“Now I’m getting nervous.” Victoria said as her and Lance were on their way to her parents house in her jeep.
“You’ll be fine. My parents will probably treat you as one of their own.” Lance said.
“I’m still nervous though.” Victoria said.
“You’ll have plenty of time to relax. It’s another two hours until we get there.” Lance said rubbing her hand. The drive down there was pretty much silent. Victoria slept the whole way from no sleep the night before with worry about how Lance’s family is going to react to her. But Lance is probably right, he should be. He’s known them his whole life and why wouldn’t they like Victoria. Lance is in love with her so why should his family like her?
“Wake up sleepy-head.” Lance said when they arrived at his parent’s house. Victoria got a look at the house and it was huge. It was kind of like those big houses you see in movies and hear about in books. It was all decorated with thanksgiving colors and there were some Christmas decorations, but nothing much.
“We’re here already?” Victoria said looking at the clock on the radio. She had nearly slept for over two hours.
“Did you get any sleep last night?” Lance asked her.
“I don’t think so. If I did it wasn’t much.” Victoria said rubbing her eyes.
“You can get a good night’s rest tonight.” Lance said.
“We’re staying here?!?” Victoria said loudly.
“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” Lance asked.
“I’ll be so nervous. Do your parents even know that we live together?” Victoria asked.
“Yes. But it doesn’t matter. They won’t interfere in what we do.” Lance said. Victoria didn’t really know what a family was like. Sure she had a perfect life, or seemed to be until her mother died and her father was never seen again. Having people love her without her loving them was really out of the ordinary.
“I guess we should go in now.” Victoria said opening the door. They walked up to the front door and Lance pulled out his and they walked in.
“Mommy! Lance is here!” A little boy said running down the steps.
“Hey Brandon.” Lance said. Brandon was the son of Lance’s other sister Amy.
“Who are you?” Brandon asked looking up at her.
“I’m Victoria.” She said with a half smile.
“Oh, okay.” Brandon said then ran back upstairs.
“That must be Victoria.” Diane said walking over to give her a hug.
“Yes, that’s me.” Victoria said.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you. Lance, keep this one around!” Diane said to him.
“Don’t worry mom.” Lance said smiling at Victoria.
“Come on and sit down. Tell us a little bit about yourself.” Diane said. At that point, the whole family was around her and looking at her. Victoria felt really uncomfortable.
“Mom, not right now. We had a long drive and she didn’t get very much sleep last night.” Lance said.
“Oh, well that’s okay. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.” Diane said.
“That’s okay.” Victoria said. She really liked Lance’s family and it was very clear that they were pleased to have her there as well.
“Don’t anyone go far. Dinner is almost ready. Who wants to say grace this year?” Diane asked.
“I WILL!” Beth, one of Lance’s nieces, said.
“You know what to say don’t you?” Diane asked her.
“Yes, I do grandma.” Beth said. Diane still couldn’t’ get used to the name ‘grandma’ yet. Even though Beth and Brandon were reaching the age of six very soon, Diane is still uneasy about being a grandmother.
“Okay Beth, say grace.” Diane said and everyone bowed their heads down.
“Dear God. Thank you for blessing this food and the good it does for us. I would like to welcome Victoria to our table. Amen.” Beth said. Everyone started eating. There was so much food that Victoria didn’t know where to start.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” Lance asked her.
“Yeah, there’s so much to choose from I don’t know where to start.” Victoria said.
“Here you go.” Lance said serving her some of the delicious meals that were on the table.
“Victoria, where are you from?” Diane asked her.
“Morton, Connecticut.” Victoria said.
“I’ve never heard of Morton. Is there anything to do there?” Jim asked.
“No, not really. It’s a really small town where everyone knows everyone. So basically we are a big family.” Victoria said.
“That must be really nice. Do your parents still live there?” Diane asked.
“Actually my mom died of cancer when I was really young and I haven’t seen my father since I was eleven.” Victoria said. Diane felt so bad for asking her such a painful question, but Victoria wasn’t bothered by it at all. It was apart of her history and she shouldn’t be ashamed of it.
“What are you planning to study in college Victoria?” Lance’s sister Madison asked.
“My major is in creative writing. But I’m going to minor in fashion.” Victoria said.
“Have you written any stories?” Madison asked.
“I write all the time. I jot down notes sometimes in class when I get a really good idea.” Victoria said.
“How did you two meet?” Diane asked.
“We met in the student union at school during registration.” Lance said.
“How did that go?” Diane asked.
“Really slow. We had the idea that when we first got there to get registered. Everyone had the same idea as us and when we got there, it was crowded.” Lance said.
“I just have to ask. How did you two end up living together? I know that school doesn’t allow co-ed dorm rooms.” Diane asked.
