My mother’s face pinched together like she was trying to decide if I was telling the whole truth. Which I supposed I wasn’t. I could have told him when we got back, but instead I chose to make love to him first. It didn’t seem unreasonable to want one last moment of intimacy before I blew up our lives.
“I want to invite him for dinner again,” she said. “But he needs to know about Andrew first.”
“He’s got a lot going on. His dad, the business…”
“Yes, of course. Is there something we can do to help?” my mother asked.
“I offered.”
“Maybe you don’t offer. Show up. Help.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think his family knows about me.”
“What do you mean?” my father said entering the kitchen.
“I mean he hasn’t told them. I haven’t met them.”
“Why not?” He scowled. “He doesn’t think you’re good enough.”
“I’m sure he does, but his family won’t.”
“Well!” my mother said indignantly.
“They’re snooty. I told you, Dad, she tried to pay me off. Personally, I don’t want to meet her.”
My dad put his hands on his hips and glared at me. “The two of you aren’t good for each other.”
“Why, because his parents are conceited? That’s not Serena’s fault,” my mother said.
“No, because the two of you have too many secrets. If you can’t tell him about Andrew and he can’t introduce you to his parents, what sort of life can you have?”
I sighed. I’d thought the same thing at one time. Wasn’t that why I tried to avoid him? If I didn’t see him, I wouldn’t feel compelled to tell him about Andrew. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, right? Of course, it was too late for that now.
“That’s why I tried to avoid him. I’m scared of how they’ll treat Andrew.”
“They’ll treat him just fine,” my mother said confidently. “He’s a part of her son.”
“When are you going to tell him? The longer you let that go, the worse it will be, Serena,” my father warned.
“I know. I need to wait until he has time.”
My father shook his head. “No, you need to push him. I know he’s got a lot on his plate, but I doubt he’ll see your holding off as being nice to him.”
He was probably right.
“I’ll find time this week to see him. Maybe I can arrange lunch at his office or something,” I said.
My mother put her hands on my shoulders. “This isn’t just for Devin. It’s for Andrew too. He loves Devin. He can’t stop talking about him. He’s going to be over the moon about this.”
Andrew and I did our regular routine that night, although my mother was right, Andrew couldn’t stop talking about Devin and his airplane flight and trip to the Air and Space Museum.
“Do you think Devin can hang my airplane up on the ceiling like at the museum?” he asked of the toy plane Devin bought him.
“Don’t you want to be able to play with it?” I asked, pulling his covers over him.
“I want to have them hanging like they did there.”
“We’ll ask him next time we see him.”