Chapter Thirteen
Penelope
I slip into my room to see Pandora still asleep in my bed. On the weekends she could sleep forever if we let her. Normally her growling stomach is the only thing that motivates her to get up. Crawling onto the bed, I lie next to her and run my finger down her nose. Her face scrunches and she slaps at my hand, making me giggle.
I knew Pandora was the first person I wanted to tell. I know I’ll have to face my mom and dad soon enough. Pandora and I share everything, and I hope that she’ll be happy for me. I want her to be excited with me. I run my finger down her nose again.
“You better have food,” she grumbles, smacking at my hand again. Her eyes fly open when her hand makes contact with my ring. She grabs my hand, looking at the gigantic rock Ivan put on me.
“Never one to waste time are you, Penny?” I hear the laughter in her voice. The little bit of tension I wasn’t even aware I was carrying melts away. “It’s beautiful.”
“Thank you,” I tell her, feeling a little choked up now. “I know some might say it’s fast.”
“Fast is putting it lightly,” she laughs. “Seems to be the way this family works, though.”
We both smile at that. Dad always talks about how he fell in love with Mom after just one look. Knew from the moment he saw her she would be his life. Then he did anything and everything to make her his.
“I knew the day would come when we’d have to detach ourselves from each other. But I thought we still had more time.”
I stare at her, thinking about not having her crawl into my bed every night. I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before. Things will change between us.
“Ahh, Penny, don’t cry. All I’m saying is I’m going to miss you. But it’s time for a new chapter in our lives. I’m just glad you have someone with you in your new chapter.”
“What about you? Do you want someone?” I ask.
Something flashes across her face before it’s gone. “Just because you’re lovestruck doesn’t mean you need to push it on me. I think I’ll go along with Henry and do the no-dating thing”.
I roll my eyes at the mention of our cousin. Henry refuses to date. He said he didn’t want to end up all crazy in love like his own parents. Both of our dads seem to have stalker tendencies when it comes to their wives. Henry is terrified he’s going to catch it.
“Will you tell Mom and Dad with me?”
The ball of tension in my stomach has suddenly returned. She runs her hands over her face and now I can see she’s worried, too. I always get sick when I think about my parents being mad at me. Pandora had always been quick to take the brunt of whatever we got ourselves into as kids. But this time, it’s on me. And I need her support.
“How about I tell them I’m knocked up. When they start to freak, we’ll just say that we’re kidding and Penny’s marrying the guy who looks like he murders people for breakfast.” I smack her arm, and then she sobers. “Wait, you’re not pregnant, are you?”
I roll my eyes at her because she’s being crazy—how could I possibly be pregnant already?—but then hers narrow on me.
“All right. Let’s go pull this Band-Aid off before you make yourself sick worrying about it. Then you can make me breakfast.” She adds the last part as we get out of bed.
Pandora grabs my hand. “If that man is broken, no one will be able to heal him like you.”
Her words take me by surprise, and I squeeze her hand. “Thank you.”
When we enter the kitchen, Pandora and I both freeze. My dad is staring at Ivan, and my mom is standing in between them. Ivan doesn’t move. The look on his face is unreadable, but I know without a doubt my parents are now aware of our relationship. I can feel the tension in the room.
Eventually, Ivan’s eyes come to mine, and I watch his whole face soften.
Mom looks over to Pandora and me, and Dad follows her line of sight. His attention goes straight to my finger. I make no move to cover the ring.
“Penelope,” my dad says, and I stand at attention.
“Watch your tone,” Ivan says.
“Oh shit,” Pandora mumbles next to me. No one corrects Dad. Well, no one except Mom.
Dad’s attention snaps back to Ivan, who’s still staring at me like he didn’t just poke a giant bear. It’s then I notice that both of them are about the same height. It would be an almost even match, size wise.
“Are you hungry, krasotu?” Ivan asks me, as if the room isn’t about to explode with tension.
“You’ve got food?” Pandora asks, and I smack her arm. Then I hear my mom snort.
“You don’t tell me how to talk to my daughter,” my dad says, ignoring everyone but Ivan.
“Krasotu is precious. No one will talk to her in a way that is not polite.”
“All right, I see why you fell for him so fast. He gets food and says shit like that.”
I have to bite my lip to keep from smiling at Pandora’s words.
My dad takes a deep breath as if to get himself under control. “I know she’s precious.” My dad looks at me as my mom moves next to him. I’m a little shocked at how calm and okay she seems with all of this. But she might have already known. She knows everything.
My dad instinctively wraps an arm around her. “Is this what you want?” he asks me.
“I love him,” I admit.
“Of course you do.” He lets out deep breath. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Pandora and I say in unison.
“Penny.” Dad says my name a lot softer this time. “It’s just hard to take all this in. You’re my little girl. You love with your whole heart, and I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“I would never hurt Penelope.” Ivan walks over to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder, and Dad’s eyes narrow for a moment.
“That might be so, Ivan, but we’re still going to have a talk about this.”
I smile up at Ivan. Dad just gave his approval in a roundabout way. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my chest. I don’t even know why I was so worried. I know at the end of the day my family would never stand in the way of my happiness. Maybe it’s more that I want them to like him. I want Ivan to be a part of this family. I want him to get a taste of how wonderful having a family really is.
“Da, after krasotu eats.”
“I’ll make breakfast,” I announce.
“Thank God,” Pandora says, walking over to the breakfast bar and sitting down.
Ivan leans down and kisses me on the top of my head before letting me go. I walk over to my mom and dad. “You want something, too?”
My dad ignores my question, pulling me into them as they both wrap their arms around me in a tight hug.
“I love you,” my dad says.
“Let me see the ring,” Mom demands. “Looks like someone wants to make sure everyone within a mile knows you’re taken.”
I feel myself blush a little as she smiles at me
“I’m going to starve to death,” Pandora whines, and I roll my eyes.
Ivan takes a seat at the breakfast bar as I start to cook. He watches me the whole time.
I take a coffee over to him and set it down in front of him. He holds my hand and runs his thumb across my knuckle. “I love you, krasotu,” he says, bringing my hand to his mouth and kissing it.
“I love you, too,” I reply, watching a smile pull at his lips. His whole face changes so much when he smiles.
“Let’s talk about this wedding,” I hear my mom say. I look over at her and she’s smiling. My dad is glaring at Ivan’s hand holding mine.
Pandora lets out a sound like she’s dying, and her head drops to the countertop. “Oh my God, she’s going to make me wear a dress!”
“Oh my God, I get to plan a wedding!” I squeal with excitement.
“This is going to be hell,” Pandora grumbles, but when she lifts her head to look at me she’s smiling.
Then I look around the room and I notice everyone is smiling.
I feel myself start to tear up from the amount of happiness flowing through me. It’s overwhelming to have this much love in one room, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I know that from this day forward, my family is growing. Not only by adding Ivan, but in our hearts.
And now the next chapter begins.