The Symphony

Metting The Parents

Do not let birds that can't fly
pick at your feathers
- Abigail Kuhn
______

We arrive at my parents' house and I see Wilhemina's jaw drop. She turns to glance at me quickly before leaning more towards the window. "This house is fucking huge. If you could even call it a house... it's like a damn factory" she says in awe. It's cold like a factory too. The car comes to a stop and I walk around to open her door for her.

Helping her down since the truck is a bit higher up than my own. I help the driver grab the bags and we all walk up to the front door. I put in the code and open it while Wilhemina watches in slight awe. "We're here" I say in a raised volume but not quite yelling. God forbid I announce my presence too loudly.

The driver takes the elevator up to my room with the bags on a carrier. I turn to see Winnie just staring at the closed doors. "Come on, let's find them" I tell her and her head snaps to me before she nods. I take her hand and she smiles softly as she follows me. I walk directly out to the patio since I know that's where they are.

Sure enough, there they are sitting under the cabana. "We're here" I repeat, and they turn to face us with fake smiles. "Oh hello, dear" my mother says and she approaches, "and you must be... Wilhemina" she adds. "Yes ma'am" my girlfriend replies, causing me to giggle. "Hi, I'm Tom and this is Macy" my dad says politely.

"It's nice to meet you" Winnie offers, which my mother seems to dismiss while my dad smiles. "We have dinner reservations at 6 for that place you like" she speaks up, "I wasn't really planning on doing anything today" I reply with a sarcastic smile. "You have plenty of time to take a nap if you're tired" she challenges with the same smile.

For the sake of not arguing in front of Mina I agree. "Wonderful. We have some business to attend to..." she slightly glares at me, "so we'll meet you there" she finishes. "See you there" I mumble as they walk away and I usher Mina back inside. "That was..." "unbearable, I know" I say, filling in the blank.

"Would you like a tour of the house?" I ask, remembering how excited she was when she first saw it. She nods quickly with a smile and I chuckle softly. I take her around the ground level, showing her the kitchen in case she ever wants a snack. The billiard room, my dad's man cave; which I made her swear to say she never entered.

My parents' offices and other random rooms we have. Then I took her to the second floor by way of the elevator. "This is mostly the 'family floor' so all the rooms are made to fit a lot of people" I explain. I show her the theater room and the game room which has a ping pong table as well as air hockey.

"That one is multi-purpose, basically a home gym. That far one is my parents' room since they wanted their own floor" I say and she nods along. Finally, we head up to the third and last floor. "Alright, finally here. So this is our room..." I open the door and show her. "The one next to us would be one of my older cousin's room. The others are just guest rooms and the one at end of the hall was for sleepover parties. It has bunk beds and stuff like that" I explain.

"This house is really big" she repeats and I nod while laughing. "Oh and this... is my favorite part of the house" I say taking her over to the balcony. It over looks the ground floor and you can see everything. "Whenever my parents would have 'adult parties' I would eavesdrop from up here. Granted, I couldn't hear much but I would laugh at all them being so drunk" I giggle as I recall the memories.

"So you lived here your whole life?" she asks as we go back to our room, "only half of my 'childhood' really. They bought this house when I was... 12? Though I didn't spend much time here as I was typically off at school or summer camp" I answer. "You went to boarding school?" she asks surprised.

"Well no... not technically. They had dorms but because it's so close I could choose whether to come home or not" I shrug. "I'm learning a lot about you today" she chuckles, "I guess so" I reply with a smile. "And your parents... what do they do? I mean it must be a hell of a job to afford this" she presumes.

Don't. Lie. Charlie. "My dad sells cars, well be owns dealerships. My mother is a cardiothoracic surgeon" I answer simply. Not a lie... just not the whole truth. "Wow. I can't imagine living in a house this big" she mumbles as she looks out the window. "As a kid it's nice... you have a lot of places to hide and run around" I say.

"Then, as you get older, I guess the excitement kinda wears off. Then it's just a shit ton of stairs and you dread walking across the house" I giggle and so does she. I take a seat next to her on the bed and wrap my arms around her waist. "I'm glad you're here" I whisper, "me too" she replies softly.

"I think you should come up with a list of things you'd like to do while we're here. Just so I can make sure we get them all done" I tell her, "you don't have to-" "Wilhemina" I state firmly. "Ok" she sighs, pulling out her phone and going on google. "Also... I have a surprise for you. I'm not sure when it's coming just yet, but I think you're gonna like it" I say.

She looks at me, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and her eyes narrow. "You know I don't like surprises, Charlie" she states, "yes, yes, I know. Just this once though... I think you'll enjoy it" I voice with a grin. "I'm trusting you one this one... make it count" she jokes, "oh I certainly will" I reply as I lean in to kiss her softly.