Free Clarity of Lines by N.R. Walker

stands his ground until he has it. By the same token, he won’t stand for something he doesn’t agree with, and he most certainly won’t be walked over, and he won’t be misled by anyone.”
    “What exactly are you saying?” Cooper’s father asked.
    I looked at them both. “That you raised an incredible son.”
    My words threw them, but eventually Paula asked, “What would you do? If it was your son? If it was Ryan who was dating someone twice his age.”
    I thought about that for a moment. “If he was happy, if it was what he wanted, then I’d tell him I loved him, knowing I’d be there for him if it fell apart.”
    Cooper’s father scoffed. “Of course you would.”
    “All we can do is love them, and hope they make the right choices,” I said, with my hand on the door handle. “Unconditional love is exactly that. We don’t get to choose.”
    I opened the door wider but before I left, I said, “We’re staying at The Peninsula, on the eighteenth floor. Don’t let him go back to New York thinking you don’t love him.”
    I walked out to find Cooper in the passenger seat of the car, instead of the driver’s seat. I got in and pulled the car out onto the street and headed towards the city. Cooper was quiet and stared out of the window for the trip to the hotel, and even after we’d checked in and went up to our suite, he was still quiet.
    He sat on the bed, and it was then he asked me what had been said between me and his parents while he’d waited in the car, and I told him every word. His face fell and he frowned. “It wasn’t supposed to go like that,” he said. It was heartbreaking to see him so upset. I pulled him against me and we lay back and while he snuggled into me, I stared out over Chicago for I don’t know how long.
    When it started to get dark, I asked him if he wanted something to eat. “Or we can go out?” I suggested. “We can find whatever food takes your fancy, or if you want to get drunk, we can do that too.”
    “Can we just stay in?” he asked. “I’m sorry, I’m not really in the mood to do anything.”
    “Don’t apologise,” I said, kissing his forehead. “Of course we can stay in. We can get room service.”
    “Sounds good.”
    “I can run you a bath. The spa is huge.”
    He finally smiled. “Maybe later.”
    I ordered us dinner, which he only picked at, and he declined the bath, opting for a hot shower, then he climbed into bed. I joined him, he slid into the crook of my arm, nestled into me and fell asleep.
    I lay there, staring at the ceiling, with an awful lot to think about.
    I wondered if I should back off from Cooper, if I should urge him to choose his family over me. I certainly would never make him choose. But I had the perspective of both sides—as the boyfriend, and as a father. It angered me that his parents wouldn’t even consider the idea of Cooper and I being together. Maybe they were hoping I’d be the one to call it off with him, knowing as a parent, I wouldn’t want to be the cause of such a conflict.
    And, well, that just pissed me off.
    I wondered if this would change things between us. I wondered, if his parents did give him an ultimatum, who he’d choose. As a parent, I wondered who I’d want him to choose.
    I couldn’t imagine leaving Cooper. I knew we’d only been together for a few months, but I loved him. I adored him—this incredible man who, for some reason, seemed to love me just as much as I loved him.
    I wondered if he could leave me. I wondered if he should. And as that thought unsettled me, I tried to get out of bed, but Cooper’s hold tightened on me. “Don’t go,” he mumbled.
    I rolled so I faced him instead and wrapped him up in my arms. Even in his sleep he needed me. How could I ever leave him? I hoped to God it wouldn’t come to that. Instead, we could prove to them that we were serious. It wouldn’t be easy, it would take patience and understanding, and it could very well take years.
    But he was worth it.