“We’re very proud of you,” Firouz finally said. “We didn’t ever want you to feel like you had to take over the restaurant for us. But if it makes you happy, that’s all that matters.” He raised his glass. “My son, the restaurateur.”
His mom and siblings raised their glasses. David raised his, too, eyes sparkling.
“Thanks,” Farzan muttered.
Everyone went back to their food, spoons and forks clinking in the awkward silence, until Gina finally said, “Anyone catch the Chiefs game?”
That got Tomás talking, and Persis, too, who had strong opinions about the Chiefs’ new defensive line, whatever that meant.
Farzan breathed deeply and grabbed his fork. But before he could take another bite, David’s mouth was at his ear. The hairs on the back ofFarzan’s neck stood up at the warmth and proximity, the sweet vetiver of David’s cologne.
God, how could David do that to him with just a breath?
“I’m proud of you too,” he whispered.
“Hey. Can I talk to you for a moment?” Maheen asked as Farzan portioned the leftover rice into glass containers. Farzan had gotten them for Maheen and Tomás as a housewarming gift, in the hopes they’d use them instead of collecting leftover plastic containers the way their parents did.
Farzan had visceral memories of old Cool Whip containers stacked higher than Everest in the refrigerator when they were kids, their insides stained yellow from saffron and turmeric. How many microplastics had he eaten growing up?
Farzan popped a lid on. “Sure.”
“First off…” Maheen tucked a strand of curly hair behind her ear. “I wanted to say sorry. If I ever made you feel like shit, about your jobs or your boyfriends or anything. You’re my brother, and I love you, and I’ve always looked up to you.”
In the moment, it had felt right, saying what he said to his family. Bad enough they’d brought up his dating history, but diving into his job history too? That was rough. Yet now that he’d said his piece, he was tired of all the awkward apologies.
“And I wanted to ask you something in private. Well, me and Tomás wanted to ask you, but he’s keeping everyone occupied.”
Maheen rested her hands on her belly again.
Even if she made fun of him for his historically bad taste in men (though that had finally improved), there wasn’t a thing in the world he wouldn’t do for his sister.
“Okay?”
“Tomás’s family has a tradition.”
Farzan nodded. They were Catholic; they had lots of traditions. Maheen and Tomás had been married in the gold-domed Cathedralof the Immaculate Conception downtown. Farzan had never been to a proper Catholic wedding before, with all the sitting and standing and kneeling. It was a beautiful ceremony, though, and Maheen and Tomás had smiled so bright that day.
Maheen chewed on her lip. “Anyway, whenever a baby’s born, they always ask one of the uncles to be the godfather.”
Farzan nodded. “Makes sense.”
“Well, the two of us talked it over, and we’d like it to be you.”
Farzan’s brain ground to a halt.
“You don’t have to say yes,” Maheen said, when Farzan kept quiet. “And you don’t have to decide right now.”
“But doesn’t a godparent need to be Catholic?”
Farzan was about as far from it as one could be. The Alavi family had been more or less irreligious for as long as he could remember: His father had come from a Muslim family, while his mother had come from a Zoroastrian one. Neither had really practiced, though, and they’d let Farzan and his siblings find their own relationship with religion. Which in Farzan’s case had been “no thank you please.”
“Well, normally yes,” Maheen said. “But Tomás’s church is a little more progressive on that front. And it would mean a lot, to both of us, if you would accept. You’ve always taken care of me, and Navid too, and I know you’ll be an amazing uncle, but this makes things sort of…” Maheen’s voice trailed off to a whisper. “Official? If anything were to happen to us.”
Even though he was flat-footed, and a little buzzed, and still kind of annoyed at basically everyone in his family right now, his heart flooded over with warmth. With love for the tiny new Alavi growing in his sister’s womb.
With love for his sister and Tomás, too.
Tears prickled his eyes, streaking down his cheeks when he smiled.
