Chapter 37: Catching up with my parents
It didn't take long for my mom to return, and trailing behind her was my dad. Just like with her, I couldn't help but notice how much he seemed to have aged in just the few months since I'd last seen him. Before, he only had a few scattered white hairs near his temples, but now they seemed to spread across most of his head. Even his beard, once mostly dark, had turned a cloudy mix of salt and pepper—mostly salt. It hit me harder than I expected.
"What is it, Marliez?" I heard him grumble as he made his way down the stairs. "First you told me not to go outside for a walk, and now you're calling me back down here—make up your damn mind, woman."
He wasn't angry, just being his usual gruff self. But as he reached the bottom of the stairs, his eyes landed on me—and then on Crystal.
"Oh," he said, his voice softening in clear embarrassment. "Didn't realize we had company."
"Nice to see you too, Dad," I said with a raised eyebrow. I stood up from the couch, and Crystal followed immediately, rising to her feet with a polite smile.
I walked over to him. Physical affection between us had never really been a thing. Hugs were reserved for milestones—graduation, goodbyes, and moments where silence wasn't enough. So I just reached out my hand.
"Happy birthday, Dad."
He gripped my hand and shook it firmly. "Thank you, son. Been a while. You've been keeping well?"
He gave me a brief once-over and then tapped my shoulder. "Looks like you've put on some muscle."
Before I could reply, my mom, who had now come down behind him, gasped slightly. "Oh my gosh. I didn't realize before—you've become so much more handsome! No wonder you were able to pull someone as beautiful as your girlfriend."
I couldn't see Crystal's reaction since she was still behind me, but knowing her, she was almost certainly blushing. Compliments went straight to her core, especially when they were direct like that.
"Dad, I want to show you something," I said, motioning toward the door.
He followed me out, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweater. The moment he stepped outside, his eyes locked onto the new silver Audi parked in the driveway. It still had the wrap on it—the kind with the small bow across the hood that I'd asked the dealership to include.
I walked ahead and unlocked the car. The soft beep echoed in the driveway.
"Happy birthday, Dad," I said, tossing him the keys.
He caught them, confused at first, then walked toward the car slowly. His fingers grazed the paint as he examined the trim, the handles, the grille. The disbelief in his face was clear. Turning around, he looked toward my mom.
"This why you didn't want me coming outside earlier?" he asked.
She crossed her arms. "I thought I was just a woman who didn't know what she was doing?"
He gave a small laugh. "You know I get grumpy if I don't get my morning walk."
Then he turned to me, looking me square in the eye. "Thank you, son," he said, his voice quieter now. "But I can't take this."
He held out the keys again.
"You should keep it. If you're making money, save it. Use it for yourself."
I shook my head and gestured back toward the driveway. "I already have a car, Dad."
That's when he noticed the black Audi parked behind him.
He narrowed his eyes, clearly gearing up for a lecture about how I was spending my money, but I cut him off. "Look, I already have one. If you don't want it, I'll just let Mom have it instead."
Immediately, he turned to my mother and said, "If she drives this car, the whole neighborhood's going to be in danger."
He turned back, gave me a crooked smile, and slipped the keys into his pocket. "Alright, alright—I'll take it off your hands."
Just then, Crystal stepped forward. "Erm—Mr. Morlisson?" she said softly.
He turned, clearly having forgotten she was still there. "Oh! I'm sorry, dear. I completely forgot about you. And you are?"
She extended her hand with a composed smile. "I'm Jace's girlfriend. My name's Crystal."
My dad gave me a quick, discreet thumbs-up while shaking her hand, his expression reading: Well done, son.
"And I also wanted to give you this," she added, reaching into her bag and handing him a neatly wrapped box. "Happy birthday."
He took it in surprise. "Thank you, dear, but you really didn't need to—"
"No sir," she said with a smile. "I insist."
My dad, of course, immediately wanted to take the Audi out for a test drive. I wasn't even surprised. The man had always loved cars—more than loved, actually. He could name engine types off the top of his head, tell you which brands shared manufacturing parts, and probably explain ten different reasons why my tire pressure was too low just from a glance. Me? I bought the Audi because it looked sleek and it had good reviews. He, on the other hand, was someone who actually understood cars.
Still, he seemed genuinely pleased with my choice, and honestly, that was all that mattered to me. But the test drive? That wasn't going to happen today. My mom caught the gleam in his eye the moment he jiggled the car keys and gave him a look sharp enough to stop a wild animal in its tracks. No words were spoken, but the message was clear.
So, we all headed back into the house.
Crystal and I sat with my parents in the living room. The conversation naturally eased into getting to know each other better. There was still a little stiffness to it, but slowly, that wall started to come down.
