“About what, Mama? You’re acting funny. And your face is all red.”
"It's about the picnic. I want to bring somebody with me. I really hope that's okay with both of you, because I've actually already invited him. His name is Drew, and he's a pilot. We've flown together, which is how we met, but only once. Only once we've flown together, I mean. We've met more than once. Obviously, or else I wouldn't be inviting him, right? Anyway. I invited him. I hope you guys are cool with it, because I would rather not rescind the invitation."
Silence. Total and complete silence. Somewhere during the course of my speech, I had dropped my eyes down to my hands. Now that I was done talking, the idea of looking up at either one of them was borderline terrifying. I was so afraid that one or both of them would tell me they weren't okay with it at all. As much as I liked Drew, all it would take was one of these two telling me they didn't want him there, and I would call the whole thing off. I would have given him up completely, if that was what they had wanted.
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“Oh my God!” Emma said. “Are you kidding? No way! No freaking way!”
Emma broke the silence by jumping up from her chair and dancing around like a maniac. Her words gave way to excited little hollers, and after a second, Sophie got up and joined her. The two of them gripped hands and turned in joyful little circles, before collapsing back into their chairs, panting.
“Do you know what this means, big sister?” Sophie asked.
“No,” I answered cautiously, not liking the mischievous gleam in Sophie’s eyes. “I don’t think I do.”
"It means that now, I'll finally get some payback for all the times you grilled and embarrassed me in front of my dates! I never got to do that to you, but I totally will now. Oh man, Emma and I are going to have so much fun, thinking up all of the embarrassing things we're going to tell this dude. Forget a picnic for the Fourth. It's going to be like you're attending your own roast."
I sat silently, listening to Emma and Sophie exchange ideas for how they could best humiliate me in front of Drew. I did my best to stay calm, or at least to be something that resembled calm, but inside, I felt very close to outright panic. Ever since inviting Drew, I had been worrying about whether or not Emma and Sophie would even allow me to bring him. Now, there was a whole other set of possibilities I hadn’t even thought to worry about.
“Guys, come on,” I said. “Please stop it, okay? Please. I think I’m going to have a heart attack.”
“Aw, what’s the matter, big sis? Think we’re going to embarrass you?”
I frowned. “I don’t know, maybe. Sort of sounds like it.”
“Look, Jess, all joking aside, you can’t think like that. If you really like this guy and you think you can see it going somewhere, he’s going to have to get to know your family. He’s going to have to get to know us for who we really, truly are. What’s his name?”
“Drew. His name is Drew Larson.”
“Sure, whatever. My point is, that if Drew is put off by your family, he might not be the right guy for you. That’s probably something you’ll want to get to know, sooner rather than later. Or at least, that’s what I would want.”
“You’re right. Really, you are, but please don’t go out your way to make it harder. Deal?”
Sophie shrugged. “Maybe. We shall see, shan’t we?”
Sophie let loose a cackle of delight, and then she and Emma were on their feet again, dancing and whooping and hollering like this was the best thing ever. One thing was for sure, and that was that Emma wasn't bored anymore. That was great, except that now, I was terrified of the implications of what I had done. Bringing Drew to this picnic was more than a little get together. It was a crossroads, and I had no idea how it would wind up.
Chapter 16: Jess
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Sophie asked. “I know you must be totally bummed out that Drew isn’t coming. I would be. If you want to call it early and just go home, we totally can. I know I would understand, and I’m sure that Emma would, too.”
“But Aunt Sophie!”
“Right, Emma?” Sophie asked Emma pointedly, giving her the look of death. “Because we both want your mom to be happy, right?”
“Right,” she answered glumly, looking far from convinced. “We can go. If you want to.”
I reached over and pulled Emma into a hug, kissing the top of her head until I heard her start to giggle. I could feel Sophie watching us, and I knew she was still concerned. She knew how excited I had been about Drew joining us for our annual July Fourth picnic. So when Drew called to cancel, she knew it was massive disappointment to me. She wasn’t wrong.
I was most definitely bummed out, and there had been a part of me that had wanted to cancel the whole day. Looking at Emma, though, I had known I couldn't do a thing like that. It wouldn't have been fair to cancel, based on my own disappointment. Just like it wouldn't be fair to call it and early night, now that we were here at the park.
This was a family tradition, on that had existed long before Drew came into the picture. And if things ended up not working out with him, the tradition would continue. Besides, Emma looked forward to this night all year. It was the only time we got to see a huge fireworks show in our area. There was no way I would deprive her of it.
Emma was trying not to look upset by the idea of leaving early, but she was my daughter. I knew her well enough to know that she was fighting back tears.
“No, we’re not going anywhere,” I said. “Are you kidding? We haven’t even seen the fireworks yet. We are not going to stop having fun just because a guy didn’t show up.”
“Darn right,” Sophie answered with a smirk, putting a comforting arm around Emma. “And it’s been pretty awesome, too. Guys don’t necessarily make a thing better. Just like we were telling you a couple of days ago, Emma.”