Everything's Alright

Chapter Eleven

We arrived at the restaurant five minutes past the hour. I saw my parents' car already there. I pulled into a parking spot and we climbed out of my car. I locked it and we quickly walked to the entrance of the restaurant.

"What do I call them?" He asked. There was a possibility that he was more nervous than I was. I took his hand.

"Their names are Mac and Sue Ellen but you should probably call them by their last names."

He nodded.

We walked in and saw that they hadn't been seated yet. I hugged them first.

"Mom, Dad. This is Mark. Mark, these are my parents." I said. He shook my dad's hand but stored when he turned to my mom.

She was giving him a peculiar look. "I know you..."

"Yeah, uh, Mom. I used to talk about him a lot when I was a teen." I said, embarrassed.

"How the hell did this happen?"

"We'd love to tell you over dinner." He said with a smile. He had a sparkle in his eye and he seemed to be more confident.

And with that, someone came and took us to our table. We all looked over the menu. Or waiter came and took our drinks. Mark and my dad ordered a bottle of beer while my mom and I had a glass of red wine.

When he came back with them, we told him what we wanted you eat. Dad got a steak and mom got a salad. Mark and I got pastas of sorts. The waiter took our menus and walked off.

"So," started my mom, "how did you two fine to know each other?"

"The internet." I said, taking a sip of my wine to help down the nerves. "I found him through Tumblr and YouTube, as you know. And he inspired me to create my own blog and YouTube channel to talk to people and try and help them with whatever they were struggling with."

"And that's how I found her." Mark stated. "I saw how much she was helping the community and how caring she was and knew she was special. I started becoming her secret admirer on Tumblr, sending her little messages on Anonymous to let get know how important she was. And when she stated posting videos, well..." He blushed

I knew my face was bright red. I had had no idea that he was my little Anon. I was speechless. The waiter came back with our food. It looked magnificent. Mark continued as we ate.

"She tagged me in something on Tumblr, asking me to come say hi. And I said yes. I flew across the country from L.A. to here so as to meet her in person. And now, here we are."

"Wait, so you've only been together for the weekend?" My mother asked mid-bite.

"Technically, yes. But mom, listen. We mean a lot to each other, which is why I wanted you to meet him. I wanted you guys to meet my hero and my inspiration to help people." I said very seriously.

"And she's one of the reasons why I still make videos. People like her make me keep going and keep wanting to entertain people." Mark chimed in. "I've come to grow very attached to your daughter, which is why I wanted her to move in with me."

I thought my mother was going to have an aneurism the way she responded.

"After three days?!?" She questioned rather loudly. I waited until the restaurant had went back to it's usual chatter before I spoke.

"We've gotten to know each other over a long period of time, Mom. It's just that only get recently that we've been able to express our feelings face to face. And it's been the best weekend of my life." I said.

"Same here." Mark said.

My parents didn't say anything for a while. They went from staring at me, to Mark to each other and back. They did this for several minutes, then some in hushed tones for a while. My nerves had kicked in again and my leg has started tapping. Mark took my hand to help center me. I gave an appreciative smile towards him.

Finally, my parents looked at us.

"Oh, sweetheart. We love you and we want you to be happy." My mother said, then she turned to Mark and have him the sternest look I had ever seen. "If you hurt her, or get her pregnant before she's married - I will find you, and I will chop your balls off"

I froze and so did Mark, until he eventually nodded and swallowed really hard. "Yes, ma'am"

"Well, now that that is taken care of, who wants dessert?" She smiled. I loved my mom, but sometimes she could be frightening.

We ordered a piece of cake that we all nibbled off of. When the check came my dad and Mark played the 'who will pay for the check' game. Mark won. I assumed that YouTube must be paying him well.

We exited the building. I hugged my parents. My parents hugged Mark. I was so happy that they accepted him. We walked to our respective cars and drove home.

As soon as we were home, I changed into Mark's pants and a long T-shirt. I passed out almost immediately.