Reuben Chapter 13
It had been ten days since the disaster of a lunch at my parents’ house.
Cristiana had bounced back fine. I kept a close eye on her for the first few days, until she threatened to hit me in the head with a skillet if I didn’t stop hovering.
During this entire week and a half, she kept urging me to speak to my family and not to remain angry with them.
She’d gone so far as to explain to me what she would do to allow me to see them without causing a disruption.
I’d blown up when she suggested I leave her behind any time I wanted to visit.
And if we had kids, I could take them to see my family without her.
I made it very clear that if they couldn’t accept her, I wasn’t treating her as if I was ashamed of her.
There was no goddamn way it would happen.
It was her offer, combined with the anger that had been building inside me, that led me to agree to meet with my family to talk things out now.
I wasn’t bringing Cristiana with me this one time because if they said anything hurtful or ugly to her, I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions. And she didn’t need the stress.
She was spending the afternoon at her apartment. She hadn’t been there in days and wanted to check it out, pack more clothes, and air it out. I was working to get her to give it up completely. It was ridiculous for her to pay rent when she wasn’t there ninety-nine percent of the time.
I agreed to go to my parents’ house for the meeting. I wasn’t sure which of my siblings or their spouses would be there. It was Papá’s call the night before last and Cristiana’s urging afterward that made me give in and say yes.
Pulling into the driveway, I saw there were several cars there. It looked like everyone was attending. Damn, if this were anything other than an open discussion, such as an intervention to convince me to give up Cristiana and my life, they wouldn’t like the result.
When I reached the front door, I didn’t walk in like I usually would. Instead, I rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. When the door was opened, Marcello gave me a puzzled look.
“Why’re you ringing the doorbell? You should’ve just come on in.”
His eyes scanned behind me, then came back to my face. “Where’s Cristiana?”
“At her place. As for why I rang, I felt walking in was inappropriate. Are we going to stand here all day, or can we get this meeting started? I have a lot to say,” I told him gruffly.
Marcello sighed but gestured for me to enter. As I passed by him, he closed the door. The hum of voices was audible from the family room. When the others saw me, the hum died away. Papá stood and came toward me.
“I’m glad you came. We need to clear this up. Where’s Cristiana?”
“He said she’s at her place,” Marcello stated.
“I hoped she’d come with you,” Papá said.
“It wasn’t a good idea. I don’t have a lot of time. I’ve got to work tonight. Mind if we get started? I expect you all have things you’d rather be doing,” I said as we joined the others.
“Make yourself at home,” Papá invited.
I chose to sit on the sectional’s armrest.
“Can I get you something to eat or drink, Reuben?” Mamá asked softly. I saw the pain in her eyes.
“No, thank you.”
When I said nothing more, the tension climbed. Everyone exchanged looks. No one seemed ready to say anything, so I took the lead.
“If you have something to say, any of you, let’s hear it,” I prompted.
“I’ll start. First, how is Cristiana doing? You said she’s at her place. Does that mean she’s fully recovered?” Papá asked.
“She’s fine,” I said, not bothering to say more.
“We hoped she would be with you. We wanted to apologize to her,” Francisco stated.
“I wouldn’t do that to her. No way will I allow her to be degraded and hurt. Last time, I walked into it. Never again.”
“Are you sure it was you who decided that, or did she refuse to come? Is she holding a grudge?” Tonio asked.
I narrowed my gaze on him. “Tonio, I suggest you speak very carefully about my woman. I decided. Cristiana wouldn’t inflict herself on people who dislike her. She’s not holding a grudge. It’s thanks to her that I’m here.”
“What does that mean?” Sofia asked.
“It means she’s been saying since that day in the ER that I shouldn’t hold a grudge and to forgive you for what you did. She even came up with a workaround to permit me to have a relationship with my family and be with her.”
“How?” Tonio asked.
“She will remain at home whenever I want to be with you. Holidays can be spent with you when we’re not spending them with her family, and she’ll stay home or go to her family when I’m here with you. When we have kids, I’ll bring them to visit. Again, she’ll stay out of sight.”
My outlining of Cristiana’s solution caused mumbles and muttered curses to erupt. I wasn’t sad about making them feel uncomfortable.
“Hijo, no one is banning Cristiana from being a part of this family. If she’s who you want, then we’ll accept her,” Papá stated.
I shook my head. “No, see, tolerating her while secretly talking behind our backs or subjecting her to snarky remarks thinly veiled as jokes or whatever, isn’t what I’ll allow my woman to endure.
I love her. She will be given every degree of respect and love that the rest of this family gets, or we won’t be part of it. ”
“You’re willing to abandon your entire family for this woman?” Tonio asked, incredulously.
“Damn right, I am. Disrespect of her is disrespect of me. You’ve been clear for years that you hate my job and my lifestyle.
However, you’ve never made me feel that if I didn’t give it up, I wasn’t a part of this family.
