These were his parents?
“Oh, my dear. I’m so glad to finally meet you properly.” Susan embraced Kira with a hug so motherly that it instantly brought tears to her eyes.
Joshua embraced his father, a rare smile on his face.
“Dinner’s ready. Why don’t you kids get comfortable, and we’ll put everything on the table?” Susan suggested as she stepped back.
Kids? Kira had to stifle a snort. Joshua insisted on helping his parents bring the food to the dining table, and Kira tagged along, not wanting to be the only idle one. When they sat down at the table, they began passing the food around, scooping up large portions of meatloaf, mashed garlic potatoes, sautéed green beans, sliced cucumber, carrot sticks, and sweet pickles. Mark poured them all generous glasses of grape juice.
All the while, Susan and Mark kept up a steady stream of conversation. Hearing how much they talked, Kira wondered how Joshua was so quiet all the time.
“Of course, that’s when we finally got Joshua,” Susan said matter-of-factly, after talking in awkward detail about their fertility struggles. “We just fell in love at once.”
She beamed at her son and squeezed his hand, but Joshua glared at his plate, as though his mother had said something wrong.
“I don’t think we need to dwell on that,” Joshua said. “It’s not interesting.”
“Nonsense.” Susan waved a hand. “I’m sure your wife wants to know all about you.”
Joshua shook his head and pulled his hand away. “I’m sure she doesn’t.”
Kira took a bite of meatloaf to hide her unease. She wasn’t sure why Joshua was reacting in that way. Maybe it was bringing up memories of… what? Having a childhood where he was loved? His reaction to his mother telling him about such an innocent thing was concerning.
“So, Kira, tell us a bit about yourself,” Mark prompted.
Uh-oh. She’d been so focused on the idea that they’d be spending the whole night obliquely stating she had no right to be married to their son that she hadn’t even considered this. She held up a finger and pointed at her chewing mouth, then chewed longer than she usually did to buy herself time to think.
“Well, I’m… not really that interesting,” she said after swallowing. Another thought occurred to her. She had been so wrapped up in her own turmoil at the wedding that she hadn’t noticed anyone in the crowd. But they would have been there. “I’m sure you’re wondering about that drama at the wedding. It was a misunderstanding on my part—”
“No, it wasn’t,” Joshua interrupted.
Kira tensed. She looked up at him, her hand tightening on her fork. What was he doing? They agreed that this was the story they were going for!”
Joshua glared at his plate as he reached over to place his hand lightly over hers. “They’re my parents.”
But I didn’t tell Gwen the truth; she wanted to protest, but swallowed it down. Did Joshua think she had told Gwen everything?
“The Council decided we were getting married because of the demon threat,” Joshua said gruffly to his plate. “And they didn’t give us much warning, either. We’d only been told the day before the wedding. They arranged everything. My guess is that we couldn’t figure out a way to argue our way out of it. So that’s what happened.”
His shoulders rounded as he spoke, his voice growing lower. Surprise rippled through Kira as she watched him. This wasn’t the behavior of the arrogant asshole she knew. He seemed anxious, almost. Afraid of how they’d react.
“I see,” Mark said. “And you agree with their reasoning?”
Joshua hesitated, then nodded once. But he didn’t. The council’s reasons were that they wanted more super-babies. Or were there other reasons the Elders didn’t tell Kira? It would be just like them.”
Susan refilled everyone’s glasses. “That does put things in perspective. I’m sorry that the council behaved that way. I suppose, though, it’s your choice how your relationship develops from here.”
“Thank you,” Kira murmured. Some of the heaviness that had weighed on her since the wedding lessened. It was a relief to have someone else know the truth and not tell her how she should feel or react.
That’s why I can’t tell Gwen, she realized. Gwen would be on her side, but that didn’t mean she’d actually listen towhat Kira had to say about her situation. Kira pushed her beans around on the plate, wondering just how far she could go if she did try to express how trapped and angry this made her feel. Susan and Mark might be oddly welcoming, but they were still Joshua’s parents. They’d take his side over hers any day of the week.
“I suppose that does make things awkward when planning for the future,” Susan said.
“It does,” Kira agreed. She shot a look at Joshua, finding him still staring at his food. His hand lingered on hers, and she turned it, pressing their palms together. It felt safer to talk about this here, with Susan and Mark, than when they were alone. “I’ve always wanted to have a happy family life. I want kids. I always thought two or three. But it’s… complicated now.”
Joshua’s hand tightened over hers, then he withdrew. The coolness of the room rushed to take the place of his warmth, and Kira wished he’d reach out to her again. She was seeing a different side to him here, with his parents.
It wasn’t what Joshua wanted. He didn’t want kids of his own. Yeah, he’d given her other options, but did it mean that she’d end up as a married single mother? If he didn’t want children, would her children see him as their father, only for him to be a grumpy asshole toward them? It hurt her heart to think about the pain and confusion that would put children through. He was great with Lianne, but it also wasn’t constant.
