“Is this really, absolutely necessary?” Antonio asked, again, while tugging at the collar of his shirt.
“For the umpteenth time, yes, yes it is.” I said on a laugh. “It won’t be that bad. And we’re already in the driveway anyway.”
“Not meeting your family. Though, yeah, that’s another concern. What I’m talking about is this monkey suit you put me in. People really still dress up for Easter?” he asked with a feigned horrified look on his face that made me laugh that much harder.
“You are so lucky you’re cute.” Cute didn’t even begin to cover it, but his head was big enough.
Antonio was one of those guys that were truly drool worthy; and in that tanned three-piece suit he was cream in my panties worthy. His hair was about three different shades of blonde which he had pulled back in a haphazard bun at the nape of his neck. Antonio’s golden tan seemed to be permanent, lasting even the frigid months in Michigan, and he did not go to a tanning salon. His sleek muscles made him look like a pro wrestler, and they weren’t just for show – good thing too ’cause I wasn’t exactly a ‘skinny Minnie’. I loved having a man that could not only lift me up mentally, but also physically.
The stares and whispers we always received weren’t only due to the fact that I was black and he white. No, we were truly the odd couple. I was only five feet even while Antonio stood at six feet five. We may have weighed almost the same, but where his was solid muscle, mine was much softer; good thing my weight was distributed to all the right places. Most of my wardrobe consisted of black, white, and grey – his, every color of the spectrum. On the outside, we were polar opposites, yet we fit together as though we were made for each other.
It’s hard to describe my feelings for Antonio. Love isn’t even a strong enough word for it. As sappy as it sounds, he truly was my other half. If we went too long without seeing each other it was as if a piece of my own self was missing. Almost like we had a sick obsession with each other, but that’s not quite it either. Life and everything in it just seemed better whenever we were together than it did when we were apart.
“Things went great when you took me to meet your enormous family. They’ll go just fine when you meet mine.” I did my best to sound reassuring. By the expression on his face I must have come up short.
“Yeah, but they’d been expecting your arrival a lot longer than yours has mine.” he said so low that I barely even heard him. Before I could ask him what he meant by that, he continued, “Plus, you didn’t have to dress up in some monkey suit. This confining jumpsuit is like being stuck in a cage.”
“It’s not that bad. Just keep thinking about me stripping it off you later on tonight.” That earned me the smile I had been aiming for. “Now come on and get yo sexy ass outta the car so you can learn what macaroni is really supposed to taste like.” Before he could say anything else, I grabbed the key from the ignition and hurried out of the car. I yelped when Antonio made it to my side and placed his hand on my waist before I had even shut the door. “It’s been almost a year now and I’m still not used to how fast you are.”
He bent down and whispered in my ear, “Good, that means you’re not bored of me yet.” Antonio straightened so that I could bump my door closed, “I really wish you would just let me buy you a new car.”
“Blasphemy. Carrie isn’t going anywhere.” my ’96 cherry red Mustang was my very first car, I was never parting with it. “Besides, I’d much rather you take that money and just buy me a ring that’d make my sister go blind instead.”
“How about I just buy you both?”
“How about you stop trying to buy my love since you already have it?”
“Please tell me you two won’t be all sappy and mushy the entire time you’re here.” My sister said in greeting as she got out of her own car. I hadn’t even heard her pull up in the driveway behind me. “I mean, come on Miranda, I don’t want to lose my appetite before we even walk in.”
“Well I don’t know, Mildred,” I made sure to drag out her name, she hated that, “depends on if you and your boy toy plan on playing smoochie face every chance you get.”
“Miranda Jade, I’ma tell you one more time Marcus is not my boy toy…he’s actually older than I am.”
“I bet. If he’s older than you, then Antonio here is a werewolf.” While we laughed at that I glanced over at Antonio, poor thing looked like he was trying to figure out how to react. He settled on a slight laugh. I had no idea what that was all about.
Mildred must have noticed too because she said while walking towards me, “Ok, enough of that talk. You finally brought home a good one, let’s not run him away. That’s Mom and Dad’s job.”
I stepped away from Antonio and gave her a huge hug, “Seriously, why didn’t you bring Marcus with you?”
“He’ll be here later. Had some business to attend to.” Stepping out of our embrace she asked, “Now, are you gonna properly introduce me to this Scandinavian god you have here?”
“Antonio this is my older sister, Mildred.” After I heard a satisfying huff in response to that, I continued, “Millie, this is the love of my life, Antonio.” Well at least that was one introduction out of the way, too bad there were several more to go.
It was the first and hopefully only time I’d ever brought a guy home to meet my parents. Not that I was embarrassed by them or anything like that. It’s just, well, I was one of those girls that didn’t want to disappoint my mom and dad. Maybe it stemmed from the fact that I was adopted. Some part of me still afraid that they may change their minds about letting me in. Which was silly considering that I was a grown ass thirty-year-old woman. If they hadn’t grown tired of me thus far, doubt they ever would.
Maybe the fact that it went so well introducing Antonio and Mildred to each other meant that it would be smooth sailing with the rest. I kept thinking that harmonious thought all the way up until Dad opened the door with a big ass grin on his face, then abruptly started sneezing.