Love and Skate (19 page)

             
Without consent my voice changed back to puppet Nellie and I replied, “I apologize mother.  Thank you for having us here.  Owen, you’ve met my mother Sabrina Forrester and this is my father, Alexander Forrester.”

             
Owen shook hands with both of them who in turn wiped their hands on their pants, the same gesture they used after a handshake with the plumber or the gardener. 

             
“Well, let’s not dally here all day.  We have guests waiting.”

             
Owen held my hand while we followe
d, our footsteps quiet next to the tapping of my mother’s designer stilettos on the wood floors.  We entered the dining room and my heart stopped and for a moment the world became hazy. 

             
“Nellie, you remember Corey and Cassandra and their chil
dren Christina, Colby and of course there’s another on the way
.  And their parents of course.  Right? And everyone this is Nellie’s
boyfriend
Owen.”
             

             
I stood staring, not at the guests but at Mom.  How could she do this to me?  A tug on my hand brought me back to the present, the very ugly pr
esent and I called puppet Nellie forth to handle it for me.

             
“Yes, of course.  So nice to see you all.  Merry Christmas.”  I sounded like a computer voice when I talked like that.  We took our seats at the enormous cypress
table and Owen whispered to me after a few bites.

             
“Calm down, she can’
t eat you and neither can they.
  It’s going to be fine.  I can take it.  Your mom’s a good cook.” 
He was trying but I had given up a long time ago.

             
“We have personal chefs.” I whispered back to him and he almost laughed. 

             
The food served was probably one third of what Owen usually ate and I knew he must be starving.  The silence during dinner was smothering.

             
“So, Nellie, how is school?’  The icebreaker was provided by Cassandra and it was a lame attempt.

             
“School is great Cassandra.  Thank you for asking.  Your children are really beautiful.  I’m sorry I couldn’t come to the shower.”

             
We had more of that shallow conversation for the rest of the meal.  It
was going unbelievably
well in a fake kind of way.  We went into the formal living room after the meal.  The older adults were partaking in bourbon. 

             
“Owen,” my mother started in and I could tell by the intonation in her voice what was about to happen, “would you like a drink? You are twenty one right?”

             
Owen glanced at me quickly and winked as if he could ‘one up’ her. 

             
“No ma’am, thank you.  I am twenty one but I don’t drink alcohol.”

             
She raised an eyebrow and I swore I saw flames rise up in her eyes.

             
“Oh? It is my experience that when a young person doesn’t drink it’s because either they have an addiction problem or because they have alcoholic parents.”

             
Owen’s
massive frame flinched the tiniest bit at the mention of his parents
and I immediately opened my mouth to defend them but Owen beat me to the punch.

             
“Mrs. Forrester, my parents are not alcoholics and I don’t have an addiction problem.  I’ve just been a witness to what happen
s when people drink.  I
nsane, critical and ridiculously ru
de things come out of their mouths and they hurt the people they are supposed to love.”

             
Before I could stop it I snorted and so did Corey and Cassandra.  I don’t know why they were laughing, they were pompous asses too.  Mom let out a curt ‘hmmm’ and went on with her snobby chatter.

             
Then she started in on me. 

             
“Nellie Michelle, you’ve gone back to purple I see.  It’s been so long I can’t remember what color it naturally is.”

             
“Really Mom?  Because pictures of prim and proper Nellie are plastered everywhere.  You usually get Leslie to dust them and put them around the house before I’m coming, right?  All you have to do is look at one of those.”

             
She acted shocked and hurt and said she always kept pictures of me out in the house but I knew better.

             
I announced that I was going to take Owen on a tour of the house and my mother didn’t even turn around to acknowledge it.  I took him through the downstairs rooms and introduced him to Leslie, the housekeeper and Christophe, the chef.  They both hugged me and showed me more affection than my parents put together.

             
Owen didn’t say much and then I shrugged my shoulders
and said, “That’s it.”

             
“You know that’s not it Nellie.  You’re hiding your princess bedroom.”

             
I opened my mouth as far as it would go.  “How did you know?”

             
“Really? Look at this house. I bet your room looks like the Easter bunny had diarrhea.”

             
I laughed so hard I could barely walk to my room.  He was exactly right. 

             
I opened the door
and he cracked up.  I slapped his shoulder and it made him laugh harder. 

             
“It’s not that funny. This was my prison.”  I said laughing, but now he stopped laughing.

             
“
I’m sorry.  I’m so glad
you got out of here. 
This place, as big and decorated as it is, is
kinda
depressing.”

             
He walked around my room touching r
andom cheesy things and laughed
.  We decided to make our excuses and go ahead and leave. 

             
Mom and Dad looked more relieved than heartbroken that we were going and on the way out we heard them making plans to open presents with Corey and Cassandra and their family.  They never mentioned a present for m
e;
my gift was getting out of there fairly unscathed.

