Corey's P.O.V
I looked at Ryder hesitantly, my hand on the doorknob. "Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked for probably the fifth time. Could she really handle seeing a family right now? One that was, well, together, when hers wasn't? She glared at me, a general 'yes' signal from her when I asked the same question too many times, and I sighed. "Alright, if you insist," I said eventually, pushing open the door to my house.
Almost immediately, I regretted having her come here.
My little sister ran and launched herself at my legs. "Corey!" she squealed.
I tried to shake her off. "Emily," I groaned, shaking my leg gently but hard enough--or so I thought--to dislodge her.
"Is that your girlfriend?"
I groaned inwardly. This was going to be awful. Between the twins, Emily, and my parents, the visit would probably only make Ryder upset.
To my surprise, Ryder knelt down next to Emily, smiling. It didn't seem to be forced, and that surprised me even further. "Actually, I'm not his girlfriend. I'm friends with him." She stopped, and I began to feel slight...disappointment? In my chest. Ryder spoke again though, snapping me out of it. "I really like your braids. They're really pretty."
Emily grinned at her. "You're really pretty!"
Ryder grinned back. "Thank you. I wish I was as pretty as you are."
Emily giggled, standing up and looking up at me. "She's nice. You should make her your girlfriend. I like her. Ooh!" she exclaimed suddenly. "What's your name?"
"My name's Ryder."
"That's a boy name."
Are you serious, Emily? Come on. Shut up already.
But Ryder laughed. "Yeah, it is."
"You're a girl though."
"Yeah. My parents don't really know how to name kids."
Emily nodded thoughtfully. "Hm. I like my name. And the twins' names. And Corey's." She paused. "I like your name too though, I think. I mean, it's a boy name, but you're really pretty so I think I like it." She beamed. "I'm gonna go play with dolls now, Mr. Mittens is calling me. I can hear him. You should come see me again though."
"I will," Ryder promised, still smiling.
Okay cool. Part of the worst is over, I guess. Now just four more, and maybe she'll want to leave and we can go back to her place or something. Wait. She wants to come back to my house? Why? Just to see Emily?
Ryder stood up again and smiled at me. "She's adorable. How old is she?"
"Six," I said, my voice fading a little bit from being lost in thought. I immediately remembered that her little brother had been six when he died. "Um, Ryder--"
"That's a cute age," she said, looking around my living room.
What? How was she being so cool with this?
"You have a nice house," she commented.
I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her a little closer so that I could speak more quietly. "Are you sure you're not bothered by any of this? By Emily?"
Ryder thought for a moment. "Well, it is a bit hard to look at young kids, but she looks nothing like my brother did. I can't start crying every time I see a kid, after all. Besides, she seems really cute, and I have the full intention of coming back here sometime. If you're alright with that, of course."
I nodded, a little impressed. "Of course."
"Aww!" a voice shrilled.
Oh for the love of--
"Corey! I didn't know you had a girlfriend! And such a pretty one, at that!" My mother rushed over to us, taking Ryder's hands. "My, my you really are a very beautiful girl. So pretty that even I wonder how you may have ended up with my boy, but ooh!" Suddenly mom pulled Ryder tight against her, hugging her. "You're completely welcome to the family!"
Ryder, who was facing me while my mother hugged her, mouthed 'help'.
I pulled my mom away from her. "Mom! Calm down, she's not my girlfriend."
"Oh," my mom said, stepping back and blushing. "Sorry. I got excited. Corey's never brought a girl home before."
Ryder nodded, keeping her eyes on me. "Not even friends?" she asked.
I wasn't sure if she was talking to my mom or to me, but my mom went ahead and replied anyway. "No, never. I thought that you were probably very special if he let you come over."
Ryder turned her attention back to my mother. "That's very kind of you to think. I'm not all that special though, especially not to Corey."
What? Do you seriously think that, Ryder? How stupid can a genius get?
"What's your name, sweetie?"
"Ryder," she said, smiling and offering her hand to my mother.
My mother took it. "I'm Clarice. It's nice to meet you Ryder. Isn't that typically a boy's name?"
Well done, mother. You are asking the same questions as your six year old daughter. You and Emily are the same person, I swear.
"Wait; can that be shortened to 'Ry'?"
For the love of God don't do this.
"Yeah, he's called me that before."
"Oh my! Well actually--"
"Mom!" I snapped.
"What? I'm finally meeting the girl you've been--"
"Mom!" I said more loudly. "Could you just go get dad so that she can meet him real quickly?"
"Oh, of course Corey." But instead of leaving so that I could talk to Ryder, she chose to yell up the stairs. Great. Well done, mom. "Gerald! Come downstairs! Corey finally brought Ry home! Her actual name is Ryder though, isn't that interesting?"
My dad appeared at the bottom of the stairs a few moments later with a grin big enough to make me uncomfortable. Why was he so happy? He never got this happy. "Finally someone to reign him in," my father said teasingly to Ryder.
Ryder snorted. "If that's my job, I think I'm failing pretty miserably."
"You'll figure it out, sweetie," he said warmly. His eyes sparkled with humor as he looked at Ryder. "I'm not too sure what you were fishing for, but you caught somethin' that's pretty hard to reel in."
"I don't fish," she said, tilting her head.
But I was smarter than to think she didn't know what he was saying. She knew exactly what he was talking about, but she wasn't going to comment on it. I wondered what she thought about it.
My dad just laughed. "Alright. Well, I'm glad to have finally met you."
They shook hands, both of them smiling.
Maybe this wouldn't be as horrible as I had thought.