Therapy

"So after we'd be dating awhile, my parents really wanted to meet her. I'd never showed so much interest in a girl for such a long period of time before so they were pretty excited."

"I don't think I was ever so nervous in my life."

"They absolutely loved her from the minute she stepped through the door, just like I did."

"His parents were so sweet. I really don't think I've ever met nicer people in my life."

"Baz really liked her too. That was a big part of it. He was going crazy trying to jump all over her and lick her."

"I think he smelled my own dog on me."

"Baz never takes to people real fast. It took him three years to get used to Jack."

"I've always been a dog person."

"When my dog loved her that quickly, I knew there was something special about her."

"So it sounds like things went quite well. Why did you say this could take a while?"

"Oh, everything went great when she met my family. The trouble was when I met hers."

"I have an older brother or two."

"Five."

"They're a little protective."

"They're like a pack of mountain lions guarding their young."

"They were a little skeptical of Alex."

"They wanted to eat me alive."

"Anyways, he met my parents and then we sat down to dinner."

"Most uncomfortable meal of my life."

"I tried to put Alex on the end between me and my mom so he wouldn't be near my brothers."

"Her brother Aiden looked at me the whole time he sharpened the steak knives."

"He wasn't really going to hurt you. He just wanted to be intimidating."

"Well, he was."

"Dinner went pretty well. Once my dad found out Alex was a Ravens fan, even he was ready to marry him."

"It was after dinner that the problems started."

"What happened then?" The psychiatrist leaned forward eagerly, her glasses slightly slipping down the end of her nose.

"Mom and Dad sent us all into the living room to watch TV while they cleaned up dinner. We were watching White Chicks because Aaron's obsessed with the Wayans Brothers when Parker decided to start the interrogation."

"What interrogation?"

"They gave me the third degree. I doubt the police would have asked me half of those questions."

"I think they asked him everything they could think of."

"Family, friends, what I did for a living, where I lived, what I liked to do, what I liked in general, my taste in women, my taste in men, and I don't even like men for that matter, what my intentions with their sister was, every detail of all my past relationships, personal body information, I've never been asked so many questions before."

"And then Parker popped the question."

"The question?"

"The question of why I liked her."

"What did you say?"

"Everything, because that's what I liked. I liked how her eyes turn lighter when she laughs and darker when she's mad. I liked how she cleans everything in sight when she's upset. I liked how she always has a crossword puzzle with her and she carries the most pointless things in her purse. I liked how she walks to the coffee pot in the morning with his eyes closed because she's still half asleep. I liked how she has probably one hundred bottles of perfume and only uses two. I liked everything."

"Do you still like all of those things?"

"I never stopped."