“Bentley, your mom tells me you met a girl,” Aunt Judy greeted me loudly. I had just stepped into the foyer of her Victorian house, juggling the turkey Dad had deep-fried that morning. Everyone standing within earshot turned to look at me.
“You did, huh, Mom?” I called over my shoulder. I knew I should have waited until after Thanksgiving to tell her about Mac. I had just told her that morning. Knowing my mom, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d texted it to Aunt Judy during the drive over. No doubt by now the entire family knew.
“What? You didn’t say it was a secret,” she reasoned, scooting past me with her arms full of her legendary sweet potato casserole.
“I assumed you wouldn’t feel the need to blab it everywhere.”
“You know what they say when you assume,” Dad chimed in, clapping me on the back as we entered the dining room together.
“No, dear. What do they say?” Gran asked, poking her head out of the kitchen.
“Um, that it’s wrong,” Dad answered lamely.
“That’s what I thought,” Gran said, winking at me.
I grinned back. Dad may be in his fifties, but Gran could revert him back to being a kid with a look. She appeared frail, but Gran was all steel beneath her papery skin.
“So, tell us about your girl,” Gran said, placing a bowl of corn on the large dining room table. Mom and Aunt Judy chuckled at her question. They were relentless.
“Pass. I see you found your spot, Allie,” I said to my sister, who as usual, sat in the corner messing with her phone and choosing not to participate in any sort of conversation. Not that she was shy or anything. Allie was a bit of an emo chick that spent her time maintaining her fifteen-year-old social status. The only time she would say anything was to tell us how clueless we were. Like she and her friends were the only enlightened people in existence. In all likelihood she was currently posting how lame Thanksgiving was.
“Why fight it, man? You know with this family it’s inevitable that all the details come out. I was convinced they bugged my car when I was dating Devyn,” my cousin Grant added, smiling at his bride of five months.
“That’s nothing. I swear Mom followed Chris and me to the movies a couple times,” Hannah, my other cousin, chimed in.
“I did not,” Aunt Judy denied adamantly. Her denial lost some of its effect when she shot Mom a guilty look. “Let’s say hypothetically I did. It’s not like it scared Chris off,” she said, smiling at Hannah’s fiancé across the table.
“Maybe I want my love life to be private,” I protested, claiming my seat as Gran and Mom carried the last serving dishes to the overflowing table.
“Better start looking for a new family,” Gran said, sitting across from me.
“Gran, I’m hurt. You’d throw your favorite grandchild out of the family just because he wants to keep a few things private?” I asked, clutching my heart dramatically.
“Psh,” Allie snorted without looking up from her phone.
“Something to add, Allie?” I asked to mess with her.
“Fine, favorite grandson.” Allie chose not to respond further.
“You wish,” Grant said. “I’m her favorite, hands down. Especially once she hears our news.” He reached over to pat Devyn’s flat stomach with a wide grin on his face.
The table silenced at his words. The spoon of green bean casserole Aunt Judy had been about to dump on her plate fell to the tablecloth as she gaped at Grant. My uncle Bob was the first to recover as he scooted his chair backward and pulled a beaming Devyn to her feet. Though the dining room table dominated the room, he still managed to swing her around without knocking anything over.
“A baby?” Aunt Judy whispered, covering her mouth as tears filled her eyes. She rose to her feet and gave Grant, who had also stood, a bone-crushing hug.
“You owe me,” Grant mouthed over Aunt Judy’s shoulder.
Dinner was momentarily forgotten as everyone took turns hugging and congratulating the happy couple. The octave level in the room reached an all-time high as everyone chattered excitedly about due dates and baby showers. Baby talk dominated the dinner conversation, saving me from being in the line of fire. Grant was right. I owed him big time. Maybe a case of beer on his doorstep. Hell, I’d even add a pink and blue bow on it.
After dinner, the women in the family were still talking about the baby when I called out my good-byes and scooted toward the front door. Dad gave me a knowing wave and returned his attention to the football game.
Stepping outside, I felt triumphant as I headed toward my car. I had made it out by the skin of my teeth. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to talk about Mac. Hell, my roommates had gotten their share. So much so that Chad and Michael had written pussy-whipped on our bathroom mirror with toothpaste the other day. I’d left it up, too happy to care.
Talking with my family about Mac was a different story. Mom and Aunt Judy had a tendency not to give up until they knew everything. My relationship with Mac was too new to be analyzed with a fine-tooth comb. I didn’t want them to point out any possible flaws or make me second-guess anything. Not that they were cruel; they just felt it was their job to approve of who we dated. Even though I was twenty-two years old, they still treated me like I was a pimply-faced teenager on some things.
Backing out of the driveway, I turned on my GPS, which I had already entered Mac’s address into. She lived about twenty-six miles away. With traffic relatively light because of the holiday, I made it there in just less than thirty minutes.
I climbed from my car after parking behind Mac’s VW Bug. Before even getting my hand raised to knock, the door swung open, revealing a stressed-looking Mac.