Embracing a new life

A/N: Thank you, Elken, for your reviews!

Chapter 19: Dinner



River was rudely woken by the ringing of his mobile – right next to his ear. He flinched away, frowned, and opened his eyes to see why the sound had been so close. Andreji held the device out to him, the annoyance written over his face giving River a clue as to how long it was ringing already. He took it. “Hm?”



“Hey, where are you?” asked Eriko’s voice. “Driving through the night to sit in front of the delivery room, and when the baby’s finally there, you disappear…!”



River took a peek at the display – it was four a.m. His mind worked fast. “Sorry. We slept for a couple of hours, and then Andreji proposed to use the opportunity and spend the afternoon in town. I just wanted to jump into the bathroom to take a quick shower, and then I’m all yours.”



Eriko snickered. “I’ll take you at your word.”







River spent two hours with Eriko, her daughter, and the rest of the family, then his mobile vibrated with a text message. He read it and walked to the window, whose drapes he pushed aside to look out onto the front parking lot. Andreji looked up to him. River held up his open hand, indicating that he was coming down in about five minutes.



His aunt stepped silently beside him. ‘Is that your boyfriend?’ she asked quietly in a curious tone.



River’s eyes widened as he turned around to look at her.



She smiled. ‘After years of Eriko telling us about you sharing a flat with another man, moving around with him to France and to Scotland, your uncle and I had to start wondering, had we not? You have never brought a girl home, after all…’



Her nephew was struck speechless. He had always thought that his aunt and uncle were too conservative, too old-fashioned to be confronted with his homosexuality. Now his aunt looked at him as if it was the most natural thing in the world.



‘Why don’t you invite him along for dinner? We haven’t talked properly in such a long time; let’s go out tonight. What do you think?’



River was so dumbfound that he did not object and went down to Andreji. Only when the cool evening air hit his face and his eyes fixed on the dark shape of his lover a few yards away did he grow aware of his predicament. He jogged over to the waiting man. ‘Erm,’ he started awkwardly, ‘my aunt and uncle ask us to go out for dinner with ‘em.’



Andreji raised an eyebrow in question.



River shrugged uncomfortably. ‘Seems they are aware of our relationship.’



Silence fell between them. River was torn between his devotion to his family and the complications his new life brought with it. Andreji had put his hands to his hips.



‘Fine. Let us have dinner then.’



River looked up at him with huge eyes. ‘You do know that dinner means eating?’



Andreji put up his charming smirk whose dimples always glued River’s gaze magically to his face. ‘Yes, I figured as much.’



‘So…? How’s this supposed to work?’



Andreji started walking toward the hospital entrance, gently pulling River softly along, fully aware that they were watched from Eriko’s window above. ‘Eat only dry things. No drinks. Keep it tight; visit the bathroom to get rid of everything as soon as possible.’



‘So we pull off an act?’



A nod.



Still, River was surprised that his lover was willing to go through with this. He hated talking about personal affairs, didn’t he? Why this readiness to endure hours of potential questioning from River’s relatives? Well, he wasn’t going to ask him. No reason to wake sleeping dogs and risk a change of mind.



The official introduction was an uncomfortable experience for River, but perhaps he was imagining things. His aunt was personified sweetness, far more than he was used to, but his uncle was suspiciously monosyllabic.



The whole dinner continued in that fashion. To keep things simple, River just ordered what Andreji was having. Despite his previous instructions, a glass of wine was part of the dish – but neither of them actually swallowed a single sip, even though they pretended to drink.



River’s aunt soon attempted to draw his lover into lively conversation and found in him – to his great relief – a responsive partner for this venture. The young man truly marvelled at his lover’s presumed ability to switch his good humour on at will. He knew how to string someone along if he put his mind to it. Even River’s uncle dove out of his reserve when the conversation turned to the art of sword making and Andreji showed a deep knowledge of the Japanese art of sword making.



When his relatives asked about River’s life, however, they vainly hoped for some in depth information. He was too strung up to get out sentences that held more than five words. Man, was he grateful when Andreji provided an additional detail or two every once in a while.



Not five minutes after he had put the cutlery down stood Andreji up and excused himself. After exchanging another word or two with his relatives, River chose to follow him. Since the restaurant was small, there were only two toilet cubicles. He slipped into the free one. Retching and coughing came from the one next to it. With a sigh, River opened the toilet lid and bent over to do likewise.



A short while later, he heard the flush of the toilet and the sound of the door being unlocked. After finishing his own retching, he followed Andreji outside. His lover stood with his long, lean form bent over the sink, rinsing his mouth. He swallowed some water and went back into the cubicle.



‘What are you doing?’



‘Making sure there are no leftovers.’



River sighed. And followed his example.



When they had cleaned up for a second time, River pulled Andreji into a hug. He rose onto his tiptoes and whispered a ‘Thank you’ into his ear.



Andreji brushed a strand of his hair behind River’s ear as he so often did. ‘Just loosen up a bit. There is no need for you to be so uptight. You only make it harder for them by being so anxious. This is the opportunity they present you with to prove that you are happy, that I am right for you.’ He winked and went back outside.



The rest of the diner passed uneventfully. River managed to relax a little more and join in the table talk and after half an hour, they accompanied his aunt and uncle home.



‘Where are you two staying? Do you want to use our guest room?’ the stout Japanese woman proposed.



River shook his head. ‘We’re housed at a friend’s of Andreji.’



She smiled and pulled him into a hug. ‘Take good care of yourself. He seems a fine man,’ murmured she into his ear.



River smiled self-consciously back at her.



The farewell-saying with his uncle was less warm. River felt that, despite his endeavours, his uncle could not get comfortable with the idea of the nephew that he had treated almost like a son dating males. There was a small drift between them, now. Somehow, it did not bother River as much as he had feared it would. He had a new home, now. At Andreji’s side.







‘I do feel kind of queasy,’ River admitted as they sat in the tube.



‘Emily will feed us. That will lessen the impact the remains of the food have on our bodies.’