The Difference Between Getting and Needing

n i n e

i was on the verge of breaking down,
then you came a r o u n d . . .

〰️〰️〰️

The thing about being in a committed, long-term relationship was that you were never really just dating that one person. You were also dating their family. Of course, not literally, but they played a small, necessary part in the relationship. You could sever ties, or you could live with them; regardless of your feelings towards your other half's kin, they were there whether you liked it or not.

In mine and Gus' case, we got along with one another's families quite well. He genuinely enjoyed spending time with my clan of lunatics, and I adored his parents and two younger sisters. There was never a day where I questioned my liking to anyone in the Monahan family. Save for maybe Gus' father, whose financial dynasty was remarkable but also extremely daunting. Regardless of his superior (and sometimes patronizing) demeanor, he was a true gentleman that helped Gus and I with the bills for our first apartment. I practically owed him my life.

Gus' mother was a lot more of a conversationalist. She was approachable, compassionate, and extremely down-to-earth. If her and my sister were ever in the same room – which would ultimately happen on Sutton's wedding day – they'd talk every single person's ears off. I loved her to death.

On a dreary Sunday night, a summoning from Mrs. Monahan popped up on Gus' phone.

I was sitting at the island while his phone incessantly buzzed from where it laid in front of me. Gus, who was on the other side of the island cooking dinner for us, stepped away from the stove to glance at who was calling him.

He saw it was his mother and sighed.

"Fuck, can you answer that?" He looked up at me with pleading eyes.

I gave him a blank face in return, asking in a scathing tone, "You can't even talk to your own mother?"

"I'm kind of busy right now so if you could just answer and appease her for a few minutes that'd be great, thanks," he spat out hastily, sliding back over to check whatever was sizzling in one of the pans.

"Fine," I breathed and reached for his iPhone. Not that I didn't want to talk to Gus' mom, but the amount of times he made me answer whenever she called him was immeasurable at this point. If it weren't for my job requiring me to talk on the phone all the time and be good at it, I'd hate it a lot more. I pressed the green symbol on the screen to take the call, holding it up to my ear and smiling as I said, "Hi Mrs. Monahan."

She gasped and I couldn't help but giggle. "Oh, Bayla! What a pleasant surprise. It is so nice to hear your voice!"

"Same here. How are you?"

"Ah, I'm fine. I get up and my feet hit the floor every day, so I guess I can't complain. How are you guys?"

Naturally, I hesitated, staring at Gus' back a few feet away. That was a loaded question when it came to us, depending on the day. I didn't want to delay my answer for too long, because her motherly instincts would kick in at the slightest sense of trouble. "We're fine," I finally concluded.

"So, my son doesn't want to talk to me?" She asked with a chuckle, thankfully overlooking my brief pause from the previous question.

"That's what I said." I shook my head, and without even knowing what we were talking about, Gus shot me a look over his shoulder. I waved him off. "Do you need to talk to him?"

"No, no. It's alright. I can call him later. I just... uh... I have some news."

"What's going on?" At the sudden distress in my voice, Gus stopped whatever he was doing and fully turned around to look at me. His eyebrows were furrowed, as were mine as I awaited his mother's response.