We're going to need more than five minutes

Call me Candy, will you?

„So, again... Your mother is not ‚Mrs Parrilla', but ‚Ms Azzara'?"

„Correct", she answered without looking over to him but focusing on the road ahead.

„And, your aunt is also ‚Ms Azzara'?"

„Yes. But don't worry, Probably they'll immediately offer you to call them by their first names. My mom's called Dolores, but everyone calls her Dee, my aunt's called Candy. She's an actress too."

„Right, okay. And, what do I do... do I hug them, with COVID and all? Or... shake their hands? Do I bow, or anything?"

She had to laugh. „Don't be silly, baby, please don't make too big of a deal out of this, alright? You're just meeting my mother and aunt."

„Exactly! That IS a big deal!"

„Well, just see what happens. Even though they're both fully vaxxed, I think it's safe to keep your distance at first and wait whether they come to hug you. In general, we're a very touchy family. We're Italian, Sicilian, actually."

He nodded.

Side-eyeing him, she could see the two flower bouquets he was holding in his lap shake with the nervous bouncing of his leg, and she gently put her hand on his thigh. Briefly, she turned her head to give him an encouraging smile. It was cute, actually, how important it was to him to make a good impression today. „Hey! Really, it's okay. You're going to be fine. They love me, and I love you, so ultimately they're going to love you too!"

She managed to sound so confident, that it indeed calmed him down, at least a little. Good thing he didn't know how nervous she really was herself. It had been years – almost ten, in fact – since she had last introduced a new boyfriend to her family. So to say that she was rusty was an understatement. Also, that man from back then would later go on to marry and then divorce her again, so that last time hadn't exactly turned out to be a smashing success. And her mother's reserved reaction on the phone upon hearing the news that she now had a new and much younger boyfriend didn't make her feel too optimistic that things would go all too swimmingly, but he did not need to know that. Her family might need a bit more time to warm up to him, but they'd come around eventually. Jordane was such a wonderful human being, it was simply impossible to dislike him. And if the both of them were really serious about their relationship and had faith that it could last, this was another necessary step they'd have to take eventually. So, today was just as good a time as any.

„You know, yesterday", he changed the subject, „when you sent me the picture of that billboard, I almost posted it on Instagram."

She briefly looked over at him. „How do you mean?"

„I was going to post it in my stories. I already had the finger on ‚Send'. I was just so excited and wanted to share my beautiful girlfriend with everybody."

She felt hot and cold all at once. „But... you didn't?"

„No, of course not. I mean... we aren't that official yet, are we?"

„No. We're certainly not."

„Right", he nodded and looked out the window.

With a sigh she reached out and gently stroked his head. „Would you like to be?"

„Ah... I don't know. Maybe not, you know... THAT official. But if I'm being honest, I would like to be able to share some parts of our relationship with my friends and family yes."

„And you can! I mean, all my friends certainly know about us, they all were at our fake wedding, remember! If you trust your friends to be discreet about it and keep it to themselves, you absolutely can share whatever you like, our relationship is not that much of a secret anymore."