Struggles of a Single Father (Book 1 of the Struggle Puff Series)

Chapter 48

Written – 6/29/2020

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Her dad was staring at me with such ferocity, that I was nearly pissing myself in fear. Suddenly, I felt myself sweating under his gaze, and it only got worse when his glare turned into an amused chuckle.

"I'm just messing with you." He said with a hearty laugh.

Rosie glared at him and smacked his shoulder, "Stop! You scared the crap out of him."

"Clearly, not just him." He said as he elbowed her in the side.

Meanwhile, I was still silent, trying to get my heart to stop racing. I probably looked like a deer caught in headlights with how wide my eyes were.

"Didn't mean to scare you that bad, young man." He held his hand out for me to shake, "I'm Emmanuel."

"I'm Carter." I said, still nervous. I took his hand and shook it firmly before mustering a smile, "And it's totally understandable, sir. I'd do the same with anyone trying to date my daughter."

Mine and Rosie's eyes went wide at the realization of what I had said, but he clearly didn't catch on because he just laughed.

"I'm sure you'll understand one day, young man." He patted my shoulder and walked towards the house.

Rosie and I shared one more look before following him inside.

Upon entering the house, we were greeted by a shorter woman, that had similar features to Rosie, so I assumed it was her mother. I held my hand out for her to shake, only for her to stare at it with a look that toed the line of disgust.

Remembering what Rosie told me about her mother being big on traditional Japanese culture, I retracted my hand and bowed midway instead.

"Sumimasen. Watashi wa Carter desu.O namae wa?"

This time, she returned the bow, "Yoko desu. Dozo Yoroshiku."

"Kochira koso yoroshiku."

She smiled at me before turning to Rosie, "I already like this one."

Rosie beamed brightly at me, "I like this one too."

Emmanuel sighed rolled his eyes dramatically, "Can we at least continue this like-fest you're all having over some food? Some people in this house were kicked out of the kitchen for hours and wasn't allowed to eat."

Yoko smacked him on the shoulder, "So improper." Turning back towards Rosie and I, she smiled, "Were you both ready to eat."

We both nodded, and were then led to the dining room, where there was a small buffet spread across the middle of the table with four place mats already set up.

"Carter," Yoko started, giving me a pointed look, "I wasn't sure what cuisines you liked, so we have a bit of everything." I looked over the spread and saw a lot of interesting dishes as she continued, "We have makawoni au graten and griot, which are Haitian dishes, takoyaki and tempura, for Japanese, and baby back ribs and an apple pie for dessert, which is pretty obvious." She said the last part with a small chuckle.

I was practically drooling by the end of her food introduction, which I was slightly embarrassed about, so I pulled myself together and sent her a grateful smile.

"Ms. Yoko, this all looks amazing! Where'd you learn to cook?"

She beamed at me as she took a seat, gesturing for the rest of us to do the same, "My mother and grandmother taught me how to back in Japan, but when we came here, we all adjusted to the food of America." She looked at Emmanuel as she continued, "And then I met my husband and I was so desperate to impress him that I learned all of his favorite Haitian dishes and invited him to have dinner with me."

"That's amazing." I said in awe, "I guess the rest was history after that, huh?"

Emmanuel laughed loudly while piling food on his plate, "As if! I came over and had the worst dinner of my life. I actually got food poisoning that night!"

Yoko looked extremely embarrassed at this point, "As it turns out, my English was not quite good at first, and I misinterpreted a lot of the ingredients" She said with a sheepish laugh, "I felt so bad about it. I was sure he was never going to talk to me again. Instead, after he got better, he invited me over for another dinner, and taught me how to cook all the dishes I previously attempted to make."

He bent over and placed a kiss on her head, "And she later taught me how to make all her favorite dishes." He returned to an upright position, "After a few months of dating, we decided we wanted to really experience one another's cultures, so we saved up our money and went to Japan and Haiti for a month at a time. It was one of the best times I had in my life."

"Of course," Yoko added, "The stares we got in both places were uncomfortable."

"But we made it work." He finished for her.

The level of synchronization between them made me slightly envious of their relationship in comparison to the barely there one between my parents. The only thing they really agreed on was trying to take Tilisia from me, and I'm sure my refusal caused problems between them that I wasn't around to experience. My only hint on the matter was what my brother would tell me on our calls, but he always kept our conversations about them short.

"As you can see, my parents have a fairytale marriage." Rosie said with a roll of her eyes.

I cocked my head to the side as I watched them continue to interact, forgetting we were there.

"I'm not even sure it's that." I said thoughtfully, "I think that because it's not a fairytale, that they're so amazing together. To give someone food poisoning and still have the opportunity to be with them is pretty unlikely. I'm sure if I had done the same with Kimberly, we wouldn't even have Tilisia." I chuckled softly at the thought of what would've happened, "I was too busy trying to make our relationship magical that I didn't even notice it was falling apart."

Suddenly, I felt Rosie grab my hand from under the table, "Do you miss her?" She asked quietly.

My eyes went wide, as I thought about her question, "Not like that, I don't. I think I just got a small glimpse of what could've been a friendship when I saw her again. She had good intentions and wanted to bring a sense of clarity when she realized she couldn't fit into Tilisia's life. That moment when I caught her slipping before we parted ways, reminded me of what I felt about her." Her hand tightened around mine, and I rubbed my thumb over the back of hers, "It was admiration of character that was always at the bottom of my affection for her, ya know?"

Her grip eased up after I explained what I was feeling, "It does, actually. I've experienced such a love as that. Those tend to hurt the most."

I changed how our hands were by shifting so that my fingers were intertwined with hers, "And it takes something extraordinary to get us through that kind of pain."

The longer we stared at each other, the more intimate the moment felt.

It wasn't until her father cleared his throat did I remember that I was in their home, so I quickly pulled away and shoveled food into my mouth while Rosie gave a meek apology. Our actions caused them to laugh at us.

"Looks like we're not the only ones that forget there are others in the room." Yoko quipped with a sly smile.

For the umpteenth time in just an hour, I was terribly embarrassed in the presence of her parents.

"So, Carter," Emannuel changed the subject, "What's this I hear about you not being ready to date my daughter?"

Suddenly, I wished he had allowed me to sit in the uncomfortable silence than ask that, but alas, I was not that lucky, so I swallowed my food and embarrassment so I could speak concisely.

"Well sir, at risk of sounding immature, I'll go ahead and admit that I don't yet have the capacity for another person that I wish to dedicate all my time to. Not now, at least." I said, nervously.

"Try to cut out the fancy words this time and give it to my straight. I don't like beat around answers. I like the truth, young man."

I gulped as quietly as I could as I cast a questioning glance to Rosie. She could see the question in my eyes, so she bit her lip and nodded slowly, squeezing my hand in the process.

It was now or never.