             
We got into
Owen’s
Bronco and the doors had barely closed and he started talking.

             
“Please for the love of all that’s holy, tell me we won’t ever leave our children with those two.  They’ll turn into plastic or something.  I know that’s your parents, but they’re so damned mean and hateful.”

             
After I finished laughing I answered.

             
“I
t’s ok, when you take me on long romantic trips we can leave the kids with your parents.”  I smiled and looked out of the side mirror as the mansion grew smaller and smaller behind us.

             
“And there will be lots and lots of trips for us if they are anything like our weekend on the houseboat.” His eyes gleamed with friskiness.

             
“That was a good weekend.  We should do that again—soon.”

             
“My parents also have a small cabin in Arkansas that belonged to my grandparents—since it’s cold.” He was looking at the road but I could see the smile.

             
“
How ever
will we keep warm?” He took my hand and kissed the inside of my palm.

             
“I think I know a way.” His lips brushing my hand as he spoke.

             
“And by the way, I’m starving.”  I knew he would be and quite frankly, I was too. 

             
“Let’s go to your Mom’s place and eat.”

             
“Ok, let me call her and see how busy she is.”  He picked up his phone and made the call.
  His eyes widened and he shook his head several times and answered ‘Yes Ma’am’—a lot.

             
“She says the next time we call ahead she’s going to maim me.  So I’m supposed to bring your cute butt there before she has my hide and that’s a quote.”

             
“God, I love your Mom.” I said and I meant every word.

             
“She loves you more than she loves me but not nearly as much as I love you.”

             
We got to the restaurant and all ate together, even Falcon and Maddox showed up and were rowdy as ever.  The three boys plus Chase,
Owen’s
dad, were all giving each other looks and were kicking each other under the table.  Sylvia noticed too and wasn’t going to put up with it very much longer.

             
“All right you four, what in the hell is going on?”  She commanded the attention of the entire table and some onlookers.  The word ‘hell’ coming out of her mouth was odd and it was the first time I’d seen her fierceness. 

             
Falcon spoke up first. “It’s nothing, Owen is just a chicken, that’s all.”

             
Maddox agreed, nodding his head up and down with a mouthful of pasta.

             
Chase cleared his throat and said, “Owen, I think the surprise is ruined, son.”

             
Owen looked deflated and pissed.  But he got out of his chair and reached out a hand to his Dad.  I didn’t know if they were going to waltz or what. Chase reached into the inner pocket of his jacket
which hung on his chair
and came out holding a black box and handed it to Owen.  Sylvia
,
next to me
,
grabbed her cloth napkin from the table and hugged me around the waist in preparation. 

             
He opened the box and looked at me and Sylvia trembled with sobs next to me.  Chase grabbed her and hugged her to him as Owen bid me to stand. 
I stood on shaky knees next to him as he kneeled in front of me
.  And like a siren’s call, his kneeling attracted every eye in the place and suddenly his family wasn’t our only audience. 

             
“Nellie Michelle Forrester, I have loved you since before I knew your name.  Every time you walk into a room my breath is taken away.  A life without you in it is simply unimaginable.  Will you be my wife?”

             
I could hear the ladies in the room gasp and whimper.

             
“Yes.” I croaked out while the waves of water streamed down my face.

             
He placed the ring on my finger and I was surprised to see that it was an antique silver ring with a pink stone instead of the traditional diamond.  Then again we were nothing even close to traditional, so it made sense.  He stood up next to me and smiled bashfully as the entire restaurant was now clapping and his family rose from the table to congratulate us. 
Then as if no longer embarrassed he
bent me backwards and kissed me long and hard and we received even more clapping.

             
He wiped my tears away with his knuckles and more moved in to replace them. 
Maddox and Falcon gave their brother hugs and slapped each other on the backs while Sylvia and I hugged and sobbed. 
It was a great ending to an otherwise crappy day.

             
After another hour or so, Owen took me h
ome and I gave him my present. I bought him two things.  One was a new backpack since his was raggedy.  And the other was a set of rings that coul
d be switched out for the barbell piercings
.  It wasn’t anything compared to what he had given me, but his face lit up just the same. 
The day had exhausted me and while he took a sh
ower I felt myself drifting off on top of the comforter.
  The next thing I remember was a hand on my hip and an arm being slipped under my head and the words, “Thank you for the best Christmas.”

             
The rest of the semester was spent in bliss.  We both got our schedules and found that we both had Tuesdays and Thursdays free of classes.  Of course I had to work but only four or five hours at a time. 
We went out to the Black house for New Year’s Eve and I got to see how much of a pyromaniac Owen really was.  He and his brothers were just relentless.  I swear they popped firecrackers until two in the morning.  Then they had to spend an hour picking up all of the mess with a very angry matriarch on their tails. 
All of this happened after he gave me the most amazing kiss right at midnight.  This year was starting off on a good note.