Synergy (26 page)

“
A little. It’s
not bad
.”

Soon
enough, she felt her body elevated backwards into the
seat.

“
I don’t like
it
” She announced, and Jason and Tom shot
each other a look. It was almost amusing to them because they had
been on so many flights in their lifetime, they didn’t even notice
things anymore. Flying was a regular part of their job, and they’d
become accustomed to it. They could eat, sleep, play games and talk
like usual on a flight with no problems, it was nothing to them.
For Dee, it was a whole new experience. Once the plane had levelled
out, Jason squeezed Dee’s hand and told her that was it until they
landed. She blew a sigh of relief.

“
So it’s gonna
stay like this till we land
?”

“
Yep
”

“
I can’t even feel
it now
”

“
You won’t, that’s
it
”

Tom shuffled forward in his seat, and turned to Dee.
“
Congratulations, you’re on your first
flight. And you didn’t cry, so that’s a bonus
” he joked.

“
Bitch, I don’t
ever cry
” Dee replied, and the men turned
to each other to laugh.

“
You picked a
feisty one, man
”

“
Wouldn’t have it any other way”

Chapter 23 – Meet the Parents

Once
she’d survived the landing of the flight, Dee felt a sense of
relief that it was over. Though it hadn’t been bad, it was a weird
experience and she was just glad to see the back of it so she could
concentrate on more important things. Another Chauffeur had picked
them up at the airport to take them to Jason’s parents, and her
impending sense of doom came back a little bit. She wondered what
they would look like, if they would be posh or if their home was a
mansion. She wondered what they would think of her, whether they
would like her. She was quiet in the car ride and Jason could sense
she was worried about it. He tried to put her mind at ease but she
still didn’t have much to say. It wasn’t until Dee felt a kick in
her stomach that she was reminded why the two were making things
work in the first place, and suddenly she remembered that it didn’t
matter what they thought, they were getting a grandchild whether
they liked it or not. Her feisty spirit seemed to return to her,
and as they parked up outside the house, Dee hopped out with a
confidence that Jason hadn’t seen since she’d boarded the
jet.

Dee took
a look at her surroundings, eyeing up the house in front of them.
It was beautiful, and she hadn’t even seen the inside yet. It was a
typical ‘straight out of a magazine’ house that she totally
expected, with the white picket fence and flowering garden. She
could tell somebody had spent time out here in this garden to make
it look so nice, so she wondered whether one of his parents was a
keen gardener, or whether they had the money to afford a gardener.
It was certain that these people had money, and why wouldn’t they
when their son was a millionaire. However, it wasn’t the mansion
she was expecting. There was an intercom system to enter the
garden, but she presumed it was needed for their safety, or maybe
just to stop crazed fans of their sons thinking they could go
knocking on the door when they felt like it. Though you could tell
it was a big house, it was no mansion. That made her feel a little
more comfortable, thinking it was probably a normal house with
normal people as opposed to some rich folk with a butler and a
maid.

Their
chauffeur took their bags out of the boot of the car and placed
them at the front gate, where Jason had pressed the intercom
button. Jason thanked the chauffeur, and no sooner than his mother
had answered the intercom, the chauffeur had driven away. His
mother sounded excited on the intercom, and Jason knew she would
have been waiting for them, probably peering through the window
until she spotted a car pull up. She was always excited to have her
son home for a period of time, but he knew today would have a whole
other excitement to it by bringing Dee along. His mother had always
looked forward to meeting his girlfriends. While some mothers could
be overprotective of their sons, or even have the opinion that no
woman would ever be good enough for them, Joy was the opposite. She
loved to see her son happy, so she always welcomed women with open
arms. Of course Dee was extra special, because she was carrying her
first grandchild.

Jason
heard the familiar click on the gate as they unlocked, and he
pushed it open, gesturing for Dee to go ahead while he grabbed
their bags. Dee waited closely beside Jason inside the gate,
nervous to go too far ahead. Just as Jason followed her inside the
gate juggling their two bags, the front door opened and his
step-father Paul stepped out, making his way to the
couple.

“
You must be
Dee
” he said in his southern drawl,
holding out his hand to shake hers.

“
I’m Paul, Jason’s
stepdad
”

He smiled, and Dee found herself smiling back.
“
Nice to meet you
” she told him, and Jason thought that he’d never heard her
speak so sweetly. It almost made him chuckle.

“
Give me that bag
here, son
” Paul said, as he took the
heaviest bag from Jason, which happened to be Dee’s. Jason always
travelled light when he came back home, mainly because his bedroom
was still intact at the family home and he still had wardrobes and
drawers full of clothes and anything else he needed while there. He
only really came back with things he would want, such as his
laptop, especially as he never stayed too long. As he made his way
up the path to the house, Jason watched Dee walking in front of
him, following Paul with her bag. He heard him tell her how excited
Joy was to have them stay, and he asked her how the flight was. Dee
told him it was her first one, and Paul sounded as surprised as him
and Tom had been.

“
Your mom’s in the
kitchen
” Paul told Jason.
“
Give that here, I’ll go take your bags
up
”

With
that, Paul trundled up the staircase which stood to the left of the
front door. Beside that was a long hallway, full of pictures on the
walls and a table with flowers. Dee looked at her surroundings the
best she could in a short space of time. She thought it looked
really homey, and that’s when she noticed the smell of baking in
the air.

