Meet the Parents
Chapter thirty-five
Alex
“Oh my word, this hotel is beautiful,” comes a voice from the lobby. Shit, did we have guests checking in? I turn around and gasp, feet suddenly frozen to the spot.
I blink, thinking maybe my eyes are deceiving me but nope, my mom is standing in the middle of the lobby, looking around the place in awe.
She looks just the same as I remember. She’s short like me, and her curly brown hair is pulled into a bun today.
She’s wearing her favorite pair of green capris, and a loose-fitting white blouse.
I try to form words, but end up just staring at her in shock.
“Mom?!” I finally choke out.
She rushes over when she sees me and pulls me into a fierce hug. “I can’t breathe, mom,” I say as I pat her back. She pulls away and looks me up and down.
“Have you been here this whole time, sweetie? We’ve been worried sick. You haven’t been home, you haven’t returned our calls. We started to think you’d been kidnapped or sex trafficked.”
I sputter at that. “Mom! Where’s dad?” I look around the lobby but don’t see him. “How are you here right now?”
“Your father is getting the luggage out of the car. And Brandon called us, said you were here and that we should come see you. We drove here as quickly as we could.”
“I’ll go help him with the luggage, Mrs. Harper,” Brandon says from behind the desk.
“Thanks, sugar,” mom says before turning back to me. “Explain yourself. My hair is greying from the stress. It’s been hard these last few months, not knowing where you were.”
I take a deep breath and get ready to explain, but the moment is interrupted by my dad and Brandon walking in, carrying their luggage. My dad is wearing his favorite hockey shirt and loose fitting jeans. When he sees me, he drops his bags and rushes over to me, enveloping me in a hug.
“I’ve missed you, son,” he says into my hair. I hold him tight. “Don’t disappear on us again. We’re not as young as we used to be, we can’t handle the stress of it.”
“I’m sorry. I missed you too. I wanted to contact you sooner, I swear.” I pull away and wipe my eyes. Damn allergies. “Can we take this to the living room? You might want to sit down for what I’m about to tell you.”
“Okay honey,” my mom says.
They follow me into the living room. I sit down on one of the armchairs and they take the couch. Dad takes mom’s hand into his lap and holds on for support. They’re expecting bad news, but what I’m about to tell them is so much worse. I try to ease them carefully into it so they don’t freak out.
“I’m dead,” I say and watch their faces closely for their reaction. They look at each other in confusion, then back to me.
Mom says, “Are you on drugs, honey? Is that what this is about?”
“No, I’m not on drugs.”
“Are you on the lam?” She clutches her necklace.
“What have you gotten yourself into this time, son?” dad asks, voice gruff. “If you need an alibi—”
“No! Guys, I’m not on the run and I’m not a drug addict. I’m dead. I came into work a few weeks ago, or I guess maybe months ago at this point, and Kayla whacked me in the head with a frying pan. I died. I’m a ghost.”
“Kayla. Your manager? Why would she do that?” mom asks.
“It’s a long story. I will tell you everything, I promise. But I think I need to show you what I mean.” I stand up and shake out my limbs. Concentrating hard, I dematerialize.
Mom shrieks and dad yells, “What the hell? Where’d you go Alex?”
“Alex!” mom cries. “Honey where are you?”
I rematerialize in front of them, and they stare at me in wide eyed shock. That's getting harder to do these days. I take a minute to reenergize.
“I think I’m having a heart attack,” mom says and clutches her chest.
“Guys, please don’t freak out. I’m a ghost. So is Jake.”
“Jake?” mom asks.
“Oh, he’s my boyfriend. He died here too. That’s an even longer story that we don’t have time for today. I want to tell you everything, and I will. But not tonight. Please don’t cry, mom.”
She wipes her eyes and dad runs his hand over his hair. It has grey flecks in it now. I really put my parents through the wringer. “I’m really sorry,” I say.
“So, when do we get to meet the boyfriend?” dad asks, slapping his hands on his thighs before standing. “Give me a second to get my shotgun. Me and this fellow are going to have a little chat.”
“Dad, you can’t threaten my boyfriend. He’ll never speak to me again,” I intercept him as he starts moving towards for the door.
I grab his elbows because, let’s face it, I’m not tall enough to grab his shoulders.
I get my height from mom, not dad. “He’s such a good guy.
There’s no need; you’ll love him. Please don’t scare him away. ” He grunts.
“We’ll see about that.”
I hear the faucet turn on in the kitchen. “I think that’s him. Wait here, I’ll be right back.” I scurry out of the living room and into the kitchen to see Jake running his hands under the water.
