My Heart's in Alabama

7 - Matt

Watching Kiersten eat has got to be the cutest thing ever. I've never seen someone so happy over something as simple as a peaches n' cream crumble.

"What?" Kiersten giggles as she licks her spoon, making sure to get every last drop.

"You," I smile.

"Me?"

This time I chuckle. As if she doesn't know.

"Yeah, you."

"What about me?" She says, twirling her spoon around, playing dumb.

She's always gotta make me say it.

"You're so cute," I say.

"I'm what now?"

She leans in towards her camera and puts her hand to her ear, really hamming it up.

"Don't push it," I warn, playfully.

"Oh yeah? You're six hours away, Purdy. What're you gonna do?"

I open my mouth to make a comeback, but right as do, the door opens and closes. My mom's home with dinner. Then on top of that, another call comes through. It's my dad.

The timing is perfect. Not only because I had absolutely zero clever responses prepared, but because getting my dad on FaceTime while my mom's home is as close as I'm gonna get to having them in the same room. Maybe if I play it right, I can get them to talk to each other.

"Hey, are you alone?" I ask Kiersten.

I really need to take this chance with my parents, but I don't wanna hang up on her and leave her by herself.

"No, Teddy's here...somewhere."

"Oh, okay, good," I say quickly. "I gotta go. You good hanging with him for a bit?"

She seems confused, which can't say I blame her, but really, this is an opportunity I can't waste.

"Um, I mean, yeah...is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," I say. I can hear my mom heading up the stairs. I gotta answer my dad, like now. "I'll call you back?"

"Okay..."

"You're good with Teddy?" I ask again to be sure.

"Yeah, I'm good."

This time she seems more sure, so I tell her goodbye and that I love her and quickly switch over to my dad.

"Hey, kiddo," he says excitedly as soon as I answer.

His video pops up at the exact moment that my mom walks up the last step, putting her squarely in the background. Perfect.

"Hey, Dad," I say, really emphasizing the word Dad so my mom knows exactly who I'm talking to.

Her head jerks up and her eyes widen when she realizes she's in the background.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she says somewhat shyly and steps to the side.

"It's cool," I say and "accidentally" shift my phone so she's in the background again. "It's just dad."

She gives him a little half-hearted smile and wave then discretely dips into the kitchen. Shoot.

It's okay, though, this ain't over yet.

"Is that Matty?" I hear Drew exclaim from the other room.

Then I hear him, Carrie, and Marcie come barreling in like a herd of wild animals. My dad is quick to ward them off though.

"You can talk to him in a little bit, okay?...No, no I know....I want to talk to him, too...ten minutes, okay?...you'll get to talk to him, I promise...okay? Okay?"