Meeting the Parents

After their talk Missie put to practice some of the things that she and Gina had talked about and sure enough, she had her excitement back. over the past couple of weeks she and Mike had spent a weekend in the mountains with a jacuzzi tub and she had never had such amazing sex. Then they'd gone hiking one weekend, managing to find a place off the trail for a little oral delight. Last weekend they'd spent the day with Gina and Josh riding to a little farmer's market, and keeping their hands off of each other made the sex more urgent when they got home.

All in all, the excitement was back and Missie was glad. She really liked Mike. That fact was evident because she'd actually agreed to meet his family tonight. His Mom and Dad had been in town overnight on their way to visit his grandparents in Georgia. They'd invited her to dinner and much to her surprise she'd agreed. So now she was tossing her closet trying to decide what was appropriate to wear for such a meeting. She heard the front door. She was expecting Gina to stop by on her way home.

"I'm back here!" she called out from the depths of the closet. Gina walked into the room and dropped her purse on the bed before collapsing.

"It feels like there should be wine involved." She said. Missie stuck her head around the closet door to see her friend sprawled across the comforter.

"There should be, get on that." She tossed a flat at Gina's thigh and the red-head jumped up.

"Ow," she laughed and tossed the shoe back. "Point taken, I got it." As Gina went into the kitchen to fetch the alcohol Missie pulled out two dresses with conservative necklines and a pair of black slacks and three sweaters. She laid them all out on the bed and grabbed a few necklaces.

Gina walked back in the door extending a glass of red. Missie took it and waved a hand across the bed. "What do you think?" She asked. She sipped her wine while Gina looked over the options. She immediately tossed one of the dresses and one of the sweaters to the side dismissing them. Missie didn't bother to ask why. She didn't want to know. She couldn't manage thinking any harder about something like this.

"How were you wearing your hair?" Gina asked. Missie looked in the mirror. She'd curled it that morning but most of it had fallen out. Whether she re-curled or straightened it would take the same amount of time, unless she decided to wear it up somehow.

"That's also open for discussion." She took another sip of her wine then asked, "What are you thinking?" Gina tossed aside the other dress and hesitated over the sweaters. In the end she picked the purple sweater with the pants and one of the bulkier necklaces. The sweater had a thick cowl neck so Gina suggested she wear her hair up with a few light curls around the face and found a pair of dangle earrings in Missie's jewelry box that matched the necklace perfectly.

"Thank you friend." Missie air kissed Gina's cheek before settling in front of the bathroom mirror to fix her hair and make-up. Gina sat on the edge of the bed while Missie got ready. She pined her hair back and turned the curling iron on to heat while she fixed her make-up.

"What time are you supposed to meet them?" Gina asked.

"Seven thirty." She answered. "How is Josh?" Missie saw Josh every once in a while in the complex, but usually she only saw him if Gina brought him around.

"He's good, but I wanna talk about you. I can't believe you're meeting his parents. You're so anti-family." Gina swirled her wine.

"I'm not anti-family!" Missie exclaimed. "I just like to keep things casual when I can." She took the curling iron to the strands around her face.

"And you can't keep things casual with Mike?" Gina asked.

Missie sighed. She couldn't. She'd realized early on that Mike was a relationship guy, and he would be in this for the long haul. That was why she'd agreed to meet his parents. It was like a test. If she made it through this without freaking out, maybe she could be a relationship girl.

She didn't answer the question instead she asked about Josh's parents. Gina had met them two weeks ago. She'd been Josh's date for a wedding and his parents were also guests. She's liked them, especially his mom. Gina told her more about the meeting and what they'd talked about. Missie listened as she talked but her mind wandered.

She hadn't met a guys parents in a long time. When she'd been dating Mitch she'd spent a lot of time with his family. That happens when you're talking about marriage and babies. Of course that had been a long time ago, and she hadn't met anyone's parents since. Well, Tommy's, but that doesn't really count. They were Gina's family and she actually met them all at the same time.

She finished getting ready and Gina cleared out to go see Josh. Missie locked up and drove across town to the restaurant where she was supposed to meet Mike and his parents. She spotted Mike's car in the lot and checked her hair in the rear view. She hurried inside and scanned the restaurant. She spotted mike but he had his back to her. She walked toward the table and took in his parents.

They seemed nice. Mike obviously looked like his dad. The older man had gray hair cut similar to Mike's and wore a pair of no-rim glasses. He didn't have the appearance of an older man trying too hard, but it was clear that he took care of himself, much like his mother. She had light brown hair that hung to her shoulders. It was a stylish cut and her clothes were very flattering. She wore very small hoops in her ears and a simple necklace that hung just shy of her neckline. The button-up blouse was a soft no-wrinkle material that hung very nicely on her slender frame.

She smiled as she approached and his mother's gaze alerted Mike to her approach. He stood and gave her a hug before introducing her to his parents. "Mom, Dad, this is Missie." They both stood and Mr. Brannon shook her hand. Mrs. Brannon walked around to give her a hug. She was unsure how to reacted so she lightly hugged her back.

"It's so nice to meet you both." Missie said. Mike pulled out her chair and she sat down. They'd already ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir. She preferred Cabernet, but it was still a nice choice. Mike poured her a glass and drew her into their conversation.

"Missie actually works as a Property Manager for a local complex so I bet she's heard of some of those break-ins." Mike was talking to his dad who nodded and looked to her.

"Do you know if your tenants have had any issues with car break-ins?" he asked her. There had been a recent string of break-ins at a few complexes and she had even printed out a memo to the tenants reminding them not to keep valuables in their cars and be sure to lock their doors and windows.

"So far we've been lucky and no one has had any issues, but we've been keeping an eye out." The conversation was friendly and his mother was very complementary, especially of her jewelry. She told her about the small boutique downtown, the owner actually made some of her own jewelry. Mrs. Brannon mentioned she'd have to check it out before they left in the morning.

Dinner was nice, both of the men ordered steak and Mrs. Brannon had a salad. Missie opted for her favorite salmon though. They finished dinner and laughed over the rest of the wine. It was actually an enjoyable night. Mr. Brannon worked in accounting for a large company and Mrs. Brannon was in real estate. They had some fun stories and she could see where Mike got his sense of humor.

Mike picked up the tab and the four of them made their way to the parking lot. Mrs. Brannon hugged her again and Mr. Brannon shook her hand.

"It was really nice to meet you both." Missie said, "It was a very nice night." They nodded and as Mike took her hand Ms. Brannon added, "Hopefully we'll see you again soon."

Something that felt as familiar as panic settled in her chest and she smiled, nodding. She wasn't sure she was ready for regular visits, no matter how nice his parents were. Mike told his parents he'd be right back, that he was just going to walk Missie to her car and they walked to the other side of the parking lot.

At her car he gave her a hug. "Thanks for coming, they really seemed to like you." Again the panic flared in her chest.

"They were very nice, I had a good time." She forced a smile and took a deep breath,

"Well," he hugged her one more time, "I'll catch up with you tomorrow night?" he asked. Missie smiled and gave him a sound kiss.

"You bet." She said. Mike smiled and waited for her to get into her car and start the ignition before heading back towards his car and his waiting parents. Missie pulled out of the parking lot and turned towards home and forced herself to think about something else to avoid the unsettling feeling she had.