kids.”
“Oh God—What if I barf all over her? What if I barf all over her kids?”
“Please don’t barf all over your new family,” James said.
“It’s going to happen. I’m going to barf. I feel sick.”
“Don’t barf.”
I looked out the window. It was already pitch black outside and it was only five in the afternoon. There must have been three feet of snow on the ground, forcing the cab to drive far below the speed limit. I was so stressed out; it felt like we’d been in the cab for ten hours already.
“How far are we?” I asked James.
“I’m sure we’re almost there,” he replied.
The buildings in his town were all small. We drove through his ‘downtown’, which was a Wal-Mart and three little apartment buildings.
“God, the snow is so beautiful,” James said. “I miss the snow so much.”
“It’s a pain in the ass,” I said back.
I hated snow. The exhaust from the cars had turned all the snow on and around the road a dirty brown colour. It looked more like frozen mud than anything. We passed a small group of very cold looking people walking on the sidewalk in the deep snow. They had thick parkas on that were tied tightly around their faces. They didn’t look like they were having any fun at all.
“Look at those poor people,” I said. “If they just moved somewhere warm, like California, then they wouldn’t be so miserable.”
“Aren’t you just so sweet,” James said.
“People weren’t meant to live in places like this; I’m telling you,” I said.
“Well, you can’t make snow angels or igloos in California.”
“Thank God for that,” I said.
We turned around a corner onto a small residential street.
“Alright, this is it,” James said.
My heart sunk into my stomach.
“I can’t remember anyone’s name,” I said, suddenly panicking more than ever.
“It’s fine; they’re going to love you.”
“You’re a lying son of a bitch,” I said.
“Alright, that’ll be thirty-eight dollars,” the cabbie told us.
James reached into his pocket and pulled out a fifty. He handed it to the driver.
“Merry Christmas,” James said.
James opened his door and hopped out excitedly. I leaned forward.
“Good luck,” the cabbie said.
James knocked on my window.
“You coming, babe?” he asked.
I looked back to the driver.
“No,” I said firmly.
James opened the door and held out his hand.
“C’mon,” he said.
I took a deep breath.
“Fine,” I said.
I stepped out of the warm cab into the freezing snow. My father’s new house was large. It looked old, but well maintained. There was a giant yard with a long shovelled driveway. James had already pulled our luggage out of the trunk.
I turned and watched the cab pull away. I wished he would have just turned his car around and drove it over my body repeatedly.
James started walking down the driveway towards the door. I stared at him for a moment and took another breath.
“You can do this, Bren,” I told myself quietly.
“You coming?” James asked.
“Yep,” I said.
I began to walk up the driveway.
“It won’t be so bad,” I reassured myself again.
CHAPTER TWO
MEET THE FAMILY
The front door opened and woman waddled out. She was a short, old woman—older than my father. She was quite large and wore big, thick glasses. She pushed her glasses up her nose and squinted. She looked at me, and then she looked at James. Her eyes turned tide as her gaze locked onto my boyfriend.
I took a deep breath. Presumably, this woman was Patricia—this woman was my ‘new mother’.
“Is that…” the woman said with wide-eyes.
James froze and his face flushed.
“M—Mom?” James said.
The woman’s eyes glazed over and her face became bright. She waddled down the driveway to give her son a hug. James dropped the luggage as he remained frozen in his place.
“James!” Patricia yelled loudly as she opened the door.
“Hey, ma,” James said, embracing her. “W—What are you doing