The next day we made our way to the tourist town for the fall festival. There were so many street vendors, there was no way we would be able to see everything. The food was amazing; you could get anything from authentic Mexican to the biggest soft pretzel ever. Seriously the thing was bigger than a dinner plate; BBQ ribs, garlic French fries, shaved ice, and a million different kinds of homemade lemonade. Then there were the craft booths, artist of every variety displayed their work. Sierra and I each got new earrings, the only thing either of the guys would allow us to get. My dad told the guys to follow us closely so they could take care of some Christmas shopping while we were there. I wanted to buy a couple of things and pretended not to notice that he hid them from me so he could buy them. It was fun to see my dad teaching him and Calvin his tricks to getting my mom gifts he knew she would like.
We found one booth that had funny t-shirts, we sent the guys to get drinks while Mom, Sierra and I picked out shirts for everyone. We decided to save them for Christmas just like the guys were doing. At sunset most of the booths closed down for the night. The fair continued into the night with music and dancing in the streets. It was seriously the most carefree fun I had ever had. At about nine o’clock, we all started to crash. Dad and Cal drove us all back to the hotel but before heading to our rooms Dad told me he’d be by first thing in the morning to take me driving.
Once in our room Cal and Steve agreed to switch for the night. Steve would take the second room with Kyler and Cal would sleep on the couch in our living room. We were exhausted, so Steve truly tucked me into bed with a quick kiss good night before he headed off to the other room.
Dad wasn’t kidding when he said he would be by first thing in the morning, I guess since he paid for the rooms they didn’t have a problem giving him a key to our suite. I don’t know if he thought by coming in early he would find Steve in my bed or Calvin in bed with Sierra. All I know is that I was thankful Steve didn’t stay the night with me and try to sneak out early in the morning because my dad was earlier than Steve would have been.
Nonetheless, I loved getting the time alone with my dad. He has always been the one man I looked up to, the one I want to impress, the one I want to make proud. Sure I still talk to him on the phone almost every day, but it is not the same as seeing him face to face. He handed me the keys and just told me to drive. It kind of felt like a repeat of the first weekend Calvin came to visit. I even took him to the same breakfast restaurant. We talked about everything and nothing. He asked about my classes, which ones I liked, if I had thought about what I wanted to major in, what I wanted to be when I grew up. In the past when he would ask me those questions I always told him I didn’t know. But since Steve and I had put so much effort into getting to know one another, I actually had answers for my dad, classes are going good; Steve and I have almost all the same classes; statistics is the one that surprises me the most because I actually like it; I was still undecided on the exact major but I was leaning towards finance of some fashion. The hardest answer was telling him what I wanted to be when I grew up, it wasn’t like I didn’t know that he knew, it was mostly just telling him out loud.
“I know it isn’t what you want to hear, especially since you are paying for my education. But, what I really want is to be Steve’s wife.” He didn’t say anything, not a single word. At first, I thought maybe I didn’t say the words out loud, it made me nervous so I just kept talking. “We have talked a little about getting married, but we haven’t gone into detail about where we would live. I want to live near you guys. I have even been thinking that if I did get my degree in finance, maybe I could work at one of the dealerships and we could start doing our own lending instead of working with those idiots at Community First. When Steve and I have talked about things, he has said he will work hard making me happy, he doesn’t worry about what kind of job he has so long as he does well enough to provide for me and any children we may have. Having me as his wife, that is all that matters to him. And truthfully, other than my existing family, having him as my husband is the only thing that matters to me too.”
He continued to eat his breakfast in silence. So I followed suit, I said what I needed to say. I answered his questions the best I could and now I just had to hope he could see that I had grown up enough to make these decisions for myself.
Once the waitress cleared our plates, I expected him to pay the bill and for us to get back in the car. Instead he paid the bill and led me outside and down the street to a small park that had picnic tables and benches that surrounded the playground. Without saying a word he guided me to one of the picnic tables and told me to take a seat. He sat opposite me and took hold of my hands before he started to speak. “Calvin warned me, he tried to prepare me for what was going to happen when I got here. He hasn’t stopped talking about how amazing things are here for you. Sure, he talks about Sierra like she is the best thing in the whole wide world, but he has also been talking about Steve like he is right up there with Sierra. I have always trusted Calvin; he has proven multiple times that he is a good judge of character. So I really did come here this weekend with an open mind about Steve. But nobody ever wants to think about their little girl having a boyfriend, which honestly is why you were never allowed to be around anyone who might want to fill that role for you. Only now I can’t be here to protect you from all those that might come poking around, and your brothers can’t do it either. I don’t know if you are aware of all the things Steve has done to show us that he is here protecting you.” He could see from the confused look on my face that I had no clue what he was talking about, so he told me, “Every day, since we dropped you off, he has sent one of us a picture of you. Your mom usually gets one every other day, the odd days he rotates between your brothers and me. Some of the pictures you are aware of, because you are smiling at the camera others you have no clue about because you are sleeping, in class, or eating in the cafeteria. Regardless every picture has shown us that you are grown up and happy and doing what we only hoped you would do. Calvin is right, Steve is an amazing man and I know he will work his ass off providing for you. I saw the way he looked at you Friday night when you came downstairs before we went to dinner and then I watched him with you all day yesterday and I could see that he loves you more than anything in this world. That being said, we will open our arms, our hearts and our home to him; but it will only take him hurting you one time and we will drop him faster than you can blink. I love you sweetheart and despite what you may have thought growing up, I really just want you to be happy. If Steve is the one who will make you happy, I will accept it.”
We sat in silence again for a little bit before I quietly told him, “Thank you. Thank you for being the dad you are. Thank you for loving Mom the way you do. Thank you for showing me what I want in a husband. Thank you for protecting me until I was ready to find him. Thank you for showing me I am worth it. Thank you for accepting him. I wouldn’t be who I am today without you.”
He didn’t cry but I could see the tears building up in his eyes as I thanked him. Once I was done, he told me it was time for me to show him that I could drive. And that I did. We drove around for about an hour. He asked me more about majoring in finance and we talked about starting the in-house financing. I told him I would see what kind of classes I could take next semester to learn as much as possible before we really considered it.
When we got back to the hotel, everyone was just finishing breakfast at the hotel restaurant. I didn’t want to see my family go, but I knew everyone had things to get back to at home. So they all loaded up into Cal’s truck for the drive home since they were leaving me with my new car. Steve assured my dad he would take me to get my driver’s license before he let me drive.
Sierra was crushed the most when saying good bye. It was only two and a half weeks before we would all be back together for Thanksgiving, but that didn’t make her feel any better.