So they went in, hand in hand. Laura was supposed to open the door when it opened on its own. Standing there was Laura’s mom, Marjorie. “I thought you weren’t coming in!”
“What? Why?” asked Laura.
Taylor was just standing there, not letting go of Laura’s hand. She was afraid that if she did, her knees were gonna give up on her. She had never met a boyfriend’s parent before so she didn’t know if it was normal that she was feeling this nervous.
“You’ve been parked outside the house for god knows how long. Come in, come in!” Marjorie then looked at Taylor. “Taylor, dear. Good to see you again!” She enveloped Taylor in a warm embrace.
“Hi! It’s great seeing you, too,” Taylor finally spoke. With the warmness of Laura’s mom, she felt a little more at ease.
They made their way to the living room. “Where’s everyone?” asked Laura. Their home was so silent it was deafening. Whenever she would go home, almost her whole family was there, and they were always loud, so this was a surprise for her.
“They had other prior priorities they couldn’t cancel. They feel bad that they were going to miss this, though.” She then faced Taylor. “They said they’re just gonna meet you some other time, Taylor. I’m sorry, I hope you understand.”
“Oh no, there’s no need for any apologies. It’s okay, I totally understand.” Taylor was actually quite relieved that it was only Laura’s mom who was there. It would probably gonna be ten times more nerve-wracking if everyone else was there. She also wanted to meet them, of course. Some other time, maybe.
“All right then! I’m gonna go prepare our lunch. Laura, I’ve fixed your room. You are gonna spend the night here, yes?”
Taylor looked at Laura and the latter gave her an ‘I-told-you-so’ look. She shrugged and then looked back at Marjorie. “Yes. Yes we are.” Good thing she followed Laura’s instruction of bringing extra clothes instead this happened.
Marjorie clasped her hands together. “Good! Okay. So you go get settled. I’ll fix the table.”
-o-o-o-
They were inside Laura’s room and Taylor kept looking around. “Wow. I really am inside your room.”
Laura raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been in my room before. Both of them. You’ve also done things to me I’ll never forget,” she chuckled.
“Yeah, those things I’ll probably won’t do to you in here. I mean, this is where you stayed as a baby, a toddler, as a kid! I can’t even imagine how cute you must have been back then.”
“Well, I think Mom’s keeping all my photos from way back here somewhere, if you wanna see them. They have this habit of sending me my old photos whenever it was my birthday.”
“Cool! I wanna see those things!” exclaimed Taylor.
Laura laughed at how excited Taylor was. “So, how are you so far? Scared of my mom still?”
Taylor looked up as if thinking. “Not as much as before. I’m still a bit nervous, though. I think I’m gonna feel a lot better after lunch.
“Laura! Taylor! Come on down, food’s ready!” They heard Marjorie yell from downstairs.
“Well, that’s not gonna be long then. Let’s go.” Laura held Taylor’s hand as they made their way to the kitchen.
-o-o-o-
They reached the kitchen and Taylor was surprised by how much food Laura’s mom prepared given that it was only gonna be the three of them eating. She sat down and was already hungry just by looking at everything on the table.
“Geez, mom. Did you think you were gonna meet the entire cast of Orange today? That’s a lot of food!” exclaimed Laura as she sat down across Taylor.
“It’s better to have more than enough than short.” Laura’s mom had taken her seat at the middle, too.
They all started eating, and all the time, Taylor kept praising every food served. Laura wasn’t lying when she said that her mom cooked even better than her.
“Wow, these are really good. I actually told Laura I was gonna get fat if I let her cook my meal every day, but with you, I think I’m going to be way more enormous.”
“I’m glad you like the food, sweetheart.”
They talked about all sorts of things, about Taylor’s family, Orange Is The New Black and all other things people normally talk about in a plain conversation. Taylor felt relieved that none of those made her uncomfortable. She thought Laura’s mom was gonna question her about her daughter and the like. Thank goodness there wasn’t any sign of that, so far.
Almost all the time, Laura just listened to her mom and Taylor talked. She was happy that they seemed to be getting along really well. Although she kept telling Taylor not to be nervous about this, she was actually very much freaked out, as well. She knew her mom was not one of those conventional moms and she wasn’t sure whether that was a good or bad thing. She’s met all of Laura’s former boyfriends but this time was different. Taylor was different.
After more than an hour, when all of them couldn’t breathe because of too much eating, it seemed like the lunch had come to its end. “Laura, honey. Could you do the dishes please?”
“Sure, mom,” answered Laura as she started gathering their plates.
“Come on, I’ll help you,” volunteered Taylor.
“Oh no, no, no. You’re a visitor. You shouldn’t be doing anything. Laura’s gonna be fine. Come join me outside instead?”
Taylor wasn’t expecting this. After eating, she thought that she’s passed the hardest challenge of the day. She couldn’t be any more wrong. She looked at Laura, pleading for help, but Laura just shrugged and nodded at her.
“Oh... uhm, okay.” She again looked at Laura. This time, she was smiling at her, trying to tell her that everything was going to be fine through her eyes.
