“Four years active duty and four years inactive,” he said.
“Did you have to go to war?” my dad asked.
“I did a tour in Iraq, but it was brief, and there wasn’t much going on. I was going to re-enlist, but when my wife passed away, I had to figure out a different means of income so I could raise Margie on my own.”
“Wow, I’m so sorry for your loss,” my mom said and then looked at me.
“Well, thank you for your service,” my dad said and stood up to shake Justin’s hand again. “You like sports?”
“I love sports,” Justin said.
They started talking, and my mom turned to me.
“I like him,” she said, making sure to lower her voice. “He sure is handsome. How long have you guys been together? And why were you hiding him from me?”
I laughed. “I wanted to make sure things were going in the right direction before I had him meet you guys,” I said. “I didn’t want to get your hopes up.”
“My daddy loves Anna,” Margie said. She had been standing next to us, obviously listening to our conversation. I didn’t quite know what to say.
“You are absolutely adorable, you know that?” my mom said, leaning down to Margie.
“Thank you,” Margie said. I sensed a shyness in her voice.
“Did
you bring any toys?” my mom said to her.
Margie shook her head.
“Well, let’s go see if I have something in my purse.” My mom and Margie went over to her purse where I watched her pull out a pink stuffed bear.
“This is for you,” my mom said.
Margie’s eyes lit up. “Thank you so much!” The two of them started talking about the animal, and I went back into the kitchen to finish up dinner.
“Need any help?” Ally asked me.
“Sure.” I handed her the bowl of salad. “Mix this up and set it on the table, please. There are three different dressings in the door to the refrigerator.”
“Okay,” Ally said and started mixing the salad. “Things seem to be going well here.”
“Yeah, hopefully they don’t catch on though.” I grimaced at the thought.
“You guys look like a real family already,” Ally said to me as I stirred the food around on the stove.
I laughed. “I think so too,” I said.
Ally smirked at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing, nothing at all,” she said and then placed the salad and salad dressings on the table.
It wasn’t much longer before I was putting plates and bowls of food on the table. I made chicken parmesan and bread sticks with a side salad. It took a lot of work, but it was worth it. I hardly ever cooked actual meals. It seemed like such a waste to cook for just myself.
“Dinner’s ready!” I called out and waited a moment before everyone made their way into the kitchen.
“Wow, Anna. This looks amazing,” my mom said. “Thank you for doing this, but we could have just gone out to dinner.”