Chapter Eleven
Benji
What the actual hell was going on?
Benji was living in an alternate universe where his current lover was pretending to be his fake boyfriend. Bless Gil for jumping right in and saving his ass, but he couldn’t have him answer to the name Ari all night.
Could he?
“Why don’t you sit and we”—he motioned between himself and Gil—“will put these down and get set up.”
“Oh, I don’t mind helping,” his mother said. “I’m so happy to finally meet Ari. I just want to know everything about him. You’re from New York, originally? How did you end up here?”
Gil unwrapped the pastries and began to heat up the oven. “Oh, I wanted to live a quieter life, away from the rat race. I had the money to do what I love.”
“And of all the places for two Jewish men to end up—in the middle of Amish country, Pennsylvania. It’s so nice you found each other.”
Benji rushed in before Gil corrected her. “These look delicious. What are they?”
Spatula in hand, Gil pointed to one platter. “My mother makes these every Hanukkah. These are bimuelos—fried dough balls with an orange honey glaze. Then there are cassola—sweet ricotta cheese pancakes and my sister in law’s family recipe for zvingoi. Honey-filled fritters. They’re all traditional Sephardic Hanukkah treats, except for the zvingoi. She’s Romaniote Jewish—the most ancient Jewish civilization still in existence. Her family still lives in Greece—one of the very few to survive the Holocaust. Of the almost two thousand Jews rounded up by the Nazis, less than two hundred returned.”
Dumbfounded, Benji listened to Gil explain how his family celebrated Hanukkah. While they’d never discussed religion, Benji had assumed—incorrectly, it appeared—that Gil wasn’t Jewish.
“So you’re Sephardic? Where is your family from?” his father asked when they sat down in the living room.
“Sephardic and Mizrahi. My mother’s family name was Rebibo. They’re from Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen, where of course they were all expelled over the centuries and ended up in Israel. My father’s side was Portuguese and Spanish. Probably left around the Inquisition. Some moved to South America and some went to Israel. Eventually both sides emigrated to the United States and settled in Brooklyn. There’s a large Sephardic community there. My parents met at the Brooklyn College library and began dating. They married during my father’s third year in dental school, and still live in that community.”
“That’s fascinating. Benji, why didn’t you ever tell us? You know how much we love to learn about our history.”
Bright white teeth flashed in Gil’s face, and his eyes twinkled. “Yeah, Benji. Why didn’t you ever tell your parents?”
Oh, he was going to smack Gil when he got the chance. The man was enjoying his discomfort way too much. “I don’t know. I guess it never came up in conversation.”
“Well, I’m really glad to have met you, Mr. and Mrs. Roth.”
“Please, that’s so formal. I’m Shari, and this is Mike, and we’re glad you and Benji seemed to have resolved your problems. You’ve invested a year in each other. It’s not easy to walk away from.”
“It’s not. And sometimes you know it’s right after only a few weeks.” Their eyes met, and Benji’s heart started to pound. Was Gil trying to tell him something? He believed he had reason to be a little annoyed and upset that Gil hadn’t mentioned anything to him about spending the holidays apart. While he respected Gil’s grief, and was careful not to push too fast, his feelings counted as well.
He decided to take the easy way out and sniffed the air. “I think the pastries are done.”
Gil jumped up from his seat. “I’ll bring them over.”
“And I’ll make the coffee.” This way, he’d have a little alone time with Gil. They walked to the kitchen and Benji could feel his parents’ eyes on him, so he refrained from speaking until they were out of sight. Gil slipped on potholders, opened the door, and pulled out the cookie sheets.
“Perfect.”
Benji filled up the espresso machine and pushed the button, grateful the noise would drown out his voice. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Pretending to be my pretend boyfriend?”
“Even you can admit how silly that sounds.”
It was hard to be angry at Gil when he was right. But still….
“I know, but that’s not the point now.” He crossed his arms, poured out the espresso, and made a second. “Why are you here?”
Gil had finished plating the desserts. He set down the spatula and put his warm hands on Benji’s cheeks. “Because I missed you. And I didn’t like how we left things between us.” He leaned in and kissed Benji, whose disappointment melted at the first touch of Gil’s warm lips. “I came here to apologize. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings and upset you. It bothered me you’d think I didn’t want to spend the holidays with you.”
