Barbecue at mom and dads

We all returned the next day, along with Paul, John, and Kelly. The mood was a bit tense from the start, especially with dad. The weather was good so we all sat outside in the garden. Dad had been up early as usual and some kind of meat was cooking on the grill. It was all very nice, and if not for the awkward tension would have been an absolutely great day.

After the initial awkwardness passed, and I was the only metaphorical elephant left it got a little better. Dad was interrogating John, looking for an excuse not to like him, but that seemed to be getting harder for each question. John was a lot like him, and they had a lot of common interests. When John complemented his beer and had follow-up questions about the type and brewing they disappeared into the garage.

Lauren sat down next to me. "Listen, I have decided not to tell mom and dad yet," she said. "They need some time to process your news first I think". She wasn't wrong. "I understand. It's probably a good idea," It was just Lauren and me who knew about her history with John. To everyone else we had said they had been dating for months. "Erin, I just wanted to say. I think it's really nice to have a sister. It's always been easier to talk to you than Nick, but not really about girl stuff. But now that seems natural too." I felt really touched. Tried really hard not to cry, and failed. "Thanks, Lauren. I'm glad to have such a supportive sister in all this."

The rest of the day went along with little to no issue. There were some awkward conversations with me, dad, and Paul, but all in all, it went well. Dad kept insisting we try some of his ale. It wasn't bad but I had always enjoyed wine over beer. There was some of that too, and I did get a little tipsy towards the end. Lauren couldn't say no when mom offered but got away with one glass. "Maybe just one, I'm not feeling so well mom. It's that time of the month," she lied. Whenever mom wasn't looking I took sips of her glass.

It was getting late and we were saying goodbye for now. Me, Lauren, Paul, and John had an early flight back home the next morning. "I do hope you'll all be home this summer," mom asked. "Yeah, we can probably do that," I answered. " Umm, maybe..." Paul shot in. I looked at him inquiringly. "It was gonna be a surprise, but Cindy and Bill have invited us along on a two-week trip to Paris," he said. "Whaaat? I'm so jealous," said Lauren. I Just jumped with excitement kissing Paul. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. Best surprise EVER!" I said. Dad cleared his through, clearly uncomfortable with all the kissing. "Oh but we will make time to visit here also," Paul told mom. "Don't you worry".

We finally manage to get going, and with that, a great weight was lifted from my shoulders. All the hard stuff was over now. No one left to tell. At least no one I cared about what they thought. And now I was looking forward to our weeks in Paris, with Cindy who had rapidly become my best friend.

To anyone reading this story:
This is the first time I'm writing anything like this, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm not 100% sure of where this story will go, or if I'm gonna write anymore on this one. If anyone has any comments I would love to read them, and If you want me to keep going on this please let me know.