Devotion

27

Everyone was either staring at me or the door and I had no idea what to do. I felt frozen. What could I possibly say that would make this better? I gave Jen a pleading look. She was so good with people. Please make this better.

Jen laughed awkwardly. "For those of you who don't know my parents, this is just classic Hunter family drama."

It sounded like possibly one person laughed.

"I'm going to go see if they can calm down just a bit for normal social interactions." She smiled and excused herself from the table.

Don't leave me!

Times like this reminded me of how young I really was. All I wanted to do was run to my room and hide and let my parents take care of it. But my parents had no idea what was going on. Everyone was staring at me, wondering what to do. At least the conversation in the hall could no longer be heard. I awkwardly cleared my throat.

"For those of you who don't know, those are my soon-to-be mother and father in-law. They're still adjusting to the idea."

Mason laughed. "They don't like anybody, Penny. Don't worry about it."

A few of James' friends from college laughed too.

"Seriously," Matt said. "I'm still not even sure they know my name and I've known them my whole life. So...are you going to go out there and argue with your new family too?"

"What exactly are they arguing about?" my father said.

I hadn't told my parents about James' parents so that they wouldn't have preconceived notions going into meeting them. I just wanted everyone to get along. It didn't seem like that was a realistic option though. It was time to tell them. "Could I talk to you and mom for a second?" I excused myself and walked into the kitchen. Rory and his friends were all awkwardly standing in there, most likely hiding from what was going on.

"Could you guys maybe go ahead and serve dessert? Hopefully your delicious food will distract everyone."

"Sure thing." Keira gave me a sympathetic smile and dropped the dish she had been scrubbing.

"In-laws," Rory said with a shrug. "They're the worst."

Keira swatted his arm playfully. "You love my parents."

He laughed and grabbed a tray of decadent looking desserts. "Mhm."

She shook her head and grabbed one of the trays. The rest of his friends followed suit as my parents walked into the kitchen.

"What's going on, sweetie?" my mom said. She looked shocked by what had just occurred with James' parents.

"James has a...complicated relationship with his parents." What was the best way to say this? "They never really supported his decisions growing up. And they don't exactly support his decision to marry me."

"When were you planning on telling us this?" my mom asked.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted you to make your own opinions of them. I had this idea in my head that we were all going to be this happy family. But I should have told you. James didn't even want them to come to the wedding. I pushed him to invite them. This," I said and gestured to the door," is all my fault. They hate me. The worst part is that James thinks they hate him. And I know that's not true, they just have a horrible way of showing that they care. I was just trying to fix it. I just wanted us to be able to get along."

"Pen," my dad said with a laugh. "Not everyone you meet is going to like you."

"I know that. But they're going to be my family. I thought they could at least pretend. Their son is getting married."

"From what I can tell, you have a pretty great group of friends out there. That's your new family. You can't force something if it's not meant to be, sweetie," my mom said. "Now, what's this about them thinking the wedding was off?"

"James and I had a fight last night."

"About what?"

I never went to my parents with my problems. Not since before college. I used to share everything with my mom. But now it felt like something separated us. I knew it was in my head, but it was there, a line I could no longer seem to cross.

"Just...issues we've been having. It was bad."

"But everything is okay now?"

I looked toward the front door. It wasn't really okay. James thought he was addicted to me. And he was out in the hallway fighting with his parents the night before our wedding. Isabella was out there somewhere, and the cops didn't seem to care. I had lost one of my best friends. And that cop's words kept nagging me in the back of my head. James had a record and I had no idea what he had done. But it was going to be okay. Our love was enough for everything to be okay. Right? "Yeah, everything is okay now. I just don't know what to do about his parents."

"Did he ask you to fix it?"

"No, but..."

"That's your answer, sweetie. Marriage is a partnership. You have to be a team. If he's distant with his parents, you shouldn't force it. You have to have his back."

"You're right." God, I had been such an i***t. Maybe if I hadn't pushed him inviting his parents we never would have fought last night. I had caused this whole mess. It was about time I fixed it. "I'll be right back."

"Don't you think you should give them a minute?" my dad asked, but I was already walking toward the door.

"Robert Hunter if you say one more..." Mrs. Hunter's voice died away as I stepped out into the hallway.

I expected to see James yelling when I came out. Instead, Rob was standing in front of him and his face was bright red like he had just exploded.

"Why are you protecting her?" yelled Rob. "Isabella's trying to ruin his life. What the hell is wrong with you? All of this is on you. Both of you. Jesus Christ, when will you let this go? Why can't you just let him be happy for once in his life?"

I was wrong. He was still exploding. I put my hand on his shoulder. Rob jumped at my touch. He hadn't heard me come into the hall. He shook his head when he saw me and ran his hand through his hair. It was the same gesture that James did so often. Even if he hadn't been yelling, I would have known he was upset just by that one action. Everyone was completely silent now.