Finders, keepers - 11. Prompt 388

Prompt 388

“Snow? Again? How much more are they expecting?” I stared out the window.

The snow coming down wasn’t those Disney flakes of friendly white fluff gently covering the ground. No, this was angry, spikey snow that seemed to aim for your eyes whenever possible. Out to hurt you. And it was cold. Not surprising since it was Christmas after all. Christmas which meant family time. Nosy, inquisitive family time.

I was of course expected to go to my parent’s house as usual. I had been thinking about how I would get out of going, but trying to tell my extremely family oriented mother I was planning on Christmas elsewhere had not worked. Now, I was thinking about how to tell Levi. He had no idea that I always, without fail spent Christmas at home. For me to spend it without him was not an option. Getting him to go with me would probably be a struggle. I could just picture him, all nervous and shy at the prospect of meeting so many new people. Meeting my family. My parents.

No matter how you viewed it, it was a big deal. Huge. I didn’t hesitate though. It felt so right to have him in my life, even though it had meant realizing some things existed that went clearly beyond my grasp of the world pre Levi. My new need for turtle neck sweaters didn’t alter that either.

I chose carefully when to raise the subject. Levi was lying beside me in bed, newly fed and sated in other ways too. So was I. What I really wanted was to go to sleep, with my beautiful creature in my arms. No, I had to do this. Christmas Eve was only a few days away.

“Levi, you know… It will be Christmas soon…” I started out slowly.

“Yeah. You’ve written a wish list yet? I don’t think you should bother. What with you being so particularly naughty this year…” His body shook slightly, a sure sign he was giggling at his own joke.

“I’m not alone in that, so don’t laugh! Maybe you’re the one who should worry about coal in his stocking, Mr. Bloodsucker!” The moment I said it, I could feel him tense up. I raised myself up on my elbow to look at him. His very serious eyes met mine. Damn it! Not good! Not now when I had other things to talk him into.

“Do you regret…”

I interrupted him before he got any further.

“No, I don’t. You know that. It was a joke, a bad one. Sorry. I know how sensitive you are about that. I’m really sorry, Levi.” I bent down to kiss him and to my relief he welcomed me with his warm, soft mouth. When I pulled back, the soft, relaxed glow was back in his eyes. I almost did a fist pump to congratulate me on a job well done, but then I remembered I wasn’t 15 anymore. Besides, it might tip him off to my next item of business too early. This would take some strategizing.

“As I said, Christmas… It’s kind of a tradition for me to spend it with my family and I haven’t been able to get out of it this year. So…”

There went the light again. Fuck! What was he thinking now?

“Oh…” Just that. Oh. Nothing more. I waited to see if he would expand on his thoughts. Sometimes, he just needed a little time.

“I understand.” His voice was tinged with sadness, to a degree I hadn’t expected. “So you have to go away? For how long?”

“Go away?” It dawned on me what he meant. “No, we are going away. You are coming with me. If you want. Please come with me?” I was trying to be persuasive yet considerate. Mostly persuasive, since I really wanted him with me.

“To your family? But what will they think? What would we tell them?” He seemed genuinely confused.

“The truth! What else?” When I saw his eyes widen in horror, I backtracked. “No, not about that of course. But about you being my boyfriend. It’s no big deal. They know I’m gay. Have known for years. I want them to meet you. It’s time.” Saying it like everything was already settled was a bit of a dick move, but I didn’t want him to say no.

“So it would be your parents and your brother and sister..?” He sounded hesitant at that, but I realized I had to be honest.

“Yes, and my grandmother and braba. Well, I guess you’d say great grandmother. She’s like 100 years old. Some cousins, my aunt and uncle. Maybe a few neighbors.” While I was speaking, Levi turned paler and paler, which was a clear sign he wasn’t exactly thrilled. I could tell he was doing the math in his head and didn’t like the numbers.

“That’s a lot of people…” He almost whispered his words.

“They are all family! Almost… They will love you!” He opened his mouth, no doubt to tell me he wouldn’t go, so I decided to bring out the big guns. “Please do it for me…?” Cue puppy dog eyes.

He lay there, thinking about it. Since he hadn’t said no right away, I knew I had won. He would go.

“Ok, but if they start asking questions, I’m leaving.”

“Questions? What questions? They will ask about you, but no one will ask if you prefer O neg or B pos.” I chanced a little joke and seeing his lips turn up in a smile I knew I had made the right choice.

“Shut up!” He hit me with his pillow. “You know what I mean.”

“I promise, Levi. If anyone goes overboard with the third degree, I’ll get you out of there.”

I kissed him again and we settled in for the night. I left out the fact that the most insistent person would be my mother and getting her to accept us leaving would be next to impossible. I just had to make sure she was distracted by other things, mainly the food.

