Mike slowly awoke the next morning, Melody still cradled in his arms. Lightly brushing her gorgeous red hair, he kissed her forehead tenderly. Slowly, she began to stir, kissing his bare chest and cuddling as close to him as she was able to.
"Sleep ok?" Mike asked.
"Mmm hmm. I always do when your arms are around me," she lazily answered.
Smiling, he drew her in for a slow, loving kiss. "I'm gonna go check on Darcy," Mike said as they parted. "Is she ok?"
Melody nodded, sliding out of bed with Mike. "After your wish to improve her dream, she's doing much better. I think she took your car to go get us some breakfast."
Mike put on his gym shorts and an Auburn T-shirt, while Melody slipped on her robe and a pair of black panties. Mike shook his head disapprovingly at her use of underwear. Sticking her tongue out at him, Melody reminded him they have a guest and that it would be considered rude to potentially flash her like that. As the couple entered the living area, sure enough, Darcy was standing at the table with a bag from Einstein Bros.
"Morning, lovebirds!" She greeted me cheerfully.
"Someone's looking chipper this morning," Melody said with a giggle.
"I tell you what, your sofa is magic. Soooooo comfortable… I slept great." Pulling food out of the bag, she continued, "I got a plain bagel and a cinnamon bagel. Wasn't sure which you would want, Melody, but I know Mike likes both of them so pick whichever you like."
Thinking for a moment, Melody decided on half of each of them, and put butter on the cinnamon one and cream cheese on the plain one. Mike opted for butter on both of his, while Darcy had already dug into her poppy seed bagel with cream cheese. Eating their breakfast in relative silence, Mike was extremely relieved to see that his wish had helped give Darcy her confidence back.
Breaking the silence, Darcy said, "Oh! You'll love this. Stephen texted me late last night, gave me the same bullshit he always has. Check out my response."
Reading the text exchange, Melody yelped in amusement at Darcy's pointed reply. "Atta girl," Mike said.
Smiling proudly, Darcy continued, "I've already deleted his contact info and blocked his number from my phone."
"Are you worried he might try to contact you in person again?" Melody asked.
With a wicked grin on her face, Darcy replied, "I had a thought about that. Mike, I know you're great at researching consumer deals; after all, you helped me find my computer last year. Think you can help me find a great deal on pepper spray and a Taser?"
His eyes widening at her question, he replied, "Welp, the old Darcy's back."
As the group erupted in laughter, they finished their breakfast and threw away their trash before heading out to Mike's car. Heading back to the restaurant, Darcy rode in the backseat while Mike drove.
"You know," came Darcy's voice, "you're a horrible son, Mike."
"The hell does that mean?" he asked in mock offense.
Giggling, Darcy shot back, "You haven't told your parents about your new job OR your new girlfriend, have you?"
Stewing as she called him out, he replied, "Give me a break. I've been in the zone all week, and Melody will meet them at the right time." As much as he hated admitting it to himself, she was right. His folks would want to meet her.
As they pulled into the Taco Mac parking lot, Darcy said, "Well, you better get on that, or I'll do it for ya!"
She slid out of the car and headed to her own. Mike called after her, "You're an evil, sadistic girl, Darcy White!"
"You love every second of it!" she fired back, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Bye Darcy! Let's get together again soon!" Melody waved at her. Another cheerful grin out the window of her car, and Darcy was headed for home.
As they rode back, Melody hesitantly asked, "So, did you want me to meet your parents?"
Thinking for a few moments, Mike then replied, "They'll want to meet you sometime, and with the successful audition, now's probably as good a time as any. Why? Are you nervous?" he playfully teased her.
"Me? Nervous?" she asked incredulously. "I am an ALL POWERFUL sex genie, master of all matters of love! You really think I could be made nervous by meeting my Master's family?"
"Well, you might not be, but your shaking hands sure are," Mike replied with his smartass grin.
Holding her hands in her lap to try to steady them, she replied, "Fine, fine, I guess I am nervous. But I honestly don't know why…"
Mike replied, "Remember, in today's world, relationships are often helped or hindered by the relationship between a girl and her partner's mother, not unlike that of a guy and his partner's father, and your nerves are coming into play due to my wish for you to be an equal partner and modern woman. Gaining parental approval has always been a rite of passage for both parties in a relationship. I know that's not really fair in this situation, since you don't have a father for me to meet, but trust me when I say that as long as you are your normal, confident self, they'll love you. Obviously, they don't want or need to hear about the sexual aspects of our relationship, but you probably knew that."
"True," she said, giggling. "Do you think they would disapprove of us living together? I know in many traditions that is frowned upon before marriage."
Thinking for a second, he answered, "I don't see a need to tell them unless they specifically ask. If they ask, they probably already know the answer. If they don't ask, they don't want to know. But either way, I doubt they'd give us any grief for it. Remember, Mom's a preacher's kid, meaning she and her siblings were always watched and closely scrutinized throughout their childhood, even if they weren't doing anything wrong, just because their dad was the preacher. Mom has always said that, as long as I'm an adult and not doing anything self-destructive, I won't ever have to worry about her riding my ass for my choices."
"That's comforting. What about your dad?"
"Are you honestly worried that Dad won't like you?" he asked with a laugh.
"No, I'm really not. Good point."
Arriving back home, the pair immediately went to shower together. There were, of course, the standard orgasms that came with the territory, but Melody also watched intently as Mike shaved his face. She had never really paid attention to this aspect of his daily routine, but she found it very sexy and manly. In particular, she adored the results, running her hands and lips all over his smooth face and neck. Deciding to prove to her just how smooth he was, he knelt down in front of her, kissing her legs and stomach before eating her pussy. Bringing her to one of the largest orgasms in her short life, she could barely stand by the time he was finished with her.
As they finished cleaning up and dried off together, Mike combed his hair and slipped back into his gym shorts and T-shirt. Seeing that it was now past ten, he decided now was as good a time as any to call his parents. He picked up his phone and dialed, pacing the room as he talked while Melody relaxed on the bed.
"Hey, Mom, it's Mike… I'm good… I wanted to call to let you know how yesterday went… yes I know the results already," he playfully made his voice sound sullen before telling her the news. "Well, Maestro found me afterward, and said that the decision was really easy… I got the job."
Melody was amused at the screaming she could hear through the phone, and it wasn't even on speakerphone.
"Dinner tonight? Yeah, Cheesecake Factory sounds awesome… 6:30 work, but you'll want to make reservations for four… Yes, I am bringing someone with me… my new girlfriend… no, not Darcy!" he shook his head in exasperation. "…Ok Mom, we'll see you tonight."
Hanging up the phone, he turned to Melody and said, "Here we go."
Giggling, she couldn't help but poke him verbally a bit. "She's right, you know. You and Darcy would've made a really cute couple."
"On paper, maybe so. But she means more to me than that. I'm an only child, but she's the closest thing I've ever had to a sister," Mike explained.
"She appreciates that," Melody agreed. "I'm just glad we were able to repair her confidence before it completely shattered."
"Completely shattered?" Mike asked, slightly alarmed. "You're saying she could have been irreparably damaged after last night if we hadn't changed her dream?"
"Maybe not irreparably, but very close," Melody answered. "She was in an extremely fragile state of mind after coming home last night, essentially at a mental crossroads. Either she continues to blame herself for what happened and could have happened, or she accepts that Stephen made his choices to do the things he did and moves on."