Page 25 of Stat: Love In Scrubs

SUNDAY DINNER…

I looked down at my watch once more. I had already dropped Esa off at my parents’ place. I had a feeling Yara was going to act as if she didn’t have any clothes in her closet. It seemed even when we made small runs, she couldn’t find the right thing to wear.

I don’t know who she was trying to impress; my parents weren’t going to give a damn, she could bet that. I liked her in anything, but at this point, I knew saying that wouldn’t matter not one bit.

“Baby, why are you acting like you’ve never met my parents?” I asked.

She was deep in her closet when she stepped out in a red dress that clung to her waist and ass. She did a spin in front of me, and I almost reached out to bite the bottom of her ass cheek. She almost had me barking in this bitch.

“What do you think of this one? You know what, no. I see the look in your eyes. If I wear this, your parents and Veronica’s parents are going to wonder why you have a harlot around Esa.”

I burst into laughter, then covered my mouth to try to catch it. This damn woman was off the chain. She groaned and then walked back into the closet.

“They definitely wouldn’t have thought you were a harlot, baby. But they definitely would have seen how fat that ass is.” I pointed out.

She peeked around the corner with a frown.

“I’m glad you’re taking this as a joke, Desmond. I just want to make a good first impression.”

“For who? My parents already met you.” I told her.

“Not as your girlfriend, they haven’t, and this is also my first time meeting Veronica’s parents. Not to mention, I don’t need to be wearing anything distracting when it’s not about me. Oh, brown, casual. I think I know what I should wear.”

“Late is an impression, too. So wrap it up, baby.”

I laid back against her bed and closed my eyes briefly. I didn’t want to say it aloud, but I was just as nervous as Yara about tonight. It had nothing to do with my parents meeting her and everything to do with how Veronica’s parents reacted to Esa.

Esa has only ever known my parents. It’s not like I didn’t let her know who they were. She also understood the reason she didn’t see them was because they were having a hard time without their daughter. I remember the day I had to have that conversation with Esa.

She couldn’t understand why some of the kids in her school had two. I guess they had a grandparent’s chat with the kids at Yara’s academy. They even explained that sometimes kids had only one set of grandparents. It made sense when Esa came home asking about her mother’s parents.

I had to explain it to her as if they were on an emotional vacation, and when they came back, they would come to see her. In her eyes, they had been on vacation this whole time. I didn’t even tell her they were coming today. I didn’t want to disappoint her if they didn’t show up.

“Okay, I think this is it,” Yara said, interrupting my thoughts.

I sat up in bed and smiled at the sight of her. This was the Yara I fell for.

She wore a pair of blue jeans with a nice brown shirt, flats, and her hair was in a ponytail, with a few curled pieces hanging in her face. While wearing a pair of dangly gold earrings. I stood from the bed and walked a few steps to kiss her.

“You look damn good, now bring yo’ ass woman. No more changing.” I told her.

She nodded, then grabbed her purse, and I grabbed her spend the night bag as she called it.

We already knew she was coming home with me, so there was no need to stop back here for clothes.

Once we made it downstairs, Yara had to run to the kitchen to grab the sweet potato pound cake she had made, which I told her she didn’t have to.

I took that from her and walked ahead of her so she could lock up her house. I placed the things into the backseat, then opened her door. Once she was inside, I walked around to the driver’s side, and we made our way to my parents’ place.

“So, tell me a little about your parents,” Yara said.

“I think you’re thinking too hard about this baby. But I got you. My mom is super chill, kind of like you now that I think of it, outside of the clumsy part.”

She nudged my shoulder. “I am not clumsy.”

“You want to call your pops and get his weigh-in on it?”

She rolled her eyes with a smile, then crossed her arms against her chest.

“I would rather not. Now, continue, we don’t have much time.”

I chuckled because she was serious as hell.

I spent the next twenty minutes telling her everything I could about my parents.

I don’t know how much any of this would work.

I didn’t think she would need any of it.

They sure as hell weren’t going to talk about their favorite TV shows with her. At least, not this first meeting.

We were finally pulling into their driveway, and I parked behind my dad’s truck. I turned to face Yara with a smile. I reached over to hold her hand briefly.

“Ready?” I asked.

She nodded. “As ready as I can be.”

