All of It by Kim Holden

looks more like a hotel?”
    We sit in silence for a minute, admiring like a couple of sightseers.
    “Do you know the people that live there?” I ask, still in awe.
    “Yes, they’re a very nice family.”
    “Not pompous assholes?”
    He smiles. “Not at all.” The car starts rolling slowly down the street and stops just in front of the driveway. He looks at the house, his smile widens, and he points to the window next to the front doors. “And I think they’re very anxious to meet you.” There’s a woman holding the curtain back waving at us through the window.
    “That’s your mom, isn’t it? This is
your
house?” I’m dumbfounded.
    He takes a deep breath and eases the car up the curb and down the driveway. “Yes, that’s Sunny. And unless she sold the house today and didn’t tell Sebastian and me, which knowing her is a possibility, this is still our house.”
    Then it dawns on me how far Dimitri lives from our school. “Don’t get me wrong, I really love that we ended up in the same high school, but you are like,
way
out of district boundaries living here. Why don’t you go to West Hills?”
    “This life is all about choices, Ronnie, and this particular choice was imperative.”
    I wait for more, but nothing comes. “That’s it?”
    He smiles. “That’s it.”
    The driveway is long and winds down behind the house and ends in front of a six-stall garage. One of the doors farthest from the house begins to open just as Dimitri raises his hand to push the garage door opener on his visor. He shakes his head. “Sunny must really be excited; she’s not even going to let me open the garage door myself.”
    He pulls the Porsche into a very brightly lit and very clean garage. It reminds me of my dad’s, but kicked up a few notches.
    Dimitri takes my hand. “I really hope you like my family, because I know they’re going to love you.” His voice is gentle, hopeful, and reassuring.
    I pat our interlocked hands. “If they are anything like you, I’m sure I’ll love them, too.”
    He smiles that beautiful smile of his. “Wait there.” He exits his door and comes around to open mine. I take his offered hand anxiously.
    “This must be the Volkswagen,” I say, pointing to the car in the next stall.
    He looks at me tentatively. “This is it. What do you think?” He seems to be holding his breath.
    I walk over and peek inside. “It’s great, very cool. I love the red interior. What color are you going to paint it?”
    He shrugs. “Black. Is there any other color?”
    I look back at his Porsche, and at the Mini Cooper, Mercedes, and SUV parked in the stalls on the other side of it, all of which are black, and raise my eyebrows. “Apparently not.”
    He squeezes my hand. “We can’t put this off any longer or Sunny will have a stroke, and I’d hate for that to happen. I’m rather fond of her.”
    He leads me across the garage and into a breezeway that’s connected to the house. The door opens suddenly and there stands a tall, slender woman with blond hair and big blue eyes. It strikes me how young and pretty she is. Of course she would be pretty, I think to myself. Look at her children! I tense up, which Dimitri senses immediately. He rubs my arm with his free hand and whispers in my ear, “She won’t bite. She’s completely harmless, I promise.”
    Sunny positively beams. Her smile is so friendly and warm that my nerves calm down immediately.
    “Mom, this is Veronica. Veronica, this is Sunny.”
    Sunny closes the gap between us quickly and pulls me into a hug, as if I’m an old friend. Stunned, I stand there with my arms hanging at my sides. She doesn’t seem to notice. She tightens her grip and then releases me. When she places her hands on my shoulders I realize how tall she is—Dimitri’s height. I have to tilt my head up to see her face.
    “It is so good to meet you, Veronica.” Her voice is warm, tinged with a Texas accent, and flooded with excitement. “Welcome to our home.