“Taryn, this is delicious,” his father commented, swirling the wine around in his glass.

“Here, check these out.” Ryan handed the box over to me. Inside were all different styles of sunglasses. “Some sunglass company wants me to wear their shades. They sent a whole box for me and my lady.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“For real! Look at the letter. See! ‘Mr. Christensen, we are honored to provide you with our Fall collection of Sun Jammer Eyewear. We have provided you with styles to suit men as well as a selection of women’s eyewear for your favorite lady.’ See? Favorite lady right there in black type.”

He poked me in the belly on his way to the pantry. Ryan opened the door and removed the bag of chocolate chip cookies.

“Oh no, you have her feeding your fix now?” Ellen scolded.

We took his parents on a tour of the apartment and we put our coats back on to visit the roof patio. Bill and Ellen appeared speechless – up until the point that Ellen stated she wanted to re-do their entire backyard to look like my roof.

I knew Ryan was starving; he was starting to pick at anything he could readily shove in his mouth when we returned to the kitchen. I turned the oven on and pulled out the ingredients I had set aside to make Chicken Cordon Bleu. I pounded the chicken breasts flat while Ryan took down a few layers of the sliced cheese. He was too hungry to be of any use.

“So what do you say, Son? Want to lose to your old man in a game of pool?” His father gave him a nudge.

While the men played downstairs, I prepared dinner. His mother watched over what I was doing.

“I never thought to put that in with the bread crumbs,” she stated. She helped coat the rolled chicken and was amazed by my deviations from the normal recipe. I liked to be creative when I cooked.

Later that evening, we gathered at the oval wooden dining table that was off to the side of my main living room. I hadn’t sat at that table for a meal in a very long time. It felt nice to eat as a family again.

“Taryn, this is fabulous,” Ellen complimented.

Ryan kicked his foot into mine under the table and winked at me. “I told you she was taking excellent care of me!” He grinned.

“So are you two going to tell us where we are going this weekend or are you going to keep your mother and me in suspense?”

Ryan looked at me and smirked. “Should we tell them or make them suffer like you made me suffer that day?”

I stabbed a few green beans on my plate. “I think we should tell them.”

“We are taking you to Taryn’s family cabin at the lake, where we are going fishing.” he motioned to his father with his fingers. “And you two ladies can go shopping till your feet fall off.”

Our evening with his parents slowly came to a close. Ryan had to be back on set early in the morning and his parents were tired from their flight.

I quickly slipped into my bedroom to get my pillow and carried it out to the living room.

Ryan looked at me in utter confusion. He picked my pillow up and started to carry it away.

“Honey, I thought we were going to bed?” He yawned.

“No,” I whispered. “Please leave it here. I’m going to sleep out here on the couch.”

“Why?” he asked, completely perplexed.

“Your parents,” I whispered again.

“What about my parents?”

“Out of respect!” I quietly stated the obvious.

“What are you talking about?” I wished he would keep his voice down.

“Ryan, I’m not going to sleep with you in front of them,” I whispered.

“Are you kidding me?” Just as he spoke his mother stepped up behind him.

“What are you two whispering about?” she asked.

“I’m not quite sure, Mom. For some reason Taryn thinks she has to sleep on the couch.”

I was thoroughly embarrassed now and had to explain myself.

“I don’t want to disrespect you, that’s all. It’s fine,” I politely informed. “I don’t mind sleeping out here.” I tried to yank my pillow out of Ryan’s hand but he wouldn’t let it go.

Ellen looked confused and then I saw the light of understanding turn on above her head.

“Oh, sweetie, that’s not necessary.” She walked over to me and gave me a big hug.

“I appreciate your consideration, but Bill and I are not that old-fashioned.” She gently laughed in my ear. “This is your home.”

Ellen touched Ryan’s cheek while she was rocking me. “You stay with Ryan in your room,” she said tenderly. “Oh how I would have loved to have met your parents!” She kissed me on the cheek.