Episode 13: Holidays at the Pool House — 5,000 Core English Words

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Chapter thirteen. Meeting the parents.

Summer has arrived, and a long holiday weekend is coming. Every year, Ryan's town has a parade, a fair, and fireworks, and every year his whole family gets together. This year, he wants Emma to be there.

Listen to how he invites her, how she meets his mother and father for the first time, and how a guest and a host are polite to each other.

Ryan: Can I talk to you about the holiday weekend?

Emma: Sure. Do you have to work?

Ryan: No. I'm going to my parents' house, like every year. And I'd like you to come with me.

Emma: To meet your parents? All of them? At once?

Ryan: My mom, my dad, my brother Jack, his wife, their little boy, an uncle, and presumably a few other people who just walk in. It's an ordinary family. A bit loud.

Emma: I'm not afraid of loud. I'm afraid they won't like me.

Ryan: That's a false fear. My mother has been desperately waiting to meet you. She asks about you constantly.

Emma: Where would I sleep? I don't want to occupy somebody's bedroom.

Ryan: There's a pool house in the garden. It's a small building with a bed, a bathroom, and its own door. It's fully equipped. Soap, towels, a coffee machine. You can escape there if the family is too much.

Emma: A pool house. Your parents have a pool?

Ryan: A small circular one. My dad built it himself after his retirement. It's artificially heated, and it was very costly, and nobody is allowed to say so.

Emma: Then I won't. Okay. Yes. I'd love to come. What should I bring?

Ryan: Just yourself. And maybe something for dessert. My mother pretends that she doesn't like presents, and then she talks about them forever.

On Saturday afternoon, they park in front of an old white house. Before Ryan can ring the bell, the door opens.

Mom: There you are! Come in, come in. You must be Emma.

Emma: Hello, Mrs. Johnson. It's so nice to finally meet you. Thank you for having me.

Mom: Call me Helen, please. We've heard so much about you. Welcome. Did you have a good drive?

Emma: We did, thank you. It was quick. Ryan is a careful driver. These are for you. They're lemon cakes, from a cafe we like.

Mom: Oh, you shouldn't have. How lovely. Frank! Come and say hello! They're here!

Dad: I'm coming, I'm coming. So this is the lady. Hello, Emma. I'm Frank, Ryan's father. It's a pleasure.

Emma: It's a pleasure to meet you too, Frank.

Dad: Ryan, you didn't tell us she was so tall. And you're wearing my old trousers. I can see where you ripped them.

Ryan: Hi, Dad. They're mine. You gave them to me ten years ago.

Mom: Don't just stand in the hall. Emma, please make yourself at home. Can I get you anything? Something cold to drink? Are you tired?

Emma: A glass of water would be wonderful. And can I help with anything in the kitchen?

Mom: Not a thing. I can manage it myself. You're our guest. Sit down, and let Frank entertain you. He deserves an audience.

Dad: So, Emma. Ryan says you're a teacher. And an actress.

Emma: That's right. I teach art, and I act in a small theater. What did you do before you retired, Frank?

Dad: I worked for the government for thirty years, in the statistical office. Before that, a company that manufactured telephones. Not very romantic.

Emma: It sounds important.

Dad: It was numbers, upon numbers. But I was unable to stop when I got home. Ask my wife. I still count the people in a crowd.

Mom: He does. At the parade, he counts the participants. Last year there were three hundred and twelve.

Emma: Is the parade tomorrow?

Mom: Tomorrow morning, and then the fair, and the fireworks afterwards. It's been the same sequence since I was a youngster. The whole town participates. The former mayor walks in front, from the historical town hall, which is the venue for the fair, and the sporting clubs follow, in honor of the old runners.

Ryan: It was nearly postponed once, wasn't it? Because of a storm?

Dad: A sudden one. Six years ago. We watched it on the news channel. That same week there was a tragic tsunami on the other side of the world, so nobody here complained about rain.

Emma: Do you have a big family, Helen?

Mom: I'm a twin, believe it or not. My sister lives in Canada. We talk on the telephone every single day. Frank has three siblings. It's a large household when everyone comes.

Emma: Are you all on good terms?

Mom: Mostly. There is an ongoing argument about who has the worst potato salad. And nobody talks about how people vote. We avoid it. It puts a strain on dinner.

Dad: That's my explanation for a long marriage. Avoid two subjects, and maintain a pool.

Ryan: Dad associates everything with the pool.

Mom: Emma, would you like to see some photographs? I have an album of Ryan as a little boy.

Ryan: Mom, please. Not the album.

Mom: Look at this photo. He was six. He wanted to be a guard at the palace, so he stood by the front door for a whole afternoon. He wouldn't move.

Emma: This is the best thing I have ever seen. Can I have a copy?

Mom: You can have ten. And here he is with Jack. People thought they were similar, but Ryan was the quiet one, and Jack was the speaker.

Emma: They look like a little brotherhood.

Mom: They were. Ryan was jealous when Jack got a bicycle first. It was an unusual week. Oh, and this is the dog we decided to adopt, when the boys' grandparents moved away. Poor old thing.

Dad: Helen, lower your voice. The boy is turning red.

Mom: I waited a long time for this, Frank. I anticipated it for years. Emma, I hope you'll come again. Next time you can babysit our grandson with me, and I'll give you the instructions for my spicy chicken. It's known worldwide. Well, in this street.

Emma: I'd love that. Both things. And subsequently, I'll make you my aunt's apple cake. It's only fair.

Mom: I like her, Ryan. I like her very much. Get her bag and show her the pool house. Dinner is in an immediate hurry, so don't be long.

That is the end of chapter thirteen. Emma met Helen and Frank, saw every photograph, and was welcomed like a member of the family.

Keep these with you: "It's so nice to finally meet you." "Thank you for having me." "Make yourself at home." "Can I help with anything?"

In the next chapter, life is not so easy. Ryan forgets something important, and they have their first real argument.

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