Howie had arranged for Polly to meet them at the gate and take them to his parent’s house. They quickly spotted each other and gathered their things to leave. When they got to the house, Polly went inside first to make sure that the coast was clear for Howie and Rae to come in. She stuck her head out the door and motioned for them to come inside. They jumped on the couch and turned on the TV as Polly made her way upstairs to Paula and Hoke’s room.
“Dad, there’s something under the couch that you need to see, I think we have rats.”
Paula tensed up, “Rats?”
“I think so. I saw two really big ones a second ago.”
Hoke grabbed Paula’s hand, “Come on sweetheart, I’m gonna give you a lesson on how to kill rats.”
Polly followed them down the stairs and watched, amused, as Paula and Hoke found Howie and Rae sitting on the couch, watching MTV.
“What’s up Dad?” Howie asked nonchalantly.
“Howie!” Paula almost screeched. She ran over to her son and embraced him tightly.
“Hey Mom.”
“Hola mijo, como estás?”
“Bien. I see you’ve been working on it.”
“Yeah, it’s a little complicated, but Spanish is a beautiful language.”
*Author's note: Howie says that Spanish isn't spoken in his home, he learned it in shcool.*
“Mom, Dad, this is my girlfriend, Rae.”
She went to shake their hands, but was pulled into a hug instead.
“Hello Rae,” Paula said, “It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too Mrs. Dorough.”
“Please, call me Paula or Mom.”
“Okay… Mom.”
Hoke picked up their bags and took them upstairs. They say and talked until nearly 3:00 in the morning. Rae was totally beat, so she decided to call it a night.
“I’m sorry to do this, but I’m really tired. Where’s my room?”
“Upstairs, third door to the left,” Hoke said.
“But that’s my room,” Howie said.
“Well duh,” Paula said dryly.
“Where am I gonna sleep?”
“In your room.”
“But mom, Rae’s-“
“Howie, we’re not retarded. You two can share a room, your father and I don’t mind.”
Howie and Rae looked over at each other and then over at Paula and Hoke, who were just smiling.