Tears in Vegas

The morning after I accepted to be Mike`s girlfriend, we had breakfast with his parent`s before he took me home. Breakfast was definitely interesting through, to say the least. From the moment we walked into the kitchen to the moment we finished eating Mama kept giving us these looks. Like she knew exactly what happened last night and she more than approved. But when Mike and I left I knew that she knew. When she hugged me she whispered in my ear, "Welcome to the family". It was nice to know that at least she approved. It was just strange and slightly creepy that she knew. I wonder how she found out.

"Thanks for walking me home," I murmured to Mike as we walked to the door of my house.

"It`s not a problem. We are together after all," Mike replied with a grin.

"When should we tell my dad?"

"I don`t know. Maybe we shouldn`t tell him until after the tour."

I groaned and shook my head with a sigh and looked over at Mike,"I haven`t even asked if I can go. I mean, I know I don`t have to ask because I`m an adult now. But I guess I still want him to let me go with out any fighting, you know?"

Mike nodded and rubbed my back. "I understand, Baby girl. But you need to talk to him about this. We`re leaving really soon."

"I know, I know. I`ll try and talk to him tonight, okay?"

"Okay, Baby girl. I`ll talk to you later, alright?"

I nodded. "Alright. I`ll call you after I talk to him."

Mike kissed my forehead and nodded. "I`ll talk to you later." With that he started walking away and I slowly walked into the house.

"You`re home," Dad said with a grin as he walked over to me and gave me a hug.

"Yeah dad, I`m home," I said with a slightly laugh and hugged him back.

"How was your little sleepover?" Kate asked as she walked over to me with a smirk on her face and a gleam in her eyes.

"It was fine. Mike`s mom taught me how to cook some things for most of the night and we talked allot," I replied, trying not to sound like I was smarting off.

"Don`t girlfriends normally meet the parents?"

My response was all but automatic, "You didn`t."

"Zhenya," Dad warned.

I took a deep breath and shook my head, trying to calm myself down. "Dad, have you eaten yet?"

"No, I haven`t. Why do you ask?"

"How about I make you breakfast?" I asked in the nicest voice I could muster.

My Dad simply nodded with a slight smile on his face. "Sure, sure. I`d like that."

I nodded and took another deep breath, walking to the kitchen. I dropped my bag on the tile floor and went around the kitchen to get ingredients. Thirty minutes later breakfast was finally ready. Thankfully Mama had given me a few pieces of paper with recipes on it. If I didn`t have that I wouldn`t of been able to cook anything.

After I gave Dad breakfast we did something we haven`t done in a long time. We sat in the living room and had a movie marathon. Honestly, it was very weird. I suppose it wouldn`t exactly be weird for other family`s but we haven`t had a movie marathon since mom died. I guess it became a tradition for us but after she died we never bothered with it anymore. And now all of the sudden we were having it again. Now do you see why I found it weird?

By lunch we had watched three movies and Dad ended up ordering out so we could keep on with the marathon. Much to Kate`s dismay we ended up eating Chinese. Though I had to keep from snickering when I realized Dad had ordered from the same restaurant the guys and I eat at.

At six Kate called an end to the marathon so we could eat dinner. Personally I think she just didn`t want to watch the rest of the Halloween series. She`s not a big fan of any and all horror movies. It was pretty amusing when she would constantly scream during the Halloween movies. Though it did get slightly annoying at times.

I am kind of glad she finally stopped the movies, I was getting hungry too. Despite all the popcorn we had gone through. But as hungry as I was part of me was dreading eating. I had to finally talk to my Dad about the tour. Sure, he was being calm and collected so far. But this might be the thing to finally break him. I`d understand why though. You`re only child, who just turned eighteen, wants to go on tour with four guys for months on end. And she`ll probably be the only girl on the whole tour. Yeah, this really isn`t going to go well.

I ended up keeping my mind off it for about two hours while I helped my Dad cook dinner. Which happened to be yet another one of Mama`s recipes. As we ate I went over ways in my head to tell my Dad. But none of them seemed right. In the end I realized nothing I said was going to work or make him happy. No matter how much I wanted it to.

"Hey Dad, can I talk to you about something? It`s really important," I said as I helped my Dad put dishes away.

"Sure. You seem nervous. Is it something bad?" Dad asked the last part hesitantly.

"It depends on what you define as bad."

"Alright. What`s going on, Zhenya?"

I took a deep breath and ran a hand through my hair. "The guys are in a band and have asked me to go on tour with them." Okay, so maybe I shouldn`t of said it exactly like that.

Dad gave me a blank look before taking a deep breath, "Tour?"

I nodded and bit my lip, wringing my hands together. "Yeah, Dad. A tour."

"How long will you be gone?"

"A few months."

"How long exactly is a few?"

"November," I answered with a sheepish smile.

My Dad shook his head, disbelief clear on his face. "Are you insane, Zhenya? You want to go on some damn tour till November with four men you barely know. Who are older than you and could take advantage of you! I won`t be able to protect you if you leave!"

I took a deep breath and nodded, trying to stay calm. "I understand what you`re saying. But I`m not a little girl anymore. I`m an adult and I don`t need you protecting me every moment of every day anymore. Aren`t you happy I decided to talk to you about this instead of just up and leaving? And they would never take advantage of me! I thought you figured that out when I met Vic and Mike`s parent`s."

"Yes I am happy you didn`t just leave. But that`s beside the point!"

"No it`s not. You just don`t want to admit that I`m right. I knew you accepting the guys and being happy for me was too good to be true!"

Dad sighed and shook his head, "Zhenya. Honey, it`s not that. It`s just....you`re my baby girl. Even though you are an adult, you are still and always will be my daughter. This is just hard for me, okay? To me, it seems like just yesterday that you were born. You were this little thing curled up in a pink blanket that needed protection, love and care. You stole my and your mothers hearts. And now you`re growing up, wanting to be away from me for so long. It`ll be the longest you`ve ever been away from me in your whole life."

I nodded and hugged him. "I know, Daddy. I know I`m always going to be your little girl. And I`m okay with that. But don`t you think I have to grow up at some point? Don`t get me wrong, I`m scared out of my mind to leave and go out and see the world. But I`m doing this with people that are going to take care of me, love me and protect me. Isn`t that a good thing?"

"Do you really think they are going to take care of you? Protect you?"

"I can honestly say I do. I trust them with my life."

Dad pulled away from our hug and patted my back. "Alright. I don`t like it. Not one bit. But if this is going to make you happy," He paused to shake his head and run a hand through his hair, "Then I give you full permission to go. Just be careful okay? And I want to talk to those boys before you leave."

I nodded, "Of course. I promise to be careful. And I`m sure the guys would be perfectly fine with talking to you before we go. Try not to worry, okay? I have a feeling everything will be just fine."