The Orchestra - Sinfónia Lifsins - 10. Birthday

For those who missed the chapter note: this is the first guest chapter and is written from Jó's point of view.

(....)

It was a beautiful day outside; the sun was rising and there were no signs of clouds approaching. As I opened the curtains of our bedroom that morning I felt sorry for Eiri, who had to get up for work while it was still dark. He was missing such a spectacle! It was impossible not to be overwhelmed by the positive energy that engulfed the room as the sun slowly crept in. It was with this warm gift from the skies that my birthday began.

On my way to the kitchen I noticed that Gunni’s door was still closed. Taken by a sense of compassion I decided to let him sleep a little longer, as a way of showing my appreciation for his superb performance the night before. After all, in those aspiring two hours he had been capable of melting even the icy heart of Margrét Björnsdóttir, a feat until then rendered unattainable. Eiri’s mother had been less than contented to see me seating on the other side of her precious son, but by the time we left the theatre her face was marred by tears and she had eyes only for her young nephew, forgetting all about Eiri and I.

The past four days could very well have been four years. After the dutifully traumatic dinner with Margrét, Gunni settled in very well, and I am proud to say, became part of our family. Even Tjúlli had recognised him as such; he spent two hours on Gunni’s lap after dinner on Wednesday. As for Eiri and I, we were glad he was happy, and that his hands probably would not be mercilessly assaulted anymore.

In my good mood I prepared breakfast for four. I took all the fruits stacked in the fridge and used the remaining exotic guaraná powder to create the thick sauce in which I laid them in. There were vague thoughts on my mind about phoning Eiri to remind him to buy more, but I had other priorities at the moment. The fruit salad looked really appetising.

The phone rang just as I finished preparing my meal. It was not my detested neighbour enquiring about the physical health of her precious off-spring, but her much-loved sister who was calling.

“Haló, dear Lilla, how are you doing? How can I be service?” I enquired. On the other side of the country Gunni’s mother laughed wholeheartedly.

“Haló, Jó. I was wondering if Gunni was already up.” She replied, a few traces of her good humour still marked in her voice.

“Oh, no, no, no! Lilla, Lilla… do you really think that after such a show your prodigy of a son would be up and running at eleven in the morning?” I scowled at the thought, pointing out her naïveté. “Were you listening to his performance?”

“Of course I was! Everyone at the hospital wanted to hear him.” She laughed again. Lilla was in very high spirits, as usual. “The nurses had spread the word that Gunni was my son, so I received lots of congratulations and good wishes for the whole night. Some of them even gave me cards!”

“Oh, you must be feeling so proud!” I exclaimed, delightfully touched by her story. I could perfectly picture her elderly patients being completely overwhelmed by the intense feelings of the concert. “When will you get a chance of coming in person?”

“Hopefully before Christmas break.” Lilla’s tone changed slightly, diminishing in enthusiasm. “I’m negotiating with my colleagues to change shifts around so I can work extra hours early in the week so I can get Thursday and Friday off at some point.”

“Maybe now that everyone has seen your son is the real deal they’ll let you off the hook more easily,” I told her in my best reassuring tone. “Just let us know when you are coming so we can find space for you!”

“Ah, Jó, you are so kind!” She laughed again. Mission accomplished. “But I think Margrét won’t like if we bypass her a second time. I will have to speak to her first.”

“You do know that if you stay with her she’ll bother you to no end about how you decided to send Gunni to us, right?” I enquired, fearing for my friend’s sanity. No one deserved to be interrogated by Margrét, not even the worst of criminals.

“But this way she might stop bothering you and Eiri about it,” she argued, calmer than anyone should ever be when faced with the prospect of living with that evil woman. “She didn’t give you too much grief, did she?” Lilla sounded slightly worried.

“Not to me, no. Actually, she was the usual homophobic jerk when we were on our way to the concert, but she stopped as soon as Gunni started playing,” I replied, making sure my sense of pride over her son’s accomplishment was clearly distinguishable in my speech. “I am more concerned about what she said to Gunni and Eiri when they had dinner with her,” I confessed. I then proceeded to tell her everything my husband had told me about his mother’s cruel words. “And Eiri was really scared that Gunni would be upset for days,” I concluded, sounding angrier than I had intended. “But thankfully your son is a lot stronger than he looks. I think he handled it well after a night of sleep and a day of rehearsal.”