At one point, my dad asked, "So, what else have you been working on besides acting?"
That was typical of him. He was never the kind of parent who pressured me to be the best at everything, but he did expect me to give things my full effort. In his world, hard work equaled results. And if you didn't get results, that meant you didn't work hard enough—simple logic.
"Well, acting takes up most of my time," I began, but before I could even finish the sentence, Crystal jumped in.
"I'm sorry, but your son is way too humble to mention this," she said, sitting forward slightly. "Out of all the actors I've worked with—and I've worked with plenty—he might be the best I've ever seen."
My parents both raised their eyebrows, clearly surprised. They already knew Crystal was a few years older than me. They'd managed to piece that together naturally, but neither of them seemed overly bothered by it. After all, my mom was twenty-four when she met my dad, who was thirty at the time. So, they understood age gaps—they weren't new to this.
Still, they were clearly taken aback by how much weight Crystal's words carried. She wasn't just tossing compliments to be polite. She was speaking like someone genuinely impressed.
"Your son never takes more than one take for any scene," Crystal continued. "Ever. I'm telling you, that is not normal in this industry. The way he gets into character—it's like watching someone become someone else. It pushes the rest of us to up our game. We're actually so ahead of schedule on Teen Wolf right now that the director has been giving us half-days and, sometimes, entire days off just so they can adjust the production schedule and let the rest of us recover."
My mom turned to look at me with a smile that was quietly proud, but warm. "I always knew you had it in you," she said softly.
And then my dad, in classic fashion, added, "Is that why you told him he wasn't allowed to join drama in school?"
My mom gave him a sharp glare. "I said no to drama because I didn't want it to affect his grades."
He shrugged. "Yeah, he still didn't do well at all."
That was my dad. Blunt to the point of being embarrassing, but never in a cruel way.
I laughed, shaking my head. "Well, aside from acting, I've also been writing a book."
My dad perked up immediately. "Oh? What's it called?"
He was an avid reader of fantasy novels. He was the one who got me into Harry Potter in the first place—well, Jace's dad was. So, I figured he might actually be interested in hearing this.
"It's called Lord of the Mysteries. It's a web novel," I replied.
My mom's reaction was instant. "What?" she said, eyes going wide.
I tilted my head. "Why do you sound so surprised?"
"You're the author of Lord of the Mysteries?" my dad asked, leaning forward as if I'd just said I built a spaceship in my trailer.
I paused,and said "Yeah…"
My mom burst into laughter, a bright, full-hearted sound that echoed through the living room. "Honey," she said to my dad between giggles, "we've struck jackpot."
My dad, meanwhile, was nodding vigorously, as if I'd just announced I'd won the lottery. And in a way, I suppose, to them, I had.
Crystal, ever the observant one, picked up on their energy immediately. "Wait… have you guys read the book?" she asked, eyebrows raised in amusement.
"To read it?" my mom said, as if the word didn't do justice to what they were experiencing. "We're both up all night waiting for new chapters to drop! Every single update—we're there, refreshing the page."
She got up from her armchair and made her way over to the couch, plopping herself down right beside me with an excited glint in her eye.
"Son," she said, drawing the word out with theatrical weight, "my dear son—please, just tell me what's going to happen next." She leaned in closer. "You know I never neglected you as a child. You owe me this. Now tell me—does dear Miss Justice…"
"Stop," my dad interrupted, raising his hand like he was in court. "You always do this."
My mom turned, mildly offended. "Do what?"
"You always try to spoil things for yourself," he said, looking toward Crystal and me for backup. "And then, when you know the spoilers, you spend the rest of the day pouting because it wasn't as surprising."
My mom narrowed her eyes. "Are you going to embarrass me in front of our guest now?"
"I'm not embarrassing you, I'm telling the truth," he said calmly, then turned to me. "Back me up, son. How many times have we watched something, and the minute your mom senses tension, she's already googling who dies?"
I held back a grin. He wasn't wrong.
But before I could officially take sides, my mom spun toward Crystal. "You get it, right?" she said, eyes wide with mock desperation. "You understand what I mean, right?"
Crystal simply nodded…to which my head turned towards her in surprise. "You understand this?"
Crystal replied, "Well yeah…she just wants you to tell her the spoilers without spoiling her with anything. It's not that complicated, Jace."
"Exactly!" my mom exclaimed, pointing triumphantly at Crystal. "You see? She gets it."
My dad and I looked at each other across the room, both slowly shaking our heads.
"Women," he muttered under his breath with a dramatic sigh.
At least my dad got me.
…
Authors note:
You can read some chapters ahead if you want to on my p#treon.com/Fat_Cultivator