Chapter 32: Darlene’s Dreaded Dinner Date

“Do we have to?” Darlene asked, as if it hadn’t been her idea.

“Pretty sure we do,” said Wil from the bed. He pulled on one sock, then the other. “You were excited for the opportunity a week ago.”

Darlene groaned and lowered herself onto the mattress next to him. When she’d first moved in to watch after the place when Wil was gone, she’d taken one of the extra rooms as hers. Now Wil found himself sleeping in there most nights, even if most of his stuff remained in his bedroom tower.

The room reflected Darlene’s tastes, full of bold, bright colors painted on the wall in abstract designs, while every piece of furniture, from the big bed to the dresser and bookshelf all were in the only places they could be. It was neat, clean, and casually stylish. The more time Wil spent in there, the more he realized how much he wanted her to do the other rooms and bring some life to his -- their home.

“That was a week ago,” she said. “It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I don’t want to. I’m pregnant and cranky, you have to cater to my whims.” She laid down behind him, and Wil could hear the pout without seeing it.

“Pretty sure each time I’ve tried to start something by noting your pregnancy, I’ve gotten fussed at. This seems like a bit of a double standard, to be honest. You’re not scared, are you?” Wil continued to get ready. He pulled on his rarely worn dress shoes and tied them tight.

“No, not really.” Darlene sighed. “Not of either of them, anyway. Maybe I am scared of what we’ve never had, what I’ll never get. That it’ll hurt when nothing changes.”

Wil nodded in understanding. He lay, facing her. Luckily she was too focused on their upcoming plans to tell him to get his shoes off her bed. “Then I think the best thing you can do is to not try to cling to the past. I see how much this hurts you and has always hurt you. Maybe don’t focus on what you don’t have, but what you could have, if you give it a chance.”

Darlene grumbled, but visibly relaxed. “You know,” she said, none of the playful petulance to be found, “you’re going to make a good dad.”

Wil’s heart skipped a beat. “I hope so,” he said. His eyes flitted down to her stomach. They’d spent so much time working on their experiments and projects, and he’d been grateful for it. The more exhausted he was, the less time he had to think about the future and how unprepared he was for it.

Sure, he’d read some basic books, but no book could ever prepare him for the gravity that would come from being responsible for a new life. Darlene didn’t seem any more ready than he was, but it was different. She was sharp, driven, and always had a good idea how to approach any given situation. Wil just did his best and powered through.

“You will,” Darlene reassured him. “If nothing else, you’ll be better than my father was. I don’t see you obsessing over money and how great you think you are.”

“Well, no,” said Wil, lips twitching. “If I were to get lost in how great I am, you’d be right there to knock me down several pegs. It’s one of the things I appreciate about you most. You aren’t impressed with me.”

Darlene laughed. “That’s not true at all. I’m impressed by you all the time. I’m very much a fan of you.”

“Oh, is that so?” Wil grinned, and leaned in. Darlene met him halfway in a slow, soft kiss.

They’d been dating for a little over a year, and it still astounded Wil that the girl he had a crush on as a kid was now his girlfriend, and soon to be the mother of his child. Not only that, but she was his best friend, his partner. The weight of those four months away gripped him again, filling him with an irrational panic that it could be taken away again.

“You okay?” Darlene whispered after they’d broken away.

“Yeah,” said Wil. He smirked at her. “We could stay home tonight, and enjoy a bit of quiet. Just the two and a half of us. Just say the word.”

Darlene’s expression contorted to the agony of indecision. “Argh. I want to. But we can’t, can we?”

Wil shook his head. “Afraid not.”

“Then fine,” she said with a melodramatic sigh. She tried to sit up and faced some difficulty. Wil hopped up and offered his hand. “It’s not fair, you know. You get to dress up and look impressive, while I’m stuck in this.”

“I thought you liked your maternity clothes,” said Wil. “You picked them all out and they’re your favorite colors.”

Darlene grumbled, “They’re still shapeless and ugly. I’m not worried about it. Let’s just get this over with.”

Wil chuckled. “You act like you’re going to your death. It’s dinner with your parents. Relax, and if your dad says or does anything stupid, I’ll hex him. Deal?”

She deflated in relief. “Yeah, deal.”

Wil hadn’t been back to the Johnson residence since helping Darlene pack and take her things when her father had kicked her out for starting her own business. If that didn’t paint a picture of the man, Wil didn’t know what would. He’d left after threatening Jonjon, only to offer him a lucrative trade agreement over the course of negotiating peace with Faerie as an olive branch. As frustrated as Darlene was, she wasn’t going to keep her child out of her parents’ lives. He could respect that.

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He kept telling himself that on the drive over, as Darlene fidgeted in her seat nervously. They arrived right as the sun dipped halfway past the mountains to the west, casting the Johnson resident in an orange glow. Arm in arm, they walked up to the door and, after a second’s hesitation, knocked.

Twenty seconds later, Angelica threw open the door and let out a piercing sound before throwing her arms around them both.

“Wilbur, Darlene! Darlene, I’ve missed you!”

Maybe it was unkind of Wil to notice Angelica seemed less drunk than usual, but she had more energy than he’d seen in a long time. He hugged back, and Darlene said, “Hi mom. You just saw me the other day!”

“That was different,” Angelica insisted. “That was in passing. It’s so nice finally having you home again!”

Darlene pulled back, holding herself protectively. “But this isn’t home anymore, right? Dad made that clear the last time we spoke.” The last time Wil knew of them being in the same place together had been when Jonjon had been turned into a toad, and Wil had administered the potion to turn him back to human.

