Dinner With My "Parents"

After years of hearing Amber complain about her parents always butting into her business, I was expecting the worst when I moved into their guest house. Needless to say, I was surprised to find out that they were just as bad as they thought they were, only, I didn't mind. It was nice to have someone worry about me if I was late getting home. It was nice to have someone treat me like one of their own; my mom just let me do whatever I wanted.

Of course the part I didn't like was Lenore's unsolicited advice on my love life. "I'm only saying this because I don't want to see you get hurt again Janie," she said to me last night at dinner. "Devon is a nice boy, I've known him for years but dear, I worry that he'll only end up leaving you miserable. But," her face lit up. "Then there's Sean." Carl's head snapped up when Lenore mentioned Sean's name.

"Now Lenore, stay out of Janie's love life, she's better suited to figure out who she wants to be with." He smiled at me, "I think Devon is a good young man and Amber has mentioned that he's changed quite a bit in the last few months. Plus," he glanced at Lenore. "He was more respectable than Sean was at Amber's during Christmas."

"Oh what do you know?" Lenore waved him off with her hand.

Carl looked thoughtful as his fork hovered in front of his mouth. "Well," he said with a smirk. "I did arrange for Amber to meet Reed at his birthday party," he turned to me. "I always thought Reed's calmness would be a good match for Amber's flair for the dramatic. Of course," he shrugged slightly. "I didn't expect for Alexis to come along as early as she did; I didn't handle that well at all."

"Honestly Carl! Will you stop already? It's not like you had any role in them falling in love."

"Yes I did my Sweet. If I didn't make Amber go to that party, she wouldn't have met him and we wouldn't be having a wedding this year." Carl looked pretty pleased with himself. I can't really say that I blame him, Amber and Reed are a great couple, they seem to have everything going for them and they are perfectly fitted.

"Go on," Lenore scoffed. "You may have made her go to that party but I encouraged her to go out with him when he asked her out."

I smiled, it was nice to see parents arguing over who had a hand in their daughter's happiness as opposed to who ruined who's life. I didn't want to burst either of their bubbles and tell them that Amber only went out with Reed because she thought he was cute and he was older, which excited her. The fact that her parents approved of him, well, it wasn't a pro, if you know what I mean.

"Lenore," I smiled sweetly at her. "While I appreciate your concern and I value your opinion, I know what I feel," I pressed my hand against my chest. "In here."

Lenore perked up, "What would that be dear?"