In the living room, it was all Ty could do to stay calm, rather than shouting "Yes!" He put his phone back in his pocket, and asked Lisa, "Assuming that your parents approve, would you like to stay herenwith me overnight?"
"Yes, that would be wonderful!" Lisa said. "Arebyou sure that your parents will be OK with it?"
"Although I wasn't 100% sure that you'd want to stay, I asked them, and they said yes, as long as your parents also approve. My parents would like to have a talk with us about it."
"I'll have to check with them, and they might want to talk to your parents," Lisa said.
Ty suggested, "Why don't you go up to my room, and give them a call. I'll wait here, if you prefer."
Lisa kissed him, and said, "I'll do that, thanks. If you don't mind waiting, that might be best."
"Yes, that's fine. Go on ahead."
Lisa headed upstairs.
Ty walked intomthe kitchen, where June was still working on the meal, and Mark was getting out silverware. "And" asked Mark.
"Lisa would like to stay over," Ty said. "She's gone up to my room to call her parents. She thinks they will likely want to talk to you."
"Good," said June, "as we would like to talk to them as well. We trust both of you, but want to be absolutely sure that we're all in agreement."
Ty went back to the living room. After a few minutes, Lisa came down. "They are OK with my staying," she told Ty,. "They will call your parents momentarily."
Sure enough, at that moment the phone rang. Ty picked it up, and said, "Hello."
He heard Maria, Lisa's mother, reply, "Hello, Ty. May I please speak to one of your parents?"
"Certainly, Maria," he said. "I'll go get them. Please hold for a moment." He setnthe receiver down, and went into the kitchen. " aria would like to speak to either of you," he told his parents.
"I'll talk to her," June replied, and walked into the living room to pick up the phone. Ty followed, and motioned Lisa, to follow him up to his bedroom, to give June privacy. He closed the bedroom door behind them.
June answered, "Hello, Maria, this is June."
"Hi, June," Maria said, "It's nice to speak to you again. I'm just calling to confirm that you and Mark don't mind our daughter staying at your house overnight."
"That is fine with Mark and me, as long as it is OK with you and Diego," June replied.
"Yes," Maria answered. "It's fine with us. We trust Lisa, and we also trust you, Mark, and of course Ty. Also, Ty is welcome to stay overnight here, when Lisa invites him."
"Great," said June. "We really appreciate your calling to confirm. Also, Ty told us that you've invited us for dinner on Friday. We will gladly accept. We're still working out when we can invite you to our house for dinner."
Maria said, "We'd be delighted to visit you, but don't feel pressured. There's no hurry."
"Oh, we'll try to do it soon. Is there anything else we need to discuss?"
"I think that's everything," Maria answered. "Bye!"
"Bye," June replied, and hung up the phone. She went into the kitchen to let Mark know. Then she went upstairs, and knocked on Ty's bedroom door.
"Just a minute," Ty said, and then realized that he still had the one-way soundproofing on the room. He opened the door.
"Good news!" said June. "Mark and I are in agreement with Maria and Diego. Lisa is welcome to stay over. Also, they said that Ty is welcome to stay overnight at their house, when Lisa invites him."
"Thank you, June!" said Lisa. She stood and hugged June.
Ty also said "Thank you!" The three of them went back downstairs.
Mark had set the dining room table, and June quickly finished preparing the meal. She and Mark brought the food to the table. June called, "Dinner is served!"
Lisa and Ty came to the dining room, and Ty pulled out Lisa's chair for her. "Such a gentleman," June commented,, smiling. She said to Lisa, "Tonight we have a tuna casserole, Caesar salad, and mixed vegetables. I hope that is to your liking. You should please let me know what foods you like and dislike, to help me plan future meals."
"This is fine, thank you," Lisa replied. "I'm not a picky eater. I like almost everything, except Brussel sprouts, liver, and anchovies. Oh, and not super-spicy peppers."
They started eating. June spoke a bit more about the Grisham novel, and Mark mentioned an amusing incident from the gym. Mark asked Lisa about how school was going, and she explained a little about the geography report she'd written that afternoon, of course not mentioning _how_ she had done it. "Ty helped me with it," she said, winking at Ty, who blushed.
