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Drew was determined to make a good first impression on Mr. and Mrs. Maple.
He had technically met them before, but only in passing at Grand Festivals. And that had been back when he was only May’s rival – not her rival and her boyfriend.
So he had been pleased to get an invite to Norman and Caroline’s 20th wedding anniversary dinner. It would be a perfect opportunity to properly meet them.
May, for her part, thought he was overthinking things. “First of all, they’re going to love you, I promise. Second of all – even if they don’t, it’s not a big deal. I’m a modern woman, my parents don’t get to decide who I date.”
“So dowry discussions are off the table? That’s a shame. I had been hoping to get 10 Tauros for your hand.”
As soon as he made the joke, he worried he had crossed a line. While he wasn’t actually expecting a dowry, marriage had been the reason he was so worried. They had only been dating for 2 months, but Drew already knew that May was the woman he wanted to marry. He had suspected as much even before they started going out.
He hadn’t told her. It was way too soon for that sort of conversation. But if Norman and Caroline were to become his in-laws someday, he wanted to be on good terms with them.
When her brow furrowed, Drew feared for the worse – what if she had realized why the topic was on his mind and was upset he came on so strong?
“10 Tauros? That’s insulting! Surely I’d be worth at least 30 Tauros,” she said, her hands on her hips. Drew held back a sigh of relief, thankful that the anger wasn’t serious after all. May’s expression changed back to normal. “No, but seriously. Mom has wanted us to get together for years, and my Dad really isn’t the type to give a shovel talk. Just be yourself and you’ll do great.”
Drew reminded himself of her words as they crossed the threshold and entered the Maple family house. Just like the exterior, the inside of their home was decorated in a simple and traditional style.
“Mom! Dad! We’re here!” May shouted. She toed off her shoes at the genkan, and then rushed down the hallway. Drew removed his shoes and followed her into the kitchen.
“Oh, May, I’m so happy you’re here!” Caroline set down the knife she had been using to chop spinach and went to hug her daughter. “Your father is out feeding his Pokémon, but he’ll be back any minute now.”
“It’s good to see you too, Mom.”
Drew didn’t want to interrupt their bonding moment, so he remained in his place at the kitchen entrance. Once they concluded their hug, Caroline turned to Drew and bowed. “Drew, it’s wonderful to see you again.”
Drew returned her bow, although he bent down further as a show of respect. “Mrs. Maple, it’s a pleasure.”
“Oh, there’s no need for Mrs. Maple! Just Caroline is fine,” she insisted. “I’ve heard so much about you over the years. It’s exciting to finally spend some time with the young man who stole my May’s heart!”
“Mom,” May whined, covering her face with her hands.
“Oh, come on dear – it’s not like I’m sharing some secret! He’s your boyfriend, surely he knows that you’re smitten with him.”
Drew was tempted to let this conversation continue playing out, just to see how embarrassed his girlfriend could get. But showcasing filial piety was a higher priority for him, so he decided to provide her an escape route. “I brought a gift for you, Mrs. - Caroline.”
Buying presents for the Maples had been difficult. He had wanted to do the classic meet-the-parents gift of flowers – those were his specialty, after all – but May told him not to. The floral arrangements had already been taken care of by Norman, who would be surprising Caroline later in the evening with a bouquet of flowers from the meadow where they got engaged.
Still, he managed to find items that he was satisfied with. He pulled out a small box containing Caroline’s gift from his bag and handed it over to her. Inside were a pair of yellow glass earrings, crafted by an artisan on Route 113.
“Goodness, that is just too sweet! Thank you, Drew” she said. “Anywhoo - are you kids hungry? I’m almost done making this strawberry salad. Oh, but you might want more filling lunch after a day on the road - I’d be happy to whip something up for you.”
“There’s no need to go to all that trouble. Just the salad sounds lovely,” Drew said. He was proud of himself for not tacking on a Mrs. Maple or ma’am to that sentence – he had been using those terms whenever he mentally rehearsed interacting with her, and having to exclude them was a sudden adjustment.
“Same here!” May said. It was unusual for May to pass up the offer of extra food. For a moment, Drew feared that Caroline’s cooking was just as ‘unique’ as May’s was. Thankfully, she soon provided an explanation. “I’ve gotta save room for dinner! We’re getting Luisa’s, right?”
Caroline hummed in affirmation. “I don’t know if May told you, Drew, but Luisa’s is a Ylatian restaurant that’s local to Petalburg. They’ll be catering tonight.”
“She’s told me great things about them,” he said. “I’m looking forward to trying their food.”
Through the sliding glass door in the kitchen, Drew saw a figure walking in the backyard. As he got closer, it became clear that the man was none other than Norman Maple. Drew grabbed the cloth pouch that contained Norman’s gift from his bag.
May noticed him too. She quickly opened the door and ran off into the backyard to greet her father. “Dad!”
He pulled her into a hug and spun her around. Once Norman set her down, May grabbed his hand and brought him into the kitchen.