“It did hurt.”
Gil’s hand remained on his face. “I know. I spoke to my sister-in-law this afternoon. And she said falling in love with someone else didn’t mean forgetting about the past. It just means creating a new future.”
“Falling in love?” Benji blinked and began to shake. “What’re you saying?”
“That I realized how much light you brought into my life when I sat in darkness when you weren’t with me. You’re like my own personal menorah, only your fire will hopefully last a lifetime. And I want you to come home with me for the holidays. Meet my parents, my family.” His mouth covered Benji’s for way too brief a moment. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Benji. I don’t want to be apart from you anymore.”
Benji put his hand over Gil’s. “I love you too. And how come you never told me you were Jewish?”
Gil’s eyes danced. “You never asked.”
“I swear,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. From the living room, he heard his parents’ laughter and groaned. “Oh God, how am I ever going to explain this mess to them? They think your name is Ari and we’ve been together for a year.”
“I’m fine with staying over, in case you were wondering.” Ignoring his glare, Gil popped a small cassola into his mouth. “Damn, these are good. Just so you know, Gil is short for Gilad, and Ariel is my middle name. But you can call me anything you want.” He picked up the plates of desserts and from behind, Benji slipped his arms around him, kissing his nape.
“I call you mine. But let’s keep it our secret a little longer. I’ll tell them eventually.” Benji had no desire to spend the entire evening explaining why he’d done what he’d done.
“You’re seriously going to let them think my name is Ari and we’ve been dating?”
“Why not? It is your middle name. And it’s just for a little longer. It’s their fault for nagging me to find someone. Besides, it’s not like you’re going anywhere. You’re stuck with me now, like jelly inside a doughnut.”
“Not a bad place to be.”
They carried in the coffee and desserts, and his father put up a hand. “First, let’s light the menorah. Now that we’re all together.”
They stood by the silver candelabra his grandparents had given him as a bar mitzvah present, and his father recited the blessings. He and Gil gazed at each other over the flickering candlelight, and Benji’s heart had never been so full.
Three days later he swallowed his nerves, waiting on the front porch of Gil’s parents’ house in Brooklyn. “You’re sure they didn’t mind you inviting me so spur of the moment? I don’t want to impose.”
“You’re kidding, right? You have no idea how happy they are.” Gil chuckled. “If my mother had her way, there’d be a rabbi waiting to marry us.”
“Oh, God.” Benji snorted, but then he and Gil shared a look that spoke of promises to come.
The door opened, and a crowd of smiling faces welcomed them. Gil’s brother could’ve been his twin and his father also possessed the same dark intense eyes, but his thick hair had turned silver. Gil’s mother greeted him with a hug, her long brown hair swinging like a curtain.
“So wonderful to meet you.”
“Thank you so much for inviting me to your home on such short notice.”
She waved him off. “Nonsense. Our home is always open to our children, and I thank you for making Gilad so happy. I can see it in his face.”
“Mom.” Gil sighed and Benji snickered.
“Mothers are gonna mother.”
Gil’s sister-in-law, Sofia, gave him a huge hug.
“I’m so happy you’re here. You’re the best Hanukkah present Gil could’ve brought.” Gil’s brother, Victor, held the jumping twins by their hands.
“Uncle Gil, Uncle Gil,” they yelled.
“Welcome to the chaos.” Victor chuckled and managed to keep the children inside. Eventually he found a second to shake Benji’s hand. “The whirling dervish is Dani, and my little angel is Liora.” He kissed the top of his daughter’s curls.
“I made some special dreidel cookies for the kids.” He handed the box to Victor. “This all happened so fast, I feel like a dreidel myself, spinning around and around.”
“All I know is, a great miracle has happened right here. My son has come home filled with life again.” Gil’s mother kissed his cheek. “We’ve been waiting for years. Now come with me to the kitchen, and we can swap recipes.”
Gil hugged him. “I can’t wait to see what you two come up with. Maybe you’ll write a cookbook together.”
Later that evening when they were alone, the candles burning bright, Gil took his hands. “You know before I met you, I was spinning aimlessly without any rhyme or reason. But now you spin me ’round, and I never want to stop. Loving you is the greatest miracle of all.”