The View From Here

25. Who said BBQ's aren't dramatic?

*Conner POV*

"Okay Dad, let me explain what's happening later today."

"Could I finish my waffle first?"

"You can eat them while I explain."

"Okay but then what about you? Won't your food get cold while you explain the basics of a barbecue." He joked as he nudged the plate into my hands that rested on the table.

"I'm not saying you don't know what a barbecue is I'm just trying to help you mentally prepare to meet my boyfriends family and close family friends."

"Alright I understand, but can we simply enjoy this father-son breakfast in one of the most popular diners of the south first? I promise I'll hear you out but first food."

Letting out a sigh I picked up my fork and began digging into my own chocolate chip waffle. I only had a few bites before I'm being nudged further into the booth by a specific employee.

"Hi, my names Jennifer or Jenny for short."

"Hello Jennifer, my name is John and I'm—"

"He's my dad." I interrupted, glad I now had Jenny here to help me talk about Ambrose and his family, friends, and other things I might miss.

"Jenny I'm glad your here, I need your help. I'm taking my dad to the weekly bbq at Ambrose house and I'm trying to give him a— I guess you could call it a spark notes version of the people who'll be there." I tried to explain.

"What's the worry?" She asked before whispering, "Wait does he know that you and Ambrose are, you know."

"Yep, I had the worst "introduce your boyfriend to my dad and stepmom" of my entire life after you left the other day. So, now I'm trying to have the best parent to parent introduction after that train wreak— no offense dad." I rambled on knowing I'd have to go into better detail about the other day with her some other time.

"Yeah, okay so where shall we start?" Jenny asked, and I felt myself melt into the booth with relief even if both of them think I'm crazy for wanting things to be smooth sailing. For the next hour, Jenny and I did our best to lead my dad through Ambrose's family and close family friends that would be in attendance. We also discussed possible talking points he could do with specific people. By the end of it, I felt so drained as if I had run a marathon instead of talking about people for an hour. At some point, I did have to fly solo when Jenny's boss told her to get back to work.

"There isn't gonna be a test later or something right? Because I feel like that was a lot of information right now." My dad joked as we got settled in his car for him to drive us home before the bbq.

"You'll be fine as long as you remember the basics that Jenny and I went through."

"Yeah I know I know. I promise to be on my best behavior." He complained before starting the car up and driving back to the house, we still had a few hours to kill before we had to head over to Ambrose's house.

"So I guess this means things between the two of you are getting pretty serious?" My dad questioned, but it felt more like a statement than an actual question.

"Yeah I mean he likes me and I like him, what more is there?" I asked reaching my hand out toward Howard who had his head resting on my lap. Twirling his ears around my fingers, I start to think about how I feel so absolutely loved by him and how I love him. I feel like if I told my dad that he'd think I'm falling for Ambrose way too fast, like he'll tell me that we—I should slow down. I think he'd tell me that I need to be careful so I don't end up like him and mom, who got together during their puppy love days in college only to end up divorced a few years later. I don't know why but somehow I know he won't just leave me like that, maybe it's the way he talks about us as if nothing could come between us. My train of thought gets interrupted as my dad clears his throat.