“What if they don’t like me?” Joanna said as she snapped the buttons of her blouse closed.
Travis, Joanna’s boyfriend paused, his single leather boot still in his hand as he turned to Joanna who was leaning up against the vanity. The curve of her ass in that black skirt was just…
Travis shook his head; they’d never make it to his parents’ house if he kept staring.
“I’m not seeking their approval. This is their opportunity to meet the second-best woman I know, and if they don’t take it….”
Trailing off, Travis slipped on his boot and tied it before standing up and crossing the room.
“Then it’s their loss.” He said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing a kiss into her cheek.
Joanna melted into him, like she always did when he held her. Travis was her safe place; the person she could drop all her armor and just be exposed with.
Joanna had fallen for many of men in her life, some who reciprocated those feelings, some who genuinely thought they did, but didn’t, and some who pretended just so they could push their own agendas.
Taking a deep breath, Joanna leaned back into Travis and sighed; not a deep, sad sigh, or a sigh of frustration, this was a sigh of content.
Despite The Notebook being her favorite film, and Nicholas Sparks being her favorite author, Joanna wasn’t a hopeless romantic. While she would swoon over the men in the popular romance films, Joanna knew that the love she was watching on the screen was being played up, by handsome and stunning men and women, and real love was much better than the depiction on the screen.
But that fictional love was all Joanna knew for quite some time.
With a ghost for a mother, and a father who was more concerned with money than spending time with his daughter; films, books, and TV were all Joanna had. Idealistic media is how she learned about the world, and sure, when she got her first smart phone, and then her first laptop, she could have searched for more realistic ideas of romantic love; but by then, she was so deep into the world of fiction, that the real world simply didn’t appeal to her anymore.
But Joanna wasn’t stupid, she knew that what she was doing wasn’t sustainable, or even healthy, but for a short while, she didn’t care. All of Joanna’s insecurities about love, whether she would find a partner, and whatever else, could wait; she had a gender identity to deal with.
Transitioning helped, as much as it could, but it took years of therapy and practice for Joanna to really begin to sort out what her ideal, yet realistic, life would look like.
“How do I look?” She asked, turning to look at Travis.
Travis placed his left hand over his heart, and his right hand over his left. His eyes reminded Joanna of a puppy, and she couldn’t help but blush.
“Like a full course meal.” He said.
His eyes went from cute puppy to wanting and wolf-like, in a flash.
“Geez Travis, you’re such a pig!” She said, slapping his arm.
Travis laughed, and after throwing her phone, ID, and a few other necessities into her purse, Joanna took Travis’s arm and the pair made their way out the door.
The couple arrived at Travis’s parents’ house a little after one. As the front door swung open, the sweet smell of delicious food floated through the air, and Joanna could feel her mouth begin to water.
A short, white-haired woman, who Joanna learned was Travis’s mother, greeted the pair before inviting them in and taking their coats.
As Travis led Joanna to the living room, she was greeted by four smiling, six-foot men. The men all looked like older versions of Travis, and Joanna couldn’t help but stare in wonder; sure, Joanna knew how genes worked, but Travis, his father, and his two brothers all looked as though God had gotten a little to excited with the ‘copy paste’ feature. The men all stood at six foot four, with jet black hair, with the exception of Travis’s dad who was fully grey, and they all had the same ocean blue eyes. The men where all identical, even down to the little dimple in their chins.
“Cal always said he wanted an army of look a likes, and well….” Betty, Travis’s mother, waved a handout, as if she were presenting the men.
“Yeah, that is quite some army.” Joanna laughed.
Since dinner wasn’t quite ready, Joanna and ‘The Cals’ as Betty called them, all went to sit in the living room.
“I swear, he split his pants right down the middle, and then a second later, he shit himself!” Connor, or ‘Cal number two, as his family called him, said.
Joanna, Cal, and Travis’ brothers all howled with laughter as Travis gave a little pout.
Back-to-back, Cal, and Travis’s brothers shared story after story, and Joanna feared that her bladder would explode from all the laughing she was doing.
They’d been sitting around the coffee table when Joanna spotted a photo of Travis and Cal number one, or Russell, and like water coming from a faucet, the stories started coming.
The men told Joanna about everything from Travis’s many accidents as a child, to him going to the wrong elementary school for two whole months, and plenty more.
By the time they sat down for dinner, Joanna was seeing her boyfriend in a whole new light, and that light made her love him even more.
After dinner, the men headed back into the living room, and Joanna followed Betty into the kitchen with the plates.
“Ahh honey, you shouldn’t be in here! You’re a guest!” She said, taking the plates from Joanna.
“Oh, it’s fine! I love helping.” Joanna said, waving a dismissive hand.
And it was true, whether it was a family member, a friend, or even a stranger on the street, Joanna could never not help.
But in Betty’s words, Joanna was a guest, and ‘guest don’t do chores!’ So Joanna just stood beside her as Betty did the dishes.
After a bit of playful arguing back and forth, Joanna finally convinced Betty to allow her to dry and put away the dishes, and the women fell into light conversation as they worked.
Though he might have looked exactly like his father, Joanna had no doubt that her boyfriend got his kindness and attention to detail from his mother.
“Travis! You better not screw this up, I like this one!” Betty said, when Travis stepped into the kitchen to check on the women.
Travis and Joanna laughed as Travis wrapped his arms around her, hugging Joanna from behind.
“Ahh don’t worry mom, I’m not letting her go. Ever!” He said, looking at Joanna as he spoke the last word.
Travis and Joanna snapped some pictures with his family, before hugging them all and making their way out the door.
“See! I told you they’d love you!” Travis said, stopping in the middle of the driveway to wrap his arms around her.
Joanna couldn’t help but grin like a goofy child as she looked at him.
“I love you.” She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“How convenient, because I love you too.” He laughed.
Lowering his head, Travis caught Joanna’s lips with his own, and Joanna felt content. If she could, Joanna would freeze them in time, right there, outside his parents’ house. But at last, they had to get going. And besides, they had a lifetime worth of kisses to share between the two of them.
What did you think of Travis and Joanna? Did you like them? Did you not like them? Let me know in the comments. I know I haven’t been posting a lot, but I’ve got a little project in the works, and I wanna make sure that I don’t bail on this one like I’ve done on some of my others. So, my posting might be a little spotty for a while. Hopefully you’ll bear with me and like what I bring to you in the mean time.
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