I laughed and turned the car off to get out and open her door. She waited for me as I grabbed the wine bottle I bought and the cake Yara had made. Then led the way to the front door. I twisted the knob and let myself in.

“Wait, why didn’t you ring the doorbell? Now you’re going to have me looking rude just like you,” she complained in a low whisper.

“Woman, bring yo’ ass,” I told her.

Before she could smile, my dad was walking in with a smile that matched mine. He bypassed me, as if he saw me regularly, and hugged Yara.

“Well dang, I guess I’m not here too.”

My dad waved me off as Esa ran into the room and straight to me. She jumped into my arms and peppered kisses on my cheek.

“Now this is what you call a greeting.” I pointed out, causing Yara to smile and Esa to giggle.

“If you expected that from me, you can keep on dreaming,” my dad told me.

We all burst into laughter as he led us into the kitchen, where my mom was moving around like a trained chef. The moment she noticed us, she turned down the stove and then walked over to greet Yara. She made sure her apron didn’t touch her, not wanting to ruin Yara’s outfit.

I placed the cake Yara made on the countertop to bring my mother’s attention to it. In addition to the bottle of wine that I knew was her favorite from Stella Rosa. I smiled as she did a little dance, then turned to face Yara.

“I told this son of mine to tell you just to bring yourself. You didn’t have to bring anything. But we appreciate it and can’t wait to try it.” My mother said.

I turned to face Yara and gave her an 'I told you so' look. She nudged my shoulder, but smiled over at my mom.

“I had to bring something. My parents would have had my butt if I didn’t bring something to say thank you for having me in your home.”

My mother looked over at me with a lift of her brows, then back at Yara.

“A woman with manners. I love that. I’ll have to thank them for raising a beautiful young woman when I get the chance. Hopefully, soon.” My mother added.

“I’m sure my dad would love to hear that, according to him, that was all his doing for Maria came into our lives.”

“Ah, I think I recall reading that in your brochure for your academy. What you do is something so special, and you do it so well. The things Esa has learned since being there are something to be marveled at.” My mother praised her.

Yara’s eyes watered a little. I knew this felt good to hear, especially with everything that had been happening with the rebuild. She didn’t tell me, but I learned that more things were needed than she was letting on. I planned to bring that up to her tonight.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Wilder.”

My mom waved her off, “Please call me Celeste,” she told her.

Then looked in my direction, “I’m not going to bite, son. Leave the women in the kitchen, and y’all find something to do with your time. We have another ten minutes, then everything should be done. Also, look out for our extra guests,” She instructed.

I held my hands up in mock surrender, then placed Esa onto her feet before walking into the living room, following behind my dad. Yara gave me a smile that let me know she would be just fine. Although I knew she would be.

I took a seat in the open chair beside my dad as he reclined his chair and relaxed for a moment.

“You ready for tonight?” he asked.

“As ready as I can be. I haven’t seen Ron and Marissa since Veronica’s funeral. I don’t know what to expect if I am being honest. This could go really well, or it could go really bad.”

My pops nodded, “We gone pray for the first option. I’m not going to go for anybody acting like an ass in my house.”

I hoped not. We sat for another five minutes before the doorbell rang. I glanced at my pops to see if it was cool if I grabbed the door. He waved me off and closed his eyes. I’m sure he was praying.

I stood from where I had been seated and released a breath before heading for the door, and then pulled the door back to reveal an older version of Veronica. Marissa’s hair had gone platinum, and so had Ron’s. It seemed as if grief had aged them far more than time. They smiled up softly at me.

“Hey, it’s been so long. Let me move aside so you can come out of the cold.” I announced, pulling the door open wider for them to walk through.

They nodded and stepped around me, stopping at the entryway.

“Thank you for inviting us. We’ve been meaning to get in contact with you, but you get it.” Ron spoke up.

I nodded in understanding because I hadn’t moved on from Veronica until this year with Yara.

So, I understood what it meant to still hold vows, loyalty, and love for someone who was no longer with us, close to my heart.

I’m sure that as his parents, it was something different.

I hoped I never experienced that with my children.

The parents are supposed to go first. But these days it wasn’t always like that.

Ron rubbed his hand up and down the front of his jeans.

“So, we don’t know where to begin.”

“Let me introduce you to Esabella. Esa,” I called.