29. Chapter 29
Chapter 29
Dawson
Sitting at my parents’ kitchen table for Sunday night dinner, everyone’s passing serving platters around, filling our plates.
Finn blurts, “Dad had a sleepover with a girl last night.”
I drop the spoon in my hand. It clatters against my dinner plate, gravy flying everywhere. The temperature of the seven degrees of hell engulfs me. Did he really tell my entire family about Chloe?
I squeeze my eyes shut. If I can’t see anyone, no one can see me and then I won’t have to explain myself.
The room is uncharacteristically quiet. Even my nieces and nephews are silent. Cracking an eye open, I take in each person sitting around the table. The kids are eyeing the adults, brows pulling together in confusion. Each adult is staring at me with mouths gaping open.
I force out a chuckle. “Yeah… Funny thing…” I run a hand through my hair. “My friend came over last night to watch a movie and we ended up falling asleep on the couch together. Nothing happened. It was all innocent, I assure you. ”
“Ha!” my sister Lucy scoffs. “Sure it was.”
Lucy looks just like Dad, but in female form. Their light-brown hair, square jaw, and hazel eyes are easy to pick out. It’s the mannerisms they both have, like being left-handed, staying up late, and biting their fingernails, that really cement the carbon-copy factor.
“Lucy,” Mom scolds. “If Dawson says nothing happened, then nothing happened.”
I flash Mom a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
“I’m with Lucy,” Emma—who looks like Mom and me—says, taking a spoonful of fruit salad from the bowl she’s holding. “Who is she, and why was she over so late?”
“It’s my boss’s sister. We’re organizing the company fall festival together. I told you guys about it,” I say in an easy, breezy manner.
“Her name is Chloe,” Finn unhelpfully adds. “She’s pretty and nice. Dad smiles a lot when she’s around.”
I do? And Finn noticed? Ah man. Hiding our relationship from Finn is pointless. The kid is too smart. But how do I keep him from getting too attached? I refuse to let him get hurt by another woman. Not that I’m expecting things between Chloe and me to turn sour, but I have to prepare Finn in case it does.
“Smiles how?” Emma asks. “Like a casual, it’s-nice-to-know-her smile, or a big smile like he has stars in his eyes and stares at her all the time?”
“We don’t need to talk about this,” I say.
Finn takes a roll from the basket in front of him. “The star one.” He says it so casually and without thinking about it. Am I really like that?
Emma and Lucy’s faces wear the same expression: pure unfiltered glee.
“Really?” Lucy asks, pretending she needs clarification. “And do they touch each other a lot when they’re together? Like holding hands or anything like that?”
“Will you guys give it up already?” I say, desperate for this conversation to end.
“Didn’t you hear me?” Finn says with a tilted head. “They were on top of each other on the couch when I found them.”
“Okay,” I say loudly, interrupting Finn and giving him a stop talking glare. “We were not on top of each other. We were side by side and fully clothed. Anyway, enough about Chloe. Dad, why don’t you tell us what projects you’re working on in the garage?”
“No,” Emma says, wagging a finger. “You’re not getting off the hook so easily. Tell us more about Chloe.”
What does she mean off the hook easily? They’ve drilled Finn and me long enough. “I think it’s time for Dad to—”
“Later,” Lucy says. “What does Chloe do? What is she like?”
Taking a second to think through what I want to share, Finn jumps in. “She loves football. If any of you ever came to my games, you’d get to meet her.”
Way to throw a jab in there, son.
“She makes dad and me laugh and she likes playing games.”
True. She does. “There you go. That’s all about Chloe. Now, Dad, do you think you can—”
“What does she do for work?” Emma asks .
For the love. Can’t we move on? I stare at Dad, silently pleading for him to jump in and stop my sisters from asking more questions. He cuts a piece of chicken, stares at me, then takes a bite, smiling while he chews.
Great.
He won’t help me.
“When do we get to meet her?” Mom asks, a normal friendly smile on her face.
But I am not fooled. She may not express her interest as ardently as my sisters, but she’s just as curious and invested in Chloe.
I shrug. “I’m not sure. Both of our schedules are maxed out. We’ve had a hard time finding days we can meet and get this festival planned. I doubt we’ll have time for extracurricular activities.”
Lucy eyes me. “But Finn just said she comes to his games. And she came over to watch a movie with you. Sounds like she has plenty of time to meet the family.”
We carved time out for those things. I’m not willing or ready to share my limited time with Chloe. They can wait a while. At least until we’ve been dating a few months.
“Is she your girlfriend?” Dad asks before taking another bite of chicken.
I close my eyes, dropping my chin to my chest. My family is ridiculous and relentless. For Finn’s sake, I won’t tell them anything yet. “Chloe and I are working together. Yes, I like spending time with her. I don’t know when or if you’ll get to meet her. That’s all I have to say on the matter. Can we please talk about something else? ”
“Last question,” Lucy says, raising a finger in the air. “Have you kissed her?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and repeat what I said before, but this time slower and louder. “Chloe and I are working together. Yes, I like being around her. No, you won’t get to meet her anytime soon because you have no chill factor.”
Lila, my oldest niece, leans over to Finn. “Bruh, your dad is not being a slay queen and do you know if she’s a baddie or not? Because if she isn’t bad, then I’mma say he shouldn’t.”
“What?” Finn asks, completely confused.
I understand the words coming out of Lila’s mouth, but they don’t belong together. I worry about this rising generation Finn’s in. I mean, a hundred years from now when people look back at our writing, will they comprehend anything these kids say? Slay? Queen? Baddie?
“Does your dad like Chloe?” Lila says in a sentence I understand.
“Yeah.” Finn rolls his eyes. “It’s what I’ve been telling you the entire time. I like her too.”
Thankfully, the kids chatter about other topics, taking me out of the hot seat. I take the opportunity to text Chloe.
Me: Finn blurted to my entire family about finding us on the couch together. He also told them I like you. [embarrassed face emoji] I guess we need to talk to him about us. My plan to keep him out of the loop backfired. Big time.
She immediately responds.
007: D’oh. [wince face emoji] Sorry about taking the heat. Kate guessed after spending two minutes with me. [annoyed face emoji][laughing face emoji] Do you want me there when you talk to Finn? What should you/we say?
Me: Maybe I should google advice about how to tell him. I’m worried how he’ll take it. Or if he’ll get too attached too soon, you know? And I don’t know how much detail to share. [overwhelmed face emoji]
My phone pings with multiple texts coming in.
007: Sending you a bunch of links on how to go about it. Most of them say to tailor the conversation to their age, reassure them the new person is not a replacement, and ask them how they feel about it.
007: How to tell your child(ren) you’re dating again
007: Tips for telling your child you started dating
007: Help! I’m dating again. How do I tell my kids?
Me: Uhh are you bored? You responded incredibly fast. But super helpful. I’ll talk to him first tonight. Maybe you can come over when we get back from my parents’ house and we’ll discuss more with him then?
007: What time? [clock emoji] I’m at my grandparents’ right now, but I’ll be home at 8.
Me: Instead of going home, want to meet me at my place at 8?
007: Always. See you then, B. [blowing kiss emoji]
Me: See you soon, 007.
I’m looking forward to spending time with Chloe, but dread snakes through my veins. Please don’t let Chloe hurt Finn like Willow did.