Chapter Eleven

Meet the parents. :D

“You’re probably the best brother anyone could ask for.” Parker said as he drove me down the street.  

I laughed, “It’s nothing compared to what he’s done for me.” Parker reached over and grabbed my hand. He laced his fingers with mine and placed our hands on his thigh. I scooted my body closer and I leaned my head on his shoulder.

The car filled with a silence. It was a comfortable silence as he drove down the street. We didn’t need to talk to each other to experience the feeling between us. I lifted my chin and kissed the bottom of his jaw. A smile spread across his face.

His open hand turned the wheel back up the hill. “Where are we going?” I asked and closed my eyes. My nose breathed in his wonderful scent.

“My mother has the night off, she wants to meet you.” I felt my body freeze. “Don’t worry,” he said realizing my reaction. “She’s totally cool.”

Again the truck filled with that comfortable silence. It was nice to be able to sit so close to him. His touch lightened up my life. Whenever I could feel it I sucked it in. “My mother, she enjoys company probably a little too much.” His hand turned the wheel again and I looked at the large houses on top of the mountain. “I apologize now for anything embarrassing she says.”

I laughed quietly and lifted my head from his shoulder. My neck bent and I looked out the front window. Finally he pulled into the driveway of a large brick house. It was very fancy with a full circle driveway. Large bushes stood out front of the mansion. The back of the house faced down the mountain. It must’ve been a beautiful view at night.

Parker shut off the loud truck and scooted his body away from me. Our hands untangled and I grabbed for the door handle. As I opened it Parker’s bright face appeared again. His tan palm held out towards me. I grabbed it and jumped out of the truck.

Again he laced our fingers together as we walked up to his luxurious house. Rocks were added to the cement below giving it a royal look. The large entry way was magnificent. Large columns stood on either side of the large wooden door. Parker grabbed the door and opened it with his free hand. Carefully I slid my palm away from his.

He stopped me before we walked in. “We aren’t going into your house, remember?” He smiled brightly and grabbed my hand again. We walked in and I immediately became enthralled with the house. A large staircase was the first thing you noticed. It led beautifully all the way up to the second floor. Large pictures hung on the wall. They looked like expensive artwork.

I looked to my left to see a large picture of Parker. He was leaping through the air gracefully. He noticed me staring at it, “My mom loves watching me dance.” His hand touched the corner of the piece. “She loves Ballet. She danced when she was younger. Her skills weren’t nearly as great as mine. That is for sure.”

My head turned up to him, what a conceited thing to say. From behind me a mocking voice sounded loudly. “I taught you everything you’ve ever known, boy.” I spun around and my hand ripped from Parker’s.

His mother stood only a few feet from me. A dark blue sweater clung tightly to her small frame. Black dress pants hung loose all the way to her high heeled feet. Her arms were crossed against her chest and one eye brow was raised. The blue gems in the center of her face gleamed brightly in an amused manner. She was rather beautiful. It was obvious where Parker got most of his looks from.

She whipped her hair behind her shoulder and stood a little taller. “Mom, this is Russel Shaw. Russ, this is my mom Trisha.”

I stuck my hand out, “it’s good to meet you ma’am.”

Trisha smiled. “Such a formal boy,” her hand shook mine lightly. “You don’t need to be so uptight, Russ. We’re all family here.” Parkers hand fell on my shoulder. Her mood suddenly bubbled up. “Should we eat? I got Chinese.”

Her feet clicked away against the hardwood floor. Parker smiled and bumped my shoulder as he walked past. My neck strained as I looked up at the ceiling. A beautiful chandelier hung up on top. We walked around a wall and ended up in a large, very modern, kitchen. It was beautiful with light wood all around. A small four person table sat in the center of the room. Small take out tins sat on top of it. Three plates were set out. Trisha stood next to her chair. “I hope you weren’t expecting anything fancy. I like to keep things simple and down to earth.”

I smiled, “I wasn’t expecting anything really.” My eyes snapped to Parker who was still smiling.

“Did he not tell you?” She put her hand on her hips. She glared down her thin nose towards him.

He and I shared the same laugh. We both walked over to the table and took our spots. Trisha smiled down at both of us. “If you don’t mind I’m going to take these heels off. I’ve been in them all day.”

She kicked the dark heels across the room. Finally she sat down and started pouring fried rice onto her plate. “So Russ, how’d you get tangled up with my nuisance of a son?” She looked up at parker under her manicured dark eyebrows.

“We dance together,” I said quietly. My hand grabbed one of the boxes and started pouring the food onto my plate.

“We also go to the same school.” Parker said a little louder than I did.

Trisha passed me her box. “How long have you been dancing?”

“My whole life almost, it’s basically all I do.”

Trisha cracked her chopsticks and started eating the colorful food in front of her. “You sound like someone I know.” The end of the sticks pointed toward Parker. He looked over at his mom lovingly. It would be nice to be close to a parent like that. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing a lot of your parents then.”

My jaw tensed up and I looked down at the end of the table. “His parents don’t really support his lifestyle choices.” Parker said quietly and poked his chopsticks into his food.

We all got silent for a moment. I pushed the noodles around on my plate. It hurt not having parents who were supportive. I would love to have them come to my ballet recitals for once. Perhaps they’d really enjoy it. It would never happen though. Every kid wants to know that their parents love them. I wasn’t any different.

“That’s hard sometimes.” Trisha smiled and rubbed the top of my hand. “My parents never supported me in any of my choices. They wanted me to be a doctor instead I went to law school. They wanted me to marry a nice young man. Instead I married Parker’s father.”

I thought a moment about her age. She couldn’t have been very old when she had parker. “Did you go through school with parker as a baby?”

She nodded and slipped a water chestnut in her mouth. “It was tough. Luckily Parker’s father was a deadbeat and sat at home all day. Parker never set foot in a daycare until he was seven.”

Parker smiled, “I went for a week. Finally I told my mom that I wouldn’t go there anymore. She would have to find something different for me. That’s when Ballet came in.”

The smile spread on my face. His bright blue eyes gleamed over me. Memories of wonderful ballet times filled my mind. They were irreplaceable. The smell of the wood filled my nostrils, the squeak of the bar, and the patter of wooden toes. It’s where I belonged, it was my home.

“Just know that I’ll be cheering for you just as much as I do for Parker.” She plopped another piece of food in her mouth and smiled. Parker had her smiled, so full of love. His hand touched the top of my knee under the table.

“Thank you,” I whispered softly. I was thankful, I’d never felt so appreciated in my whole life.

Author's Note

<3

Reviews

[Rhea752]

That is so very sweet. i like Parker's mom