I'm Still Standing

15

Rachel

New Years comes around and it comes time to meet Jons family. I was nervous, as is any girl to meet her boyfriends family, but at the same time I wasn't because if Jon can get through my mess of a family this should be a cake walk.

I pull on my most modest party outfit and curl my hair. I don't do it that often because there's so much of it, but special occasions call for it to look better than it usually does. Once I was satisfied with how my hair looked I put on a little makeup before changing. I go with a black dress that way the dog fur doesn't show up as easily. I loved my Bailey girl, but damn does she leave a lot of hair around.

I decide to go over to Jonnys house really early and help his mom make food for the party tonight because lord knows Jon won't. He just got all those beautiful appliances and pans and hasn't a clue as to what to do with them.

So I drive on over and he lets me up to his apartment. I bring my smock my mom passed down to me and I was ready to work. "There you are, I missed you" Jon claims as he throws his arm around me. He kisses the side on my head as he pulls me into a hug.

"We went on a run together this morning" I giggle as I hug him back.

"I know, but I still missed you" he claims.

I pull him into a real kiss to make sure he knew how much he meant to me because actions do speak louder than words. He happily kisses me back before grabbing my hand. He pulls me to the kitchen where his parents were waiting to meet me.

He already told me all about his parents. His mom Andreé is the heart and soul of his life. She might not have taught him hockey but she taught him how to be a good man and to know wrong from right. Of course Jon isn't perfect but his mom makes sure he doesn't make the same mistake twice. If you ask me she did quite an amazing job. And his dad comes off as hard but he's a real softy, especially when it came to Jonny. His dad gave up a lot to get him to where he is now and all Jon wants is to be a good player so he can thank his dad on the biggest stage one day.

After we get introductions over with I join Andreé in the kitchen. Jon has requested puppy chow, mini spring rolls, bacon wrapped hot dogs and deviled eggs for the party. It was a tall task but his kitchen was beautiful and his mom was helping me out. So I pull on my trusty smock and get to work.

"Jon tells me you're quite the cook" she starts and I just laugh.

"I think he only says that because since he moved out of your place he hasn't had anyone to make home made meals so he had to order out every day before I came along" I tease. 

"You know he used to call me just to try and convince me to come down here and make food for him" she asks with her thick accent and I smile. She was so adorable.

"I am not surprised. If I have leftovers he always insists on taking them so he doesn't have to order out again" I shake my head. 

"That's my son. He has gifts in a lot of places, but he is also clueless in others" she claims.

"I really enjoy cooking for him. I know it sounds silly but cooking is what I love and I've only ever shared it with my mom. And now that she's gone I felt so weird cooking by myself, for myself. Now with Jon around I still have someone to talk to and make sure I don't forget about food in the oven" I laugh. Anyone who cooks a lot and claims they haven't forgotten food in the oven at least once in their lifetime is lying.

"Cooking is the one thing I thought he would never be interest in. He swore up and down he didn't need to know anything about it because he won't ever have to cook. But he's been asking for recipes and I helped him shop for this stuff the other day so he had stuff to keep here. I have to say I'm impressed that he's doing all of this for you" she admits.

My cheeks burn at the thought of the reason he would step out and do something new would be for me. I never thought of it that way but I guess she was right. "I guess he really does like me then huh" I tease.

"I've never met any of his girlfriends before, so I would say so" she claims.

I stop monitoring the eggs to turn to her. "Really? Not one" I ask as she shakes her head.

"Nope. He wouldn't bring them near me. Maybe he didn't care about her enough to bring her to me or maybe he knew I wouldn't like her. But in his 21 years of life I never met one of his girlfriends until you" she admits.

I smile to myself because that was actually kind of cute. The fact that he likes me enough to meet his mom made me feel some type of way. "Well I'm happy that I got to meet you. I know a great mother when I see one and even before we met, just from what I saw from Jonny I knew you were a great mother. Only a great mom would raise such a fine gentleman. I'm happy to have you both in my life" I insist.

She smiles big my way as she turns to me. "And you're like the daughter I've always wanted. Do you know how many times I tried to get my boys to cook with me? Every single day for years I asked and they never once stepped foot in the kitchen to cook. And now I get to spend all day in the kitchen with you and I think that's pretty awesome" she says.

"The pleasure is all mine" I smile.

We spend five hours in the kitchen talking and laughing. We shared our favorite stories of the failures we've had in the kitchen. She was so sweet and so funny I was happy I got to spend the day with her. She reminded me a lot of Jonny which was good because he was my favorite person in the world after all. Jonny checked in on us a few times to make sure his mom wasn't telling me any embarrassing stories of him but I assure him he's safe, for now.

Eventually time passes and the clock strikes midnight. Jonny wastes no time crashing his lips into mine. "Happy new year" he whispers.

"Happy new year baby" I smile.