"Are you okay? You haven't said a word since I picked you up." Cody noticed, looking sideways at Maleena, giving her hand a squeeze. 

       Maleena glanced down at their interlaced fingers, resting on the folded down center console in the cab of Cody's truck. Letting out a deep breath, she prayed the butterflies in her stomach would stop flitting their wings so much; her nerves were making her nauseous. Resting her head back against the headrest, Maleena made eye contact with Cody as he kept his truck moving down the road, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just nervous to meet your parents is all." She said, truthfully. 

         "Why are you nervous?" Cody chuckled slightly, lifting Maleena's hand to his lips, kissing the back of it. "They're goin' to adore you just like I do, nothin' to worry about." 

        "I know, but I don't want to say anything wrong, or ask random questions, or ask too many questions." Maleena let out a sigh, looking back out of the windshield, straight ahead. "I'm just bad with first impressions." 

        "Sweetheart, you have nothin' to worry about at all, trust me. I talk about you all the time to my family, so just be yourself." 

        "Oh, great, you have talked about me. That means that they will already have an opinion of me that I have to live up to. No pressure now." Maleena replied, sarcastically. 

         Letting out a breath, Cody pulled his truck to the side of the road, letting go of Maleena's hand to turn on his flashers. Unbuckling his seat belt, Cody hopped out of his truck, walking to the passenger door. Opening it up, Cody told Maleena to turn to him. "Come here, sweetheart." Grabbing both of her hands, Cody gave Maleena a reassuring look. "If you are that nervous, or don't think you're ready, we can reschedule this dinner. I know that I kind of just sprung it on you last night after the futurity race, but we have been together for a couple months already, and I thought about what you said the other day when you asked why I haven't introduced you to my family yet. The answer to that is that my family is..." Cody let out a sigh, looking down to his boots before looking back up at Maleena. "My family can be very unbearable, and stressful sometimes. I wasn't fixin' to tell you this, but I am nervous, too, because I want my family to behave, and try to act normal when you come over. They're great people, it's just hard sometimes, is all." Giving her hands a squeeze, he added, "Even though I know my family will love you, and their opinion matters to me, it won't change how I feel about you." 

         With a grin, Maleena let go of Cody's hand to reach out to his cheek. "Please don't be nervous. I just...I am excited to shake the hands of the folks who raised you to be the amazing man that you are, and you are such a great guy that I am concerned that your family will not think I am good enough for you or anything like that. I know that sounds bad, but you know what I mean." 

      "I do know what you mean, and if I have learned one thing about my parents, it's that you have to take what they say with a grain of salt...they can..." Letting out an emotionless chuckle, Cody shook his head. "You know what? I'm not goin' to say anymore. I want you to be able to form your own opinion of them, without goin' into it with things I have said about them." A grin replacing the forlorn look on his face, Cody leaned forward, dropping a kiss on Maleena's cheek. "It's goin' to go great. No worries, okay?" 

        "Okay." Maleena sputtered out. Turning back to face forward in her seat, Cody walked over to his side, hopping back behind the steering wheel. 

         Starting his truck down the road again, after turning off his flashers, Cody grabbed Maleena's hand as he drove. 

          To make small talk in the quiet cab, Maleena rubbed a finger over the back of Cody's hand, asking, "So, why were you so nervous to meet my parents for the first time? I mean they absolutely adore you. You're basically part of the family."

      Cody chuckled, the fresh mountain air blowing through the opened truck windows, "Honestly? I was worried your dad would shake my hand with a shotgun, or that Chandler would revoke my blessing to take you out, even though he was the one who set us up. The main reason, however, was because you are way too good for me, so I was worried I wouldn't measure up to the expectations, if I'm being honest." When Maleena didn't reply at first, Cody looked her way, just to see her giving him a grin with a blush on her cheeks.

       "You are perfect, you know that?" Maleena leaned against the center console to kiss Cody's jawline. 