-o-o-o-
Taylor and Marjorie sat at the porch outside their house. Everything was so quiet and peaceful out there, unlike in New York and Los Angeles that Taylor started relaxing a lot faster than she expected. She missed the quiet life, a life where she can go through her day normally, without having to think whether the things she was gonna do was supposed to be done or not. She loved her life now, but sometimes, she just wished she had more peacefulness and privacy. But she knew that lack of those things came with the career she chose so who was she to complain?
“You okay, dear?”
Marjorie’s voice brought Taylor back to where she really was now. With her girlfriend’s mom. Alone. She felt anxious again. “Oh, yeah! I was just appreciating how peaceful it is here. I’ve never had this in a really long time, it kind of feels cathartic.”
Marjorie smiled. “Well, when you live here long enough, soon you’ll be clamouring for some noise. And, the whole family’s not around. So enjoy this as much as you can, because the next time you’d be here, and they’re here, too, you probably won’t even know how it is like to be in a quiet place anymore.”
Taylor laughed softly. It was so easy talking to Laura’s mom. She thought of her mom and how sometimes it was hard talking to her and suddenly wished she was like Marjorie.
“So... how’s it going with Laura so far?”
And the questions were starting to come, thought Taylor. “It’s amazing. It’s been the most amazing and wonderful time of my life,” she answered honestly. “I feel terrified just by thinking of how awful my life’s gonna be without her in it.”
“She loves you so much, you know? Well, you probably know more than I do,” chuckled Marjorie. “But yeah. She does. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her laugh that way in a long time.” She was referring to their lunch and how Laura looked so happy. “Not that she wasn’t happy. She was, of course. But it’s way more evident now, and I’m pretty sure that’s because of you.”
Taylor beamed and couldn’t find the right words to say what she was feeling at that moment.
“I’m not sure if you know this about Laura but she’s never really been one who’s very welcoming of changes. Except for her hair color, maybe. She’s changed that way more than I can ever count. She looks good in whatever hair color, though, doesn’t she?”
“She does. She looks gorgeous any other way.”
“What I’m trying to say here is that, this relationship with you, it’s very new to her. And I’m sure it is to you, too. But she won’t stop being scared. I know she will never say this to you. Because telling you would mean admitting it to herself, too. And the fear would be more real than it already is if she did that.”
“S-scared of what?”
“Scared of everything. Since this is all new, she might always wonder whether she’s doing the right thing or not. Of whether she should’ve done this or that. And wondering what would’ve happened if she chose the other option instead. Laura’s not afraid of taking risks when it comes to anything... except when it comes to her relationships. She likes to feel secured. Because when she chooses to be with someone, she usually wants that someone to be in there for the long haul, you know? I mean, who doesn’t? Right?”
Taylor nodded, unsure of what to say... or feel.
“I’m not saying this to scare you away, Taylor. That’s the last thing I’d ever wanna do. Because I can see that you make her happier than any other person she’s ever been with. I’m telling you all of this because there might be days when you wouldn’t understand why she’s acting strange, if you didn’t know this. I want you to understand her during those days, because I don’t want her fear of millions of uncertainties to get in the way of her happiness. I hope this isn’t asking for too much.”
“No, definitely not. I’m actually happy that you told me this. She’s the most important person in my life right now, and losing her because of something I didn’t know would be unacceptable. And losing her is not an option that I’m willing to entertain. So, I’m gonna do everything I can to remove all of her fears away. I’m not saying I don’t have those, too. Honestly, I’m scared, too. But I know that what we have right now is what I want. She is who I want... in my life. And I’m not gonna let anything in the way of that. So, thank you, for telling me. I really do appreciate it.”
Marjorie held Taylor’s hands. “Thank you. For coming into her life. Welcome to the family!” She said with so much sincerity as she pulled her for an embrace.
-o-o-o-
It had been one of Taylor’s most peaceful days since she could remember and she hated that it was almost coming to an end. After the talk she had with Marjorie, she felt a lot more at ease and a lot happier. Laura tried asking her a lot about what she and her mom talked about but both of them had agreed of keeping that little conversation to themselves so Laura didn’t get much of it.
Taylor spent the rest of the day getting to know Laura more. She had even asked Marjorie about looking at Laura’s old photos. It was a good day.
At about ten in the evening, Marjorie had called it a night and so Taylor and Laura decided to go to bed, too.
“You’re really not gonna tell me anything??” Laura attempted to ask one more time.
“Babe, I told you. It was just a normal conversation. She told me she noticed how uncomfortable I seemed around her so she talked to me about it thinking it would make me feel more at ease and somehow it worked.”
Laura was still unconvinced but knowing her mom, she had probably convinced Taylor into not telling her anything so she just gave it up and decided to forget about it. “Fine.”
Taylor cuddled up to Laura as she looked into her eyes. “I love you, baby.”
Laura smiled and kissed the tip of Taylor’s nose. “I love you, too.”
“And I love your mom,” Taylor chuckled as she closed her eyes.
-----
A/N:
Yey internet connection's fixed! Thanks for your lovely messages, you really are all awesome. =)
Hope you like this chapter. Thanks for the reads, votes, and comments!
Xoxo ♥