“I, uh…”

“Darlene and I have made a great home together,” said Wil. “You should see some of the things she’s improved on. Maybe after tonight, depending on how things go, we can do the hosting sometime.”

Angelica blinked, looking from Wil’s hopeful expression and Darlene’s conflicted, pent up anger. “Yeah, yeah, of course. But for now, why don’t you come in? You’re looking really good tonight, Mr. Wizard.”

Their house was much as Wil remembered it. Big, full of all kinds of unnecessary, expensive furniture, and set up around a big plush chair Jonjon sat in. He had a drink halfway to his mouth when they entered. “There you two are. Was beginning to think we’d have to start dinner without you.” He laughed, a sound like a mix between a honking goose and the braying of an ass.

“Maybe you should have,” Darlene muttered before Wil squeezed her hand. She may have been the one to suggest this to mend bridges, but everything her father said and did put her on edge.

“How’s business been, Jonjon?” Wil asked. “It’s been like half a year now, that exclusive contract must be in effect by now.”

Jonjon’s face lit up. He had sharp features and dark hair like Darlene, but none of her natural spark, or her blue eyes. Moments like this, the resemblance became uncanny. “Oh, you have no idea.”

“That’d be why he’s asking,” Darlene said. “You’re doing well for yourself, right dad? Faerie wine’s been flying off the shelves near as fast as he can stock it. That’s what mom was saying, at least.”

Jonjon stood up. He was half a head shorter than Wil. “Angie’s right! Wine, paintings, books. I’m thinking I’m gonna need to buy the building next door just to be able to keep my stock separate. It’s a damned shame you left when you did, Darlene. I really had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find enough people to replace you, and now we’re about to boom.”

Silence. Wil looked from Jonjon to Darlene. His girlfriend’s face was red, and everyone but her father seemed to realize she was about to blow up. Wil thought about it for less than a second before he got there first. “Are you saying that Darlene was bottom of the barrel?”

“What?” Jonjon froze. “No, she’s the best I ever had. I was hoping to pass the business on one day. I was just saying there aren’t any good workers in town. The only people I could find were a bunch of dumb kids who don’t listen and don’t want to do any real work.”

“Maybe we should save the business talk for after dinner,” said Angelica. She tried, at least.

“Funny, we haven’t had any problem finding workers,” said Darlene. “You know, for my own successful business.”

Jonjon groaned. “Look, you know I’m not good at talking.”

“And yet you can’t stop yourself from doing a lot of it,” Darlene spat back.

“You should know better than to take it personally!” Jonjon said. “Gods, you have to take everything the wrong way, don’t you?” The humor drained from his voice. Everyone saw the situation souring. All it would take was an apology and backing down. Two things he wasn’t capable of.

“You’re right, I should’ve known better.” Darlene sighed and turned to Angelica. “Thanks for having us over, Mom. I’m not feeling well anymore. Maybe later this week, you and I could grab lunch. I could show you some of the things we’ve been working on.”

“Oh come on,” Jonjon cajoled. “Don’t be that way. I’m bad at talking, and I stepped in it. Let’s just have dinner, and things’ll be better.”

Wil shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. You came out swinging and she was already worried about coming. You couldn’t make it five minutes without insulting her. No, we’re leaving. Thank you for cooking, Angelica. I’m sorry we couldn’t enjoy it. Darlene, let’s go.”

“Now look here,” Jonjon raised his voice and took a step forward. That was a mistake.

Wil stepped in front of him and made eye contact. He didn’t need to go all the way in for Jonjon to freeze in place with a blank look on his face. Wil left him a little present for later, then backed up. The man remained staring into space when Wil took Darlene’s hand and led her out of the house and back to the car.

Once inside, Darlene sniffled. Wil threw an arm around her, and the dam broke. She hugged him as tight as she could and cried for a minute. Angelica came out of the house, but a shake of Wil’s head warned her away.

“I’m sorry your dad’s a jerk,” said Wil. “We don’t have to see him much. If you just want to invite your mother over and make it clear he’s got to apologize first, we can do that. The important thing is you tried. He doesn’t deserve it, but you tried.”

The sniffles dried up before too long. Darlene raised up, wiping away tears and snot on the bottom of her baggy, colorful dress. “What did you do to my dad? At the end there.”

Wil shrugged. “I implanted a nightmare. For the next week, he’s going to have some really weird dreams involving losing you and his mouth getting him into trouble. Either he gets the message and apologizes, or he doesn’t and we don’t worry about him again.”

Darlene took a deep breath. “He’s never going to apologize. But mom was…She looked and sounded good.”

“Bram told me she’s been buying a lot of potions, trying to ween herself off of drinking,” Wil admitted. “She’s trying. And that’s all we can ask, right?”

She chuckled. “Yeah. Yeah, she’s trying, and maybe it’s not too late.”

After silence threatened to choke them again, Wil leaned in closer. “You know what else isn’t too late? We can go have dinner with my parents instead. They made extra tonight.”

“How do you know?” Darlene asked. Then it hit her. “You expected tonight to go bad.”

Wil shrugged. “I thought it could happen, and if it didn’t, I still would’ve stopped by for a smoke with dad.”

Darlene laughed and shoved him. “Cunning. I like it. Yeah Wil, let’s go have dinner with your parents. You’re lucky to have such a great family.”

Wil turned the car on and backed up. “They’re your family too, now. No matter what happens, you’re one of us.”

Darlene said nothing, but she looked happier than she had all night. Good enough. All their experiments aside, all their shared work, it was great, but he resolved then to have a different priority. Darlene and their kid first. He’d spend the rest of his life making them happy if he could. Smiling, Wil drove to the Embassy, and his parent’s house.