        The rest of the truck ride was almost silent, besides the quiet music resonating through the speakers, hardly heard with the wind still blowing in. Several lagging minutes later, Cody's truck slowed to turn into a gravel driveway. In the near distance, a one story house with a brick exterior sat. It appeared to be newer, but well loved. 

      "Well, this is it. My humble abode." Cody said quietly, slightly sarcastic. He lifted a hand in a sweeping motion across the front of the house. Parking his truck by the one car attached garage, Cody shut off his truck, hopping out of the cab to open Maleena's door, offering her a hand down. 

       Before she got down from the cab, Maleena grabbed the box of brownies that she had made specially for tonight. Nerves began rising in her stomach again. There was no turning back now. 

       Holding her hand as she walked up the porch steps, Cody opened the screen door, letting it slam shut behind him. Once they were through the door, Cody let go of her hand to rest it on the small of her back, softly pushing her further into the house. 

      The inside of the house was smaller than what Maleena had expected Cody's home to be. It wasn't a small house, but yet smaller than what she had envisioned it to be. Maleena knew that Cody's family was fairly wealthy, what with owning an entire rodeo arena, sure they had other assets as well. 

        Following Cody's lead, taking off her boots at the spot by the front door, Maleena added them to the pile of other shoes before following her boyfriend into the kitchen. Several voices could be heard in the background, and the closer the couple got to the voices, the easier it was to tell that an argument was brewing. The two people involved were none other than Cody's parents. 

     Clearing his throat, Cody started, "Mom, dad, this is my girlfriend, Maleena. Maleena, this is Margaret and Jerry, my parents." Cody's parents momentarily quit their arguing to turn to the young couple.

        Maleena extended her hand to Jerry first, smiling widely. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Her grip was strong to match that of the 6 foot 3 inch tall, bear of a man, giving Maleena a curt nod in response. Turning to Margaret, she reached out her hand to shake hers as well, but Cody's mom embraced her in a tight hug.

       "It's so nice to finally met you, Maleena. Cody talks about you all the time." Margaret stated, pulling back from the hug.

       "Thank you. You as well. Oh, I brought some homemade brownies." Maleena grinned, proudly presenting the box of still warm delicacy. 

       "Oh...thanks." Cody's mom said hesitantly, her smile wavering slightly. Setting the dessert behind her on the kitchen counter, Margaret added, "Well, supper is ready. Shall we eat?" She motioned towards the dining room table a few feet away from the galley kitchen in the open concept home. Grabbing a stack of napkins off the counter, Margaret led Maleena and Cody to the table where an entire meal had been prepared and set out. 

      "Cory, dinner." Jerry called curtly, taking a seat at the table, opening the beer he had in his hand, letting the cap hit the table with a clink. 

       "Here you go." Cody said to Maleena quietly, pulling out a chair for her. 

      "Thanks." She grinned, sitting down in the pulled out chair as Cody took a seat right next to her. 

      Cory, Cody's identical twin brother, came into the dining room, seeming slightly perturbed that his video game playing had to be interrupted for supper. 

    "Cory, you remember my girlfriend, Maleena, right?" Cody said to his brother who sat down directly across the table from him, beside his mother. 

       "Yeah, hey, Maleena. Nice to see you again." Cory pasted that wide smile that looked almost exactly like Cody's, only, it was missing it's caring spark that Cody's showed. 

       "You, too, Cory." 

       "Well, let's all say grace." Margaret requested, folding her hands.

       Out of habit, Maleena held out her hands to hold the people's beside her, like her family always did. Seeing that was not a tradition with the McClain family, Maleena quickly retreated her hands, folding them in her lap as Margaret said a quick prayer. Afterwards, she smiled, "Dig in." 

       "This all looks amazing, Mrs. McClain, thank you so much for havin' me over." 

       "It was all Cody's idea." Jerry interjected, refusing eye contact as he took a big swig of his beer. 

