The Tortoise and His Sunrise | ✓

8. Parents

"Hey, sweetie, how are you?"

Mom's face was slathered in an avocado-green mask, and one of her eyes was covered with a slice of cucumber.

"Oops, are you lying down?" I said. "Why didn't you tell me to call you later?"

"It's fine!" she said, removing the cucumber slice. "I can still see you."

I withheld a chuckle as I grinned. "Okay, sure. Hi, Mom. It's been uneventful for me, so I guess that's a good thing. How about you?"

"Other than missing you, it's been great for me," she said. "Your dad's busy with work as usual. How are you doing in your classes?"

"Pretty well," I said. "Some of the material is a little difficult, but there hasn't been anything too overwhelming so far."

"I'm glad to hear that. And how's Nolan? Is he having dinner with us this weekend?"

I hesitated.

My parents came to visit me about once a month since college started, and Nolan had been invited every time to join us for a meal. However, most of the time I declined on Nolan's behalf because I didn't want him to get sick by forcing himself to eat. On the other hand, if he went and didn't eat a thing, I knew that it would've roused my parents' suspicions or concerns.

If the roles had been switched, he would never have let me do it.

Over the last few weeks, though, he had been suggesting that I bring him with me, especially after finding out my mother had been asking after him. The last time he had joined us was after the graduation ceremony, when we all went out for food.

He didn't want it to seem as if he was constantly making excuses not to meet my parents at all. Although I appreciated and understood where he was coming from, I still hadn't wanted to put him in a situation like that. Practically all of my outings with my parents involved food, one way or another.

"Honey? Are you there?"

Mom had put the cucumber slices back onto her eyes, but now she lifted one to look at me.

"Yeah," I said. "He is."

I knew Nolan wouldn't be happy if I turned down their invitation again on his behalf, no matter how good I felt the reason was.

"That's wonderful! It's been so long since I last saw him in person," she said, beaming. "I can't wait to see you two."

I managed a smile. "Me too, Mom."

Deep down, I wished we didn't have this problem to consider.

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"Is the food not to your liking, Nolan?" Mom asked. "Why don't you order something else?"

"I'll ask the server to bring us the menu," Dad said.

"No, it's okay," both Nolan and I said simultaneously.

Oops. I probably should have left it to Nolan to respond, but my nervousness had gotten to me once they started commenting on his poor appetite.

My parents gave me a strange look.

"Chelsea, if he doesn't like the food," Mom said in a patient tone, "shouldn't he get to try something else?"

Inwardly, I groaned.

"No, that's not what I meant," I began, but I quickly stopped when I realized I didn't know how to continue the sentence.

"Thank you, Mrs. Arnold, but there's no need," Nolan said, saving me from my parents' attention. "This is great, really."

"Are you sure?" Dad said. "You haven't eaten much at all."

Nolan cut out another piece of steak. "Yes, it's delicious. I'm not very hungry, so I'm eating a little slowly."

Mom's skeptical expression kicked up another storm of panic in my chest.

"Yeah, anyway," I said brightly, leaning towards Dad, "what were you saying about Uncle Tom just now?"

"Oh, yes," he said, turning back to me. "As I was saying, his wedding is set for April next year."

Under the table, Nolan's leg bumped into mine. I nudged him back with my knee.

"Very subtle," he whispered in my ear.

For the sake of keeping Dad distracted by my question, I acted like I couldn't hear him.

"Good for him!" I exclaimed more enthusiastically than I actually felt. "Wow, he's finally getting married!"

As far as I knew, Uncle Tom had been single for his entire life right up until he met his current girlfriend a year ago.

"Uncle Tom is my dad's fifty-year-old brother," I whispered to Nolan.

"Cool," he said.

Mom looked confused. "Didn't you already know he was getting married? You were there at Christmas last year when they announced their engagement."

I cleared my throat as noisily as I could. "I mean, yes, but it's just so official now, you know!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Nolan struggling to keep a smile off his face. I glared at him. Here I was, trying to cover for him, and he had the audacity to laugh at me!

We continued chatting and catching up with each other for the rest of the meal. My parents extended an invitation to Nolan to come visit us during summer break this year. My excitement about that was tempered by the realization that ahead of us lay more issues to resolve.

What were we going to do about the fact that he wouldn't be able to eat full meals in front of my family members? Eventually they would realize that Nolan was only present in the evenings, and it would be hard to explain his absence during the day.

As I absently listened to my parents talk, the silent apprehension that had been gnawing at me expanded.

In a few more years, these problems would only become more pronounced once they noticed that nothing had changed.

I pictured myself bringing Nolan home for Christmas and introducing him to the rest of my extended family.

How many years into our relationship would it take for them to start questioning the gap in our appearances when Nolan was supposed to be one year older than me? How long could we keep this up before they started being suspicious?

My heart sank as I considered the most important question.

How much longer did we have before it began to look strange—or creepy—for me to stand beside Nolan as his significant other?

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AN: thank you so much for reading!! i really appreciate all the votes and comments so far, you guys are so sweet （*'▽｀*）love you all!! remember to drink enough water and get enough sleep, everyone!