“
Kitchen’s just
straight ahead
” Jason told her, gesturing
down the hallway. While Dee stood in front of Jason, she didn’t
start to walk; instead, she hung back and asked Jason to go first.
He chuckled, finding it surprising that someone as tough as Dee was
so nervous about meeting his mom. Nevertheless, he went ahead of
her. As he entered the doorway to the kitchen, he saw his mom stood
at the kitchen counter, pouring lemonade from a jug into four
glasses. As she saw her son enter the doorway, she threw abandon to
the jug, placing it back down on the counter, and practically
sprinted to meet him halfway, engulfing him in a tight
hug.

“
My
baby
” she exclaimed, kissing him in
between the hug. Jason laughed lightly but held her embrace until
she let go.

“
And this must be
Dee
” she said as she saw Dee stood
slightly behind Jason looking uncomfortable. Dee tried her best at
a smile as Joy moved toward her, and as she expected a handshake
similar to her husbands, she was threw off guard when Joy threw her
arms around her for a hug too.

“
It’s so good to
meet you
” Joy said into her ear as she
pressed against her, leaving room for the baby bump. As she moved
out of the embrace, Joy instantly turned her attention to the bump,
cooing over how beautifully she was carrying, though Dee didn’t
think there was a ‘beautiful’ way to carry a
baby.

“
It sounds so
stupid, but it makes it so real when you see the bump, you know? I
can’t believe my grandchild’s in there, it’s so
exciting
.”

Just
then Joy remembered the lemonade she was pouring on their arrival
and moved back to the kitchen counter, asking if anybody wanted
some. They both politely accepted and sat on the breakfast bar
stools opposite. As Joy poured the freshly made lemonade into four
glasses, Dee looked around the kitchen quickly and reality checked
herself on where she was and who she was speaking to. Though she’d
been seeing Jason a while now, meeting his mother and being in
their family home kind of reminded her what she’d let herself in
for. She hadn’t gotten pregnant by a random guy in the hood who
made his living hustling, she had actually been with a celebrity,
someone who was worshipped by millions of people. He had it all
here, the white picket fence, the family dogs and a mother making
fresh lemonade. As she took it all in, she almost laughed in
disbelief, but she stopped herself, and instead, turned it into a
smile directed at Joy who returned it before handing over her
lemonade.

“
So you excited
for tomorrow you two
?” Joy asked, as she
popped a straw into the lemonade glasses.

“
I’m definitely
excited
” Jason replied, taking a sip of
his lemonade and turning to Dee.

“
I bet you’re
still nervous though right
?” he asked
her.

“
Kinda
” she replied, taking a sip of
her drink before speaking again. “I just don’t wanna embarrass
you.”

“
No
!” Joy exclaimed.
“
Why would you embarrass
him
?”

Dee struggled to think of a reply. It was easy to explain to
Jason why she might embarrass him, because he knew her and her
ways, but Joy didn’t know her at all, so she managed a quiet
“
my cussing or
something
.”

Joy smiled and shook off Dee’s comment. “
We all cuss a little girl, don’t worry about
it
.”

“
But Dee cusses
like a sailor
” Jason joked, before Dee’s
elbow nudged him in the ribs under the breakfast
bar.

 
Jason jumped a little at the surprise, and
started to laugh. Though he joked with her, he wasn’t actually
bothered at all if Dee swore or said something deemed
‘inappropriate.’ He knew she was nervous about attending the party
and he didn’t want to make her feel any more uncomfortable than she
had to. He knew she wasn’t used to attending formal events, and he
didn’t expect her to be the queen of England, he just wanted her to
enjoy herself, and feel like she could fit into his world a little.
He knew it was going to be hard for her to get used to the
paparazzi and the questions and the travelling, but it was just
something about one another that they had to except. He didn’t
particularly like the idea now that he’d seen where she lived that
Dee and her son lived in the area they did, but he had to respect
that it hadn’t always been a choice for her.

Though
he’d offered many times to move them out, especially in time for
the new baby arriving, she’d still refused his offers, and though
he was going to keep on trying, he could accept that she was used
to doing things of her own accord. She had been raised by a single
mother and taught to grind for her own things in life. She’d never
had parents or a loved one to provide for her financially, and she
was used to being an independent woman. He couldn’t lie, there was
something really attractive about seeing a woman who didn’t need a
man to help her out, but now the opportunity had presented itself,
he did feel frustrated that she wouldn’t let him help
her.

After a
few minutes Paul came back down the stairs and into the kitchen. He
told Dee and Jason that he’d put their bags in the big guest room,
and made his way to the kitchen counter where he saw a glass of
lemonade going spare.

“
Oh, you made
lemonade
” he announced, picking up the
full glass and chugging half of it in a few large gulps. After
wiping off his mouth, he said “
Beautiful
” and kissed his wife
affectionately on the cheek. Dee watched the two of them interact,
and though it sounded silly, she thought it was nice to see folk of
an age still be together, and happy.

She’d never really grown up around couples. Her father was
never around as a child. Her brother remembered him slightly, since
he was four when Dee was born, but she was pretty sure he went
missing after that. Kiki had a different father, and since Dee was
six by the time her sister was born, she remembered a man being
around for a short space of time, though she remembered nothing
about him, only slightly what he looked like. By that point, Jarell
was ten, so he remembered more. He remembered this man hitting
their mom and trying to get in the way to protect her when he
smacked his ten year old frame. Needless to say, the man was gone
after that as far as they both could remember. The only thing
Monique had ever mentioned was that Kiki’s father was a teacher,
and he was smart, which explained where Kiki got her brains from.
In the same drunken conversation, Monique had said their father was
a ‘
dumb fuck , so that explained where
they got their brains from
’. She laughed
afterwards, meaning it as a joke, but words like that
hurt.