F*ck Fate! (Book 3)

Chapter Thirty-Four: Dinner with the Parents

Andy

"Is the tie really necessary?" Shawn asked from my bathroom. He was standing in front of the mirror, struggling to tie his tie around his neck.

I wheeled myself over to the door. "Yes. Do you need help with that?"

He turned to look at me, and incredulous look on his face. "I do know how to tie this stupid thing, you know."

I raised and eyebrow at him. "Are you sure? It looks a bit crooked there." Frankly, it looked a lot worse than just crooked.

Shawn sighed before dropping his hands to his sides. Then he sat on my lap, straddling me. "Fine. Fix it."

I kissed his lips with a quick peck. "As you wish, my dear." That earned me an eye roll, like I expected. He did not like being called pet names. 

Tonight, we were meeting my parents for dinner. They had made reservations for a very fancy French restaurant, which meant we needed to dress up. I didn't mind too much, but Shawn had his opinions, which I had expected as soon as I found out where we were going.

Once he knew we'd have to dress nice, Shawn insisted I help him get ready. Apparently, he couldn't remember the last time he even wore anything nicer than tshirts. He was lucky his suit still fit him, although, admittedly, it was a bit tight on him. 

Shawn and I have dating for a couple weeks now, and it couldn't be going better. I could tell that he was in a generally better mood, probably because his mom had finally left them alone. I felt bad for him that that was what made him happy, but not every family was the perfect functional family portrayed in the media. Hell, I knew that better than others, too.

"What if your parents don't like me?" Shawn asked, still sitting on my lap, even though I already fixed his tie. "I feel like they're going to have some ridiculous expectation for your boyfriend and I'm going to be far from that."

I smiled. "You're perfect, Shawn, and they're going to love you."

They've always been very supportive of who I chose to date. As long as I was happy, they were happy. It was one of the things I love about my parents. I just sometimes wished they were around more often, but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Okay..." he said, standing up. "As long as you're sure. And if I'm right, and they hate me, that's all on you."

I followed him as he headed back into my bedroom. "I promise they won't hate you."

He sat on my bed, facing me. "Not even 'cause I'm white? They're not expecting you to date a black guy or anything like that?"

I burst out laughing at the thought. "Have I never shown you a picture of my parents?" I had a couple laying around the house, but I had never directly pointed them out to Shawn. Maybe he's never noticed.

I grabbed my phone and pulled up the most recent picture of the three of us. It was taking on my birthday a few months ago. They both stood behind me, my mom's hand on my shoulder and my dad holding up the cake they had bought for me.

"Wait, that's your mom?" Shawn asked, confused.

I nodded. "Yep. She's white. Dad's black. I look just like him. They definitely won't care that we aren't the same color, Shawn. So stop worrying."

It wasn't too much longer after that that we headed out. My parents were very punctual people and, while I didn't exactly have the same mentality of showing up super early to places, I didn't want to keep them waiting too long.

As I expected, they were waiting outside the restaurant when we got there. Mom was scrolling through her phone and Dad was talking into his. They were both probably still doing work, which wasn't surprising at all.

Dad noticed us first. "Thanks, Mark," he said into the phone. "I'm just about to have dinner with my son, who I haven't seen in months. I'll get it done tomorrow." Then he hung up the phone and walked over to Shawn and I, my mom on his heels.

"Hi," I said to both of them, before I was hugged, first by Mom, then by Dad. Once they finished hugging me, I gestured to Shawn. "This is my boyfriend, Shawn."

Shawn stuck out his hand to my dad. "It's so nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Williams," he said.

My dad pushed Shawn's hand out of the way and went for a hug. Maybe I should have warned him that my parents liked to give hugs. Oh well. He knew now.

"Please, Shawn," Mom said, going in for her hug. "Call me Cynthia. And he's Paul. You're dating our son, there's no need for such formalities around us."

Shawn chuckled nervously and nodded his head. I grabbed his hand, entwining our fingers. "How about we head inside?" I suggested to all of them. "It's getting kind of cold out here."

Everyone agreed and, as soon as Dad went to put in our name, we were brought back to our table. Shawn sat on my left and my parents sat opposite us. Let the interrogation begin.

"Can I get you guys something to drink?" a young waitress asked, coming up to the table.

My parents both ordered wine and, when Shawn stuck with water, my dad questioned him. "You don't drink, son?" he asked. "You can order something more than water."

Shawn shook his head. "I'm not old enough to order it out yet. But even if I was, I don't drink very often anyway."

"When do you turn twenty-one?" Mom asked, probably hoping I wasn't dating someone too much younger than me.

Shawn gave me an embarrassed look before answering. "Uh, tomorrow, actually."

I stared at him, my mouth open. I knew it was coming up, but I had no idea it was that close. "And you didn't tell me? When did you plan on telling me?"

"I'm sorry," he said, placing his hand on my arm. "I was going to tell you... at some point. I've been busy."

I shook my head, but I wasn't too upset. "Now I need to figure out a gift for you tonight. You didn't make this easy for me, you know that right?"

"That's exactly why I didn't tell you. Don't get me anything. I don't need a birthday gift."

I let him think I gave in, but I was already thinking of what I could get for him. Even as the conversation moved on to what Shawn is doing with his life, I was only half paying attention, chiming in every once in a while, especially when they started asking about how we met.

The whole night, though, I kept wondering at the back of my mind, why he wouldn't have mentioned his birthday to me sooner, while also trying to come up with the perfect present.