The Dreaded Moment...

“Baby, I don’t think I’m ready for this.”
“Do you love me?”  I took my eyes off of the road for a split second to look at him, he looked back.
“Of course I do…”
“Then, they’re just my family.  You were bound to meet them sometime.”
“But, what if they don’t like me?”
“They will.  Don’t worry about that.”
“But what if—”
“Cade, they will love you.  Don’t fret so much about this. It’s a small milestone in our relationship.”
He sat back in his seat as I sped down the highway heading to my hometown.  This was the first time since I had left for college that I had brought a boy home, even though Cade and I have been dating for over a year.
But, I don’t blame him, I’d be nervous too—I refrained from telling him that so as to not scare him.
The occasion?  My 21st birthday.  Seeing as it was a “big year” and he was already of age, we planned on hitting the city the following night and going to some local bars and clubs.
When we arrived at my house, my mother greeted me with a hug.  “Well, look at you! All grown!  It only took you twenty one years!  I remember when you were six you would—”  I had to cut her off before she went on with one of those embarrassing moments only mothers remember.
“This is Cade, Mom.”
“Well, you’ve always known how to pick them, Dominic!  He’s cute!”
“Mom, I really like this one, please don’t scare him away.”
“Haha, Hello Mrs. Barnett.”  He shook her hand.  “I’ve heard a lot about you!”
“Only good things I hope.”  She smiled and cast a glance my way.
“Only the good things,” I repeated.
“Well, come on in, why stand out there in the cold?”  
I led him inside, and my mom hurried off to the kitchen.
“Want to see my room?” I motioned toward the stairs.
“Sure,” he followed me up the staircase to my room, the door on the far left.
I opened the door and I barely recognized it.  It was so much cleaner than I had ever seen it.  Clothes laid perfectly hung on hanger in the closet, not scattered on the floor.  Video game cartridges for my old Nintendo 64-bit were put away and not tossed all on my dresser.  The PSOne controller no longer rested at the foot of my bed.  My comic books were neatly displayed on my dresser, and no longer thrown in my underwear drawer.
I was home, but it didn’t feel like home.
I lifted my mattress, and it was still there.  My old “Playboys”.  
“From the good days, boy do I miss it!”
He playfully pushed me on the bed.  “So this is where all the magic happened?”  
“Haha, what ‘magic’?”
“You know what ‘magic’, I’m talking about!”
“You took my virginity and you know that.”
“Haha, I’m kidding, babe.”  His face drew close to mine, and he kissed me.  “Don’t get so worked up over nothing.”  He kissed me again.
My door burst open.  “Dom!”  My little cousin, Trey, ran into my room.  “Whoa!”
Cade rolled off of my.   “Trey, this is my boyfriend, Cade.”
“Hi!”
“Hey, dude.”
“Well, Dom, your mom told me to get you too!”
“We’ll be down in a moment…”
“Okay!  I’ll tell her!”
He left the room.  “Aunt Joyce!  They’ll be down in a minute.”  His voice resonated off the high ceiling of the stairwell, and you could hear an echo.
Cade and I both chuckled.
“Can we?”
“Maybe later.  Right now, we’ve got to eat or my mom will come up here…and her seeing that—whew!  She’d hate you.”
We went downstairs and sat at the table.  He was quiet, so I placed my hand on the inside of his thigh.  He coughed on his chicken, but didn’t look at me.  I just laughed and massaged his thigh.
“Dom!  DOM!”
“Yeah, Trey?”
“Tell mommy what you two were doing!”
Ohh lord.  Here comes Cade’s dreaded moment, I though to myself.
I stood up, and pulled Cade with me.
“Uncle Andy, Aunt Michelle, Cade is my boyfriend.”  I put my arm around his waist.
Stifled gasps filled the air.
“W-what?”  Uncle Andy said.  
“He’s your…”  Aunt Michelle trailed off.  
Trey just laughed hysterically.  Cade and I stood there, my arm still around his waist.