Chapter 64
He rang the doorbell. My dad rang the doorbell. Someone get me out of here.
"Dad, let's not do this right now," I begged him while tugging the sleeve of his shirt but my mom squeezed my shoulder and stopped me from uttering another word.
"Nonsense sweetie, we need to offer them comfort. I mean we did go through all the trouble of preparing this fruit basket for them on a last minute's notice. We can't just leave, it would be rude for us to-"
My dear mother was cut off by the door being opened. Pio stood there, on his tip toes, trying to pry the door open and caught a glimpse on the strangers that were ringing the doorbell for the past 5 minutes.
At first, the little guy wasn't able to see me from where he stood behind the door. The only thing he saw was probably the intimidating stare of my dad who was having a hard time softening his features as to not frighten the boy into slamming the door on our faces.
My mother was quick to shove my father out of the way, offering Pio a motherly smile and crouching in front of the little guy.
"Hello, sweetie, what's your name?" I could see how Pio started fidgeting with the ends of his shirt, switching his gaze from my parents to the floor once in a while, looking conflicted on letting my parents in or running inside screaming bloody murder and hollering for his family to protect him from stranger danger.
He looked so frightened that I felt guilty when a giggle escaped my lips. Pio's attention immediately snapped to me. He craned his neck to take a look of who was laughing. I gave him a small smile and a wave.
"Hey, little guy," I said softly, crouching to hug him. He didn't hesitate in crashing his small body onto mine.
"Casey!" I laughed, rising to stand properly with him in my arms and settled him on my hips. He started playing with my hair and when my mother's hand land on the small of his back and rubbed it slowly, he looked behind him only to bury his face in my shoulders, making me chuckle and my mom huff jokingly.
"Let's come in, shall we?" I ask him and he nodded silently, still not raising his head. I led the way in the house and was about to search for Adam in the garden when we bumped into him while passing through the kitchen.
"Pio, what's wrong?" He asked from the kitchen, not looking up from the food that was brewing. It looked something likes soup but I couldn't be sure.
"Adam, Adam! Look who's here!" Pio squealed as I gave him a big kiss on the cheek. What? Anyone wouldn't be able to help it! This was Pio we were talking about!
Adam immediately raised his head from stirring the contents of the pot and met my eyes. He finally noticed my parents standing behind me dan cleared his throat, trying to straighten his shirt.
I instantly felt guilty, letting my parents come here with me. He certainly didn't need to deal with this after losing his mother. My mom didn't hesitate to jump in front of me and offer Adam an award winning smile while giving him the picnic basket that was now full with all sorts of fruits; including durian. I know it's not exactly something that you would normally put in a basket to give to your daughter's boyfriend but who said anything about my parents' being normal.
I refrained from giving my forehead a good slap and cover my face in complete and utter embarrassment when my father finally got a good look at Adam.
"So, you're the boyfriend?"
Adam looked perplexed but answered him truthfully. "Uh, yes sir."
My dad squinted foolishly, making him look like he's got something stuck in his eyes. "What fruit do you like?"
You would think he was about to ask him about his favorite football or soccer team but no... I just had to have a weird ass dad.
Adam looked as if he was being cornered by some deranged donkey in the middle of a zoo. His eyes were looking at anything but my dad and I had to suppress the urge to choke on air while trying to hold in the laugh that was threatening to spill out.
"Err, orange?" My dad nodded, looking satisfied with his answer. Adam took the picnic basket from my mother and mirrored her smile with a timid one, seeming a bit intimidated by my parents' continuous stare.
"Good, there's a couple in the basket. I hope you have a durian lover in this house but it would be fine if you didn't because I could always-"
He was cut off by my mom's elbow that jabbed his side to stop him from offering some ‘aid' in finishing that durian. What could I say, he loves his durians.
"Thank you for the fruit basket. Can I get you anything?" Adam was a tiny bit more relaxed than a second ago and Pio was still cooing at my hair while I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
"A cup of tea would be fantastic," my dad groaned out and my mom was quick to send him a stern glare.
"What?" He didn't seem to understand what he did wrong and looked at my mom with hurtful eyes, "I want a cup of tea," he justified innocently.
"It's alright, Mrs. Johnson," Adam gave her a small smile and got back to the kitchen while I led my family to sit on the sofa in the living room.
"Well, he looked like a decent gentleman," my mom commented, causing my dad to growl under his breath.