        "It's nice to have some company. I cannot remember the last time that we all sat down and had a meal together." Margaret grabbed the spoon in the green beans, doling out a very small amount for herself. "Everyone has been so busy with rodeo, and the college visits and everything. It's crazy." She let out a weak chuckle.

        "That's understandable. Well, I am thankful that everyone was able to find time in their busy schedules to have me over for dinner. I really appreciate it." Maleena grinned, taking a roll from the basket Cody handed her. 

       "It's our pleasure." Margaret watched as her husband walked away from the table and into the kitchen, returning a few seconds later with another beer in his hand. 

        "So, how did the college visits go? Cody was tellin' me a lot about it. It seemed like it was crazy busy, yet fun." Maleena tried to make small talk. 

       "Yeah, it was fun. It was nice to get away from the ranch for a couple days. We missed Cody on the last day, but it was very sweet of him to drive all the way back here to see you ride in the futurity race." Once again, it was Margaret doing all of the talking.

       "Yeah, she is an absolutely amazing rider." It was Cody's voice. "I'm really glad that I came down to see it. It was definitely worth the drive." 

      Maleena tucked her head, not liking being the center of attention. "Cody, you're exaggerating. I am not that good of a rider. I run barrel because I like to." She said quietly, not deserving the praise Cody was giving her. 

     "It doesn't sound to me like Cody is exaggerating at all, Maleena. I mean, you did just win $15,000 riding a horse that has never competed like that before, not to mention that it was your first time ever riding that horse, as well. That just proves that you're an amazing rider. Don't be so humble." Margaret bragged. "In fact, growing up, I really wish that I was as good of a racer as you are, I'm serious." 

      "Oh, you ran barrels?" Maleena said, almost too excitedly. 

     "Oh, Cody never told you? Yeah, barrel racing took up basically all of my time growing up. I even missed school and other events because I would be out practicing the patterns so much. It's part of the reason that Jerry and I decided to open the rodeo grounds. When we moved here 20 years ago, the closest grounds were over an hour away, and Jerry knew how much rodeo meant to me, so we decided to build the arena. We had no idea that it would take off as well as it has." 

       "I was goin' to say that it is one of the best arenas I have ever competed in. I think that is amazing that y'all own it." Maleena still hadn't taken a bite of her food yet. Already, she loved Cody's mother. It seemed like they had a lot in common. 

        "Oh yes, owning and operating it has had it's ups and downs, but overall, it has been wonderful." Margaret took a nibble of one of her green beans sitting on her plate. 

           Thankful for the few seconds of idle silence, Maleena ate some of her roll, trying to ease the nervous nausea in her stomach. A throat clearing to her left made her draw her attention back to the dinner table.

       "So, Maleena, have you applied to many colleges?" Jerry spoke, already on his third beer. 

        "She's a junior, dad, I told you that." Cody's voice was stern, a tone Maleena had never heard from him before. 

       "Well, it's never too early to start applying, and lookin' for colleges, son. I was just tryin' to be friendly, is all. You-"

      "No, sir, I have not applied to many colleges." Maleena felt bad for interrupting, but the tension between Cody and his dad could be sliced with a butter knife. "My family and I actually just moved here at the beginning of May, so I am still getting acclimated and adjusted. I had my heart set on a college back near the town I grew up in, but now that we have moved, I want to look for colleges here as well, so I can stay in state." 

       "Makes sense. At least you still have a while to pick one, though. But again, it is never too early to start applying for scholarships and such." 

      "So, who's ready for dessert?" Cody interjected, changing the subject.

     Looking over, Maleena noticed how tightly Cody was clenching his fork, almost like he was physically holding back from saying more to his dad. "Umm, I brought brownies. I will go grab them." Maleena grinned, wiping her face off with a napkin before standing up from the table. 