“Actually, my roommate was very diverse from me and I wanted to move out. There were no single rooms available. Victoria helped me out and we moved into a double room together.” Lance said.
“I remember my first roommate in college.” Stacy spoke up.
“Wasn’t her name Ellen or something?” Lance asked.
“Yeah, her name was Ellen-Marie. She was a very sophisticated girl. Her parents were really rich and she always had everything she wanted. She was too perky all the time. Sometimes I just wanted to throw her out the window!” Stacy said.
“Did you roommate next year differ from Ellen?” Victoria asked.
“Yeah, her name was Melanie. She was perfect. We had the same ideas on everything. It was like we were separated at birth or something.” Stacy said. They continued talking about college experiences. After dinner, Lance and Victoria decided to take a walk.
“Are you having a good time?” Lance asked.
“The best. I don’t know why I was ever nervous around them. They are so wonderful.” Victoria said.
“Can I ask you a question?” Lance asked her.
“Of course.” Victoria said.
“When’s the last time you were truly happy with your family?” Lance asked.
“Oh. It had to be a long time ago. Probably when I was about seven or eight. My mom had just gotten in remission and she was feeling wonderful. Our family was great. It was Christmas and we were all gathered around the tree reminiscing about the year and what we had done over the course of the year. That next year my mom was too sick to have Christmas. The spring of that next year she died.” Victoria said with a small tear in the corner of her eye.
“We can talk about something else.” Lance suggested.
“No, it’s okay. I can’t stay away from talking about it forever.” Victoria said.
“I’m glad you came.” Lance said.
“I’m glad I came to.” Victoria said as they were walking back.
“No, seriously. I would have been really sad if you didn’t come. I would be calling you every minute.” Lance said.
“My aunt would’ve unplugged the phones if you did that.” Victoria said. Suddenly Lance stood in front of her and looked very serious into her eyes.
“I love you Victoria Lynne.” Lance said. Victoria couldn’t believe her ears when Lance said that he loved her.
“I love you too Lance.” Victoria said kissing him.
“You look confused.” Lance said.
“I don’t know your middle name and you know mine.” Victoria said laughing.
“Well, Lance is my middle name. James is my first name.” Lance said.
“Aww that’s so cute. James Lance.” Victoria said.
Later on that night, everyone was getting into bed.
“Lance, I made the couch up for Victoria.” Diane said walking passed his room.
“Why did you do that?” Lance asked confusingly.
“I thought she would be more comfortable on the couch instead of sleeping on the floor.” Diane said.
“She’s not sleeping on the floor.” Lance said. Lance then realized that he hadn’t told anyone that Victoria and him slept together.
“Where is she sleeping?” Diane asked.
“In the bed with me.” Lance said. Diane’s eyes were bulging when she heard lance say that. She knew that Lance would be sleeping in the same bed with a girl eventually, but not before he was married.
“Run that by me one more time?” Diane said aggravated.
“Do I have to spell it out for you mom. Victoria and I are sleeping together. Why does that bother you so much?” Lance asked her.
“I thought you weren’t going to have sex until you were married.” Diane asked him.
“Things change mom. I can’t be that little boy that would come home from grade school everyday. I grew up and my morals changed a little bit. I’m still the same person I was before I left for school.” Lance said.
“Fine, I can accept change. But just be responsible in your decision-making. But I do have one question. What if Victoria gets pregnant?” Diane asked him.
“Then we’ll have a baby together. Mom whether you know this or not I am ready and willing to be a father. I believe that Victoria is ready to be a mother. Please stop pushing the morals that you had when you were growing up.” Lance said slamming the door in her face. Diane was pushing her son away just because he had different morals than she did.
“What’s wrong?” Victoria asked when the door slammed.
“I had an argument with my mom.” Lance said.
“It was about me wasn’t it?” Victoria asked.
“It started about you but then it ended up about me.” Lance said rubbing his eyes.
“I don’t understand?” Victoria asked.
“See, my mom made a bed for you out on the couch. She didn’t know that we were sleeping together. She knew that we lived together, but didn’t know we slept together. She freaked out and we had this argument about how my morals were whacked out and that I shouldn’t be sleeping with you.” Lance said.
“If it makes your mom uncomfortable I can just sleep on out the couch. It won’t bother me.” Victoria suggested.
“No, that’s okay. My mom has to realize that times have changed and I’m not going to do the same thing with you as my parents did before they were married. She’ll come to her senses.” Lance said turning off the light. Victoria felt horrible that she made Diane feel uneasy about her sleeping in the same bed as Lance. During the night when Lance was in a deep sleep, Victoria grabbed her pillow and went out into the living room. There sat a prepared bed on the couch. She climbed in and soon fell asleep.
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
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