I slept deeply through the night and didn’t dream at all.
On New Year’s morning, I was in the kitchen with Mom, preparing breakfast.
Mom kept asking questions.
How did I meet Zachary? How long had we been together? What did he do for work? Where was he from?
I answered vaguely, struggling to keep up.
There were plenty of things I didn’t know myself.
Then she asked about his age. When she found out he was five years younger than me, she became even more anxious.
“He seemed so mature yesterday. I didn’t realize he was that much younger.”
“Do you think he might be too young and not able to take care of you?”
“Is he treating you well?”
I was about to find an excuse to escape when I suddenly heard my nephew yelling from the living room.
“You lost! Pay up! Zachary, pay up!”
It was incredibly rude, shouting at a guest like that.
“What’s going on, Jack?” I asked as I walked out and saw Zachary and my nephew on the couch with a deck of cards.
My nephew pointed at Zachary and shouted, “He lost, so he has to give me money!”
“What are you guys playing?”
Zachary chuckled, looking a bit embarrassed.
“Jack taught me a card game. We played one round, but I lost, and…”