pause.
"Hi," said Lorelai, "Things bad out there, huh?" There was a pause. "Aw, you fell."
"How many times did she fall?" Delilah whispered.
"Twice," Lorelai whispered back to her. "Sorry, talking to Lila." Rory said something, "No, we're pretty much stuck in the Hollow tonight?" There was another pause. "I can always take Lila..." There was another pause, "No, sorry, we can wait. Now, honey, tell Grandma that you arrive there, not a member of the Junior League, I'd like you to leave there the same way." There was a pause, "Lila and I will, bye."
"What's up?" Delilah asked.
"Rory is staying up for the night, since it's snowing like crazy up there," said Lorelai. "So we're missing out on Friday Night Dinner with them."
"Bummer," replied Delilah, not feeling the least bit sad.
"I know," replied Lorelai.
"Maybe we can go get some fiesta burgers for dinner, and chili cheese fries," said Delilah.
"And loaded nachos," said Lorelai.
"Sounds like a plan," Delilah said. "I'm going to go see if Matt wants to come for dinner too."
"You go do that," said Lorelai. "And make sure either you or him have condoms."
"Mom!" replied Delilah embarrassed at that. "I have to go to work."
Finding Lorelai with Max was a surprise.
"Where's Rory, tonight?" asked Max.
"She's in Hartford with her grandparents," said Lorelai.
"And Lila?" asked Max.
"Right here," Delilah said.
"There she is," said Lorelai. "Max, this is Matthew Moor. He's Lila's boyfriend."
Max shook Matt's hand, "Hey, nice to meet you."
"You too," said Matt.
"You know, Matt and I can go on and you two can catch up later," said Delilah. She hoped that her mother will figure out what she was implying.
"No going home together," Lorelai called to them as they went down the sidewalk.
"Nice parental authority," said Delilah.
She knew that she was trying to look parental in front of Max. If she stayed away from home, maybe Lorelai and Max would finally hook up.
They stopped by Luke's Diner. Luke turned to face them and he smiled, "Hey, Lila, Matt. Where's Lorelai?"
"She's with Mr. Max," said Matt.
"Who's Max?" asked Luke. Luke had asked Matt to start referring to him as 'Luke' and not 'Mr. Luke'. It was just how Matt's mother raised him to refer to people with titles like that, at least until people told him to stop doing that, so he did.
"Rory's teacher from Chilton," Delilah said.
"Is she in trouble?" asked Luke.
"No," replied Delilah. "I'm not entirely sure why he's in Stars Hollow."
Luke looked grumpier, "Why aren't you in Hartford today?"
"It's snowing like mad there, and Mom doesn't want to drive there since it's terrible," said Delilah. "And since Rory was in the area..."
"Ah," replied Luke. "You two want anything?"
They sat at the counter and Delilah removed the scarf that Samantha made and set her bag down.
"I'll get the nachos and onion rings, with a Coke," Delilah said.
"Just chili cheese for me and a Coke too," said Matt.
Luke took down the order and looked out the window, at the reenactors.
Matt looked out the window at them too. "It's kind of sad, isn't it?"
"Not sad, they're all crazy," said Luke, glaring at them.
Delilah's pager went off and she took it out of the pocket of her bag. She looked at it and looked at Luke. "Hey, Luke is it okay, if I use your phone?"
"Go ahead," said Luke before going into the kitchen.
"What is it?" asked Matt as Delilah went behind the counter.
"It's saying that I should call home," Delilah said, taking the phone and calling the number.
"Hello?" said Lane.
"Lane, what are you doing at my home?" asked Delilah.
"Calling you to tell you to get your butt home," Lane said.
"Is that good news or bad news?" asked Delilah.
"A little bit of both," Lane said. "Hang on; I'm going to tell Rory."
"She's at our grandparents," said Delilah.
"Of course she is," said Lane. "Wait, where are you?"
"At Luke's Diner," Delilah said.
"Why aren't you at your grandparents?" asked Lane.
"Terrible weather conditions," replied Delilah. "Want to meet us here? I can buy you a burger and fries."
"Okay, but first I'll talk to Rory," said Lane.
"Stay safe, Lane," said Delilah.
"You too, Lila," said Lane, and hung up.
"What happened?" asked Matt.
"I don't know, something upset her," said Delilah.
"Did that guy turn her down?" asked Matt.
"I don't know. She wanted to talk to Rory though," said Delilah, going back to her seat. "She'll meet us here."
"Oh," said Matt, looking dejected.
"Don't worry," Delilah said. "I'll make it up to you."
Lane walked in, looking frustrated.
"What's up?" asked Delilah, looking confused.
"Your sister," said Lane.
"What happened?" asked Matt.