     "I will help you." Cody said immediately, following his girlfriend into the kitchen. Once they were alone in the kitchen, Cody leaned close to Maleena, whispering, "Are you okay?" 

      "Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Maleena forced a smile that she hoped Cody couldn't tell was fake. 

       "Because my family is..." Cody's voice was drowned out with the sound of his parents bickering in the background, Margaret saying that Jerry does not need another beer, and Jerry saying he can have one more. Letting out a heavy sigh, Cody said, "We should probably get back out there." He jerked his head backwards, walking back a couple steps before turning around and leading Maleena into the dining room. 

     "Here ya go, some home made brownies." Maleena opened the box, setting it on the table. 

     "That was very thoughtful of you. We are trying to cut back on sweets and desserts. They smell wonderful, though." Margaret said, putting a hand on her stomach as if the four green beans she ate had made her full. The comment wasn't meant to be as rude as it sounded. 

       Maleena opened her mouth to reply, saying that was okay, offering the dessert to the others, but Jerry interrupted her. 

        "Don't be rude, Margaret, eat a brownie. Maleena made them specially for tonight." 

         "That's alright." Maleena offered a faltering smile. The last thing she wanted was to be another reason to cause an argument between Mr. and Mrs. McClain. With her fingers tightly gripping the box, trying to keep her emotions and awkwardness inside, Maleena slowly sat back down in her chair. 

       Staring down at her empty food plate, Maleena tried hard to submerge her hurt feelings, er, no so much hurt, but awkwardness. Cody's family was a lot to handle, he was certainly right in that regard. It wasn't just that, though. There was an undeniable tension in the air between all of the family members. Maleena hated arguments, and tension; she had never done well in such situations. Especially since this was her first time meeting her boyfriend's family, she was obsessing over making sure she said and did the right thing, keeping a happy face, despite how hard it was. 

        Trying to ignore the disagreement going on between Cody's parents in the background, Maleena began to feel overwhelmed. She knew it was rude, but she wanted to ask to be excused, for just a few minutes to go to the bathroom to take a breather, but just then she felt a hand wrap around the top of her thigh, gently squeezing it. It instantly made Maleena feel better; she rested her hand on top of Cody's, giving him a thankful grin. 

       Holding out the box of brownies to Cody, Maleena offered him one, making him smile widely. "I'll take two." He spoke, grabbing two of the warm dessert with his free hand. Taking the box from Maleena, handing it to his brother, Cody leaned close to Maleena, rubbing a thumb over her thigh as he said in her ear, "You're doin' great, darlin'." Softly, he dropped a kiss on her cheek before sitting back up. 

       "Well, I think that I will start cleaning up the dishes." Cody offered, interrupting the argument his parent's were still having. 

      Margaret turned from her husband to look at Cody. "No, sweetheart, that is quite alright. I will do them." Without allowing any time for push back form her family, Margaret stood up from the table, taking her plate with her into the kitchen. 

      With a heavy sigh, Cody also stood, grabbing his and Maleena's plate from the table, taking it into the kitchen as well. Returning a few seconds later, Cody stood beside Maleena, his voice quiet as he asked, "Are you ready to go?" 

      Maleena hesitated giving her answer since she was not ready to go home yet. There were a whole slew of questions she still wanted to ask his family; she was still getting to know them, and even though she knew that it would take way more than one visit to find out more, the dinner seemed awfully short lived. Looking into Cody's blue eyes, she saw an almost pleading look, knowing he was only asking her to be polite, not because she had a choice if she wanted to leave or not. "Uh, yeah, sure." Setting her napkin on the table, Maleena stood, letting out an airy chuckle as she looked to Jerry and Cory. "It was really nice meeting you," She turned to Cody's dad. Turning to Cory, she added, "And seein' you again." 

      "You, too, Maleena." Cory said, politely, his cell phone in one hand. 

      "Hopefully we will get to see you again, soon." Jerry said. 

      "Thank you all for everything. Dinner was delicious." A firm hand on Maleena's back told her it was time to go. 