“Well then, look who we have here!” Norman’s voice was jovial, a stark contrast from the firm tone he expected from the infamously strict Petalburg Gym Leader. May had told that he wasn’t like that in his personal life, but it hadn’t clicked for Drew until now. “Pleased to meet you, Drew. I’m Norman Maple, but I’m sure you know that already.”
Drew bowed to him. “It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Maple.”
“Just call me Norman,” he laughed.
“Understood, Norman,” he said, the name foreign on his tongue. He hoped that it would soon become familiar to him, that eventually he would be comfortable around the Maple parents. That he wouldn’t see them as people to impress, but as members of his own family. But until then, he’d continue the charm offensive. He handed the pouch to Norman. “I brought a gift for you.”
Norman tugged on the string to open the cloth bundle, and smiled when he saw the contents inside. “Chople Berries! I didn’t think they were in season right now – where did you find them?”
“I grew them myself,” he responded. “I used a Berry Pot cultivar that grows well in all seasons.”
The quality came at the expense of quantity, with each plant only producing a single Berry. But Drew didn’t feel the need to mention that. For one thing, he didn’t want to make Norman feel guilty about the amount of effort he spent on growing them. For another, he wasn’t sure what amount of niche gardening information was socially acceptable to share in a situation like this, and decided it was safer not to get himself started.
“Very impressive,” he said. “Thank you for such a thoughtful gift.”
The three of them sat down at the kitchen table, and soon lunch was served. The salad was absolutely delicious, the sweetness of the strawberries contrasting nicely with the savory elements of the meal.
The Maples asked Drew a lot of personal questions, but none of the “what are your intentions with our daughter” variety that he had feared. Instead, they were genuinely interested in getting to know him.
In return, Drew enjoyed learning about them. He found out that they attended a couples salsa class together, that Caroline was working on a cross-stitch pillow, and that Norman was training for a charity marathon.
The conversation was interrupted by an upbeat ringtone.
“That must be Max,” Caroline told them, before picking up her cell phone and answering the video call. “Hi honey! How are you?”
“Hi Mom! Hi Dad! I’m doing good. Just thought I’d check in to wish you a happy anniversary. Sorry that I can’t be there for the party.”
“Nothing to be sorry about,” Norman said. “We understand that you have to focus on your training right now. Only a week left until the Vertress Conference, right?”
“Yup!”
May leaned over to Drew and whispered to him. “Follow me, okay?”
She stood up from her chair. He did the same. She passed behind Caroline and quickly waved to Max.
“Oh, May and Drew already made it?” Max asked. Now that Drew was facing the phone screen, he could see that Max looked considerably taller since the last time they had met. Drew found this disconcerting. “Hey guys!”
“Hello,” Drew said.
“I’ll catch up with you later, Max – I’ve got something I need to show Drew.” With that, she grabbed his hand and exited the kitchen, leading him through the hallway. They stopped in front of a door, upon which was a wooden sign with the phrase “MAYS ROOM” painted on it.
“It’s missing an apostrophe,” he pointed out.
She rolled her eyes. “I made it when I was like, 6, give me a break!”
“Okay, okay. So what was it you needed to show me?”
“Oh! Nothing, it was just an excuse. Max doesn’t call home as often as Mom and Dad would like, so I thought we should give them some quality time,” she explained.
“That’s nice of you.”
She smiled. “I have my moments. Anyway, before we go in… just remember that I was a little kid when I designed this room, okay?”
With that, she opened the door, and they entered her childhood bedroom. Drew gave himself a moment to take it all in. The most noticeable feature of the room was her four post canopy bed: the bed frame was made out of wood painted white with golden accents, while the canopy was pink with ruffles and sheer curtains. On top of the bed was an absurd amount of pillows and a variety of plush dolls.
Also in the room were a bookshelf, a dresser, and a desk set – all of which matched with the bed frame in color scheme and carving details.
Along the walls hung fairy lights and photographs. Most of the photos seemed to be cut out from travel magazines, but a few were personal pictures from May’s journey. Drew even spotted himself in a couple of them.
“A room fit for the Princess of Hoenn,” Drew commented fondly.
“Actually, my childhood fantasies were about being a queen,” she said with an air of faux-snootiness. She sat down on her bed, and patted the area beside her, where Drew obligingly sat.
“My apologies, Your Majesty.” For dramatic effect, he grabbed her hand and placed a gentle kiss upon it. May blushed, which Drew thought was a cute reaction to such a chaste gesture.
“So… not to say ‘I told you so’, but that went well, didn’t it?”
“Yeah. You were right,” he admitted. “Your parents are great people, May. I’m not just saying that because we’re dating. I really did enjoy spending time with them.”
“Well, lucky you. Because I think - at least, um, I hope - you’ll be seeing them a lot more from now on.”
From now on. Drew’s heart filled with warmth, knowing that she was also thinking of what a future together could hold.
“I think so too.”