The Meeting

I was tricked.

I was 17, and had recently started dating my first "real" boyfriend.  He picked me up one day under the pretenses of going to the mall and doing some shopping. That was fine by me. So, on our way, he casually says

"Oh, by the way. I'm taking you to my house on the way back so my mom can meet you."

I went cold. Meeting his mom? I had never met a boyfriend's mom before, and I was terrified. What if I wasn't nice enough? What if she didn't like how I looked? What if I said something stupid?

He knew of my family-phobia, so he planned this quite well. I couldn't exactly jump out of the car and roll home down the highway. So we went shopping, with me worrying the entire time. Then finally the moment came - we were at his house.

I walk in, and his mom, sister, grandmother, and aunt are all sitting there staring at me like I'm a whimsical fairy-creature who has come to grant them peace and good fortune. I wanted to cry.

He made the introductions, sat me down across from them all, and promptly disappeared. I was alone with them. The questions began. I was so shy that I could hardly answer. 

He finally came back and, seeing that I was scared shitless, told them we had to leave. I got in the car and exhaled the breath I had been holding the entire time. He had forgotten something, and went back inside.

When he got back into the car, he was smiling. "They loved you," he said. "They kept telling me how pretty, polite, and smart you were. My mom wants you here everyday."

"Only In Dreams" reminds me of this, because he specifically put the song on while driving me home that night. A couple of months later, he wrote out the lyrics and framed them for me.