11. Meet the Parents

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The 23rd of December. I was at school. I had hoped to be home by now, but I was at school. I had to travel again--such a pain in the ass. I woke up that morning tangled in a web of sheets and Jack. I was careful not to wake him as I unraveled myself from the sheets and Jack's limbs. I peered out my door to find no one else. I ran into the bathroom and took a quick shower. I dried my hair, put on makeup and brushed my teeth. I quickly dressed myself and ran out the door, figuring I'd make it just in time for my meeting with my advisor.

I met with my advisor for a little less than an hour—going over what I've been working on in Detroit and whatnot. When I got back to the apartment, I was surprised with what I saw. Whitney and Claire were eating breakfast—that Jack had made!

"Morning!" They all greeted me as I walked in the apartment.

"Want some breakfast, Ange? Jack's a great cook!" Whit exclaimed while taking a forkful of eggs. I laughed and went over to Jack, who was standing at the stove cooking eggs and bacon.

"Morning," he said as he kissed me. "You're just in time," He plated the eggs and bacon and handed the plate to me. I joined the girls at the table and they both looked at me with suspicious eyes—not informed of what went on last night.

"So, Ange, how was your evening last night?" Claire asked, taking a bit of bacon.

"Fabulous," I replied with a grin as I began eating. Jack finished his breakfast and put his plate on the table. Just as he took his seat, his cell phone rang. He looked at it and rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, I'll be right back. It's Bobby," he got up and went outside.

"So? Did you guys do it?" Claire asked.

"No. It turned out he didn't want to. But we were close!" I exclaimed, trying to defend Jack and his unknown reason for abstinence.

"Aw, he didn't want to? I think that's cute," Whit said.

"Cute! Whitney, he's a GUY! What guy doesn't want sex from his girlfriend!" Claire exclaimed.

"I know! Right?" I laughed, not really knowing what to think.

"Um, a guy who loves his girlfriend for more than just sex," Whit replied, giving me that 'you know it's true' stare. I froze. That was it. Either he didn't love me enough to have sex with me yet, or he didn't know if he loved me and therefore couldn't have sex with me until then. Maybe he didn't love me at all.

"Maybe he doesn't love me," I said quietly.

"No that's definitely not it!" Whit and Claire began ranting to me but quickly stopped when the door opened and Jack came walking in.

"Good thing you came back! Your breakfast is getting cold," I said with a smile, pretending our conversation never happened.

"Yeah! Bobby can just keep talking forever," Jack groaned as he sat down. "He wants me to call as soon as we get to Boston. When will that be?"

"Um…probably sometime after 6 tonight. Our flight leaves at 4:53 which means we have to get to the airport by 2:45," He nodded and continued eating. Whit and Claire and I all exchanged sympathetic glances.

After we cleaned up from breakfast, all four of us began packing for our trips back home. Jack and I packed our things more or less in complete silence. Maybe he suspected what I thought and what we talked about while he was on the phone with Bobby. Maybe he didn't suspect anything. Suddenly, my heart sank at my next thought—what if something bad happened at home and he felt too bad to tell me? As we lugged out bags out of my room and set them by the door, I turned to Jack.

"Jack, is something bothering you?" I asked.

"No," he said nonchalantly as he opened the door and dragged his things outside and down the stairs. I met him by Whitney's car with my things and stopped him.

"I beg to differ,"

"About what?" he asked.

"That nothing's wrong,"

"Nothing is wrong. I swear to you," he said. I wasn't going to push it. I didn't feel like being in a fight with him on the plane. It could have just been my imagination playing games with me.

We said good-bye to Claire. I told her I'd keep her posted while we were away on break about the status. Whitney drove us to the airport and we said good-bye. I told her I'd keep her updated as well.

Jack and I lugged our bags through the airport, checked in, this time with Delta, went through security and sat at the gate. We sat in silence for some time, but then he pulled out his guitar. He took it out of his case and began strumming it and playing around on it for a little while. Finally, he glanced over at me and began singing along while he played.

"One day, not long ago, I was shot, but this really awesome girl saved me. Her name is Ange! Her name is Ange! Her name is Ange! Ohhhh so we chilled once I was better, and really hit it off! We didn't go to bed that night til 3…aaand her name is Ange! Yeah, her name is Ange! Ohhh her name is Ange! And now we're here, sitting at the airport, waiting to fly to Boston. It doesn't matter cus I'm here with her…my girlfriend, the girl who saved me…yeah…her name is Ange!"

By the end of his song, all of the people that were sitting at our gate clapped. I was bright red but laughing. I leaned over to him and kissed him.

"That rocked, Jack," I laughed as I leaned my head on his shoulder—completely forgetting about why I had been so upset earlier.

