keep it like a secret

on sunday morning i went to church.  with my girlfriend studying abroad for the semester and her sister out of town for the weekend, i was attending service alone with just her parents.  just the three of us.  no big deal.

after the service ended, her parents invited me out to lunch.  i understand that for many young men this might be a bit awkward or intimidating, but for me it's really not too bad.  i'm at the point where i know both of her parents fairly well and they know me as well.  they know i'm a good guy with a smart head on my shoulders and that i'm relatively harmless.  

when we got to lunch, there was about a 30 minute wait to be seated.  shortly after waiting for a half-hour, our table was ready and we were seated.  at the exact moment that we got our table, my girlfriend's mother noticed that our pastor from church had just walked through the door with his family.  apparently they had the same idea of where to go for lunch as well.

my girlfriend's father and the pastor at church are pretty good pals.  they have developed a rapport that is really unmatched by many people i know.  after the pastor and his family waited for about a half-hour to be seated, as all luck should have it, his family was placed at the table right next to ours.  

upon walking past our table and realizing it was my girlfriend's family, the pastor's face instantly lit up as he stopped at our table, shook my girlfriend's parents' hands, and joked with the family.  after looking my way, he had a bit of a puzzled look on his face, and asked, "now who are you?"

before i could even get a word out, my girlfriend's father answered,

"this is my future son-in-law."

i think there was a subtle hint somewhere in there...but i'm not quite sure if i got it.

i left that lunch somewhat intimidated, pondering the future, and with a french fry lodged somewhere in my left lung.