It's Saturday morning. As of now, everything in my life is ok. I picked out a lovely necklace for Vanessa with some earrings to match. We won't be eating out for a couple of months with how much those babies cost me. They're wrapped in paper with balloons and birthday cakes printed on it. Cheesy, but cool.
Of course, I try to hope for the best today, but Vanessa's family can be a bit chaotic. I told you her family doesn't like me. That was a lie. Really, her father doesn't like me. Vanessa's mother, Janice, is always asking me about the button factory. She finds it interesting. But, once I start talking about it, her father gets annoyed. He was a soldier in the U.S. Army. He's always going on and on about how his daughter should have married a soldier and not a "wimp who works at a button factory". He's such a pain. But, today is Vanessa's day, and I'm not going to ruin it for her.

------fast forward to when Vanessa's family arrives------

Vanessa has just finished setting the table when I hear the doorbell ring. She and I go to the door and open it.
"Mom, Dad!" Vanessa says enthusiastically. "It's so great to see you!" She says as she gives them both big hugs. Janice comes over and pinches my cheeks. Told ya she likes me.
"Oh, Joe darling," she says "How are you, dear?"
"I'm good, thank you, Janice," I reply back. I put my hand out to shake Vanessa's dad, Greg's, hand. He just walks past me and goes to the TV.
Just when I think it's all over and we can get to the food, the door swings open. It's Kelly, Travis, and Allison.
"Helloooooo, family!" says Kelly. Yeah, she's not exactly sane. She found a really rich boy on Tinder and has been dating him for about a year now. She gets pampered like a little princess. Ever since, she acts like the center of attention. Sometimes it's hard to look at her with all the make up she wears.
"Hi, guys," Travis says. Travis is the man. He's calm, cool, and nice. And so is Allison. Sometimes I seriously question whether all these people are from the same family or not.
After everyone gives hugs and kisses, we sit down and eat. Vanessa did a fabulous job cooking everything. I kind of feel bad because it's her birthday and I should have been putting everything together, but then I remember that I can barely make a bowl of cereal.
Surprisingly, dinner went really well for a while. Greg didn't even make any nasty comments about the button factory. He just kind of stared me down the whole time as if he was feeling the urge to throw his steak knife across the table at me.
Once we all finished our dinner, we sat on the couch and watched Vanessa open her presents. She loved the necklace and earrings. I was very pleased with that considering I bought them last night and had no idea what she wanted. She got a couple of other gifts that were ok. But Kelly's was the one that really stood out.
"Kelly!" Shouted Vanessa "You shouldn't have!"
But I was so glad she did. It was 2 tickets for a cruise in the Bahamas with a check for $5000. I really wanted to say "JEEZ! HOW RICH IS YOUR BOYFRIEND?" But I have self control.
After Vanessa opened her presents, everyone left. The whole time they were there, Greg never spoke one word. It was just a bunch of evil glares towards me. 😁

***comment on what should happen next for Joe!***