Loved With Color

“Good morning,” she says as I hand her a cup of coffee. She adds a generous spoonful of sugar and milk to hers.

“Morning,” I say grinning at her.

“What? She asks before taking a sip.

“Have dinner with me tonight,” I state.

“Yeah? Okay.”

“I want you to meet my parents.” She frowns.

“Your parents? Isn’t it a bit soon for that?” she asks setting her mug down on the counter so fast some coffee splashes out. “Shit,” she murmurs moving to the sink for the sponge.

“What do you mean?” I demand angrily. It’s pissing me off that she could think that after all we shared. Sure, it’s only been a day, but it feels so much longer than that.

“Just what I said. We just met yesterday. I think parents are jumping the gun,” she says emphatically, but her eyes are swimming with tears. She’s lying.

“Bullshit. Tell me the fucking truth.”

“What if they think I’m not good enough for you? My mom’s a stripper, I’m dirt poor.”

“It sounds like you don’t think you’re good enough for me, Shaynah and that couldn’t be further from the truth. My parents aren’t like that. They might be rich but they’ve earned every dime. They are elbow deep in vaginas and assholes every day. My dad is from Pooler. He grew up in a trailer park there. My mom is from a tiny town in Florida. She didn’t live a trailer but with five brothers and a single mom, she may as well have. She got rich when her grandfather passed away dividing his fortune between her and my uncles. He was estranged from my grandmother. She refused to get married and raised each kid, each with a different father by herself. They wouldn’t judge you, baby.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. Besides, even if they don’t like you, I love you and that matters more.” She looks up at me so quickly I am surprised she didn’t get whiplash.

“You love me?” she asks.

“What did you think this was?” I ask moving closer to her.

“I know what I hoped it was.”

“It’s forever, baby. I said forever and I meant it.” She nods, tears filling her eyes.

“Forever was never in the cards for me before you, Blake. I’ve been living day to day since I was thirteen years old. My mom was not the best mom, she tried but I had to pick up the slack, you know? I haven’t spoken to her in two years. How fucking crazy is it that I miss her?”

“She’s your mom, Shay. I don’t know what she did, and you don’t have to tell me, but she wasn’t perfect. She made mistakes just like everyone else. You are allowed to love her,” I say rubbing her arms.

“I love you and you’re right,” she says pausing. “You’re absolutely right. I should call her. She lives in Florida with her new husband now.”

“I think you’ll feel a lot better if you do, but it’s totally up to you. Wait, did you say you love me?” I ask grinning.

“Yeah,” she says. I kiss her pouty lips before I lift her and set her down on the counter. Standing in between her spread legs, I grasp the back of her neck and lean in and kiss her. Her moan spurs me on.

“Are you on birth control,” I blurt.

“What? No, I am not,” she says looking worried.

“Good,” I respond firmly, going back to her lips. I can’t help fucking her again and she’s late for work but it was so worth it.

I am a few minutes early for lunch with my parents but I go ahead and grab a table and a draft beer while I wait for them. I dropped out of med school about an hour ago and fuck was that freeing. I feel ten years younger. Twenty minutes later my parents breeze in, holding hands. They have given me an example of what love should be like and I know that I’ve found that with Shaynah. Standing, there are hugs all around.

“Hey son, how have you been?” My dad, also named Blake says.

“Been good. I have some important things to discuss, and I need to tell you now.”

“What is it, Blakey?” My mom, Karen, asks looking concerned. “Are you okay?”

“Never better actually. I quit med school,” I say, dropping that bomb on them. My mom smiles at me and my dad pulls twenty dollars out of his pocket and hands it to my mom. She tucks it into the breast pocket of her lab coat. I arch an eyebrow at them.

“Son, can’t say we didn’t think this day was coming. I never thought you’d last this long, to be honest.”

“What?”

“You just don’t have the passion for it. We know how wrong it was that we forced it on you. We just wanted the best for you.”

“And you bet on it?”

“Sorry, son,” my dad says laughing. I laugh too, because it’s funny.