“Well, at least you two got a weekend in Atlanta. Did you get to tour any of the Peachtree District?” Mom asked. “I’ve heard a lot about some of the restaurants there, and I so want to visit some time.”
“Yes, Mom,” I said, sharing with her the story about our dinner out, slightly edited to leave out the fact that we went back to the hotel and had sex for two hours afterward. “And when you and Gerald get a chance, you so have to go. You’d love it all, especially what they can do with chocolate and pecans. In fact, when we get home, there’s some local stuff in my bag that Wes made me promise to bring home rather than eat.”
We all laughed, and for the rest of the ride home we got to fill our parents in on what we had seen and done. Gerald was really interested in the whole part with CNN, which I think is funny because he’s done TV spots before, while Mom grilled me on the food scene in Atlanta. She was disappointed when I told her that we didn’t hit up too many restaurants, but she played pretty cool about it. I could tell she wished we had gone to a bunch of places she had seen on Food Network. She and Gerald could afford to go wherever they wanted, but they worked so damned much they never found the time.
When we got home, we enjoyed dinner before moving into the family room. “Robin, before Gerald gets too deep into cruising for a show to watch, I had a question,” Mom asked as we settled down on the sofa. I was sitting next to Wes, who had slung his arm over the back of the sofa like he normally does. From there, I could lean into him if I wanted, which I planned to do later. “You’re still a bit skinny.”
“I know, Mom,” I replied, trying to not roll my eyes as I saw Gerald looking at me, “but I want to make sure I don’t just crash my metabolism. So, it’s going back on, but I’m going to put it on slow and right. Wes and I talked, and he’s going to get me into working out harder again, and putting on the weight the right way. We were going to start next week.”
“I see,” Mom said, her lips pursed in that ‘I understand what you’re saying, but my maternal instincts don’t like it,’ sort of way. “You promise you’re going to be putting on some weight?”
“I promise,” I replied. “If I don’t, you can tell Chef he can start making me double desserts every time I stop by.”
“Mom, actually Wes and I kind of wanted to talk to you guys about some things we were discussing in Atlanta.”
“What is it, honey?” Gerald asked, setting aside the remote he had in his hand. “You’ve been through a lot, I can’t imagine what you two must have gone through out there.”
“Well, Dad,” Wes began, before stopping, looking up at the ceiling, and then at me, trying to find the words. He grinned sheepishly, not sure what to say. “Uh, Robin, a little help?”
I blushed and looked from Wes to Mom and then Gerald, who leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “Honey, whatever you have to say, go ahead,” Mom encouraged me, smiling her most accepting smile, not knowing the bombshell we were about to drop.
I nodded and swallowed, reaching up to take Wes’s hand. He gave me a squeeze, which I returned. “Well guys,” we both began, before breaking out into a chuckle. I leaned into Wes, who wrapped his arm around me and gave me a squeeze.
“Okay, I guess I’ll go,” Wes said, and looked at his father. “Something happened to us out there. Dad, Robin and I, well, up in Canada we realized that we love each other.”
“Of course, you two have been stepsiblings for nearly a decade of your lives,” Gerald said, not realizing what Wes actually meant, while realization seemed to have already dawned in Mom’s eyes.
“No, Dad, what I mean is, Robin and I are in love with each other.”
Gerald sat quietly for a moment before breaking out in a smile. He looked over at Mom, who also smiled at him. “Told you,” Mom said with a triumphant smirk. “I could tell as soon as they got off that helicopter in Vancouver.”
“Okay, okay, you win. You get control of the Netflix for a week,” Gerald replied, handing over the remote. “Took them damn near long enough to figure it out.”
“Wait, what do you mean?” I said, looking from my mother to my stepfather and back. “In my mind, I thought this conversation was going to be going a lot differently than this.”