Is This Really Happening?

Saturday took forever to come; at least it felt like it. It was a whole week for crying out loud! A whole week without seeing Jonathan, but we talked every day. The only thing keeping me sane and busy was finishing up my packing and getting ready for the party.

Today was finally Saturday, and I was super excited. I was leaving tomorrow, and had finished all of my packing yesterday. “Jean! Hurry up!” Dad called from the bottom of the stairs. “People are gonna start getting here any minutes!”

I was just finishing getting dressed, so I put my shoes on and headed downstairs. “I’m done, I’m done,” I said as I entered the kitchen. “What do you need me to do?” I asked.

Dad finished taking a sip of his water before responding. “I need you to help me get all of the tables set up in the backyard and get lunch started,” he replied, standing up.

I gave him a puzzled look. “How many tables do we have to set up?” I asked. “How many people are coming?” I finished as we headed into the garage to get all of the tables. I saw at least 6 tables lined up on the back wall of the garage, so I figured a lot of people were coming.

Dad picked up a table as he replied. “Didn’t Jonathan tell you that the team was coming?” he asked and I nodded. “Well, that’s 20 or so people right there. Oh, and that reminds me; Jonathan is actually coming to help us set up. He’ll be here any minute, so just wait for him and have him help you bring more tables,” he finished and took the table he had into the backyard.

Not even 5 minutes later Jonathan’s SUV pulled up onto the driveway. I smiled widely and went out to meet him as he got out. “Hey,” I said, wrapping him in a hug; though it wasn’t that big of a hug, seeing as he was 6’2 and I was a measly 5’4. He then leaned down and kissed me for his hello. “You are just in time to help me and Dad set up all the tables,” I continued, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the garage, where Dad had returned to get another table.

Jonathan went straight over to Dad and shook his hand. “Good to see you again, sir,” he said with a smile, which Dad returned.

“Good to see you, too, Jonathan. Mind giving us a hand with these tables? It’ll go much faster with two and a half strong people instead of one and a half,” he chuckled, pulling me into a side hug.

I pushed him away with a smirk and grabbed a table, lifting it over my head. “Wanna change that to three people instead of two?” I asked as I headed into the backyard.

I rolled my eyes when I heard Dad say “Help her.”

I then felt the table get lighter before it was lifted out of my hands completely. I pouted as I turned to Jonathan, who had begun setting up the table. “I could have done that myself, you know,” I pouted.

He chuckled and kissed me sweetly. “I know, but your dad asked me to help you anyway,” he replied. I shrugged and helped him finish setting up the table.

A minute later Dad came over to us. “Can you guys finish setting up the tables so I can get the grill going and start cooking?” he asked. We nodded. “Thanks. And Mom will be home shortly with all the groceries as well,” he finished before heading over the grill and uncovering it.

As we started heading back to the garage, Jonathan got in front of me and knelt down. “You need to save your strength for setting up all these tables,” he said sarcastically. I just laughed and jumped on his back. He got back up easily and walked into the garage, putting me down in front of a table.

“Well, thank you for your sarcastic concern,” I replied just as sarcastically, but with a grin. He just laughed and we each picked up the last two tables. We set them up in silence; it only took a couple of minutes. “Thank you,” I said once the tables were set up.

He gave me a puzzled look. “For what?” he asked.

I shrugged. “For everything, I guess,” I replied, sitting on top of a table. “For coming here early to help, for coming into my life and making it a shit-ton better than it was, everything,” I said, looking into his eyes.

He smiled and tried to hide the small blush I saw creep onto his cheeks. “But you did the same for me,” he replied. “It’s almost as if, to me, that we were supposed to meet or something. I feel like, if we hadn’t met last week, it was only a matter of time,” he said.

I smiled at that. “I have a question for you,” I said, and he nodded for me to continue. “Would you want to come with us tomorrow and help me move into my dorm?” I asked. My parents already said it was okay; I asked them this morning.

His smile grew at that. “Yeah! I would love to,” he replied happily, kissing me. “Just tell me when I need to be where tomorrow,” he said as we headed back into the house; Mom had just gotten home with all the stuff for the party.

“Oh, hi Jonathan,” Mom said as we walked into the kitchen. “Can you two do me a favor and put the rest of this stuff away and on the tables?” She asked. “I need to take a quick shower.”

We both nodded and she rushed into her bathroom. First we put away all the regular groceries for the house, and then we moved on to the stuff for the party. “Let’s put all the drinks and dip in the garage fridge, and all the bags of chips on the food table by the grill,” I said, grabbing two cases of pop and heading into the garage. Jon was right behind me with the third case and all of the dip.

We then headed back and grabbed the chips before heading out to the grill, where Dad already had some burgers and hot dogs going. “This the food table?” Jon asked. Dad nodded and we set all of the bags down.

“Anything else you need us to do?” I asked. “Mom is in the shower.”

Dad shook his head. “Nope. Thanks for all your help guys,” he replied. “Just keep an eye out for people; it’s getting to be the time they’ll start showing up.” We both nodded and sat in the garage, waiting for everyone to show up.