“S amantha,” my mom hollers from the kitchen. “Can you give me a hand ?”

My girlfriend gives me a smile and says, “Of course, Mrs. Strongwell .”

“Penny,” she corrects Samantha for the tenth time. “Mrs. Strongwell sounds like my mother- in -law .”

“Hey,” my father hollers to her. “My mom loves you. Nothing wrong with being Mrs. Strongwell .”

I hear sniggering in the room from our other relatives, gathered in the living room and chatting among themselves, and find myself laughing too. Samantha brushes a kiss across my mouth and then slips into the kitchen to help my mom with whatever mysterious shit my mom does in there .

As silly as it is to me, Mom believes in women being in control of the kitchen. I’ve tried to help her, but I guess the time I set the dish rag on fire in the stove convinced her I’m rather useless there. Oh , well .

Dad claps me on the back and leads me to the living room, where the football game is on. “You’ve got a good one there,” he says regarding Samantha. “Few women can put up with your mom barking orders at them when it comes to food. She just seems to roll with the punches .”

Samantha and I have been coming over regularly—at her insistence—to visit my parents. And not just on family dinner nights. Other times. Like today, to watch the New York Giants play the Cowboys. She doesn’t care about football at all, and in fact, she’s called it “sportsball” in private. But she does care about me being more with my family .

I didn’t understand why at first. I thought she’d actually want to spend more time with hers. But I think I’m getting it now .

The more I’m around them, the more comfortable I feel. I was keeping them at arm’s length. Have been for a really, really long time. And it wasn’t helping our relationship at all. I’ve kept them in the same space I did as a nine-year-old. As people I couldn’t open up to .

Maybe I’ve done them a disservice .

“Yeah, I admit…I didn’t expect this to happen,” I confess to my father. “For me to …”

“Fall in love?” He raises a brow. Claps a hand on my shoulder. “Son, if you have the fortune of meeting the woman who lights up your life, you have to hold on to her and never let go. I almost lost your mom, you know .”

“What?” I blink. He’s never mentioned this before .

Dad laughs and drops his hand. We sit down on the couch. “I was an idiot. Unprepared to date real women. I…played the field, if you know what I mean .”

I blanch. “Yeah. I get it .”

“Anyway.” He waves a hand. “I met your mom in college. I was playing football at the time, you know. But I was more interested in her roommate. Your mom wasn’t my type. Not wild enough, if you know what I mean .”

I don’t even want to ask him what that means, so I stay quiet and hope he skips on past that part .

“I dated her roommate but things fell apart fast. We didn’t connect. And I showed up one night at their dorm room, daisies in hand, ready to plead my case. The roommate wasn’t there, but your mother was.” Dad gets a wistful smile on his face. “She invited me in and listened to me whine about my feelings, and then she told me to get my shit together and stop pining over someone who didn’t deserve me .”

I bark out a surprised laugh. “That totally sounds like Mom .”

Dad nods. His smile is infectious, and I can see he’s reminiscing. Happy. “Yeah. Something about her spark caught my attention. Made me notice her. She didn’t let me get away with the bullshit I used to pawn on people. I had to be real with her. Asking her to marry me was the best decision I ever made .”

“What made you have the courage to ask ?”

Dad eyed me. “What gave me the courage was the moment I realized this woman made me the person I always wanted to be. She gave me strength. And I wanted to show her that I love and value that about her. So I put aside my fear, and I asked her .”

I remember the story they told me. “You were in an all-night diner,” I say with a laugh .

“I’m not saying I have the best timing,” Dad admits. “But she said yes over a stack of pancakes, and we’ve been together ever since .”

My cousin Steve joins us, clapping me on the back. “Hey, didn’t expect you to be here,” he says, chugging his beer. “I know you’re not a Giants fan .”

“You do? Then why do your parents keep giving me Giants merchandise?” I ask him with a laugh .

His grin grows bigger. “Doesn’t mean I don’t like to see you get shit every once in a while .”

I should spend more time with this man. He’s clearly a sadist. I bark a laugh. “Fair enough. But now that I know your secret, you’re in for trouble at Christmas .”

“Dinner’s ready,” Samantha says as she steps into the room. Seeing her warm face lights me up inside. This woman loves me for me. How the fuck did I ever function without her before ?

I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter. She’s here now .

We scoop out heaping bowls of chili, and I put cheese and a dollop of sour cream on top of mine. My mom doesn’t flinch on the heat level of chili, from what I remember. Samantha wisely follows my lead. I’m guessing Mom made her flavor test dinner, and she burned her mouth .

We all settle in on couches and chairs around the TV. Samantha is on the floor between my feet, and I press my legs close to her to let her know I’m there. We eat chili and scream at the referees and unfair calls. I even find myself caught up in the game, commiserating with the rest of my family .

Samantha rests her free hand on my socked foot, a comforting gesture that shows me she knows what I’m doing. That I’m trying to change, to be there more for my family instead of ducking out early. I told her about that, and she said she would be there every step of the way .

I feel her support, her love .

I need her to be my wife .

God, I don’t recognize myself anymore. But it doesn’t matter. What is important is that this woman is helping me be the man I wanted to be. The one I didn’t think existed. I believed I was too broken to function, to love. But the past few months with her have shown me how far I can grow .

“Samantha,” I find myself saying .

She turns around. “Hi. Do you need something ?”

“Yes.” I tug her hand up. I don’t know if it’s crazy to do this in front of my family, but I can’t wait another minute. Her confused expression spurs me to continue, “Everything is fine. I just …”

I hear my father suck in a breath. He knows. He fucking knows .

“You just what?” Samantha asks .

It’s a commercial break, of course, so now the whole family is focused on us. I try not to squirm under the scrutiny. “I…I love you .”

The smile she gives me chases away every tiny doubt in my heart that what I’m doing is right. “I love you too.” Her face is flushed—her giveaway that she’s embarrassed. Probably because I’m doing this in front of everyone, though she has no idea what I’m doing .

I drop down to one knee, and my mom gasps .

Samantha freezes and stares at me. Behind her, a Cheetos commercial blares, and my dad grabs the remote and wisely shuts off the TV. Thank fuck .

“I want you to marry me,” I state .

She just continues to look into my eyes, hers wide, shocked .

“I love you,” I continue. “I need you to be my wife. Please.” Fuck, I am bungling this all up. How the fuck do people do this ?

“Kiss her,” my cousin coaxes .

His dad elbows him .

“I… Are you sure?” she asks, casting glances at my family. I know she’s trying to be delicate because they’re looking. “ We , uh …”

“You changed me,” I tell her, gripping her hand harder. “I know this isn’t…orthodox. But I’ve never been an orthodox man, and I’m living more in the moment. Because of you. You’ve brought a light to my life that I’ve never felt before, and I want to marry you. I want to have babies with you. I want us to be side by side for the rest of our lives .”

My aunt and mom both give heavy sighs at my words. I can see Mom pressing her hands to her chest .

Samantha swallows. I stand and cup her cheeks. Force her to look at me .

“You are my love and my life. Please say yes.” I hope that the rawness I’m feeling right now comes through in my words .

Her eyes fill with tears, and she nods. “ Yes . Yes .”

And we’re kissing, and my family is exploding with applause, but I don’t care, because my fiancée is in my arms. My world is becoming right, bit by bit .