“Oh what on earth is this?” Uncle Chris asked as he spotted me and Nina standing together waiting to be seated. He grabbed his oldest son, Jordan, by the hand and pulled him over to us.

“You got a girlfriend too? Jesus you kids are growing up too quick,” he said and lifted Jordan into his arms. He glanced from me to Jordan and back with a sigh.

“My own little guy is going to start dating before I know it. Stop growing up so fast! You hear me Shawn and Jordan?” he demanded and I laughed.

“Shut up and seat us Uncle Chris,” I said and grabbed Nina’s hand. Chris rolled his eyes but nodded at us to follow him.

He took us to a more private sections and watched as we sat down. He grabbed us two menus and handed them to us.

“What can I get you brats to drink?” he asked, shifting Jordan in his arms a little. “Mountain Dew,” I said, opening my menu. “Root beer please,” Nina said with a small smile.

“Ah, this kid is fat. Watch him while I get your drinks,” Chris said and set his 6 year old down. He left to get our drinks and Jordan wandered over to us and crawled into my lap.

“Shawn,” he whispered in my ear, cupping his hands around his mouth so that Nina couldn’t read his lips or something. 

“What?” I asked, holding him so he wouldn’t topple off my lap. “Your friend is pretty,” he whispered, nodding at Nina a little. She was watching us curiously. 

I laughed and nodded in agreement. “You’re right Jordan. She is,” I said and smiled at Nina. She cocked her head to the side curiously.

“She is what?” she asked. “Pretty,” Jordan said and giggled. Nina smiled sweetly at him. “Well thank you,” she said and Jordan giggled more and buried his face in my chest in embarrassment.

“Okay, I’ll take your food orders and then I’ll take my brat and leave you guys to yourselves. Just remember Shawny boy, public place here. Keep it in your pants. Oh, keep it in your pants in private too. Just especially in a public place. You know what? Just stay a virgin your whole life. I probably should’ve told your dad that when we were kids. Whatever,” Chris said and pulled out a notebook.

We gave him our food orders and he jotted them down and set a basket of bread on our table. He came over to me and lifted Jordan out of my lap, kissing the little boy’s forehead lovingly and winking at me before leaving to put in our orders.

“So beautiful, what do you want to do after we eat?” I asked, cutting myself a slice of bread and buttering it. I took a sip of my soda and passed the bread to Nina.

She shrugged and blushed lightly. “Well, we have to be home around 8.30 since you can’t have the car out past 9,” she said with a sigh and I nodded, hating that. 

I checked the time and mentally sighed. I would need to take her home almost immediately after we finished eating. Why had we come here so late? We had hung out at the park a little before coming to get dinner, and now it was growing late.

Chris came out with our food a few minutes later. “I made sure they made this sh-” He cut himself off and glanced at his son before clearing his throat. “This stuff first, so that you could guys could head out early and drive around a little,” he said and set our food down.

“Thanks Uncle Chris. Oh, and dad said to stop by sometime and stop being a stranger,” I said and Chris shrugged and nodded. “Yea, yea, yea. He forgets that I’m the one with the little kids now,” he grumbled before taking Jordan’s hand and leading him away so that Nina and I could be alone.

I leaned across the table and kissed Nina deeply before pulling back and beginning to eat hungrily. She rolled her eyes and smiled before also beginning to eat.

“I think we should go on a double date with your brother and her girlfriend. I mean, if that’s not to awkward,” she said after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

I smiled and nodded. “Yea! I’m sure Shane would love that. Let’s do it this weekend,” I offered and Nina nodded and smiled at me, sipping on her soda.

Who cared if my parents didn’t trust me? I was finally happy, and with someone who actually liked me for me. I wouldn’t let them ruin this for me. Smiling, I fell into casual chatter with my girlfriend, feeling happier than I had in a while.