Without even bother knocking, I opened the front door of my family's house and I walked in with my girlfriend Mae and my brother's boyfriend following. As soon as we walked in, my favourite sister ran over to me. "Ryder!" Tulip said happily, wrapping her arms around my legs. "I missed you! I think you have to move back home."
I bent down in front of her. "I can't, Tulip. There's not enough room now."
Tulip frowned. "Daddy just had to make Mommy have another baby."
I chuckled and hugged Tulip. "Happy birthday. You're getting too old."
"I'm not that old," Tulip said. "I'm only seven now. You know who's old? Grandpa."
"I heard that, Tulip," Grandpa said from his spot on the couch. "And I am quite offended."
"Grandpa, shush," Tulip said. "I'm trying to talk to my favourite brother." She then saw Mae and smiled before hugging my girlfriend. "Hi, Mae! I missed you! When's the wedding?"
"Ryder and I aren't getting married," Mae said. "But I missed you, too."
I silently sighed. Tulip just had to bring up a wedding, which made that one thing go back on my mind. I couldn't get it out of my mind ever since a few nights ago. I really had to talk to my dad soon.
Tulip then looked at Jerome. "You. I'm still watching you buddy."
"I thought you didn't hate me anymore," Jerome said.
"Yeah, but then you moved in with Maeder," Tulip said. "You could make a move on her anytime!"
"Tulip," Jerome said, bending down so he was at eye-level with Tulip. "Two things. One, I'm gay and you know that. Two, I have a boyfriend."
"You what?!" Tulip asked. "You can't have a boyfriend!"
Jerome furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"
I guessed someone didn't tell his family about dating Jerome.
"I ship Jerlan!" Tulip said, tears staining her cheeks. "You can't do this to me!" She then ran to the kitchen, calling for our dad.
Jerome stood up straight. "Huh," he said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go talk to Nolan, who apparently isn't my boyfriend yet." He made his way upstairs to go talk to Nolan.
I turned to face Mae. "I actually have to go talk to my dad about something," I said.
"Okay," Mae said.
I put down the present I got for Tulip where the rest of the presents were before heading to the kitchen. Dad was making dinner with Tulip clinging onto his leg, crying about Jerlan.
"Tulip, I get that you're sad, but I'd really appreciate it if you would let go of my leg," Dad said.
"No!" Tulip said. "I'm too sad!"
I sighed. "Tulip, how about you go talk to Mae? Maybe she'll make you feel better."
Tulip nodded before letting go of Dad's leg. She wiped her tears away before leaving the kitchen.
"I blame your mom for making Tulip a huge fangirl," Dad said.
"Or Grandpa," I said. "Hey, Dad, I have a question. It's been bothering me for a really long time now."
"What is it?" Dad asked.
"What's a good age to get married?"
Dad stopped what he was doing at the stove and looked at me. "What?"
"I had a dream a few nights ago," I said. "It was about me and Mae getting married and ever since then, I can't get the idea of proposing to her out of my mind. We're too young, right? And we haven't even been together for a year."
"Ryder, it's different for everyone," Dad said. "Your mom and I got married five years after we started dating, but Tony and Charlie got married five months after. Laughlin proposed to Elliot when she was eighteen and he was nineteen. It all depends if you're ready for it."
"How would I know if I'm ready?" I asked.
"You just know," Dad said. "Maybe you are ready is you can't get your mind off of it. Just think about it more and you should probably talk to Mae about marriage."
"I can't do that," I said. "She might think that I actually will propose to her, and what if I don't?"
"Then get Jerome to talk to her about it," Dad said. "But if you decide to do it or not, that has to be made by you and you only."
"Okay," I said. "Thanks for the talk. Now I should probably calm Tulip down."
"What was she sad about anyway?" Dad asked. "I only heard her crying, saying that she's sad and Jerlan won't go canon."
"Jerome told Tulip that he has a boyfriend and she started crying because she really wants Jerome and Nolan to be together," I said. "I never knew Nolan was keeping yet another secret from everyone."
"He thinks he is, but he really isn't," Dad said. "I already know. He's not being so secretive about it."
"Yeah, he isn't that good at hiding things," I said. Well, one thing he was, but that was it. "Well, now I'll calm down Tulip."
I walked out of the kitchen, seeing Tulip sitting beside Mae, crying her eyes out. It was so sad, but so cute at the same time.
Maybe I should say something.
I sat down on the other side of Mae, putting my arm around her. "Tulip, you don't have to cry," I said.
"I do," Tulip said. "My ship sunk! It sunk, Ryder! I'm very sad!"
"Believe me, I'm crying on the inside," Grandpa said. "They were supposed to be my new OTP."
Tulip then went over to Grandpa, hugging him as she cried.
While she cried, Stitch came into the living room. He noticed me and hurried over before climbing onto my lap. "Aww, hi, Stitch," I said, hugging the otter. I wanted to take him when I moved out, but Dad wouldn't let me. Jerk.
If I did end up proposing to Mae, Stitch had to be the ring bearer.
Jerome came down the stairs, frowning when he saw Tulip. "Why is she still crying?" he asked.
"Because you hurt my feelings!" Tulip said." I don't like you anymore!"
Nolan was next to come down the stairs. "Tulip, what's wrong?" he asked.
"My ship sank," she said, wiping her tears away.
"Tulip, you have a lot of ships," Nolan said. "Which one?"
"Jerlan," Tulip said.
"Oh," Nolan said. "That."
Jerome crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah. That."
"Yeah, Nolan, you do know you're not fooling anyone, right?" I asked. "Dad knows. Everyone wants it to happen, especially Tulip."
Nolan sighed. "I know. Tulip, Jerlan didn't sink."
"What?" Tulip asked.
"I'm Jerome's boyfriend," Nolan said. "We've been dating for about two weeks now."
Almost magically, the tears from Tulip's eyes faded. "Yay!" she cheered before jumping off the couch and hugging Nolan. "Jerlan is canon! I'm so happy!"
"I'm not," Jerome said. "He didn't tell his family."
"I'm sorry," Nolan said. "Can you forgive me?"
"Only because you're cute," Jerome said.
The rest of my family -my mom, my two other sisters, and my other brother- came into the living room. Orchid started talking to Mae, so I took it as the perfect opportunity to take out my phone and text Jerome.
Ryder: I need a favor. Later today when I'm not around, can you ask Mae about if she's ready for marriage? I might propose to her soon.
I watched as Jerome took out the phone to read the message. When he did, he gasped loudly, then repeatedly hit Nolan's shoulder in an excited way. "Ow!" Nolan said. "What are you so excited about?" Jerome showed Nolan the text message. "No way!"
"What?" Mae asked.
"My favourite gaming store is having a huge sale tomorrow," Jerome said. "Almost everything is going to be fifty-percent off."
Wow, he was quick to think of a lie.
When everyone stopped paying attention, he texted me back.
Jerome: Uh, hell yes! I swear, you better actually propose to it because Nolan and I have a lot planned out of the wedding already.
Ryder: I'll only propose if she's ready for marriage.
Jerome: I'll make her ready. Ooh, if she is, propose to her at the international competition!
Ryder: Why?
Jerome: Because it's in Paris. PARIS! That will be so romantic. I'll talk to her tonight.
Ryder: Thanks. I owe you.
I honestly hoped Mae would be ready for marriage, because I couldn't get the idea of me proposing to her out of my mind and if I didn't do it soon, I might freak out.