Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

‘I get nervous when a girl says she wants me to meet her parents. How is your
mum, anyway?’
‘The same.’
‘Your dad’s job? Any news?’
‘No. Next week, they’re telling him now. Anyway, they said did I want to
invite you to my birthday dinner on Friday? All very relaxed. Just family, really.
But it’s fine … I said you wouldn’t want to.’
‘Who says I wouldn’t want to?’
‘You hate strangers. You don’t like eating in front of people. And you don’t
like the sound of my boyfriend. It seems like a no-brainer to me.’
I had worked him out now. The best way to get Will to do anything was to tell
him you knew he wouldn’t want to. Some obstinate, contrary part of him still
couldn’t bear it.
Will chewed for a minute. ‘No. I’ll come to your birthday. It’ll give your
mother something to focus on, if nothing else.’
‘Really? Oh God, if I tell her she’ll start polishing and dusting this evening.’
‘Are you sure she’s your biological mother? Isn’t there supposed to be some
kind of genetic similarity there? Sandwich please, Clark. And more pickle on the
next bit.’
I had been only half joking. Mum went into a complete tailspin at the thought
of hosting a quadriplegic. Her hands flew to her face, and then she started
rearranging stuff on the dresser, as if he were going to arrive within minutes of
me telling her.
‘But what if he needs to go to the loo? We don’t have a downstairs bathroom.
I don’t think Daddy would be able to carry him upstairs. I could help … but I’d
feel a bit worried about where to put my hands. Would Patrick do it?’
‘You don’t need to worry about that side of things. Really.’
‘And what about his food? Will he need his pureed? Is there anything he can’t
eat?’
‘No, he just needs help picking it up.’
‘Who’s going to do that?’
‘I will. Relax, Mum. He’s nice. You’ll like him.’
And so it was arranged. Nathan would pick Will up and drive him over, and
would come by two hours later to take him home again and run through the