Conrad
Maya and I were on our way to my parents’ place for dinner tonight. I can sense Maya is nervous, and it is more so because of my father. She hadn’t seen him since I told her my dad knew what Callum had sent me.
I pull into the driveway and park the car. I take my seatbelt off and turn to her. She has barely spoken two words on the drive. I am worried about her more than usual. She has been down recently. She hasn’t left the house much and has been sleeping a lot. She isn’t eating as much as she should or taking care of herself. I have been there for her the best I can, but I can’t stop her feeling like this. It is something she needs to work through. I suggested the doctors to get some medication to see if it would help, but she refused. I don’t want to push. I have been keeping a close eye on her. I am scared she will start hurting herself again. She hasn’t yet, and hopefully, it will stay that way.
“Maya, it will be fine. My dad won’t say anything.” I say softly and place my hand on her knee.
“You don’t know that.” She sighs.
“I do, sweetheart. Do you want to go home? If you do, we can. We can rearrange.”
She shakes her head, “No, it is fine. We said we would come. I don’t want to let anyone down and change plans. I will be fine once I am inside.”
I nod and kiss her softly. She smiles into my lips. I first climb out of the car and rush around to open her door. I offer her my hand, which she takes, and I help her out of her car.
“Are you sure I look okay?”
“You look beautiful, angel.” I smile and kiss her forehead.
I link her fingers with mine and head inside. I announce our arrival, and my parents soon appear. My mom rushes over to hug us, and we happily hug back. We greet my father before the four of us head to the living room. Dinner always starts with drinks here.
“What is everyone having to drink?” Mom asks.
“Nothing for me. I am driving.” I answer.
“I can drive home. You can have a drink if you want. I don’t want one. Water will be fine with me, please.” Maya smiles.
“A scotch for me then, please, mom.”
Mom makes everyone their drinks before she sits down to join us. Maya is still nervous; I can sense it, and her tight grip on my hand confirms it. I move closer to her and place my hand on her knee, squeezing it.
“How are things? Any further along?” Mom asks.
“No, sadly not.” I sigh.
“I am sorry there are still issues.” Mom replies sadly.
“We will fix it. One way or another. Leave it with me.” Dad states firmly.
“Thank you, but can we please discuss something else tonight? I don’t want to think about the situation or him.” Maya whispers, looking at the ground.
“Of course.” Mom smiles.
It will be nice to have a few hours without him being talked about. I came to dinner for another reason, not only because my parents invited me. It already had so much hold on our lives.
“Oh, we have some exciting news. Chelsea is coming to visit next week with Adrian. They are coming for a week.” Mom gushes.
Chelsea finally told everyone else about her boyfriend and who he was. My parents were happy with the news. I thought they would be. It helped that they knew him and his family. I am the only one who was not pleased to start with, but my big brother’s protective instincts took over. I am glad everyone is happy for them.
“Great! I can’t wait to see them both again.” I smile.
“Me too.” Maya agrees.
It will be good for Maya to have my sister around. It will be a good distraction. Maybe she will talk to Chelsea. It will be easier to talk to Chelsea about certain things than me. Yes, Maya has been open with me, but I know she is still embarrassed and ashamed because I saw the videos and photos. She shouldn’t be feeling those things. None of it is her fault; I will never be ashamed of her. It may be easier for her to discuss it with another woman, someone closer to her age, than with me or even my mom. All I want is for her to be okay. I pull myself from the thoughts before I get lost in them.
“I thought we could all do dinner together?” Dad suggests.
“That would be nice.” I smile.
“I will book somewhere for us all.” Mom replies.
Maya seems more relaxed now with the change of subject. I will make sure it stays that way.
***
Dinner had gone well. We had great company, conversation, and laughs. It was the first time I had heard Maya laugh in over a week, so it was nice. Mom was in the kitchen fixing dessert for us.
“I am going to help mom.” I smile and stand from my chair.
I look at Maya to make sure she is okay with me leaving her with my father. She smiles and doesn’t seem anxious at the idea. I stroll through to the kitchen.
“I could have managed to bring them through.” Mom laughs when she sees me.
I chuckle, “Yes, I know, but I want to talk to you for a minute about something without anyone else here.”
“Is everything okay?”
I nod, “Yes. I wanted to talk to you about Grandma’s ring. Do you still have it?”
“I do. Why?”
I take a deep breath, “Can I have it? I wanted to use it when I propose to Maya.”
Her eyes widen, and a slight squeal escapes her lips, “You are going to ask her to marry you?”
“Shh, I don’t want anyone coming through,” I laugh, “But, yes. Not right now. I want everything to be fixed before I do. I want to get it cleaned and resized, though, for when the time comes. Can I have it? Or do you want to hold onto it?”
The ring has been in the family for years. It is special and beautiful. Maya deserves the best. She may not like it. If she doesn’t, I will get another one, but it would mean more to me if she accepted my grandma’s ring.
“Of course, you can have it, sweetie. I will get it looked out for you, and I can drop it off at your office next week when Maya isn’t around. Any thoughts on when and where you are going to do it?” she gushes.
“No, not yet. I want to have the ring close by for when I do, but I don’t know when. It depends on how things go. She has enough going on.” I sigh.
“Yes, a lot is happening, but you both deserve some happiness. What better way to get that than by getting engaged? It could be what she needs, and it gives her hope that the future will be okay, no matter what is happening in the present.” She smiles.
She has a point.
“That’s a Good point. Please don’t say anything to anyone, not yet. I will think about things and decide if now is the right time or if I am better off waiting,” I reply.
“I am happy for you. Maya is good for you. You are good for her.” She smiles and pats my back.
“Thank you. I can’t wait to marry her one day.” I say brightly.
Mom hugs me, and we take the desserts through before anyone comes to see what is taking us so long. I smile when I see my dad and Maya laughing together. It is nice to see them finally getting along. It gives me one less thing to worry about.