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"Are you sure your dad will like this?" Paul raised a bottle of J.P. Wiser’s 18-year-old blended Canadian whisky from its fancy case. He was anxious and wanted his first visit to Amy's family to turn out okay.
Amy smiled, grabbed the whisky and placed it back in the case. "You worry too much!" She said before cupping his face to stare into his eyes. "Everyone will love you. Come on, let's go."
Stepping into Amy's family house, Paul was greeted by Mrs. Sally Jenkins, Amy's mother, who bore a striking resemblance to her daughter. She emerged from the kitchen and embraced Paul warmly. He leaned into her, buried his face in her chestnut curls, taking in the scent of butter and vanilla. The familiar aroma brought back memories of his own mother, who had passed away.
Then he looked up and froze. Right behind Sally was a tall, burly man in a maroon polo t-shirt and faded blue jeans. His hair was grey at the temple and he had Amy's eyes. He must be Amy's dad and looked as large as a bear!
He folded his muscled hands across his chest and arched an eyebrow at Paul.
"Welcome to our home, Paul," Sally said and pecked him on the cheek. Still, he couldn't take his eyes off the big papa bear. "Don't be weird, Hank," Amy's mother reproached her husband before strolling back into the kitchen.
"Am I being weird?" Hank Jenkins asked, his eyebrow still arched.
Paul cleared his throat, extended his hand, and greeted Mr Jenkins with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you at last, sir," he said, trying to hide his nerves.
Amy stood by her man and chuckled at her dad's expression. "You really are weird!"
In a blink, Hank Jenkins' stern expression changed into the nicest smile Paul had ever since. Hank slapped Paul's hand away and pulled him into a suffocating bear hug. "A handshake is no way to greet the man who stole my little girl's heart," he said.
"Aw, Dad," Amy said, her voice filled with emotion.
The family dinner turned out better than Paul had hoped. He realised that sometimes the things we fear don't always come true.
I hope you enjoyed reading this short piece. This freewrite is inspired by the prompt "papa bear". Join the Freewriters community to receive daily prompts, hosted by @mariannewest.