18
Damon
Yesterday didn’t goas expected. Her mom seems to be agitated with me. For the life of me, I don’t understand why. Tessa says she is old-fashioned and didn’t like the fact we are living together before being married, but what about Chris? Leslie liked him; that’s the difference. But what have I done to warrant her not to like me? Things are different in this generation, and she is going to have to realize that eventually. Why couldn’t she just see how happy we are together?
My feet drag as I walk into the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee, hoping I can sneak in a nap later. Leslie leaves today, and it’s important that she understand how much I like her daughter and care for her granddaughter. I will protect them with my life.
Since it’s her last day here, we should go out and do something together and let her see how invested I am in their lives already and the fact that I’m not going anywhere. Tessa means too much to me to give up, and even though she says it’s okay, I know it means a lot to her for Leslie to like me, too.
“Morning, babe,” she says, trotting into the kitchen and placing a kiss on my cheek. “You look rough. Feeling okay?”
“Couldn’t sleep. I’ll be fine. What about you?”
Leslie slept with Emily in the bedroom again, which means Tess slept in my room. Hopefully that didn’t give her any more ammo not to like me.
“Good. Wish I was off today. But I think it’s a good way for my mom to get to know you.”
That’s my fear. What if she gets to know more about me and doesn’t like me, anyway? It’s terrifying to think that everything else in our relationship is great, except her mother. It is a big deal for my family to like Tessa, and it’s important that her mother likes me. If I want to someday marry her, then I want her blessing. That won’t happen if Leslie still feels the way she did last night.
“I was thinking of taking them to the zoo. Let them have some time and get to know each other. Instead of just sitting at the house all day...”
As she pours her cup of coffee, she stops for a second. “I’d see if she would be interested. That would be a lot of walking, and she’s not getting any younger. Although she’d kill me if she heard me say that.”
Good point. I can always bring it up and see how she feels about it, and if not, there are other things we can do around Grapevine. This is my last chance to get through to Leslie, and I’m bound and determined to do just that.
Tessa and I snuggle up on the couch as we savor our second cup of coffee while watching the morning news. Over and over, I cringe, realizing there’s nothing good being reported. It’s all break-ins, murders, or stupid politics. Why do we continue to watch it? I get the remote from the table and switch it over to HGTV to view something else.
“Morning,” Leslie says, strolling out of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes and searching for caffeine.
“Don’t talk to her until after she finishes her first cup of coffee. Not a morning person, remember,” she whispers to me.
Leslie comes and sits down in the living room, quiet as a mouse, drinking her coffee. I wait patiently for her to be finished, but gosh it takes forever. Like over an hour. As she takes her last sip, Tessa nods to me.
“So, what would you like to do today?” I ask.
Her eyes fix on mine. “I’m not really sure I’m up for an adventure after yesterday’s disaster.”
There’s nothing I can do about what happened yesterday. Let’s move forward!
“Well, I was thinking more like maybe the zoo. Let Emily get some sunshine. You should see the way she goes gaga over monkeys,” I say.
The only response I get is a shrug.
Tessa comes out, dressed and ready for work. “Mom, you okay staying here while he takes me to work? Emily’s still asleep.”
“Of course, dear. Gonna have another cup of coffee, anyway.”
I throw on my shoes and head out the door, waiting to speak until we are both inside the car. “What the hell happened since Thanksgiving? It’s like your mom literally hates me.”
“It bothers her that we lived together before we were actually dating, and that you’ve been married before.”
“How does my being married before have anything to do with our relationship?”
“I told you, don’t worry about it.”
The conversation stops there. Once we pull up to the office, Tessa gives me a kiss and wishes me luck. Heading back to the house, I wonder if I should even worry about her mom not liking me anymore. It’s going to give me a damn complex. And I’m not going to change who I am to appease someone else.
Heading up to my door, I can hear Emily inside laughing. When I open it, she runs and gives me a huge hug.