“Did he ask you questions?” Lilla enquired, her tone once again worried.

“About what? Us?” I enquired back. Upon her confirmation, I elaborated my story further. “He asked a couple more things about our relationship and the reason I’m still with Eiri, even though he has the worst possible mother that forces us to keep our lives secret from the world.”

“Not from the whole world; I know and so does your family,” Lilla reminded me, obviously trying to renew my positive energies.

“My family doesn’t technically know,” I corrected her, more out of habit than a desire to have the last word. “They just have a very strong inkling that the man I’ve been living with for more than a year might, and just might, be my life partner; the love of my entire existence. But they don’t technically know anything.”

“And you won’t be telling them anytime soon?” she enquired, in that concerned tone she always used when we talked about my family.

“There’s no need to.” I attempted to soothe her anxiety. It was far from being the difficult decision she always made it out to be. “Their inkling is very strong; they don’t need any confirmation to treat Eiri like he’s part of the family. We’re fine that way.”

“If you say so…” She conceded, respecting our wishes. I was about to reply when heard familiar sounds coming from upstairs.

“I think your son is up. Should I let you talk to him?” I enquired, tracing Gunni’s steps in his room by the continuous thud over my head.

“Wait! Before that…” Lilla paused suspiciously, like she was taking her time to create the perfect joyful smile. “Happy birthday, Jó! Welcome to the last year of your twenties!” She laughed animatedly, almost as if she was enjoying the consternation she knew it would cause me.

“Please don’t say that! I’m too young to be in my thirties!” I exclaimed, making my feelings very clear to her. “I’m twenty-nine now and twenty-nine I shall remain for the rest of my days!” I added resolutely.

“If you say so…” Lilla conceded once again, this time with an extra dose of humour.

“I do. And your son is coming to the kitchen. Shall I startle him with his overbearing mother’s oh-so-insistent will to communicate with her much-loved offspring? Or should I wait until he has properly recognised his surroundings?” I enquired, using the same dose of humour to make it clear that there were no hard feelings between us; that I would pretend to accept her feigned concession for the time being.

“Do what you think is best, just please, don’t talk to him in that fancy language, or he will be even more lost than he must be already.” Lilla chuckled, speaking with a certain degree of amusement.

“I shall do my best. You know I deal with fancy language for a living, so it might be difficult at first instance, but I shall strive to meet your motherly demands.” I replied, sounding purposely like a pompous aristocrat.

“I thought you were a journalist,” She retorted immediately and with all the wisdom of someone who has read plenty of local media rubbish.

“I’m also a writer. My first book will be published next year,” I reminded her, adding even more pomp to my speech. “As you ought to know by now.”

“Oh, yes, of course.” Lilla chuckled once more. “Can you let me speak to Gunni, then? I will come back to you later.”

“Sure thing.” I called Gunni and told him his mother was on the phone. His sleepy eyes immediately lit up and he smiled in the cutest possible way before taking the phone from my hands and hurrying to the living room. I waited patiently in the kitchen, wishing to respect his privacy.

After fifteen minutes of waiting, I decided it was better to start eating breakfast. Half an hour later, when Gunni finally returned, it proved to be the right decision. My little cousin had returned only because the phone’s batteries died. We finished breakfast and I called Lilla back to continue our conversation.

“Looks like you and Gunni had lots to catch up on. Did he tell you absolutely everything about last night?” I enquired humorously as Gunni hurried back to his room to get ready for the day’s rehearsal. It still baffled me that the poor musicians had to be back to work so soon after a concert, but Gunni reassured me he would be fine because they only started at one in the afternoon, so he had had plenty of time to recover.

“Yes, he told me everything.” Lilla’s tone was at first humorous too, but soon she became evidently more serious and concerned. “Actually, he told me about a little problem he had which you might be able to help him with.”

