Charlotte
“Hey, relax, you’ll break the arm rest,” Alex teased as the plane cruised down the runway ready to take off. “It’ll get easier once we’re in the air.”
I relaxed my grip on the arm rest and shot him a reassuring smile. I wasn’t worried about the plane falling. My source of nervousness was the frightening fact that I was going to meet Alex’s family in the next hour and a half.
It had been just the two of us for so long. Of course there were friends but those were people Alex had met in Ohio, not his circle at home. Nausea swirled in my stomach. If it were up to me, we’d not have left Ohio.
Which was wistful thinking. Love required that you meet your boyfriend’s family and get on like a house on fire. The problem was that I’d never played families except with a doll I’d been given by one of my favorite foster mothers.
I didn’t know what families did or how they related to each other. In a moment of inspiration, I turned to Alex. “Can I ask you something?”
He covered my hand with his. “You can ask me anything, you know that.”
I inhaled deeply. It was a stupid question to ask. “How do people act in a family?”
He stared at me blankly. “I don’t understand.”
I swallowed hard. I’d told Alex about my background, but I don’t think he understood it. How could he when he’d grown up surrounded by people who loved him.
“As you know, I didn’t have a sibling.” Lack of a sibling was the hardest thing I faced when growing up. I’d always thought my life would be perfect if only I’d had a sister or a brother.
“It was just mom and me.” And most of the time, she was so out of it, she even forgot who I was. I remember once, we were on the couch and she’d been dozing.
Then she’d woken up, startled by something and stared at me, as if shocked to see me there.
“Who are you?” she’d said and before I could answer, she fell back asleep.
“I know Chaz,” he said.
“And I never spent enough time in foster care to find out how real families behaved.”
Alex looked thoughtful. “You mean like what people do on a day to day basis?”
“Not really, no.” That was part of it but there was more that I couldn’t put into words. “What binds you together?” I watched movies and TV and I knew that families shared meals, their days and stuff like that. Maybe what I wanted to know was what made them a family.
“That’s a difficult question,” he said. “Shared dreams and goals, a love for each other, support. I’m not sure if that’s the kind of thing you mean.”
I nodded but was a mess inside. I felt even more of an outsider. I took a deep breath. With time, his family would be mine too. Didn’t in-law relationships work like that?
It would take time, but I would work for it, I told myself. I would do everything in my power to get along with them and spend time with them. These thoughts calmed me down. I felt as if I had a purpose.
By the time we landed at LaGuardia, I was ready to meet my future family. We took a cab from the airport to Manhattan where Alex’s parents lived. Alex hadn’t been home in the year we had been together and his attention was on the passing landscape.
Guilt flooded me. I’d been selfish and hadn’t encouraged him to go home either. Well that was going to change.
Less than fifteen minutes later, the cab stopped in front of what could only be described as a mansion, set back away from the road. After paying the cab, Alex and I hopped out. As he went to the trunk to fetch our bags, I looked up at the massive house and a knot of anxiety formed in my stomach.
“Let’s go,” he said and shot me a reassuring smile.
I smiled back but I was sure that my smile was a grimace. Alex walked me up to an imposing huge, curved wooden door. He placed our bags down and rang the bell.
My heart felt like a fist pounding the inside of my chest. We stood for a few seconds and then the heavy door was opened. A plump woman with a smiling face and a black apron over a white dress, stood there smiling.
“Alex, you’re finally home!” She stepped forward and Alex bent his head to kiss her cheek.
“It’s good to be home Nina. I’ve missed you all,” he said. He turned to me. “This is my girlfriend, Charlotte Evans.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Evans. Come in. I’ll take those,” she said. “Everyone is in the drawing room having pre-dinner drinks. You know that’s your mother’s favorite time.” She winked at Alex and they shared a laugh.