The Unexpected Path

Chapter 2 - Olivia

An hour earlier...

"I've got it." I bat my dad's hands away when he reaches for the suitcase. "Seriously."

"Just let me do it, sweet pea," He argues and I know I won't win this one. He grabs the handle and pulls it out of the trunk, grinning at me with that smile that wins everyone over. "You just got home and you're leaving again. Can you blame me for spoiling you?"

"I'm not leaving," I argue with a laugh and hug him around his torso. He lets go of the suitcase to hug me back, his huge arms crushing me and holding me tight. God, I missed my dad's hugs. He's like a bear, all cuddly and warm but can beat you senseless if you cross him. "A girl's got to study."

"Damn straight. I'm so proud of you," He kisses the top of my head, and then my forehead, and then my cheek, until I'm laughing and pushing him back. My dad is seriously the most affectionate person I know.

"Okay," Mom sing-songs and rounds the car. She's wheeling another suitcase behind her as she makes her way to us. A couple of campus guys gawk and stare at her ass and I suppress an eye roll. My parents are hot. I may be biased saying this but they're the best looking couple I know. My mom has maintained her killer hourglass figure over the years, the same body I've — thankfully — been blessed with. Guys salivate over her the way women salivate over my father and not just because he's a retired boxer that made headlines everywhere once upon a time. "Is that everything?"

"Yeah," I nod and give her a hug when she reaches me. We're the same height, total minions compared to my dad. "I'm going to miss you."

"Not as much as we'll miss you." She kisses my forehead and pulls away to squish my cheeks. "Te amo, mi amor. Ser buena."

"Si mamá," I peck her lips and do the same to my dad. Even though I've been away for the better part of four years, I'm still really close to my parents. I always have been. After me they weren't able to conceive again and so I grew up spoiled and loved under their direct attention. I never felt like I was missing out, though. I grew up with the kids of my parents' best friends so I was always surrounded by loads of people I consider family.

"You're positive you want to live on campus?" Dad tries one last time.

He was bummed enough when I accepted my dance program abroad. Even so, he supported me because he knew it was my passion. Mom arranged for me to live with her old friend that she met in her therapist training program when she was younger, the very woman she named me after. I was only fourteen when I asked to transfer to LA and being able to live with Olivia and her wife Kelly was the closing deal to getting permission.

"Technically Mom's the one who convinced me I should live on campus," I point out. "She chose this university and my dorm and everything. I was going to take a year off."

"The sooner you finish with your studies the better," She waves me off. She's good at that — evading a topic with non-answers. It's the therapist in her. "You should get it over with in one shot."

"Well, I only agreed because you guys let me go four years on my own. I owe you."

"You don't owe us anything, sweet pea." Dad rubs my back. "We're your parents. We'd do anything for you."

"I know," I say with a tight throat and a guilty conscience. I mean it when I say I have the best parents and it makes me feel even shittier for keeping the biggest secret I have from them. I clear my throat and offer a smile, blowing a kiss as I start to walk backward. "I'll see you in two weeks. Love you."

"Love you," They say together and wave. A crowd starts to form around Dad, phones out and pieces of paper pushed toward him. He smiles politely and starts signing his autograph like he always does. Before I can turn around Mom jogs up to me.