“Me? What is it?” I enquired once more, astonished by her words and worried that Gunni had not mentioned it to me yet. “Are you sure he will want my help?”

“He was a bit anxious when he spoke to me, so I suggested he talked to you later. He said I could tell you now so he wouldn’t have to,” Lilla replied.

“Ok, then, tell me what it is.” I sat on our sofa, attempting to get as comfortable as possible in case her words made me feel like an awful human being for not having done anything about Gunni’s problems yet. If it turned out to be something I could have prevented happening in the first place, I would blame myself for not realising something was going on sooner.

“Yesterday during the concert, Gunni kissed one of his colleagues,” Lilla explained, getting straight to the point. “He said he liked it, but that later on he began fantasising about kissing someone else in the same way.”

“Why is this a problem? Isn’t it normal to want to kiss other people and have wild fantasies about it, particularly at his age?” Even as I spoke a part of me became exceedingly happy that Gunni appeared to be settling in just fine at work too. It was reminiscent of my own late teenage years.

“He said he was worried because the other person he was fantasising about was the cellist that has always been rude to him”.

“Oh, I see.” Part of my excitement faded as I finally understood what the issue was. “Gunni is still hooked on the bad boy, then?”

“It would appear so.” Lilla confirmed my assessment of the situation. “And he also said he feels bad because he thinks having these thoughts about the cellist is the equivalent of cheating on the person he has kissed.”

“Aw, your son is so cute and so naïve! You are right; he needs a man-to-man talk with me.” I exclaimed joyfully. “He’s so like me I feel I’m in a time machine.”

“That’s what I thought. Maybe you can share some of your experiences with him? Tell him not to worry about it so much?” Lilla suggested in her best motherly tone.

“You know I will. There’s no way I can refuse a request from you. After all, you are part of the reason I’m not like your son anymore!” I replied solemnly, at least for the first part. My voice increased in pitch for the last sentence.

“I don’t think I deserve that much credit. I didn’t do anything special.” Lilla attempted to refute my acknowledgments, but I refused to let her humbleness get on the way of a proper recognition of her influence in our life.

“You did everything and much more!” I insisted. “You helped Eiri get through one of the most difficult moments in his life; you were there to support his decision to invite me to this house, you helped him convince his evil mother that it was a necessary arrangement.” I paused to take a deeper breath. I could almost see Lilla’s blushing features (which incidentally were very similar to Gunni’s). “And since good praising is never too much, I can go as far as saying that if it wasn’t for you talking to him and reassuring him all those years ago, he would never have had the courage to date any guy, let alone live with one. We owe you so much more than we can describe with mere words.”

“Ah, Jó, please don’t talk like that. It makes me feel like I’m the only good person in a world full of bad people. I didn’t do anything special; I just saw that my nephew was troubled by something and helped him come to terms with it. It was so long ago…”

“You had just lost your father.” I insisted on making my point to Lilla. It was unbelievable how she seemed so averse to sincere praise. “You were the last person I would expect to be able to be so kind and understanding to him.”

“Well, I think it was my father’s death that made me more aware of what was going on around me,” Lilla retorted. “It was easier to notice other people’s troubles when you expect everyone around you to be grieving. At least it did to me.”

“Whatever you say, Lilla, whatever you say.” I gave in, trying and failing to make sense of her unusual point of view. “At least we are kind of returning the favour now, watching over Gunni.”

“Please don’t see it that way. I didn’t ask you to take care of my son because I thought you owe anything to me,” Lilla exclaimed rather dramatically. “I sent Gunni to you because I know you will be great second-parents to him; that he can learn many things from both of you.”

“Oh, so we are his parents now?” I laughed as my body filled with euphoric warmth and swelled with pride. Hearing such a declaration from her made my eyes water. “Aw, just wait until we get him a little sibling then!”

Even Lilla thought Gunni was like our child now. Even though the little violinist was just twelve years younger than me, I had indeed become attached to him in such a way. Now that his real mother had given me her blessing, I knew I would act as the most fiercely loving father Gunni could ever want. My parental instincts had finally awoken; there was no turning back now.