After they finished eating, Mark said, "June and I want to talk just a bit, about your new privileges. We'll have the same talk with Dustin later."
June said, "Lisa is welcome to stay over any time Ty invites her over, as long as we're asked in advance. This privilege is contingent on _both_ of you continuing to do well in school, Ty continuing to do his chores, and both of you exhibiting your usual good behavior. And, of course, on Lisa having her parents permission. Are you OK with that?"
Both Ty and Lisa said "Yes." Lisa continued, "That seems quite reasonable," and Ty nodded assent.
Mark asked, "Do you have any questions?"
"No," said Lisa, and Ty echoed that.
"Great!" said Mark. "You can go ahead with your plans if you like, or you're welcome to wait for June and I to clean up, then play a board game with us, or we can watch TV or a movie."
Lisa looked at Ty. "I think playing a board game sounds nice, if it suits you."
"Sure," said Ty. "I'll help clear the table."
"No," both June and Mark said. "Stay with Lisa while we take care of it."
Ty and Lisa went back to the living room. "Your parents are awfully nice," Lisa whispered.
"Yes, and it seems genuine now, rather than just fear," Ty whispered back. "We're all being much nicer to each other, and I think we're all happier. And I have you to thank for that, for dissuading me from taking the easy path of wiping their memories."
"I must say," replied Lisa, "this seems to have worked out much better than I'd imagined. I mostly wanted younto avoid the memory wipe on ethical grounds, and thought that maybe it could result in a small improvement in your relationship with your family."
They chatted for a few minutes, then June said, "We're ready to play." Lisa and Ty went back to the dining room and sat. There were half a dozen board game boxes on the table.
Mark asked Lisa, "Have you played any of these? You can choose your favorite, or we'll be happy to teach you to play any of them."
"I see you have 'Settlers of Catan'," she said. I haven't played, but friends at school really like it. If you don't mind playing with a newbie..."
"That's fine, we'd be delighted to teach you. It's not very difficult," June said. She started setting up the game while Mark set the other games aside to clear table space.
Mark started explaining the rules. Ty listened closely to the rules, because he had only rarely been invited to play in the past. Mark suggested that as their guest and a new player, Lisa should go first. June and Ty nodded.
"But I don't really know how to choose a good position for my settlement," Lisa lamented.
"Not to worry," said June. Since thus is yor first game, we'll talk you through it." Lisa looked relieved as June started explaining which board intersections were good moves, and why. As the game progressed, Lisa quickly got the hang of it, and soon was making shrewd plays and trades. When June reached ten victory points, winning the game, Lisa was in second place. "Care to play another game?"
"Sure!" said Lisa, and helped with setting up a new board. She won the second game. Everyone was smiling, having enjoyed the game.
"Would you like to play one more?" asked Mark, "or would you rather do something else? I was thinking about watching an romantic comedy."
She looked at Ty, who shrugged. "Sure lets watch the movie. I like romcoms."
Ty was not a huge fan of romcoms, but then, he'd never before had an opportunity to watch one with a girlfriend. Maybe that will make it more enjoyable, he thought. They repaired to the living room. Mark sat in his recliner, June in another chair, and Lisa and Ty on the sofa. Ty putnhis arm around her again, as Mark turned on the TV and started streaming the movie.
A few minutes into the movie, Ty cupped one of Lisa's breasts in his hand, and squeezed gently. She smacked him gently, and mouthed "Later" to him. She wasn't sure thatnhe read, or even saw, her lips, butnhe withdrew the hand.
It wasn't a very long movie, but all four of them enjoyed it. "It's late, and I'm getting tired. I think I will retire," said Mark, "You're welcome to watch another movie if you like."
June said, "I think I'll hit the sack as well."
Ty stood, and hugged Mark, and then June. "Thank's again!" he said. "It's been a great evening. Lisa can de ide what she and I will do next."
Lisa stood and shaked Mark's hand, then hugged June. "I agree with Ty, this has been wonderful. Thank you very much. I'm a bit tired, so I think we'll turn in also."
"You're both very welcome," June said, and Mark nodded. Mark turned off the TV and set down the remote, then all four headed upstairs, Ty turning off lights as he went.