       Following Cody to the door, Maleena slipped on her boots, walking outside to Cody's truck with him. 

       This side of Cody was one that she had never seen before, so Maleena wasn't sure what to really say or do, not wanting to further worsen his mood. 

      The ride back to Maleena's house was silent. Cody didn't grab her hand as he drove, like he usually did. Instead, he kept both hands tight on the steering wheel, his view straight ahead. Cody kept his foot pressed down on the gas, his body tense. 

        Everything in Maleena knew something was up with Cody. She knew it was because of his hard to handle family, and although things didn't go hunky dory, Maleena still enjoyed her time with the McClain's. Maleena noticed how uncomfortable in his own home Cody seemed; much unlike how it was when he came over to her house. Whenever he was with Maleena's family, Cody always seemed very relaxed, always offering to play a game or watch a movie. Easy to say that the Lackley family had welcomed Cody with opened arms, quickly making Cody feel like he was part of the family. 

       Glancing at her boyfriend again, in the dark truck cab, Maleena rested a hand on his bicep. "You want to talk?" She offered in the most caring voice possible.

       Under her touch, Cody relaxed, only slightly. "What is there to talk about?"

       "Well, I thought the dinner went pretty well." She was now facing Cody, sliding her hand down his arm to his hand, prying it off it's death grip on the steering wheel. 

       "Yeah." Cody said simply, refusing to weave his fingers through Maleena's. 

      "What's wrong, honey?"

       "Nothin'. I'm just tired." 

       "Come on, Cody." Maleena sputtered. "I know you better than that. What's bothering you?" When he didn't reply, Maleena lifted up the center console, sliding closer to him, lifting his hand he was holding to wrap around her shoulders. "I've never seen you like this before, so I'm goin' to ask you one more time..." She kissed the corner of her lips, prodding further, "What's on your mind?"

     Cody relaxed some as he let out a sigh. "It wasn't always like that." He responded as his truck accelerated down the blacktop. 

       "What wasn't always like that?" Maleena furrowed her eyebrows. "You know you can tell me anything." 

         "My brother idolizes my dad because according to him, dad hasn't done anything wrong. They're exactly alike. Cory might be my twin, but we are completely different." Letting out a sigh, Cody shifted in his seat. "But I can't stand my dad. There is no way I can tolerate him because of what he has done." 

      "What he has done? What do you mean by that?"

        Silence filled the cab after Maleena's question. Then, Cody responded. "Do you mind if we go somewhere to talk? I know it's gettin' late, and I don't want to keep you out too late, but is it okay if we take a few minutes to pull over and talk more?" 

      "Of course, Cody." 

      Five minutes later, Cody pulled off the main road, driving down another road that Maleena had never been before. It was crazy to her how she had already lived in this town for almost three months, yet there was so many places she had never been to, including wherever Cody was taking her. 

      Signaling his turn, Cody made a right down a long newly paved driveway before turning off the driveway, driving onto a long stretch of grass. The further out Cody drove, the brighter the lights in the distance became. As he drove, Maleena realized that the lights were lining a runway; it was then that she realized that Cody had brought her to a very small airport. 

      Parking his truck a ways away from the runway, he faced it so the bed was towards the line of flashing lights. Turning off the ignition, Cody slipped out of the cab, walking to the passenger side, opening the door for her. 

     Cody led Maleena to the bed of the truck where he helped her up in it before returning to the cab, grabbing a few pillows and blankets he kept in his truck shortly after him and Maleena started dating. With full arms, Cody hopped into the bed. "I come bearing comforts." He held out the pillows and blankets to Maleena who gladly accepted them due to the frigid temperatures. 

      Settling pillows behind their backs, Cody sat next to Maleena, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, pulling a blanket over her lap. 

       "This airport is so quaint and cute and quiet. I love it." Maleena looked at the scenery around her. 