"She has no time for me," said Lane, messing with some fries. "She has her grandparents' Friday night dinners, she has Chilton, she has Dean, and she has to give Dean his cookies...and when I want to talk to her, she's not here."
"I curse the Honeymoon Phase stage in any kind of relationships," said Delilah.
"The Honeymoon Phase?" asked Lane.
"It's her first relationship," Delilah said. "She's obsessed with him because it's her first relationship. She's not being a bitch to you on purpose. It's a crap thing to ignore you, yes, and it's frustrating, annoying, and makes you want to take a cheese grater to your head because of it."
"She'll come around, eventually," Matt said to Lane. "Everyone gets like that at one point."
"Even you?" asked Lane confused.
"Velvet Garcia," said Matt, "My first girlfriend."
"She was spicy and friendly," Delilah said, remembering the Latina girl.
"She dumped me out of the blue after two months," said Matt. "She never gave me a reason."
"Eric Hansen," Delilah said. "He and Samantha dated for two weeks. Told everyone they slept together, but she turned around and spread those rumors about how short he was, how he had weird fetishes...how he called out his mother's name. Those rumors got out of control very quickly."
"And he moved," said Lane. "Why did they break up?"
"After a week of dating, he expected sex," said Matt. He rolled his eyes.
Lane nodded and looked at Lila, "How about you, Lila?"
"Definitely," said Delilah. "After two days, I introduced him to Sookie. And that's like 'Meet-The-Family' type of situation."
Lane nodded, "You guys have a point."
"I get it, being frustrated with Rory. It's kind of annoying wanting to use the phone, but she's on it talking to Dean," Delilah said as she rolled her eyes.
Lane nodded.
Delilah looked at Luke, who was now looking out the window. She looked at Lane, "Anyway, why did you page me?"
"I touched his hair," Lane said.
"You did?" asked Delilah.
"Without his permission," Lane added.
"I mean, we all do embarrassing things at one point or another," said Delilah. "At least it wasn't worse than that."
"But why would I touch his hair?" asked Lane.
"Hormones? You have a crush and it just overwhelmed you?" Delilah said, trying to think what her mother would say.
"I can't show my face to him again," said Lane. "One minute he was talking to me about Star Trek and then he was kneeling down to do something and his hair was right there. I can't go back to school because everyone will talk about this stupid thing I had done."
"Everyone does stupid things in high school," Delilah pointed out. "Like me falling down the stairs and landing ass up."
"Or that time I accidentally walked in the girls' restroom," Matt said.
"Or Samantha starting her period while wearing white jeans...and that's after getting chocolate milk spilled on her," said Delilah.
"But not like this," said Lane.
"No, but some girls accidentally end up getting pregnant," Delilah pointed out.
"And some people drop out of high school," Matt said, referring to his mother.
"And some people have threesomes," Delilah pointed out.
"Do you want us to start a rumor to blow that whole 'hair touching' rumor out of the way?" Matt asked.
Lane laughed. "Thanks, guys, for being here for me to talk to."
"Don't worry," said Delilah. "Think of me as some kind of back-up Rory when she's not here to listen to you."
They sat in silence for a few more moments.
"Hey, out of some weird curiosity, how did his hair feel?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, how did it feel?" asked Delilah. "Did it feel as good as it looks?"
"Better," said Lane with a smirk.
Delilah and Matt had walked Lane home around nine-thirty, since it was her curfew. Delilah would've been fine if Lane stayed the night, but if things went well, Delilah didn't want to interrupt by barging in and hearing something she really didn't want to hear. Plus, her mother needed some alone time...well, some time alone with Max.
She decided to stay the night with Matt, whose bed was very uncomfortable, even after having sex. It still didn't feel any better.
"How can you even sleep on this bed? It's hard as a rock," Delilah said as Matt held her. "The floor is probably softer than your bed."
"I sleep on the coffee table in the living room sometimes," Matt said. "It's surprisingly comfortable."
Delilah wasn't sure if he was joking, but considering how hard his bed was, he probably wasn't.
Delilah met up with Rory on the driveway, and was surprised when Lorelai pulled open the front door, pulling Delilah into a hug.
"You've been out all night," Lorelai said. "I called Sam's place and she said that you weren't there and I had to call Vanessa. She ranted and bitched at me for making her go look in her son's room, before she told me you were in there too. I can tell that she rolled her eyes when she told me."
"Sorry, Mom," said Delilah sheepishly.
Before she can tell her that she wanted her mother to have some 'alone' time, Rory said, "I thought you said you were going to take things slow."
"The first snowfall is always magical," Delilah replied.
"And I told you not to go back to his house," said Lorelai.
"I thought you were saying that to look adult," Delilah responded.
