In Continuum.

A lot of things have happened since then, and she is no longer very special in my heart, at least not anymore. That was the first time I told my parents about my first relationship, and that was just a month or two after we started dating, secretly and without our parents knowing anything about it. She was there when I first told her about our attachment, and she was also there when I told her about the break up. I remember getting out of the car and into the warm night air, and myself slinging the bag on my shoulder and then passing through the front gates. My heart was pounding really fast at that time, it was the first confession to the parents after all. I was nervous throughout the whole "confession", so to speak, and I was still somewhat impressed by the fact that I got it out of the system. Throughout the night, there was a strange sense of elation, as if a heavy weight was lifted off my chest, and I remember calling her and telling her about it the moment I stepped into my bunk. She was glad, as was I, and we talked about the possibility of letting her parents know about it. She hesitated, thought twice about it, and we discarded that idea all over again. Once again, I was back to being a secret, not known to her parents, and she remained the good daughter who remained single at the age of eighteen. Though, by that time, she has already gone through three relationships, with me being the fourth.

You know how it is, if you have ever gotten a partner at an age when you were not supposed to have a partner. It's not that I wasn't allowed, but then my parents never explicitly told me that I could only find a partner after my university, for example. We never had that kind of talk, and for which I am very thankful. In my family, there doesn't seem to be rules like that, and responsibility seems to be the emphasis in most rules around the house. My parents never told me to leave my door opened when female friends come over, or to tell them about any girlfriends that I may have. They were easy on me, relaxed on the rules, because they trusted my judgments. This is probably a rarity for most people out there, and even my sister doesn't have rules set upon her. Despite that, though, she is still single at the age of twenty-six, never been kissed, and still coming home everyday after work for the past decade. Instead of not wanting my sister to find a suitor, my mother is perhaps more eager to find her a suitor right now. But anyway, that is besides the point. The point is that even as a girl, my sister was never told to focus on her studies, to get good grades, to have a pre-requisite of sorts before getting a boyfriend. 

I wanted to tell my parents about it, and I wanted her to tell hers as well. We were over with the part of our relationship when we wanted to keep things secret. You know, that childish teenage fun of lying to your parents when you are going out with your partner, giving them excuses as to why you are back so late or the reason behind that bouquet of flowers. Everything had to be done quietly, discreetly, and we had to come up with an alternate explanation to everything. She couldn't carry my gifts in her hands when she went home, everything had to be somehow stuffed into a bag. I remember the the stalk of the flower had to be snipped off just to fit into the bag, because she didn't want to have to explain it to her mother when she reached home. I didn't think much about it back then, because I wanted to respect her decision to keep everything under wraps. I did not understand, but I suppose every family works in different ways, and have different dynamics. I didn't want to impose my lifestyle on hers, and expect her parents to act the same way as mine. But, come to think about it, I really should have said something about it, you know. It's as if I wasn't good enough to be told to the parents back then or something, like I was some deep dark secret she didn't want anybody to know about.

It is fun though, but only for a while. You know, when you secretly sneak your girlfriend into the house when they are around and then you give her a peck on her lips, or something like that. My parents knew, so I didn't have to be so discreet and secretive. But as for her, I wasn't even allowed to step into her house, or be seen by her parents. I remember this one time when we had to hide behind a pillar in the void deck to avoid her father, who was coming home from work. We had to go through all the trouble just to remain a secret, and so many lies were told just to make it happen. In retrospect, I wonder what the fuss was all about, because it certainly made my life so much easier after letting the parents know about it. It was fun for a while, but then it just made things easier, letting them know. I didn't have to tell them that it was "a friend" that I was going out with. I could say a name, a real name, and they'd understand. That was how things worked for me, though the same couldn't be said with her. Even until the last days of our relationship, I remained very much undercover, and I wonder if the same happened to her partner afterwards. I wonder if her parents finally know about somebody in her life, or are they still oblivious to it all. Who knows, really. 

Which is why I believe that my parents should know about my partners, like the significant other right now. I don't want to lie to them just to go out with her, I don't want to make up fancy stories just to have her come over. The main reason though, is not because it makes my life easier as a whole (it did), but because I am proud of who I am with, and who she is. There isn't anything to hide with her, there isn't anything about her that I don't want my parents to know about. It's not like she is a neo-nazi or something like that, nor does she have some kind of criminal history involving murder and little children. She doesn't have a dark secret past that I don't know about, and she certainly has nothing to be ashamed of at all. I am proud of who she is, and I see no reason to keep her from the parents. I wanted them to meet her, I wanted them to know her, I wanted to share my feelings about her, with them. And that was what I did a few months ago, when my mother asked me about it on the plane. She asked me about her, who is she, what is she like, and admittedly I got a little tired of the questioning after some time. Yet, I was glad that they bothered to ask, and I was happy to say to her "Yeah, she is my girlfriend". She is, now. 

It was just this morning when she told her father about me as well, the last person in her family who needed to know. The mother came first, and she was pretty cool about it. Apparently, I asked her to be my girlfriend, when in truth I don't think neither of us asked the other person about anything. We just slipped into the roles pretty naturally, and there really isn't an exact date in which it happened, nor is it important. Her mother took it pretty well, probably because she likes me quite a bit, though I have no idea why. Perhaps calling her "Auntie" worked that other time when I went to her place, or maybe it was the small talks that we had while I was over at her place. Small talks go a long way for the most part, and it certainly worked on her. The father was the next one to know, and it was thought to be a little tricky for the most part. After all, being the only child in the family, a daughter at that, all fathers are naturally in tune to be more protective. Still, he was pretty cool about it when she told him this morning, and we are officially, official. 

It feels strange though, because this is the first time that my partner's parents know about me. Then comes the questions, the scrutiny, and all those kind of stuff that I am sure will come along in due time. It seems rather daunting, but at the same time liberating. You gain some and you lose some I suppose, and I suppose the pros greatly outweighs the cons. I like that I could take her out for a dinner without the parents harboring any suspicions about me. Of course, they are probably going to be worried about her one way or another, but I suppose it is better to have that kind of responsibility now than later. Wouldn't it be strange, as a parent, to know that your daughter has been going out with a guy for three years before one of them telling you? You'd feel stupid to not know about such things, and you'd probably beat yourself up about it. So I suppose it is good to have them know about it now, and I like that they do, to be honest. I want to be integrated into her life, as much as I want her to be integrated into mine. At the end of the day, at least they know about us, and it just makes it that much more, I don't know, real. And it feels good, it really does.