“I want to introduce you to my parents. If that’s okay with you.”
Louis hesitates. “If you tell me on the way how it went with your father?”
It’s not far, but on the ten-minute drive, I summarize the misunderstanding that caused us so much pain and end with the fact that my father is not homophobic, not even close in fact, and that he loves me. “He wants to run the company with me before I take over when he retires.”
“So, let me get this straight. If your half-sister hadn’t talked shit, we would’ve never had a problem?”
“Bitter, isn’t it?”
“Yep. But who knows, maybe it was for the best in the end, and we just don’t know it yet.” That’s typical of Louis. Even in the biggest pile of bullshit, he’s still looking for the golden pitchfork, and I admire him for that attitude. “Everything’s fine now.”
He says it more to himself than to me and squeezes my thigh with his left hand. Yes, it is, and I feel the need to pinch myself because it feels so unreal.
***
Okay, I thought I’d be cooler with bringing Louis home for thefirst time. My parents are both in on my plan for today and know I won’t be coming home alone if all goes well. It’s after 10 p.m. now, and I don’t even know if they’re still awake, but my hands are sweaty, and my face is tingling.
“Is it childish of me to be nervous? I always thought your father was this oversized asshole, and somehow my subconscious is still in panic mode.” Louis grabs my hand tightly. “Oh, shit, are we even allowed to do this?”
Laughing, I reach around his shoulder and pull him close to me. Really close. Louis wraps his arms around my waist holding me tight, and I lower my head because even if he stands on tiptoes, he can’t kiss me unless I bend down for him.
Damn, I’ve always loved to bend down for him. My thoughts are drifting toward R-rated territory when the door opens.
“David, for heaven’s sake, you gave me such a fright. I thought someone was trying to break in. Thank goodness we have a camera system. Hello, sweetheart, we’re so happy to meet you.” My mother extends a perfectly manicured hand to Louis, her makeup still flawless at 10:13 p.m., as is her perfectly waved, bleached hair. Her handshake is nothing to write home about, but she is friendly. Superficial as always, but at least she’s smiling. I’ll count that as a win.
“Good evening, Mrs....”
“Oh no, please, don’t be so formal, I’m not that old.” She is. Twenty years younger than my father, but still 53. “Please call me Susanne.”
“Okay, I’m Louis. Louis Delfosse. I’m happy to meet you too. Thank you for having me.”
“We’re happy to have you here. We don’t live under a rock—we can handle our son loving a man.” No, she can’t. She wished for a daughter-in-law whom she could havetransformed into a beauty doll with a budget of 10,000 euros a month. That was her actual plan for my sister, which didn’t work out. But as I said she’s friendly by her standards, and that’s fantastic.
“Your father is in his office. You can go through.” Louis looks at me a little confused, but I just squeeze his hand encouragingly. Everything will be fine. My father is strict but genuine, my mother is Teflon. I knock and open the door a crack. “Hi, Papa, can we come in for a second? I’d like to introduce you to someone.”
A smile lights up his face and softens his otherwise harsh features. Without hesitation, he walks over to us and shakes Louis’s hand firmly and decisively. “Nice to finally meet you, Louis. Considering that we should have known each other for eight years, we’ll skip the pleasantries. I’m Wolfgang.”
“Good evening. Happy to meet you, too.” I don’t usually see my boyfriend this reserved, but my father can be quite intimidating. I pull him into my arms and he follows immediately, leaning in and taking a deep breath.
“David, is your boyfriend staying overnight?”
“Yes, that was the plan. Why?” Does he have a problem with that? Louis’s body turns very rigid, in all the wrong places.
“Well, I thought we could have breakfast together tomorrow morning. Only if you don’t have other plans, of course.” It’s Sunday. The plan was to drive back to Karlsruhe as early as possible to be at the university by 8:00 a.m., but that’s probably not going to happen.
“We’d love to, Papa. We’re looking forward to it. Louis loves chocolate buns.”
I feel the bewildered gaze from the side, drilling deep into my temple, and I have to smile.
“And David drinks rooibos tea.” That’s my Louis. My father laughs. “We can manage that. Breakfast at 6:00 a.m., so you’ll be back in Karlsruhe in time for your first class.” Ha, I should have known he wouldn’t let us skip.
“Your father wasn’t even a third as bad as I imagined him to be.” Louis stands somewhat lost in my childhood bedroom.
“So this is where we would have been?” I nod. “It feels strange. As if something had been taken away from me, as if I had missed out on something.”
“Let’s just make the most of the time we have now.” I reach around him from behind, pull his back against my chest, and rest my chin on his shoulder. “I love you, Lou. I’ll never let you go again.”
Chapter 48
