Page 62 of Terms of the Flight

“I like this one. You might be alright, son,” my dad commented, while Kavon nodded in agreement with a Cheshire grin.

I scrunched up my nose in disgust in his direction, causing him to mush me.

“Kavon, keep your little grubby hands off me. Who knows what you’ve been doing with that hand.”

He chuckled and walked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

Myheir walked over to Da’ana, handing her the last bouquet of flowers.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said before making a beeline for me.

I couldn’t help but smile as he winked at me. Then he wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me into his side, in which I melted into him with ease. I started adjusting his shirt, then turned back towards my family to see they were staring with wide eyes.

“What?” I asked.

My mom was the first to speak. “Nothing. Now help me get these dishes on the table,” she said with a smile.

Myheir released his hold on me and took the macaroni salad from my hands.

“Show me where to go, Doll.”

Not needing him to say another word, I led him to the dining hall, where my mom had the majority of the dishes laid out. So we all took our seats once the rest of the food was already in place.

After my mother said grace, the dinner went by without a single hiccup. I just knew this wouldn’t work. But I guess I was wrong. By the end of dinner, I helped my mom with the dishes while the men cleaned the dining room.

I stood by my mom, placing each dish into the dishwasher as she rinsed them.

“He’s it, honey. You did good.”

I didn’t say anything for a while before finding my voice.

“How do you figure?” I asked.

“By the way he looks at you and how he checks in with you at every turn. I don’t want you to think we’ve been hard on you all this time because we don’t believe in your dream. That’s far fromthe truth. We’re probably your loudest cheerleaders. Your father and I just know you have a capacity for love that’s out of this world. We knew how much of a blessing someone could be for you, and you to them. Just didn’t want you to miss out on that and live in a world without your person.”

A lone tear slid down my cheek, followed by the rest. I’d always thought they looked down on my life choices because they didn’t understand it. This was not the reason I’d ever imagined she would say.

“What if I give this my all and it doesn’t work?”

My mother dried her hands on the dishtowel in front of her, then took my face into her two hands.

“Listen to me and listen good. You can’t allow fear to control you. It’s better to have lived and loved than to not experience it at all. You worry too much about the future. The now is the thing you’re going to look back on and wish you’d done it differently, or that you could experience it again. Give yourself some credit. You will know when something isn’t right. I don’t think this is that something.”

I smiled and nodded.

Myheir chose that moment to walk back into the kitchen with Dad.

“You ready to call it a night?” he asked.

I looked at my mom and smiled, then nodded back at him. I hugged her, then walked around the island so Myheir could say his goodbyes as well. Da’ana had already made her exit. She was hit with a burst of inspiration, so she needed to get back to the house.

The moment we made it to the car, Myheir turned to me with a hopeful expression.

“Your folks fuck with me. Now I just need to convince you.”

I wagged my finger for him to come closer, then wrapped my arms around his neck.