“Good.” Marcy let out a sigh of relief and cast her a small smile, lightening the mood a little. “Then we can agree on that.” She ran a hand through Zoe’s hair and watched her shiver. “Look, I’m not asking you to move in with me; I know it’s too early for that. But there’s nothing wrong with taking decisions with a potential future in mind, right? Our future?”
“Our future…” Zoe drew the words out slowly as if she couldn’t quite grasp them.
“Yes.” Marcy hesitated. “You could stay with your parents for a while longer, see how you feel in a couple of months. And you can sleep here with me and the kids anytime you want.”
“The kids?” Zoe shot Marcy a playful look and shifted on the couch to face her.
“Come on, I know you love those little furballs as much as I do. You talk to them when you think I can’t hear you. The other day when I came out of the shower, I heard you call them Titty and Tiger.” Marcy grinned. “Titty? What’s that about?”
“I had to name them; how could I not? Titty is literally always suckling and Tiger’s the one with the pretty pattern on its back,” Zoe said in all seriousness.
Marcy threw her head back and laughed. “That’s cute. Rico actually asked me to come up with names for them. He gave me the honour since they were born here. So what do you think? Titty and Tiger?”
Zoe laughed along, her eyes sparkling with humour. “Really? Can we do that?”
“He said I could name them anything I wanted, as long as it’s not offensive. It’s not like they’re in a zoo; it’s only going on their chip records, and I think the name Titty is still within acceptable boundaries.”
“Me too.” Zoe smiled and brushed her lips against Marcy’s. “Want to go and stare at them for a while?”
“Mmm…” Marcy’s stomach did summersaults as she pulled Zoe onto her lap. “Sounds good, but only if you kiss me first.” She closed her eyes and sank into Zoe’s embrace, moaning softly at the touch of Zoe’s lips and her hands in her hair. She could feel something had changed between them. The caress of Zoe’s touch and the tenderness of her kiss was sweet and warm, as if it came from a deeper place. Marcy held her in return and gave into the precious moment. She knew then that Zoe was letting her in.
63
“You seem more nervous than me.” Marcy took Zoe’s hand and kissed it. “Don’t be. I’ll be nothing but charming, I promise.”
“It’s not you I’m worried about,” Zoe whispered. For the first time, her childhood home looked daunting. The windows with drawn curtains that kept the heat out resembled dark imposing eyes, and the front door looked like a gaping mouth, ready to swallow up anybody who stepped inside. She was about to introduce her girlfriend to her parents, and she felt sick with nerves. “It’s my mother. I don’t know how she’ll react when she actually sees me with a woman. I know she’s had three weeks to get used to the idea, but in the grand scheme of things, after spending a lifetime living in ignorant bliss, that doesn’t seem like much.”
“But they invited me, right?”
“Yes.” Zoe let out a long sigh and rolled her eyes. “God, look at me; I’m being pathetic.”
“You’re not pathetic, you’re sexy and gorgeous,” Marcy said. “I’m serious. You look amazing.”
Zoe managed a smile as she straightened her new white dress, suddenly wondering why she’d gone for that colour. Was it an attempt to make herself look demure and innocent, to make amends for bringing a woman home? The dress was too short to pass for innocent, but it certainly wasn’t something she’d normally wear. “Thank you. Just don’t call me sexy in front of Mum; she’s super prude and can’t handle stuff like that, especially not between two women.”
“I wasn’t going to.” Marcy grinned and pulled Zoe in for a hug as they reached the front door. “Is calling you butterfly girl okay?” she joked.
“If you must,” Zoe said with a chuckle. She wrapped her arms around Marcy but quickly jumped away when she heard the lock turn.God, I really need to calm down.
“Zoe.” Her mother opened the door and lingered in the opening as if she was still deciding whether to let them in or not. Her cheeks flushed as she looked Marcy up and down and Zoe recognised the awkward tremble in her voice. Her mother was just as nervous, if not more. “And you must be Marcy.” As she introduced herself to Marcy, her hand was shaking so violently that Zoe thought she might be having a panic attack. She stared at her, her eyes darting from Marcy’s short hair to her chino’s and her sensible shoes. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Marcy said, indeed with a charming smile. She was the only one keeping it together, Zoe thought, as they followed her mother up the stairs and into the living room where the tea was waiting. Ling had used her best China, which was a good sign as it meant that she wanted to impress Marcy.
“Hello, there. I’m Arturo.” Zoe held her breath as it was now her father’s turn to look Marcy up and down. Her parents had obviously speculated about what she’d look like as they didn’t know any gay people personally apart from their daughter. “Please, sit down. Would you like some tea? Or would you prefer coffee or a beer?”
“Tea would be lovely, thank you.” Marcy took a seat on the sofa next to Arturo and glanced around the living room as he poured her tea.
“I’ll have tea too, Dad.” Zoe followed Marcy’s gaze from the heavy dining table that was never used, to the frilly curtains, the old TV and the huge fan on the wall. She’d never really paid attention to their interior; it had been the same for as long as she remembered but today, she saw everything through fresh eyes, and it looked like a weird jumble of styles. Contemporary items from Ikea were mixed with traditional Spanish furniture that had been passed on from her Spanish grandparents, and ornate Chinese art hung on the walls, decorated in vibrant, clashing colours. It wasn’t the prettiest of spaces, but it was her home, and she wasn’t going to feel embarrassed about it.
“You have a lovely home,” Marcy said. “It’s interesting to see your Spanish and Chinese heritage come together.” She pointed to a picture above the mantel-piece and turned to Ling. “Is that you in that picture? It looks like you.”
Zoe saw her mother, who had been standing by the coffee table like a young waitress on her first shift, visibly relax, and she thanked her lucky stars that Marcy had asked the right question to get her talking instead of simply staring at her.
“Yes, those are my parents and that’s me when I was much, much younger. I can hardly believe you recognised me.”
“Well, you haven’t changed much, apart from the long hair,” Marcy replied, making Ling smile.
“Oh, well, I’m so much older now, but thank you.” Ling reached for her teacup and cleared her throat. “Do you like Chinese food? I’ve made a selection of dishes; I wasn’t sure what you liked.”
