As we drove, the car was silent except for the engine. I could tell Shawna was still bothered from Evan and I wanted to comfort her. I reached over and grabbed her hand off of the middle console and held it, lacing our fingers. I began to draw little circles on her hand with my thumb. I knew she liked that. Whenever I looked back over at her she was smiling. I loved seeing her smile. It was so cute the way only her top teeth showed and she had a slight dimple in her right cheek and her eyes lit up. I began to find myself just lost on thought.
"MICHAEL?!"
"Huh? What?" I said.
"Are you okay sweetie?" Shawna asked worried.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. just got lost in thought." I said smiling.
"Are you nervous?" she asked.
"Oddly, no. Not at all. I'm really looking forward to this." I said.
"Then what were you thinking about?" she asked curious.
"Just you. Little things I love about you and how beautiful you are." I said placing some hair behind her ear and lightly placing my lips on hers. I could feel her smiling through the kiss. I loved when she did that. It showed me how happy she was. Before long we pulled apart.
"We should probably go in, my parents will wonder what's taking us so long." she said giggling.
We got out of the car and I followed her up a stone pathway. Her parents' place was huge. She walked right in as I slowly trailed behind, looking all around in amazement. This home was so beautiful, nothing like the ones back home in Sydney.
"Are you coming sweetie?" Shawna asked giggling, most likely noticing how I was looking all around.
"Oh yeah." I said as I caught up to her.
"We're here!" she yelled.
"We're in the den, sweetie!" I heard a man's voice say, I assumed it was her father. I followed her to a room in the back of the house where her parents were.
"Hey mom, hey daddy!" Shawna said hugging and kissing them both. I definitely saw where Shawna got her looks, both of her parents were just as beautiful as her.
"Well are you going to introduce us sweetie?" her father asked.
"Oh yes, mom, daddy this is Michael" she said motioning towards me. I thought I was ready for this, but when she introduced me I froze. "Michael this is my mom and my daddy." Shawna continued, smiling. As she looked at me she could tell I was nervous now and she gave me a push towards her father who was looking at me with a risen eyebrow.
"It's nice to meet you, sir." I said sticking out my hand, he grabbed it and shook it, crushing it in the process. Her father was very strong.
"Oh sweetie, you're crushing that poor boy's hand!" Her mom said pulling me in for a hug. "It's nice to finally meet you, Michael. We've heard so much about you." she said smiling.
By this time I was probably smiling like an idiot. I hadn't realized that Shawna had even told her parents anything about me.
"Well dinner is almost ready. Shawna, will you help me set the table?" Her mom asked.
"Yes mom." Shawna answered. Which meant I was gonna be left a alone with her dad. I was starting to freak out. But before Shawna went to help her mom she hugged me and whispered in my ear, "everything will be okay. Just breathe." she always knew what to say to make me feel better.
"So you're in some kind of band?" Her dad said.
"Yes sir." I said. I tried to act as polite as I could. Shawna means a lot to me so I really wanted her parents to like me.
"So what do you do in this band?" he asked.
"I'm a vocalist and guitarist." I said.
"Dinner is ready!" Shawna's mom yelled. I followed her dad and we joined the ladies in the kitchen. As we all walked to the table I followed Shawna, pulling out her chair for her.
"You seem like a very polite boy, Michael. I like the chivalry. " Shawna's mom said.
"Well Shawna is my Princess and that's the way I'm going to treat her." I said smiling.
"I like him so far." her dad said. Shawna blushed and tried to hide it by looking down and letting her hair fall in her face. It was so cute.
We all fixed our plates, passing dishes around the table to each other. Shawna's mum made pork chops, with mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans. Everyone was so quiet, I had to break the silence.
"This is so amazing Mrs. McDonald." I said.
"Thank you, Michael, and please, call me Sherrie." her mum said.
"So how much longer are you going to be in town, Michael?" Sherrie asked.
"Only 2 or 3 more days. Then I'm meeting my band mates back in Los Angeles." I said.
"Where's the rest of the band now?" Shawna's dad asked.
"They're in Los Angeles. We've been there for a week doing some recording for our second album but we finished a little early so I came in to surprise Shawna." I explained.
"Awe, that's so sweet!" Sherrie exclaimed.
"I hear an accent, where are you from?" her dad asked.
"Australia." I said.
"Oh that's such a beautiful place." Sherrie said.
"It really is. But I really do like being on tour. I love traveling and seeing all the different places." I said.
As everyone finished eating Shawna and I volunteered to clean the kitchen.
"I knew you would end up getting nervous." Shawna said in a teasing voice.
"Yeah, yeah." I said.
"It's obvious that my mom already loves you and I really think my dad likes you to." Shawna said smiling.
"I really hope so." I said.
"Don't worry about him. Sometimes he just takes some getting used to. But he seemed very impressed with you. He never broke out the shot gun and threatened you, that shows he trusts yu not to hurt me." Shawna said. Laughing at the last part.
"SHOT GUN?" I practically screamed.
Shawna just laughed.
"Why is that funny?" I asked.
"Oh, you're seriously freaked out?" she said.
"Um yeah!" I said.
"Daddy usually messes with the guys I bring home and tells them if they hurt me they only have one warning shot. I guess they do things differently in Australia." She said still giggling. "But don't worry baby." she said smiling.
We cleared the table and brought everything to the sink. Shawna washed the dishes and then handed them to me to dry. I couldn't help but look at her and smile and hope that we would be doing this again someday as there were kids running through the house.
"What are you thinking about?" Shawna asked snapping me out of my day dream.
"I was just thinking about the future." I said smiling.
"Oh yeah? What about the future?" She asked.
"Well I hope to be doing this with you again someday--"
"Washing dishes?" Shawna asked laughing.
"You didn't let me finish." I said.
"Oh I'm sorry." She said.
"But yes washing dishes together, maybe having some little ones running around." I said smiling.
"Awe Michael." She said.
"Princess, I can honestly picture things like that wish you." I said as I kissed her.
