10. at home

Boy convinced me to come to his family’s house for a while, there was no one there, we could just talk and I could try to relax before I drove on home. When we arrived at the house, I was confused at seeing about five cars in the driveway… Maybe his Dad was a car salesman?

It turned out the entire family was at home, and he’d decided it was time for me to meet them. A bit sudden you think? I was in shock. He laughingly guided me into the house and straight up to his parent’s room where his Dad was watching golf. “Hey Dad this is Redframe, she just broke up with her boyfriend of 10 years but we really like each other so we’ll see how it goes.” I stood there, shell-shocked. Boy had his arm around me while his Dad asked me twenty questions about my ex-relationship and then we all talked golf for a while. Surreal? It gets better.

Within two hours I’d met and chatted with his four brothers and their girlfriends, spoke to his mother on the phone (she was away on safari) and helped his little sister with her homework. The whole house was filled with people and animals coming and going. There was music and noise and laughter and teasing and I wasn’t spared in the least.

While I was completely overwhelmed and basically functioning on autopilot, I’d never felt so at home in my life.