"I told you she's a smitten kitten." Lisa's mom nudged her dad as they sat around the kitchen table. She'd put off dinner with them all week and Thursday was her last chance before a weekend Roseanne had packed with plans.
"Mom, I'm sitting right here, and no I'm not," she protested before putting down her cellphone. Suddenly she was twelve again and back in her SpongeBob SquarePants pajamas being grilled about the crush on her tennis camp instructor.
"I don't know, Tater Tot. You sure are painting your nails a lot all of a sudden," her dad observed, leaning back in the wooden chair older than Lisa. "Pablo did say she's a real looker."
"Dad!"
"I can't believe Pablo met her before I did," her mom grumbled.
"Mom, he didn't meet her! I didn't even know who he was," she countered defensively.
"Still." Her mom took a bite of the flan she made for dessert. Lisa was so full of lentils and rice she hadn't touched hers yet. "I haven't even seen a picture of her yet."
"I don't have a picture of her, Mommy. She doesn't have social media, and a selfie opportunity hasn't exactly come up at work," she joked, hoping it would move them off topic.
"Well, ask her for one." Her mother said like it was obvious. "Or better yet, bring her for dinner. I'll make Khao pad if she doesn't have any seafood allergies. Everyone loves my Khao pad."
Lisa poked at her flan. "It's a little soon, don't you think? I don't want to freak her out."
"It's freaky to meet your girlfriend's parents?" her dad asked, missing the meaning. "Or are we freaky?"
Lisa smiled. "No, there's nothing wrong with it. I just think we're taking it slow."
She didn't explain to her parents that they hadn't slept together yet because that would be gross, but she thought it. So far, nearly all their dates had been either meeting for dinner or otherwise in public. It hadn't even been two weeks yet, she wasn't worried, but there did need to be a certain order to things.
"Okay, well, do you think she's coming for Thanksgiving? Are you going to spend it together? It's just a couple of weeks away."
Lisa inherited her inability to let things go from her mother. Usually, she loved being just like her, but not today.
"If it comes up, I'll ask. But there's no way I'm missing your roasted pork or mojo turkey for Thanksgiving, okay?" Lisa stood and kissed her mother on the head before clearing the table and starting on the dishes.
When she was finished, she joined her parents in the modest living room where they were watching a Brazilian soap opera Lisa had fallen behind on over the past couple of months. She tried to catch up on the plot, but when a woman she thought was dead showed up pregnant with the main lead's baby, Lisa gave up. She let her mind wander instead of texting Roseanne, which is what she really wanted to do. A buzz in her pocket made her pulse quicken. She smiled the moment she saw who it was.
"See?" her mother said, peeking at her over the top of her framed glasses. "Smitten."
Roseanne: I've unpacked my last bag.
Lisa: So I guess you're not going to take off, huh.
Roseanne: Not today. . . I might start looking at apartments sooner than I thought, though. I just got off the most surprising call with my sister.
Lisa: The one you never speak to?
Roseanne: The one and only. I have a sneaking suspicion Dr. Kim sent her some kind of anonymous message.
