His family was hard on new couples, Christmas was not.
“You’re right.” I just grew up with it, so I didn’t always see how odd they were. “She likes you, though.”
I was pretty sure he needed that reminder and I knew I was right when he seemed to force himself to take a deep breath. “She does. She supports our relationship and she thinks we’re good together.”
Because our energies complemented each other…or something like that.
“We are.” Looking cute, I kissed his cheek. “And we’re going to be boring compared to them no matter what we do.”
Finally back to smiling, he nodded. “And then later after we’ve spent the afternoon being boring, we’re going to hide in your room and we’ll color or watch cartoons.”
Daddy had brought my toys in his suitcase and he said they were all safe but it was a surprise.
“Yes, big and boring…then we’ll have fun.” It was going to be fine.
And I kept telling myself and him all the way to the house.
The last mile somehow felt the longest, but we made it in one piece and were both in fairly good spirits as he pulled in thedriveway. “Remember, Daddy, our spirits are fine and we don’t need cleansing.”
“Right.” He chuckled as he finally parked the car beside my mother’s VW bus that she said would last forever. “We’re both feeling light and cleansed but maybe something for focus and clarity would set us up for next semester.”
Yes, I wasn’t allergic to those and they actually smelled nice.
“I might not be confident about everything, but I can bullshit my way through it.” Daddy slipped into his Levi the grad student look and suddenly he really did seem more confident.
“That’s kind of weird.” Cocking my head, I studied him. “What did you do?”
Laughing, he shrugged. “It’s how you stand…or sit in this case…and how you look…your expressions. My mother made me take a class about it a couple of years ago. It was framed as basically learning to look like a CEO before you were actually at that point, but it wasn’t complete bullshit.”
His mother was weird.
“Mine sent me to a psychic to make sure I had a clear picture of my future and to those manners classes where they show you all the fancy forks and stuff.” It’d been painful at the time because I was the definition of awkward when I was in high school, but he hadn’t been a bad idea. “My father made her realize we didn’t do that kind of stuff enough and he wanted me to be prepared just in case I did something horrible like go into finance and become the Wolf of Wallstreet.”
I was betting Levi wanted to roll his eyes again but he managed just a slightly dramatic sigh. “We need to monitor what your parents are watching on TV more.”
Agreed.
“They need a caretaker Dom too, so don’t be surprised if you end up exhausted by the end of the day.” Levi couldn’t seem to decide if that was funny or weird and he ended up looking slightly constipated as he tried to behave. “If you need a break, we’ll just go to bed early and make them think we’re having wild sex in my room.”
His groan filled the car as he flopped back in his seat. “You’re not even fucking with me…I mean, yeah…you’re fucking with me, but that’s what they’re going to think.”
Yep.
“It’s a sign of a healthy relationship and a strong commitment.” I knew that because I’d been told about it a lot over the years.
For some reason my slow take on how I thought that kind of stuff should go drove them insane and actually worried them.
“We can have a healthy relationship and a strong commitment without my dick going in your ass.” His grumbling response had me trying not to laugh or blush, but thankfully he didn’t seem to need my thoughts on that idea. “I’m your Daddy. That’s more important. Oh.”
Opening his eyes, he looked like a lightbulb had just gone off over his head but it was a serious expression that had me wanting to sigh and get all dramatic. “That’s why you don’t want us to talk about the more…dynamic part of our relationship. You said they already know about the little stuff. They’re going to start planning our fucking wedding the moment they realize I’m your Daddy.”
Bingo.
“Um, probably a handfasting ceremony, but yeah, that’s basically a wedding.” I was just hoping we could get through Christmas without that coming down on us. “I think they’d have been a bit more relaxed about the whole thing if I’d dated around more but wanting to be in a serious relationship before I submitted and did…that kind of stuff…kind of changed how they saw it.”
And his eyes went round and round again.
“If we end up married without my mother at least getting the chance to pretend she cares, she’ll kill us both.” Levi didn’t seem to realize how weird his family was either, but since mine were more dangerous at the moment I let it slide.