Though, as I told all this to Lilla, her reaction was a most sincere and carefree laugh. “Yes, Jó. Enjoy being a parent.”

“I already am.”

(...)

Later that night the three of us enjoyed a gourmet banquet prepared with all my love and culinary skills. For dessert, despite my busy writer’s schedule, I found time to even bake a chocolate and cherry cake. It was an extra indulgence I was allowed to enjoy; after all, one only turns twenty-nine once, (though I had plans to celebrate that same age for the upcoming years too).

“Happy Birthday, Jó!” Eiri sang, enveloping me in a strong hug as we stood around the table contemplate my latest culinary masterpiece. Our lips and tongues met soon afterwards. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Gunni had discreetly turned his face away. I wondered then if he was still thinking of the ill-mannered cellist and promised myself I would talk to him about it the next day. This would be my first great task as his newly-appointed substitute parent, and for that reason it filled my heart with joy.

“Thank you, dear.” I told Eiri, still comfortably leaning against him. “Thank you and thank you, Gunni, for being here with me today,” I told both of them. My ‘son’ turned to face me again, prompting me to showcase my brightest smile. “I hope you enjoyed your meal and that you feel as great as I am feeling right now.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Eiri reassured me, embracing my body from behind and getting on the tip of his toes to leave a gentle but deeply erotic kiss on my neck. “I am very, very happy to be here right now.”

“Me too.” Gunni added rather timidly, once more avoiding glancing in our direction. There was a tint of red around his cheeks as well.

“Are you embarrassed or just shy?” I questioned him, understanding I was somehow responsible for his continued discomfort. “Eiri and I can stop doing things if you…”

“No, no, please, don’t!” Gunni pleaded, shaking his head vigorously to emphasise his negation. “Don’t mind me; I’m just thinking about things…”

“The things your mum told me about?” I inquired again, reluctantly letting go of my husband to approach our troubled ‘son’. Poor Eiri looked confused and even a little hurt, since I had not had the time to tell him about my conversation with his aunt. However, he quickly calmed down when I sent him a most meaningful look. Eiri understood my intentions and settled for taking his place at the table.

“Ah… yes…” Gunni shyly admitted, his cute face flushing even more intensely. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be in your way…”

“Oh, don’t you worry about it. Tomorrow morning after breakfast you and I can sit down and I’ll do my best to make sure you get back to your normal self.” I tucked one of Gunni’s messy blond bangs behind his ears and took his hands in mine. The poor boy was very cold and sweaty; he must have been feeling extremely anxious. “Now eat your dinner and your cake and try to forget the people who bother you. It’s party time, let your worries fly through the window and have some fun!”

“Thanks, Jó, I’ll try.” Gunni smiled sweetly. Before I left him to join my dear husband at the table, I kissed his forehead and petted his hair. Gunni was still smiling, but the red shade on his face darkened by a few degrees.

“That’s the spirit! Now eat up!”

(...)

Eiri and I retired to bed blissfully pleased with our lives. It was much later than the time we usually presented ourselves to the World of Dreams, but it had been worth it. My father and my siblings, with their usual perfect sense of timing, had turned up just as we prepared to eat my cake. I was delighted to see them, as I was not expecting a visit until Sunday, when I had planned for us all to have a proper party. As it turned out, my lovely Eiri had arranged this surprise visit, using our plans for Sunday to distract me.

“Thank you so much, Eiri. You are the most splendid husband any man could dream of,” I informed him as we cuddled to sleep. He was laying over half of my body, playing with loose strands of my hair. He seemed so lovely and peaceful then I had to use all of my self-control not to trample him in a heartfelt embrace. “I had the most fantastic day and night, thanks to you.”

“Well, the night is still young. It doesn’t need to be over yet.” He whispered sensually in my ear, sending a trail of goose bumps all the way to my toes. His lips and teeth found their way to my neck immediately afterwards and my whole body melted in response.

“Make me the happiest man alive,” I told him in the lowest possible pitch my voice could produce.

“Is that an order?” He enquired in the much lower and sensual equivalent of the tone I had tried to use.

“Yes.”

Eiri had always been good at following orders. This time was no different.