A wide smile broke out across my face, and it was returned by him. He reached up and gave a little wave, and his parents turned to see who he was looking at.

“Malia?” Dee asked from behind me.

I turned to see they were outside, holding the door expectantly. Embarrassed, I hobbled out after them and down the ramp. I tried to avoid talking the rest of the way to the car, and thankfully Dee didn’t mention it on the way home.

12

GERRY

My parents ribbed me for a little while about Malia. I guess I should have seen that coming, since they hadn’t had a chance to do that since I was in high school. Even then, it was ineffective since I mostly avoided bringing anyone around. It wasn’t that I was ashamed of Hank and Lana—quite the opposite. I never felt like anyone deserved to meet them.

“She was very cute,” Lana said, taking a sip of her drink and rolling her eyes over to Hank. “You should have stopped her and asked her out.”

“I bet she would have said yes. The way she was looking at you… that’s the way Lana looked at me before I asked her out,” Hank said.

“I told you everything you needed to know with my eyes,” she said. “It’s a lost art these days. But that little girl was trying.”

“That’s the problem,” I said, trying to laugh it away. “She’s young. Very young. Too young.”

“Her?” Dad asked. “She looked like she’s in her twenties.”

“Your father has eleven years on me,” Lana said. “My Hank was thirty-three when I met him. So handsome in his uniform.”

They were making eyes at each other again, a routine they often went through. People often asked them when I was younger how long they had been married. They were often surprised to find out that even then it was a couple of decades.

“How do you know her again?” Dad asked.

“Remember how I was telling you the last time I was here, there was a girl who fell off the porch out there and I helped her back up?” I asked. “That was her.”

“Oh, you didn’t tell us she was only on one leg,” Mom said. “I just thought you helped a clumsy girl.”

“Well, she thought she had just been clumsy, so there’s that,” I said. “She fell and I helped her up. But then, she got back up the stairs and almost fell again, and I caught her. She was really rude to me, actually, but then she found me here a couple days later and apologized. She’s very sweet. Very young, but very sweet.”

Quickly, I motioned to Janet and got her to bring me the bill for the meal. She shook me off, telling me it was on Finn, and the conversation between us thankfully ended their prying about Malia. Finn came to the table a few minutes later and again refused to let me pay for the meal, asking only that I left something for Janet.

As we walked out of the diner a little bit later, Hank went ahead to get the car as he almost always did for Mom. She was holding on to my arm, and we chatted about how the mountains looked early in the day. Then she sighed and put her head on my shoulder.

“Don’t let the age thing bother you, son,” she said. “If that girl fancies you, and you fancy her, that’s all that really matters.”

“Okay, Mom,” I said.

“As long as she’s of legal age, and you both consent, then love doesn’t discriminate,” she said. “Your comfort is important, but don’t let other people’s opinions get involved in it. If she likes you and you like her, that’s all that matters.”

I smiled and kissed the top of her head.

“Thanks, Mom,” I said.

“We love you so much, Gerard,” she said. “We have ever since the first day you came to stay with us. We just want you to be happy.”

“I know. And I appreciate that.”

I really did too. I couldn’t imagine the difficulties that would crop up when dating someone ten years my junior, but it was nice to know that they were on my side if I did.

What Lana said stuck in my head for a long time that day. She had been eleven years younger than Hank when they met, albeit she was twenty-three or so. But the age difference was very similar. They made it work and continued to every day, to an almost goofy degree. They loved each other more than any two people I had ever known.

Yet, at the same time, they’d met at a different time. It was fifty years ago. The rules were different then. Now I would be seen as the sad, creepy old guy chasing after a college girl.

Then again, she’d smiled at me first.

I tried to shake that off. And as the day continued on, I concentrated on how much I enjoyed having Lana and Hank around. There was a special happiness that I felt at just being able to look over and see either one of them there. Growing up without reliable parents meant that when I finally did have them in Hank and Lana, I didn’t really know how to react to it properly. It kind of bothered me at first that they were always there, always interested in what was going on in my life.

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