Chapter Seventeen
Justin
The dinner Anna cooked was amazing. I knew it would be. She did most of the cooking, but I was glad she let Margie and I help her a little. It made me feel more useful.
I was so nervous before I arrived at Anna’s place that night. I wasn’t sure what her parents would think of me and Margie. I didn’t know if they were laid back or uptight. I was glad to find out they were laid back. It made things easier for me.
The conversation was not at all uncomfortable, though I felt like her dad was questioning what was going on between us. He kept glancing between us with an unreadable expression. I wished I could read his mind, but I wasn’t sure I would like what I read.
After dinner, I sat on Anna’s couch and watched Margie with Anna, Ally, and Millie. She was playing with the bear Millie gave her, and she was talking about all her favorite things. The three women were very engrossed with everything she said.
“And Daddy got me a special Barbie for Christmas last year. She’s so beautiful. She has a pink dress, and it’s so pretty. I’ve never taken it off her. I don’t want to lose it; it’s too special.”
I found that Barbie at Target a few months before Christmas. It was on sale, so I got it for her, hoping she would like it. I remembered how hard it had been to hide it from her. I wanted nothing more than to see the look on her face, but since money was extra tight around the holidays, I wasn’t sure if I was going to have the money to buy her Christmas presents or not. I saved the doll, and though I did get her another gift, a book she asked for, I was glad I found that Barbie. The look on her face when she opened it meant everything to me.
I loved watching Margie play with Anna and her family, because her eyes lit up every time she spoke. She already loved them. She needed more women in her life. I knew they could teach her things that I would never be able to. She needed female role models.
I loved seeing how much they spoiled her. It was also something she needed, something I had always wanted to be able to do for her. Tammy’s family wasn’t really in the picture since her passing, so, unfortunately, Margie didn’t spend any time with them.
I watched as Anna interacted with my daughter, and I couldn’t get over how perfect it felt. That was when I realized I had fallen in love with her. I started to feel this way before that night, but I wasn’t one hundred percent sure until I watched the way she was with Margie.
As I was immersed in the scene in front of me, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Tom looking down at me.
“Come with me for a minute,” he said, and I followed him into Anna’s office.
We sat down in the two chairs that were on opposite sides of the desk. It felt a little awkward, like I was interviewing for a job. I didn’t know what to expect. My palms were already a little sweaty.
“Beautiful little girl you have there,” Tom said.
“Thank you. She’s my pride and joy,” I said.
“Then you know how I feel about my girls.”
“That I do, Tom.” It was hard for me to not refer to him as “Sir.” The military taught me to address everyone as “ma’am” or “sir,” and I had found it difficult to let that go.
“How serious are you about my daughter?” Tom asked bluntly.
I looked him in the eye, wanting to make sure my answer was clear. Just moments before, I realized how in love with Anna I really was. Now, I wanted to make sure Tom knew it too.
“I’m very serious about Anna,” I said.
“You know, Justin,” Tom began. I braced myself for a lecture. “When I first met Anna’s mother, I had that same look in my eye. The way you look at my daughter proves to me how serious you are about her. Now, I don’t want you to think I’m letting you off easy. This doesn’t mean I won’t kill you if you mess up and hurt her.” Tom laughed.
I had to admit it was intimidating talking with him about Anna, but I felt better when I realized there wasn’t going to be a lecture.
“Do you like football, Justin?”
I was surprised that he changed the subject so quickly. Still, I didn’t complain.
“Yes I do, sir. I mean, Tom.”
“What’s your favorite team, son?”
“The New England Patriots, of course.” Though it wouldn’t matter when it came down to it, I hoped he was going to say the same thing. It would make things easier if we had the same favorite football team. I also thought it might help keep me on his good side.
“I can already tell you’re a great fit for my daughter. We are also a Patriots family,” Tom said. “I can get box seats through my company if you’d ever like to go to a game.”
“That would be amazing. I would love that!”
“You could bring Margie. It would be a family event,” he said.
“Thank you. That would be so much fun. I know she’d have a blast at a game.”
I felt a sense of relief. We had some things in common after all. I knew that helped Tom feel more comfortable with me.
We talked about our favorite highlights from the past season, the things we noticed that were strong points and weak points within the team, and how proud we were that they won the Super Bowl.
I knew this whole thing was supposed to be pretend, that Anna and I weren’t really dating, but I wanted it to be real. I wanted to be with Anna, and having her father approve of me was a great feeling.
We talked for a few more minutes and then went back into the living room. I looked around, noticing Margie and Anna weren’t anywhere in sight.
“They’re in the kitchen getting dessert ready,” Ally said, answering my unasked question.
“Thanks,” I said. I walked into the kitchen and asked, “Do you guys need any help?”
“No, Daddy. We got it,” Margie said and did a thumbs-up at me. Anna laughed.
“Will you take the plates to the table, please?” Anna asked.
“I guess he can do that,” Margie agreed. Anna and I both laughed this time. Sometimes, Margie could be so adult-like, and it was the funniest thing.
“I’ll do it. Let me know if there is anything else you need help with.”
