I Blame Wattpad for My High Expectations of Men

Chapter 48 - God bless Andy Black and his powerful lyrics.

~Flashback Continued~

~Saturday, January 7, 2017 - Dinner with the Boyfriend~

"I'm seeing someone."

Yup. That's exactly how Mom had decided to drop the 'I have a boyfriend' bomb on Luca and I on our last day of winter break: bluntly, directly, and straight out of fucking nowhere. The two of us were beyond confused when we first heard those words leave her mouth, so you can pretty much imagine what our response was...

"Huh?" Luca and I respond in unison, barely able to register her words.

"I'm seeing someone," she repeats, as if saying the words again will make us any less confused.

"Since when do you date?" I finally go to ask, right before Luca starts listing off a few questions of his own, "who is he? Where does he work? How did you guys meet? Does he have kids of his own? What's his social security number? His passport book number? Birth certificate number? Tell me, woman!"

        Mom lets out a soft chuckle at Luca's protectiveness before getting all serious again.

"Well, his name is Noah Matthews," she begins. "He teaches English Literature at New Trier Township High School. I met him a month ago when his nephew was emmited to our hospital's urgent care after having an allergic reaction." She proceeds to lock her fingers together, her voice getting slightly quieter by every word. "He asked me out on a coffee date later that same evening. One thing led to another, we had a few more dates, and now," she sighs, "yeah...," Mom trails off, briefly looking down at her still locked fingers. And as idiotic as Luca and I may come off to be, it doesn't take a genius to see that she's nervous.

She's nervous about our reactions, and whether or not we approve of this, but how can we not? Yes, we want to know about the guy as much as possible -hence our initial confusion and Luca's very specific questions- but only because we want to make sure that we don't have another psychopath on our hands. Luisa Conti deserves the absolute best that this fucked up world has to offer, and if this Noah Matthews ends up being even remotely close to that, she already has my blessing.

"Neither of you have anything to say to that?" She asks the two of us, and very cautiously. When neither of us respond right away, she continues, "I mean, I know I should've mentioned it earlier, but I didn't want you guys to wonder about it all break. I understand if you guys are mad, I just-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Luca suddenly interrupts her. Mom doesn't even give him a look for doing so, which means that she must be really nervous at the moment. "You think we're mad?" She furrows her eyebrows, unsure of where Luca's going with this.

"Are you saying you're not?" She asks in disbelief. And when Luca lets out a sigh of his own, Mom's shoulders seem to loosen up a little along with it.

"Of course, not, Ma'," Luca assures her. "Why would you ever think that? I mean, sure, I can't help but get all 'protective son' on you after all these years but if he truly makes you happy, then by all means, you have my blessing."

        The corners of Mom's mouth twitch up in a soft smile of appreciation, one of the more vulnerable smiles I've ever seen her wear.

"Exactly," I then agree, stepping up next to my brother, who throws an arm over my shoulders and gives me a warm smile before giving Mom one too. "We'd want to meet him, of course. But Mamma, if he truly makes you happy -and by the way your face lights up when you talk about him, I can tell that's the case- then that's all we need to hear. In fact," I shrug, truly meaning it when I go to say, "I couldn't be more happy for you."