You made my woman feel like she was a dirty whore that I should be ashamed of and either hide or dump her.
She asked me if your remarks made me change my mind about her.
I have news for you, she’s been with very few men.
But even if she’d fucked thousands, it wouldn’t change how I feel about her.
I love her. She’ll be my wife. End of story. ”
“There’s no need to swear,” Javier muttered.
“There are no kids to hear me. I’ll say whatever the fuck I feel like. You know, this isn’t a good idea.” I stood.
Both my parents came to their feet. Mamá had tears in her eyes. She clung to Papá’s hand. “Please, don’t go,” Mamá begged.
“I need to. I’m sorry. I hoped it could be different.”
I took three steps before Tonio was between me and the door. I clenched my fist. The urge to deck him grew.
“Listen, no one invited you over here to fight. I’m sorry.
I was out of line the other day. I should’ve never said those things to Cristiana.
We were shocked. We thought your time at Lustz, both professionally and personally, would come to an end once you found someone to settle down with.
We never expected you to find a woman there who would want those things,” he rattled off.
“And that shows you how uneducated you are about my lifestyle. Many are married couples or in committed relationships with kids. Some aren’t male-female couples or even two people.
We are tolerant and allow others to live their lives as they choose.
As long as there’s always consent and nothing illegal about it, then do as you please.
Some come to play and don’t have a sexual relationship at all with their play partner.
Others do. I can guarantee you that over my dead body will I share her with anyone.
But if we were both in agreement, it would be okay. It would be our choice.”
I paused. They were shifting around as if trying to find a comfortable spot, and there were nervous glances exchanged. It wasn’t Papá or Tonio who spoke. It was Sofia.
“You’re right. We’ve never accepted your lifestyle or work.
For us, it seems too weird, so we’ve remained uninformed and unwilling to learn or try to see it from your perspective.
That was wrong of us. We pride ourselves on being non-prejudiced, whether someone is of a different race, sex, or religion from us.
However, we didn’t see our attitude about you and your life as doing exactly that. ”
When she stopped talking, Marcello spoke next.
“We pretended those aspects of you didn’t exist. If someone asked what you did for a living, we’d tell them you were in management, but never where.
If they asked if you had a girlfriend or were married, we’d tell them you were still waiting to find the perfect woman. ”
“We love you, and while we’re proud of the success you’ve had, we wouldn’t acknowledge how that success occurred. I will admit, your mamá and I prayed you’d grow out of it. We saw it as a phase, and once you were tired of it, you’d become like the rest of our children,” Papá confessed.
“A phase? If it is one, wouldn’t it be over after fifteen years?
I know what I like and need when it comes to my personal and sexual life.
If you’d ever allow me to explain what I do and what I am, you’d see that it’s not terrible.
It requires a depth of trust and commitment that most regular marriages and relationships lack.
Nothing is done without consent and lots of communication.
My life isn’t lived twenty-four seven in the kink lifestyle.
I don’t live anything from that part of the lifestyle twenty-four seven.
There’s nothing wrong with those who do, but it’s never been what I needed.
I despaired of ever having a wife and family.
I figured I’d remain alone or settle for only being partially happy. Cristiana is my miracle.
“Sure, we’ve only known each other for a short period, but we’re so in tune and agree on almost everything.
It feels like we’ve known each other for years.
I was able to overlook your disdain for my work and personal life when it was directed only at me, but I can’t do that now that I have Tiana.
I won’t change my life to suit you, nor will I give her up.
And I sure as hell won’t allow my family to make her feel dirty and unworthy.
I think that we should just keep our distance for now.
Perhaps in the future, after things calm down, we can discuss this further, but not yet.
I won’t lose her nor expose her to toxic behavior. ”
They’d played around the edges of saying they were sorry, but no one promised to change their attitude. No one asked to be educated on my lifestyle. They arbitrarily decided to condemn us and were saying some of the right things, but without action, it was meaningless.
“Please, don’t do this. We’re sorry. We’ll never say another word to you or Cristiana about it. She’s welcome in our home,” Mamá vowed.
“Mamá, it’s not enough. You tolerating us isn’t the same as truly accepting us. I love you. I just can’t be around this anymore. I truly believed you’d all come to accept me. I was wrong.”
Without another word, I hugged her, then Papá.
They tried to hold on to me, but I broke away.
Nodding at the others, while they all begged me not to leave and some shed tears, I walked away.
Was it harsh? Yes, but then so was their prejudice.
I would always love them, but it would likely remain from afar unless they made significant and lasting changes.
I walked out of the house, hearing their raised voices and Mamá's wails following me. It tore my insides up to do it. Getting into my car, I took off. Rather than head to Cristiana’s apartment to see what she was doing, I drove aimlessly.
I still had a few hours until I had to be at Lustz for the night.
I wanted to clear my head a bit before speaking to her about what had happened.