“Dad,” I groaned, “stop talking to the hedgehog and listen to me.”
“I did listen to you,” he argued, “and I told you no.”
“I’m nineteen,” I explained, trying to keep from sounding whiny, “I’ve been gone for a year at college. If I can survive that by myself I can certainly handle a road trip with Dean unscathed.”
“Yes, you’re nineteen,” he agreed, “and he’s a twenty-one year old guy. I know what I was thinking about at twenty-one.” He began to swivel his hips in a suggestive manner.
“Oh, ew.” I gagged. “Jeez, dad, that was unnecessary. Besides, it’s not like that with Dean and me. We’re just friends.”
He snorted.
“It’s true!”
“What’s going on in here?” My mom asked as she breezed into the kitchen, her long skirt billowing around her legs.
“Thank God you’re here,” I sighed in relief, “maybe you can be the voice of reason.”
“Our daughter wants to go on a road trip with a guy,” my dad told her.
Before my mom could respond I hastened to add, “Dean. I want to go on a road trip with Dean. Not some random stranger like he’s making it sound.”
“Dad, stop being a fun sucker,” my brother, Mascen, called from the family room.
My dad sighed wearily. “When did my kids become teenagers that like to gang up on me?” He muttered the words to himself.
My mom sidled up to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “I don’t see anything wrong with her going with Dean. We’ve known him since he was a baby. He’s a part of the family.”
My dad growled.
Legit growled.
Like an angry bear.
“It’s like you’re all conspiring against me,” he muttered. “I can’t trust any of you. At least I
have my hedgehogs.” He stroked the quills of Amy. “They would never betray me this way.”
My mom patted his shoulder and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Poor baby. You’ll get over it.”
To me he said, “I’m not saying yes, but I’m not saying no yet either. Let me think about it, and whatever my decision is you need to respect it.”
“Thank you, daddy!” I hugged him tight, hoping the gesture would make him lean towards saying yes.
“I haven’t said yes!” He warned as I ran from the kitchen and up the stairs.
“But you will!” I sing-songed.
“That one will be the end of me,” I heard him mutter to my mom before I topped the stairs.
In the hallway I ran into my little sister Lylah.
Her sandy blonde hair, a darker shade than mine, curled around her shoulders. She was tall and willowy, graceful like a dancer even though she’d never set foot into a studio in her whole life.
“Willow!” She grinned when she saw me and light reflected off her metal braces. “I didn’t know you were home!” She barreled into my arms. “I missed you!”
Lylah was five years younger than me, but that didn’t stop us from being close.
“I missed you too.”