"Are you sure you're gonna be OK here alone with them? I can stay for moral support if you want. Or I can send Allie home to check on you so you won't be alone." Roger offered as they stood outside Keely's apartment.
"Roger, they're my parents. Not serial killing axe murderers." she laughed looking up at him.
"You know what I mean Keel." he said looking down at her.
"Baby I'll be fine. I just think it's better that I tell them alone. As soon as they find out that you're positive too... there's no telling how they'll feel about you. I mean, even though you had nothing to do with it, they might think you gave it to me and I'm protecting you. I need to make sure they understand that you didn't. It'll be easier if you're not here. They won't be so worked up." she told him leaning against the wall as she played with the front of his shirt.
"It'll be OK Keel. I promise. They're your parents. They love you no matter what." he said looking down at her playing with her hair.
"I know. It's just... you don't know how they are. They're more protective of me than you are. And we both know how you can be." she smiled slightly looking up at him.
"I'm sure they're not as bad as me." he smiled looking down at her.
"Oh, you don't know my parents." she laughed looking up at him.
"Just call me if you need me Baby, OK? I'll come running to your rescue. I promise." he told her leaning down to kiss her.
"My knight in shining leather, huh?" she laughed pulling him by his leather jacket towards her.
"That's right." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.
"I'll be fine. I promise. But it's nice to know that I have a hero if I ever need one." she smiled reaching up to caress his face.
"You're my girl Keel. I'll always be your hero. It's my job." he whispered caressing her face before leaning down to kiss her again.
"Thank you Roger." she whispered looking up into his green eyes. "I'll call you later. I promise." she smiled looking up at him.
"You better." he smiled down at her.
"Bye." she smiled before opening the apartment door and went back inside as Roger left.
"Roger didn't have to go home. We were enjoying his company. He seems like a nice boy." Mr. O'Reilly smiled looking over at Keely as he looked around the apartment at the pictures she had up on the walls. One was of Roger on stage playing his guitar and singing. It was during one of the bands rehearsals.
"It's OK daddy, he had a couple of things to do at his place. Um... I have to talk to you guys about some things and I really need you to sit down." she said looking over at them.
"What is it sweetie? Are you and Roger getting married? Moving in together? Are you pregnant? Honey you can tell us anything." Mrs. O'Reilly asked looking over at her.
"Mom, please... just sit down, OK? And please, don't interrupt me until I'm done. It's gonna be hard enough saying it and I really need to get this out." she told her sitting on the couch.
"You're scaring us Keely. What's wrong?" Mr. O'Reilly asked sitting next to his wife on the love seat.
"Mom, dad. Um... a few years ago, I met this guy in a bar. It was before Roger. Way before I met Roger. We were drinking and I brought him home and... um… we... we slept together. We didn't use anything... you know, like protection or anything. A few months later I saw a poster in the subway and thought it might be a good idea if I got tested... and that's when I found out I was positive for HIV. It's um... it's the virus that causes AIDS." she told them holding back tears unable to make eye contact.
"Oh honey, we're so... we don't know what to say." Mrs. O'Reilly said reaching over to her daughter taking her hand in hers.
"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have been so… so reckless. I was so stupid. I know that now." she choked looking up at them.
"Does Roger know?" Mr. O'Reilly asked quietly looking over at his daughter.
"Yeah, um... yeah daddy. Roger knows. I told him on our first date. Um… mom, dad, Roger's positive too. But he didn't give it to me. I swear. I just met Roger like a month ago. So don't blame him, OK? He would never hurt me. You have to believe me. He takes care of me. We um… we take care of each other. He would die before... before he'd let... before he'd... I'm so sorry." she started before lifting her hands to her face breaking down into tears.
"Oh sweetie, we're right here. It's OK. You're gonna be OK." Mrs. O'Reilly told her as she quickly moved over to the couch to comfort her daughter.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner Keely? We could have helped you somehow. We could have been there for you. You didn't have to go through this alone." Mr. O'Reilly asked moving over to the coffee table.
"Um... I don't know... I was scared daddy. I thought you guys were gonna make me move back home with you guys so you could take care of me and I couldn't do it. I had to stay and finish what I started here. I had to do it, so me getting sick wasn't for nothing." she answered wiping her wet face.