       "It's my favorite place to come whenever things get really bad with my parents. I either come here or the rodeo grounds. I can't remember the last time I spent a night at my own house, to be honest." Letting out a sigh, Cody started in on his story. "I want to start out by apologizin' for my family. I begged my parents to not bicker or argue. I just wanted one night of peace, especially when they met you, but...doesn't seem like my pleading worked very well." 

         "Cody, you do not need to apologize for them. Please don't. They're your family, and they raised you. Even if your parents argue, they still raised you to be a wonderful young man, Cody. They raised you right, even if you don't get along well with them."

      Cody scoffed. "No, they showed me who not to be. My dad taught me the kind of man I should not be. The rest I learned." Letting out a breath, Cody looked down at his hand on Maleena's leg. "At least, that's how things have been for the past four years."

      "Tell me more?" 

       "My parents have been trying to have kids for a few years now. My mom got pregnant with Cory and I when she was 20. My parents got married right out of high school. So my mom is only 38 right now, and she has been trying to get pregnant for at least 7 years. About four and a half years ago, my mom found out she was pregnant, but her and my dad were in a really bad car accident, and she lost the baby. The doctor's told her that she could never get pregnant again. Well, after the miscarriage, my dad started drinking. A lot. And one night, he went out to a bar, and he..." Cody took in a deep breath. "He met a girl there. Mom and dad had had a huge fight, and dad was plastered drunk. He ended up sleeping with some girl, and getting her pregnant. He has a three year old daughter. My mom has always wanted a little girl. However, it wasn't just a one time thing with that girl. My dad continued to see her, and my mom knew for a while but kept it to herself until my dad finally told her. Thankfully, after the baby was born, dad stopped sleeping with the woman, but he still has visitation rights for the kid. Ever since then, my parents have been fighting almost constantly. It's just very overwhelming. And, I'm sorry. I just told you way more information than you probably wanted to hear." Taking in his first deep breath since he dove into the story, Cody added, "I've never told anyone all of that before." 

      Maleena took deep breaths as she tried to process everything that Cody had just told her. Her head was spinning, but now everything made complete sense to her. "Does...does Cory know all of this?" 

      "Not everything, no. Which is why I think is part of the reason why he still looks up to my dad. But it isn't my place to tell him." 

         Maleena rested a hand on top of Cody's on her thigh. "I really appreciate you sharing all of that with me." 

        "Of course, sweetheart. I'm sorry you had to find out about it all this way. This is why I was so nervous and hesitant to introduce you to my parents. But I really appreciate you being so comfortable and fine with it all. I know the majority of girls would be scared away by that kind of news. They would think that since my dad cheated and drinks a lot, and fights constantly with my mom, that I would turn into that kind of guy, too." 

       Maleena leaned closer to Cody, running a hand over his short beard. "I know you are not that kind of guy at all, Cody. You have proven that to me a million times. And, you know that I am not the kind of girl to think those things." 

      "I know you're not like most girls, Malie, and that's just another reason why I like you so much. Thank you, for everything." Cody bent his head, dropping a long kiss on Maleena's lips. 

       The couple sat in the truck bed in silence for another hour under the night sky. A thought brought a smile to Maleena's lips. She remembered the date that Cody had taken her on a couple months ago. They had laid out under the stars for hours, until Cody's phone alarm had rung, telling him it was time to take Maleena home, so she wasn't out past her curfew. Later that night, Cody had dropped her off at her house, ending the night with a perfect kiss, her first kiss. Thinking back, Maleena thought that was the best night of her life, but sitting here with Cody now, Maleena knew this night was easily high up on the list. 

                                                                            ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's Note: Howdy, my dear readers! So so sorry for the delay of publishing this chapter. Hopefully the long chapter makes up for the long wait. :) 

What do y'all think of Jerry and Margaret? How would y'all have handled the situation?

Thanks again for your patience, and for reading. God bless. :D