"Anyway, what's up?" asked Rory.
"Nothing, what's up with you?" asked Lorelai.
"You have something to tell me," replied rory.
"Boy, you're so smart," said Lorelai. "Right, okay, here we go...I've got a boy in the house."
"You what?" asked Rory.
"He slept the whole night in my bed. And you both know him," said Lorelai.
"I do?" asked Rory.
"She's saying that Max spent the night with her," said Delilah. They started to head into the living room.
"Mr. Medina?" asked Rory.
"I know," said Lorelai.
"My English teacher is in my mom's bed," said Rory.
"It was the snow. You know how I get, it's like catnip," said Lorelai. "Lila, Matt, and I were walking, he was there, his car was broken, and Lila and Matt took off. Max and I had fiesta burgers. It was the snow. Rory, say something."
Rory didn't say anything as they headed to the kitchen.
"Rory, talk to me. How do you feel?" asked Lorelai.
"I don't know," Rory replied.
"How about you, Lila?" asked Lorelai.
"I'm fine with it. I kind of figured that it was going to happen to you when you guys were hitting on each other during that parent-teacher conference," Delilah said.
"Take a guess, Rory," said Lorelai, as if Delilah was no help. "Angry? Frustrated? Nauseous?"
"Weird, I feel weird. Has he been here all night?" replied Rory.
"Pretty much," Lorelai said.
"Oh, my god," said Rory. "Did he go into the bathroom? Lila and I have stuff hanging in there!"
Delilah imagined Max going into the bathroom in the middle of the night, turning the light on, and with Psycho shower scene music playing, looking in horror at the sight of a red lace bra and matching underwear dangling from the shower rod, complete with dramatic close up. She grimaced at the thought of that happening.
"Honey, you knew I was gonna date him, right? This isn't a total surprise. Even Lila wasn't surprised," said Lorelai.
"Yes, I knew you were gonna date. I just didn't expect for him to be here...at our house...in the morning," said Rory.
"I know," said Lorelai.
"I don't remember ever there being a man in our house," said Rory. "Except for Matt, but he doesn't count."
"Yeah, well, I kind of broke the rules," said Lorelai.
"God, why is this so weird for me and not weird for Lila?" Rory said.
"Because I should've told you first," said Lorelai.
"No," said Rory.
"Maybe it's weird for you because of fact that a man has never been here before? It's like a huge step since she never let us met a guy until she's sure it's serious?" Delilah said.
"Do you love him?" asked Rory.
"I uh...we had one date. It was a great dude, World Series level. But it was just a date. Honey, I promised myself a long time ago that I was gonna keep all this stuff separate from you, and I want you to know that still stands, okay? This was a one-time thing. I'm not gonna start just bringing guys home. This is not a trend."
"You can, you know," replied Rory.
"What?" asked Lorelai.
"Bring guys home. I mean, if you like someone you should feel comfortable doing that," said Rory.
"I appreciate that," said Lorelai.
"All we want is for you to be happy," said Delilah. Rory nodded.
"And I love you both for that," said Lorelai.
"Plus, I know you're not a cat person, so you truly will be alone if you don't find someone," said Rory.
"Okay, look, someday I will bring somebody home, but when I do I just want to be surer it's the guy," said Lorelai.
"Mr. Medina's not the guy?" asked Rory.
"I don't know, he might be," replied Lorelai. "But right now it's just you two and me."
The door to Rory's bedroom opened, "And sometimes Lane."
Delilah looked at Lane and Rory, before leaving so they can hash out what ever problem they were facing. She went to her room to change into some fresh clothing, since she had taken a shower at Matt's home.
After a few minutes of hanging around in her, Rory walked in and sat down on Delilah's bed. "Hey, I found this picture at our grandparents in our mom's old room.
Delilah sat next to Rory on her bed, crossed her legs and took the photo strip from Rory. She looked at the photo strip. It was of their parents when they were teenagers in a photo booth together. They looked happy.
"Do you think Mom and Mr. Medina could be that happy together?" Rory asked.
"You feel weird, because you'd rather have it been Mom and Dad, instead of her and Max," said Delilah. Now she got it.
"Kind of," said Rory.
Delilah didn't understand why Rory felt like their dad was a big part of their lives, coming from the one phone a week and visiting once a year; but Rory was more optimistic than her.
"I don't know. She's still young. There are plenty of people out there that can make her that happy," Delilah said. "Did you and Lane make up?"
"Yeah," said Rory. "Thank you for being there for her when I wasn't listening."
Delilah nodded, looking at the photo strip. She didn't feel like her dad was a part of their lives, but in a way, she'd rather have Max be their step-father since he seemed so warm and inviting.