“What’s wrong?” Travis asked.
“That was Megan’s doctor,” I told him. Travis’s eyes went wide, and he stood halfway up before I shook my head. “She’s okay. I just forgot tomorrow was our day to go up there. I didn’t even say anything to Mayra about it.”
“Is she going with us?” Travis asked. His brow furrowed a bit.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I haven’t asked her. I want her to meet Megan, though. Well, I sort of do.”
“You and Mayra getting pretty serious?” It was more of a statement than a question.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Travis sighed.
“I want to talk to her first,” he stated.
“What? No! Why?” I didn’t know what Travis was thinking about saying to her, and though they were definitely getting along better now than they were initially, it wasn’t exactly what you would call a friendship.
“Matthew…you know you and Megan together are…well…”
“Are what?” I asked.
“Different,” Travis said. “I think Mayra needs a little prep, and I think I need to give it to her.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I told him.
“I know,” he said. “That’s why I’m the one that needs to talk to her.”
“As long as I’m there, too.”
“If you want.”
Mayra came over later that evening with her hair tied up on the top of her head—still wet from her post-practice shower—and wearing a white tank top. It was a little bit low-cut, and I could see the strap of her bra when she moved a certain way. We had been doing a lot of making out shirtless this week, and I was pretty sure I hadn’t seen that particular bra on her before. I wondered if it was one of those with a tiny pink flower in the center.
She didn’t seem overly thrilled about Travis still being there and was definitely skeptical when he said he wanted to talk to her. I thought I’d better fill her in before he got started.
“I forgot, but tomorrow is the day I go visit Megan in Cincinnati.” I ran my hand through my hair. I was just about due for another haircut, and I wondered if Mayra would do it for me again. I tugged at the ends and glanced up at her. “Do you want to go meet her?”
“I’d love to,” Mayra said with a smile.
“That’s why we have to talk,” Travis said. “There are some things you need to know.”
“O…kay…” Mayra eyed him warily. “Let’s talk.”
I made our customary Cokes, and we all sat down in the living room. I sat next to Mayra on the couch, and she reached over to take my hand. I really didn’t know what Travis wanted to tell Mayra, but I was definitely nervous. Sometimes I didn’t remember much about my visits with Megan, and Travis would often ask me about things I didn’t recall.
“I know Matthew’s told you a bit about Megan,” Travis started.
“I know she’s autistic but more severe than Matthew,” Mayra said. “I’ve done a little research online about it since Matthew and I started going out.”
“Good,” Travis said. “Then maybe you’ll be a bit more prepared.”
“Prepared?” she questioned.
“Matthew and Megan are very close,” Travis said. “Closer than you might expect, considering the severity of Megan’s autism. She’s never really talked to anyone and has never called any of us by our names—”
“She said ‘mom’ once,” I said, reminding him.
“True,” Travis agreed. “Just that once, as far as I know. But for the most part, she doesn’t communicate with anyone, but when Megan and Matthew are together, Matthew is…well, different.”