“I will,” she said.
I loved that she wasn’t afraid to put me to work. Asking for my help made me feel more welcome in her home and in her life.
I grabbed the stack of plates she had placed on the counter and the pile of forks next to them and brought them over to the table. I put a plate and fork at each seat instead of just leaving them in the middle.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said. She and Margie were holding different desserts. Margie was carrying a tub of vanilla ice cream, and Anna was holding a pie. It looked homemade.
“That looks amazing. Did you make that?”
Anna nodded. “It’s my great-grandma Ethel’s famous apple cherry pie.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had or even heard of an ‘apple-cherry pie,’” I said.
“That’s the point,” she said with a wink. She placed the pie down in the center of the table and took the ice cream tub from Margie. She placed it beside the pie and said, “Thank you, Margie. Will you go get everyone and tell them dessert is ready?”
“Yes!” Margie said and ran off to the living room.
“No, running!” I yelled after her. I heard her feet slow down a bit, and I grinned.
“It’s fine,” Anna said.
I leaned into her and gave her a kiss.
“What was that for?” she asked with the most beautiful smile on her face.
“Just because,” I said, though there was more I wanted to say. I longed to tell her how I really felt, but I was too scared. I didn’t know how she felt about me, and I didn’t want to ruin anything by telling her too soon.
“Thank you,” she said and kissed me back lightly.
We sat down just as everyone came over to the table.
“Is this great-grandma Ethel’s pie?” Ally asked.
“Of course. I wouldn’t want any other one,” Anna said.
She cut a slice of pie for each of us, and Millie put a scoop of ice cream on each one. I went in to take a bite, not knowing what to expect since I had never tried a pie like this, and I was blown away by the flavors.
The crust was a perfect flaky pie crust, and the filling was tangy and sweet. The mixture of the two fruit fillings was surprisingly good. I decided it was my new favorite.
“Wow. This is great, Anna,” I said.
“Thank great-grandma Ethel,” she said with a laugh.
“My grandmother had been making pies one day in her kitchen. She made an apple pie and a cherry pie and had one more pie crust. She only had half the amount of each filling and on a whim decided just to mix them so she wouldn’t have to waste any ingredients. And thus, her famous apple-cherry pie was born,” Millie explained.
“I’m glad she almost ran out of ingredients,” Margie said. Half of her pie was on her face and we all started laughing. “Will you teach me how to bake?” Margie asked Anna after taking another bite of her pie.
“Of course, sweetheart. Maybe your daddy can drop you off here sometime, and we can have a girl’s day. We can bake and watch movies.”
“Yeah!” she said.
The conversation moved on to all the crazy things that great-grandma Ethel did in her later years. I found it so interesting how close their family was. Mine wasn’t very close. I had my mom and dad, but other than that, I didn’t really talk to my family much.
After we finished our desserts, Anna’s parents and Ally decided it was time to leave.
“It was so nice to finally meet you, Justin,” Millie said to me. “It’s too bad Anna hid you from us for so long.”
I looked at Anna. “Yeah, I guess she wanted to see how serious we were first. It was nice to meet you, Millie.”
She gave me a hug.
“Nice to meet you, Justin,” Tom said to me.
“Likewise,” I said and grabbed his hand for a handshake.
“See ya around, Justin,” Ally said.
“Bye, Ally,” I said.
Anna hugged her sister and her parents and then turned to me when they were gone.
“Thanks for doing this,” Anna said.
“You’re welcome. They seem really nice,” I said.
Anna smiled at me. “Do you guys want to watch a movie?”
“Yeah! I don’t want to go home yet!” Margie yelled.
Anna and I laughed.
“What movie would you guys like to watch?” I shrugged, and she got down with Margie. “Do you want to pick out the movie?”
Margie nodded her head with excitement and Anna led her over to her stack of DVDs.
“I don’t have many family movies, but I have Netflix.”
“What’s ‘Beethoven’?” she pronounced it just as it was spelled: “beet-hoven.”
Anna laughed. “That’s Beethoven. It’s about the family dog.”
Margie’s eyes lit up. “Can we watch it?”
Anna said yes and put it in her DVD player. We all settled onto her couch with Margie between us and started watching the movie.
Margie was silent the whole time. She fell asleep halfway through, resting her head on Anna. It was so sweet, and I knew I wouldn’t mind doing this every single night for the rest of my life.
Anna gently rubbed Margie’s head.
“Thank you for doing this,” I whispered to Anna, I was trying not to wake Margie.
“You are more than welcome. I really do enjoy both of you guys being around.”
I smiled at her. “I enjoy it too. And I can tell she just adores you.”
“I adore her. She’s the sweetest little girl I’ve ever met.”
The movie ended, and Anna helped me carry Margie out to the car. I gently put her in, and she didn’t even wake up. I closed the car door and turned to Anna.
“Thanks again for doing this,” she said.
“It was my pleasure, Anna,” I leaned in and gave her a kiss. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” she said.
I got into the car and watched her in my rearview mirror until she made it back inside. I was falling madly in love with this woman. It excited and terrified me at the same time.