Soon enough, we were boarding the plane to Beantown. I was so excited that Jack was going to get to experience my city—and in the winter. As we took our seats on the plane, I couldn't stop talking to him about what we were going to do in Boston.

"…and we can go skating on frog pond and I'll take you to Newbury street—that's always fun. Oh! And there's this great restaurant called 'Fire and Ice' that is in Harvard Square we can go to. It's awesome—they have a this giant raw bar of all kinds of meats and fish and such, noodles, rices, all kinds of veggies and different sauces you can choose from. You bring your stuff up to this giant circular grill at the middle of the restaurant and they cook it for you!"

Jack laughed, "I can't wait," Suddenly, I stood up.

"Jack, you need to take the window seat," He just shrugged and switched seats with me.

"Why?" He buckled himself in.

"You'll see," I winked.

The plane took off and this time, Jack was wide awake. We talked the entire flight, until we flew over New York City. He took one glance out that window and I lost him for the few moments we flew over the totally illuminated Manhattan.

"Isn't that amazing?" I asked, once we were finally past it.

"Yeah—I've never seen anything like that before!"

"I love flying at night just for that reason—all of the major cities you fly over and lit up—only if it's a clear night though,"

"Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts. We're going to begin our decent into the Boston area. The current weather is around 20 degrees Fahrenheit and clear. We'll be landing in approximately 10 minutes,"

"Alright Jack, keep watching out the window," I instructed him as he began our landing. This was all so routine to me from flying home for every break from school the past four years.

"Alright, you should be seeing the city right before we land on the ground," I waited a few moments and finally I got my reaction.

"Oh wow!" Jack exclaimed as Boston came into view, totally illuminated. The lit-up buildings flew past us as we landed. He turned to me.

"I love your city already," he smiled. I smiled back at him.

"I remember the first time I had that view. I came home for Thanksgiving break my freshman year and I was almost in tears when I got off the plane. The other times I had flown home for breaks it was always raining and gross out so I never got a nice view of the city as we landed—but it's breath-taking isn't it?"

"Yeah it was," we got up from our seats, gathered our things and exited the aircraft. As we walked through the gate and through the terminal Jack looked more nervous.

"Are you sure your parents are okay with me coming?" he asked, almost breathlessly.

"Yes! I told them you were coming and they are very excited to meet you, as is my family, which you'll actually be meeting some of them tonight," I looked at him, unsure of how he would react to that.

"Tonight!" He exclaimed.

"Oh look! It's my parents!" I exclaimed as I spotted my mother and father near the baggage claim. I ran over to them and hugged them.

"Hey! I've missed you guys! Merry Christmas!" I hugged and kissed them.

"Hey honey! Have a safe flight?" My dad asked.

"Yeah it was fine," I replied. I turned to Jack and smiled.

"Mom, dad, this is Jack. He's from Detroit—don't worry, he's a good guy," I laughed.

"It's great meeting you," Jack said as he shook their hands.

"It's great to finally meet you, Jack," dad said.

"We hear all about you," my mom chimed him.

"Alright! Well we're glad to be back!" I cut in.

"Are you sure you guys wanna come to Papa's tonight?" my mom asked as we walked out to the car.

"Yeah! Definitely!" I said affirmatively. I turned to Jack.

"Jack, we always go to my Papa's apartment in East Boston for Christmas eve. Every year since I was born and before it's been there. It's just this amazing tradition—we eat lobster, and linguini with lobster gravy and shrimp—we're Italian incase you didn't know, and it's just my family and my cousins and it's amazing! We all wait for it like every year,"

"It sounds fun," he replied, smiling.

At my Papa's that evening, I introduced Jack to my Papa, my mother's cousin, Debbie, and her husband, Brian. They really took a liking to Jack, and Jack really seemed to have fun joking around with Debbie. Debbie was always so hilarious and crazy and that's what we all loved about her. The night was going well, helping my grandfather prepare for tomorrow night. Jack was helping me crush Ritz crackers for stuffing the lobsters and my mother and Debbie were getting the lobster gravy ready (we call tomato sauce gravy in Boston). All was going well until my dad brought up the lobsters to kill them. Jack was passing by my dad to get to the bathroom and wash his hands just as he was killing a lobster. Jack looked over at the lobster being killed and cringed.

"I know, I hate it too, Jack" I called over to him.

"What?" My dad asked. "He's afraid of killing the lobsters too?"

"Dad, it's sad and gross!"

"Gross like this?" My dad had some of the green 'tamale' on his hand and showed it to Jack, jokingly. "Come on, Jack, eat it, it's a delicacy!"

"Ew, no!" I shrieked. Suddenly, I saw Jack's face turn white as he fell to the floor, completely passed out.