"Oh honey, we know you can take care of yourself. You've been doing that since you were a little girl. And we know how much dancing means to you. When you got hurt, we were worried about how you would handle it, but you picked yourself up, dusted yourself off, you bought the school and you seemed really happy again. We know how much your school means to you. Honey, we would never want to jeopardize what you built for yourself here. We love you and want to see you fulfill your dreams. Everyone deserves to have a chance to fulfill their dreams." Mrs. O'Reilly smiled holding her daughter in her arms.
"Really?" she asked looking up at her wiping her tear stained face.
"Of course. Sweetheart, you're a grown woman. It's not our place to insist that you live anywhere. Just like it's not our job to tell you that you could do better than singing in a bar band with your cousin." Mr. O'Reilly smirked looking over at her.
"Um… you guys know about that?" she asked looking up at him.
"Of course. You know what a dumb ass your cousin is. He let it slip to your aunt and uncle a few years ago. We've known this whole time. We're very proud of you Keely." he smiled looking over at her.
"You are?" she asked looking up at him surprised by her parents open mindedness.
"Of course we are. You are an incredibly talented woman, who can do anything she sets her mind to. We've known that since you were a little girl." Mrs. O'Reilly smiled looking over at her daughter.
"OK, who are you and what did you do with my real parents?" she joked looking over at them.
"Keely, we have always tried to respect you and what you wanted to do with you life. Maybe we were a little over protective for a few years, but we trust you. We love you Keely. The only thing we have ever wanted was for you to be happy and from what we see, you are very happy." Mr. O'Reilly smiled taking his daughters hand in his.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys myself. I thought you would think I sold out or something. I mean, I came here to pursue my dancing and then I hurt myself. Now I'm teaching dance at a school and singing in a bar band." she said looking up at him.
"But it's your school Keely. And if it wasn't for singing in that bar band, you never would have met Roger. He seems like a very nice man sweetie." Mrs. O'Reilly smiled looking over at her daughter.
"Yeah, Roger is pretty amazing, mom." she smiled looking up at them.
"He's very lucky to have you in his life. As long as he knows that, he and I will get along fine." Mr. O'Reilly smiled lifting his hand to his daughter's tear stained face.
"Don't worry daddy. He knows, But I'm pretty lucky to have him in my life too." she smiled looking over at him.
"And it's obvious he's crazy about you." Mrs. O'Reilly smiled looking over at her daughter.
"Yeah, he's not too shy about that, is he?" she laughed looking over at him. "He sings with me in the band too. He's really amazing."
"You two must sound great on stage together." Mr. O'Reilly smiled looking over at his daughter.
"And absolutely nauseating around your friends." Mrs. O'Reilly laughed looking over at her.
"Yeah, I guess you can say that." she laughed looking over at her.
"Good. You deserve to be happy. It looks like Roger makes you happy." Mrs. O'Reilly smiled leaning over at hug her daughter again.
"He does mom. I promise you. He really does." she smiled hugging her mother.
"And he better take care of you." Mr. O'Reilly smiled looking over at her.
"We take care of each other daddy. He would never let anything happen to me. And I would never let anything happen to him." she smiled looking over at him.
"Why don't you call Roger and we can get to know him better?" Mrs. O'Reilly suggested looking over at her daughter.
"Thanks mom." she smiled hugging her before going into her room.
"So they were OK? I mean, they didn't threaten to tie you up and take you back to Minnesota or anything?" Roger asked as he spoke to Keely on the phone.
"No, surprisingly they were actually really great. They understand that I need to stay here for my school, my career and for you." she told him quietly as she spoke to him on her cell phone in her room.
"That's great Baby." he smiled sitting on the chair by the phone.
"Well they like you." she smiled excitedly.
"Oh yeah?" he smiled looking down.
"Well what's not to like? You are the most charming man I've ever met." she laughed.
"Listen, I was thinking, maybe we could hang out with them at the Life Cafe tonight." he suggested.
"My parents actually want to get to know you better, But I don't think they can handle you, Maureen, Mimi and Collins together. Hell Baby, I can barely handle Maureen by herself." Keely laughed trying to keep her voice down.
"Oh come on. We're not that bad. Anyway, I wanna show them that even though their little girl can take care of herself, you don't have to. You have a family here too, who loves you and will never let anything happen to you." he smiled sitting in the loft.
"I think they know. Oh, by the way, you happen to be a very lucky man to have a woman like me in your life. At least that's what my dad says." she laughed lying down on her bed.
"I already knew that Baby." he smiled.
"You better." she laughed loudly as there was a knock at the door. "Hang on Baby. Come on in." she called out sitting up.