“Hey babe, so funny story. My parents are here. Do you want to meet them?”
He looks up at me with wide eyes. “No!”
I hold my hands out like I’m taming a wild animal. “It’s okay, they’re so nice. They’ll love you. Brandon surprised me by inviting them here.”
“Do they know we’re dead?”
I nod. “I told them. And showed them, but I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet.” I reach out and grab his hand. “Come meet them. Please?”
“They know you’re gay, right? We won’t be ambushing them?” he asks nervously.
“I’ve told you before, I have the best parents ever. They’ve known I’m gay for a long time, and they don’t care at all.”
He reluctantly follows behind me as I lead him back to the living room. I can tell he’s dragging his feet, wanting to be anywhere else at the moment. My parents are going to love him, I’m confident about that.
We walk into the room together, still holding hands. “This is my boyfriend, Jake.” I look up at him over my shoulder to see him staring wide eyed at them, frozen. I nudge him with an elbow.
He snaps out of his daze. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you.
I’m Jake. Alex’s boyfriend. I’ve heard a lot about you from Alex.
All good.” My man is babbling nervously in front of my parents.
I smile as he scratches the back of his neck.
I step to the side and gently encourage him forward with a hand on the small of his back.
My dad walks up to us brusquely and sticks a hand out, expecting a shake. Startled, Jake takes a step back. My dad lets his hand fall, confused. He’s a gruff guy, but he’s a gentle giant with a heart of gold.
“Sorry, sir.” He clears his throat and cautiously steps forward to clasp hands with my father. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You as well, son. Are you treating my boy right?”
“I try my best, sir.” He looks down at me quickly and smiles. “I just want him to be happy.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear it. I’m glad Alex has found someone. He was always so shy when he was younger. You’d never know it now. We tried to get him to date; of course, back then we thought he was into women. Anyway, if he’s happy, I’m happy. And please, call me Thomas.”
Dad steps back and mom moves forward, slowly so as to not startle him. She can sense he’s feeling skittish and is trying not to spook him.
“Can I give you a hug, sweetie?” she asks him. When he nods, she embraces him gently and he wraps his arms around her, leaning over quite a bit in order to do so. “And you can call me mom. Or Debbie, but I prefer mom.”
After a minute, she releases him and steps back. I can see the approval in her eyes as she studies him. “I like your necklace. What does it mean?”
His hand flies up to the padlock, eyes wide. “Oh, um, Alex gave it to me.” He holds his breath as if awaiting her judgement.
“I should have guessed,” she says with a light laugh.
Sensing that Jake’s had just about all he can take of this encounter, I look at my parents. “Do you guys want to get settled into your room? We have a bit more work to do around the hotel, but I’d love it if we could catch up later.”
“Okay honey, we’ll see you later. Jake, sweetie, it was nice to meet you,” mom says and gives him a warm smile before she and my dad head out.
“You too, ma’am.”
In the lobby I hear my dad say, “I can get my damn bags, Brandon.”
“Your parents are nice,” Jake says once they’re gone.
“They’re the best. And they love you.”
He swallows hard. “I’ve never had anything like that.”
I squeeze his hand. It always hurts to hear his truths. “Well, now you do. They’ve practically adopted you, don’t be surprised if you get the papers in the mail to make it official.”
***
Later that night, I give my parents a brief tour of the house.
Mom and I end up back in the living room after dad heads upstairs to watch the nightly news, and Jake heads outside to hide in his gardens.
Today went well but I can tell it overwhelmed him.
My man needs some alone time to gather his thoughts.
Mom is standing in front of the floor to ceiling bookshelves, wine glass in hand, trying to read the spines of the books.
These shelves are home to all of the classics, many not even in English.
I’ve never attempted to read any of them though, they’re way too intimidating.
I’ll never tell a soul, especially my mother, but there’s a copy of Twilight in here somewhere. I absolutely have not read it, though.
“The décor is interesting. Very Victorian. Everything looks like it’s right out of the eighteen hundreds.”
“It probably is,” I say. “It’s a bit old and outdated, but that’s part of the charm. Plus, it’s haunted, so the décor really sets the tone, you know?”
“I’m glad you found your calling, honey. So, Jake huh? He seems like a lovely boy. Very cute. Did you meet here?”
I debate how much to tell her. “Yeah, I met him here the day he died. His dad used to run the place. He was killed in one of the rooms by… by a bad man.”
“Ahh. I get the sense that he needs a soft hand.” She takes another sip of wine as she sits down on the couch.