It's 6:45 .
Okay , so I have less than 15 minutes left to panic and feel super stressed about tonight until I can absolutely do nothing about it.
Okay , I got this. Right ? It's fine , everything's going to be fine.
I looked down at myself, maybe I should change first ...
With that thought, I rushed upstairs, threw on a causal floral dress and my hair up in a bun.
That's when I heard the doorbell .
Shoot ! He's 10 minutes early ! I'm not ready yet , I still need shoes ! Where on earth are my shoes !
I started to panic , like really panic.
"Ah , you must be the doctor. I'm Mike Park-" I heard my dad's voice from downstairs.
Of course he had to answer. Where's my mom when I need her ?
Reaching under my bed I found the other pair of my sandles and then rushed downstairs , but in a more subtle way and not as in ' I heard you were here and came to save you from my dad's burning questions ' kind of way .
"Dad , are you being nice ? " I said with a smile , appearing next to him .
"Always honey. "
"Hi , I'm Helen , Amaya's mom. My, aren't you handsome. "
"Mom ..." I said embarrassed that my mom ACTUALLY just said that.
"Why don't we head to the dining room ? " mom said as I couldn't leave fast enough.
We all took a seat around the table as awkwardness filled the room.
"Mike , will you say Grace ? " mom said as we all took hands , well , expect for Aiden and I . My dad just gave us a look that said don't you dare . So we didn't.
"Dinner looks delicious Mrs Parker. "Aiden complimented as my mom gave him a grateful smile in return.
After a very long and awkward dinner my mom and I cleared the table and went to the kitchen to fetch dessert as my dad was left alone with Aiden. This was not good.
"He'll be fine honey . He's a grown man and your dad's not that bad you know that ." Mom tried to assure me but I didn't know so well ...
Taking a deep breath my mom and I made our way back to the dining room - of course hearing my dad question him with a thousand questions - but , him answering and dodging them like a pro.
"So where did you graduate? "
"University of Michigan sir. "
"Any family? "
"Two parents and an older sister. "
"Any bad habits? "
" I get antsy when I'm nervous. "
The questions and answers where flying across the table at lighting speed . One after the other . It was hard to watch but also cool to see him answer them so quick and honest , like it was his second language.
"Mike . "Mom warned as the questions became a little too much for her to bare .
"I'm done Helen. Just one more question, " dad said as I inwardly sighed . Poor Aiden , I can't even imagine the pressure he must be under right now .
"Sure . "
"Where do you go to church? "Dad asked as the room fell quiet.
As a pastor I would've thought that it would be the first question he would ask . That he would've led with that. But I guess he saved the best and most important one for last. That's so dad.
We all waited for him to answer , I for one didn't know what to expect him to answer but then again , that's the point of this dinner , to get to know him better. Right?
"Grace alive church, down town sir. " he answered as smooth as possible. That means my dad finally got the answer he was looking for the whole night . He's possibly a Believer too. But that's not where the story ends because anyone can go to church every Sunday and not be of godly character yet. So I knew there were a few more questions to follow this one. But I didn't mind them , this is the important stuff.
"If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been attending Grace alive ? "
"For aslong as I can remember. My parents met there , got married there. My brother and I were both christened and baptized there . I've really found my home there sir. " he answered in the best possible way, and he couldn't have made my dad more proud even if he tried.
That's exactly what my dad wanted to hear. Well, sort of I guess.
"That's great son. Now we can enjoy my wife's delicious apple pie. You deserved it. " my dad said proud as I was stunned that this dinner went down so well.
Never in my wildest dreams could I have predicted such an amazing turn out. But I guess God had a plan here tonight, some how ...
****
"Yeah , and he answered every question like a pro. Like he wasn't nervous at all ! " I said to Shawn, walking back home with him.
"Sounds like he's got your dad's blessing in the bag . "
"I mean... sort of ? I don't know. What do you mean exactly? " I asked confused as we come to a stop .
"Nothing. It's just - it seems like your dad really likes him. Like REALLY , REALLY likes him. "
"Okay ? " I said as we started walking again.
Ever since we left the park and I started talking about Aiden it's almost as if Shawn has gotten quieter. Like he's not even paying attention to what I'm telling him...
Maybe he had an off day ?
"Well , this is me. I gotta go. See you around Amaya ."he says as he disappears into his house without a hug or another glance back. Plus, he called me AMAYA. Which I know doesn't seem bad cause it's my given name. But never in 14 years has he called me by my given name before . It's always Maya or Blondie.
Something doesn't feel right about this.
And I'm going to get to the bottom of it . Soon.
That's it ! It's shorter than usual but I didn't really know how to end this one. But it's here and it's up ! Hope you all enjoyed this little snip bit. Until next time, keep howling my wolves 🐺❤