"Is that Roger? Your dad and I want to take you kids out for a nice dinner so tell him to dress nice for your date tonight." Mrs. O'Reilly smiled standing in the doorway.
"We don't go on dates anymore mom. We're grown ups. We just hang out." she laughed looking over at her.
"Tell them about my plan." Roger chimed in on the other end of the phone.
"Yes Baby. Mom, Roger wants me to invite you and dad out to have dinner with us and our other friends tonight." she smiled looking over at her.
"That's a great idea. We'd love to meet your friends. I'll go tell your father." she smiled starting to close the door but pausing. "Oh, do we need to dress a certain way?" she asked looking over at her.
"Yeah, jeans and leather jackets." she laughed as Roger laughed on the other end.
"What?" Mrs. O'Reilly asked looking over at her.
"Nothing mom. Just casual is fine. It's a small cafe a couple of blocks away. It's around the corner from Roger's place." she laughed looking up at her.
"OK sweetie." she smiled closing the door behind her.
"Baby, why do you have to torture your mother like that?" Roger asked still laughing.
"I don't know. I guess because it's fun and I can." she answered smiling from ear to ear.
"You are an evil woman." he laughed looking towards the loft door as it opened and Mark and Collins entered.
"That's what you tell me." she laughed looking over at the picture of her and Roger which was on her nightstand. Mark had taken it at the bar. They were on stage singing together.
"I'm gonna start getting ready Baby, OK? I'll see you at the cafe at like 7?" he asked standing up from the chair next to the phone.
"Like 7 or 7? You forget how to tell time sometimes." she laughed swinging her legs onto her bed and leaning against the pillows.
"At 7. I'll see you definitely at 7. Unless you want me to come and pick you up?" he asked as Mark and Collins tried to keep quiet seeing that Roger was on the phone.
"I would love that Baby. We could walk with my parents together." she smiled.
"OK, I'll be at your place at 7." he smiled turning away from Mark and Collins.
"OK Baby. See you at 7. Bye." she smiled before closing the phone.
"They're cool." Mimi smiled looking over at Mr. and Mrs. O'Reilly as she and Keely stood by the juke box in the Life Cafe.
"Cool? My parents? Boy, do they have you fooled." she laughed folding her arms across her chest watching them as they laughed with Roger and Collins.
"No, they're very cool. Cooler than any of our parents are. We would never be able to bring our parents around here. They're too... I don't know, too uptight for this place, but look at them. They can even handle Roger and Collins together. And frankly, I don't even think I can handle the two of them together. And I have many more years experience then they do." Allison laughed looking over at them as Roger and Collins gestured towards one another as if to blame the each other for something as everyone laughed.
"Your parents really like Roger, huh?" Mimi asked watching Roger smile.
"Yeah, they really do. My dad didn't want him to leave this afternoon." she smiled admiring the smile on Roger's face.
"Did you tell them that you're positive yet?" Mimi asked looking up at her.
"Yeah. And they know about Roger too. They took it better than I thought." she smiled as Roger looked up at her and winked.
"They love you Keel. They just want what's best for you." Allison smiled looking up at her.
"Yeah, I know. I guess they realize that Roger is what's best for me. My dad actually told me that Roger is a very lucky man to have someone like me in his life." she smiled looking down at her.
"He is, you know?" Allison smiled as Roger got up from the table making his way to Keely.
"I'm the lucky one." she smiled before Roger rushed over to wrap his arms around her.
"Hey Baby. Are you gonna come hang out with your parents any time soon?" he asked smiling down at her.
"I'm enjoying the view from here." she smiled leaning up to kiss him as everyone looked on happily.
"Roger, can I speak to you for a minute?" Mr. O'Reilly asked ushering Roger towards the door of Keely's apartment as she and Mrs. O'Reilly cooked dinner in the kitchen.
"Sure." Roger smiled getting up from the couch and following the older man out.
"Roger, I'd like to thank you for taking care of Keely for us." he smiled looking up at the younger man.
"Sir, with all due respect, Keely can take care of herself. I mean, she takes care of me just as much as I take care of her. More so even. She's an amazing woman." he smiled thinking about Keely.
"You have very strong feelings for her, don't you son?" he asked looking up at Roger. He didn't need Roger to answer, it was written all over his face.
"Um… yes. Yes sir, I do. I would never hurt her and I would never let anything happen to her." he insisted looking into the older mans blue eyes.
"I know that Roger. It's nice to see she's in such good hands." Mr. O'Reilly smiled putting his hand on Roger's shoulder.