“Umm, yeah, totally. I’m fine. I overslept.”
Mrs. Curran laughed. “Did you, now? Did that have anything to do with the date you were on last night?”
She blushed deep and opened her mouth as she tried to find the right thing to say.
Her mother giggled. “I see how it is. It’s okay, dear. We figured you would be a bit late. We’re just teasing you. Bring the young man with you. We’d love to meet him. Officially. You know, now that you’ve clearly spent the night together.”
Jade pursed her lips. “Mom,” she warned. “You’ve already met him on multiple occasions.”
“Well, yes, but this is different, isn’t it?”
“What?” she gasped. “How?”
“Now we know you’ve spent the night in his place. That makes the whole thing a bit more serious.”
Parker pretended not to hear what Adele Curran was saying, but he still went to his closet to pick out some clothes that would be appropriate for meeting his girlfriend’s parents for brunch.
Jade ended the call with a loud sigh. “Well,” she whispered. “I am so sorry, but they know we were together against last night. Now they want you to go over for brunch. To meet you. Officially.”
Parker wanted to tell her it was all good with him. He didn’t mind, and he wasn’t going anywhere. Jade was quickly becoming his everything, but she wasn’t done freaking out.
“I need to warn you that they will grill you within an inch of your life,” she explained. “It would probably be for the best if you find a reason to get out of it.”
“Not a chance, Rosebud. If your parents have invited me over to brunch, I am going. I don’t want to be rude and give the wrong impression of my intentions with you.”
“But we haven’t even talked about our intentions to each other,” she argued.
He chuckled low. “Haven’t we, though?” He pushed her hair over her shoulder and kissed her softly. “Go hop in that shower that I know you were dying to use. We’ll be only a few minutes late.”
“You’re sure about this?” she asked.
He kissed her again, hoping to erase all of her doubts. “I have never been more sure of anything in my life,” he replied with a smile.
After they made themselves presentable, they went to Jade’s parents' home. It was a cute little house right in the center of town. Parker could easily imagine Jade growing up in the home. It was homey but original, just like his girl.
Mr. and Mrs. Curran opened the door together after Jade rang the doorbell. It was clear as day that they were Jade’s parents. Though she was the spitting image of her mother, she had her father’s coloring. It was also rather obvious right from the start that they loved their daughter very much … and in the exact way that Parker’s own parents hadn’t loved him. He didn’t want to feel bad for himself just as he was trying to make a good impression on Jade’s parents.
“Hello, hello,” Mrs. Curran sang. “Come on in. It’s so nice to see you again, Parker.” She gave him a warm hug that had no artifice.
“Hey, there, Mrs. Curran.”
Mr. Curran held out his hand for Parker to shake as soon as his wife let him go. “Sorry for intruding on family time,” Parker said.
Mrs. Curran waved him off. “Not a chance. The more, the merrier. It’s always nice to have a fresh face for brunch. I hope you brought your appetite because we always make way too much food.”
“She means it too,” Jade giggled under her breath. “It smells amazing!”
“We made fresh cinnamon buns,” Mr. Curran beamed.
“Wow,” Jade answered. “Have you two been up since dawn getting all of this ready?”
“Not quite, but almost,” her mother said, leading them into the warm and sunny solarium.
There was a massive wooden table set in the middle of the space. A nice white lace tablecloth was on top of it, and it was all very cozy. There was a plate of fresh fruit, another of vegetables, and a huge pan full of steaming cinnamon rolls. Beside them were two huge containers of frosting.
“One is sugar, and one is cream cheese. We can never agree which is the best,” Mrs. Curran explained.
“Cream cheese,” Parker said, and it took him a second to realize there wasn’t actually an echo in the solarium. It was simply that Jade had spoken the same words as him at the very same time.