Laney and I came over to her parents’ house today for dinner, and Julia has promised me to keep her occupied. The last three months have been the best of my life and I know that I want to keep this feeling forever. I’ve been nervous the whole evening and am finally to the point where I just need to get it over with. Regardless of how this goes, Laney will be mine. But it will make it so much easier if I have her father on board.
As we sit in the chairs on the porch, it hits me then what he said. “What do you mean you’ve been waiting for this?”
But Jerry just shakes his head. “Oh, nothing. What were you wanting to talk about?”
I take a deep breath and realize that even with all the planning I’ve done and practicing what I’m going to say, in the end I just blurt it out. “I love your daughter, sir. And I want to spend the rest of my life with her. But before I ask her, I would like to have your blessing.”
I hold my breath, waiting for his answer. Laney loves and respects her father so much, I know this, whatever he says, is going to determine what kind of future we could have. When he doesn’t say anything, I continue. “I know I’m probably not the man you would pick for her. I know I’ve made mistakes and you’re probably worried… Well, I know Laney deserves better than me, but I love her, and I’ll spend my whole life making sure that she’s taken care of and she never doubts how much I love her.”
Jerry seems to take it all in, rocking back and forth. When he stops suddenly, I sit up straighter in my chair, making sure that I’m looking straight into his eyes. I want him to see how much I mean what I’m saying.
But absolutely nothing could have prepared me for what he says. “I’ve been waiting for this… That’s what I said earlier. I’ve been waiting since you and Laney were in tenth grade, knowing that one day you would come to me wanting to marry my daughter. Even when she got sidetracked and met—well, you know, the asshole—I knew even then that you would be the one coming to me and asking for my daughter. I never gave up hope, son.”
Confused, I question him, not understanding. “Hope?”
He just nods his head and starts rocking again. “Yep, hope. Even then it was obvious how much you loved my daughter. Hell, I don’t even think you realized it, and what with the history of your mom and everything, I get it. And yeah, you were a little rebellious growing up, but you’re a good man, Austin, and you make my girl happy. I know you love her and will protect her. And that’s all I need to know. You have my blessing.”
Stunned, I have to choke back a little emotion. I reach my hand out, wanting to shake his hand, but I think I shock us both when I pull him up out of the chair and give him a man hug, slapping him on the back. I pull back and feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. “Thank you, Mr. Gowan.”
He laughs. “Jerry. Jerry is fine, son.”
We both turn when the front door opens and Laney walks out. “What’s going on out here?” Her mom is standing behind her looking at me apologetically, but I just smile at her.
“Oh nothing, just having a talk,” I tell her.
Laney then pulls a basketball from behind her back. “Look what I found. You up for a game?”
I can’t help but laugh. “What? I didn’t beat you enough in high school?”
She walks off the porch with the ball under her arm. “I think I got you now. Plus, you’re old now. I can do this.”
I shake my head. She always did talk a lot of smack. I leave her parents on the porch and follow behind her. “You do know we’re the same age, right?”
She stops suddenly, fire flashing in her eyes. “I’m not old.”
I steal the ball from her hands and shoot it easily through the basket. “Neither am I… and I still got it,” I tell her as I drain it, nothing but net.
She gets the rebound, dribbling around me, does a fake, and then shoots the ball, making it. We spent hours doing this when we were younger and it brings back a lot of memories.
“Maybe we should play ‘Have To,’” she says before she shoots again.
‘Have To’ is a game we played where the loser had to do whatever the other one told them to do. I laugh, because I know Laney. I won every time and when I told her what to do, she would always convince me with her puppy dog eyes to take it easy on her. She always ended up doing what she wanted to do. I hold the ball at my hip. “I’ll play, but this time no cheating or trying to haggle. I win, you do what I say.”