----

After packing for what seemed like an arctic expedition and getting everything in the car while trying to not freeze to death or be blinded by evil snow, we were finally on our way. Levi was fidgeting in his seat next to me, but I chose to ignore him. He had to prepare mentally for meeting all these new people, I knew that and left him alone. I had a bit of preparation to do myself. I had introduced other guys before of course, but not since I moved out and certainly not at Christmas. Mom had sounded very curious when I explained I would have someone with me. Someone special, as she put it. Yes, she was right. She just had no idea how special.

When we arrived, we stood on the front steps. Taking a moment to look into each other’s eyes, taking a deep breath. Levi gave a slight nod, indicating he was ready. Showtime.

Just seconds after coming inside, we were swarmed by hordes of relatives. By now, most of my cousins had kids and the noise level was through the roof. I could tell Levi entertained the idea of simply turning and running, but my hand on his arm steadied him. We were in this together. He wasn’t alone.

“Where is he? Where is my baby?!” My mother’s voice had no problem being heard above the raucous noise. The baby was me. Being the youngest had some perks, but also drawbacks. Such as nicknames no man over 12 would want. She reached me and enveloped me in her arms, kissing and hugging like we hadn’t seen each other in decades. In reality, I saw her and dad regularly. Christmas always had this effect on her, making her miss having us living at home. I just accepted it. Resistance was futile.

“Did your drive go well? Have you eaten? Are you tired?” Her questions came to an abrupt stop when she spotted Levi. He stood like an isolated pillar in a stormy sea of relatives who were all vying for my attention. She broke into a smile.

“So this is your man? My, my… Isn’t he a pretty thing?”

Levi blinked and gave me a disbelieving look. Mom had a habit of being very direct. Maybe due to her Czech background. Lord knows also grandma and especially braba are known to say just about anything. Not very British, despite having lived here for decades.

“Yes, mom. Levi’s a looker.” I smiled and grabbed Levi’s hand, pulling him out of his frozen state. He snapped to and held out his hand for her to shake. Mom gave him a puzzled look and then she pulled him into an embrace as well.

“You are very welcome, my boy! So very welcome!”

I could tell Levi was a bit stiff, but he soon melted into the arms of my mother. She began moving him towards the living room, no doubt to introduce him to the rest of the flock. When I moved to follow, she shouted at me over her shoulder.

“You’re in the blue room. Put your bags away!” She was nothing if not efficient, my mom. Levi gave me a small smile and a nod, meaning he deemed he could handle himself. Apparently, my mom had put him at ease with her welcome. I couldn’t deny I felt tremendous relief. So far, so good.

After getting our stuff put away, I came back down stairs. I found Levi in the middle of everyone, being mildly interrogated but looking happy. They were behaving themselves. The toughest questions were those about his job, or rather lack thereof. We had decided to go with the story of him being a freelance writer. A bit vague, but still a profession. Besides, it was somewhat true. He had been writing a lot lately. He didn’t actually get paid, but that wasn’t something they needed to know. Things were going very smoothly.

Then, the doorbell rang. Mom bounced up and went “That’s braba!” and the noise level rose even further. We were all so excited to see her, the little old woman who had been part of our childhood, part of all our lives.

She stepped through the door, slowly but steadily. A tiny, old woman, but not fragile. For a near centenarian, she was still sharp. She had a strange way of seeing people for who they really were and mom sometimes said, only half-jokingly, that she had some sort of power, from the “old country” as she put it. It had always struck me as ridiculous, but I had to admit braba was very good at getting to the heart and soul of people with only a glance. She also had a way of simply speaking her mind, letting everyone know if they passed muster or not. I supposed being so very old left her with no patience what so ever for wasting time on pleasantries or games.

Braba let herself be greeted, kissed, hugged and doted on for a while and then she seemed to realize something was different. She turned her head and locked her eyes on Levi. I could feel him take a step back under her scrutiny. The room fell strangely silent. Everyone knew this was a key moment for us. She took a few steps towards him and stood in front of him. Silently, she took him in. Levi held out his hand and I could see it shaking. He was clearly nervous.

Then the oddest thing happened. Braba huffed and ignoring Levi’s outreached hand she spat three times on the floor over her left shoulder. Then she turned and walked into the living room. The silence was compact and oppressing. I couldn’t understand what had just happened. Did braba just dis Levi? Why would she do that? My mom seemed equally perplexed and started to usher people away into the living room, possibly to give us some privacy. She was muttering about old bats and mad hatters, but we all knew that wasn’t the case. Braba was not batty or mad.

Finally, we were alone. Levi was breathing strangely and I could tell he was really upset.

“I have to go!” He sounded very upset.

“No! She’ll come around. I’ll talk to her. Mom will talk to her! Please, stay.” We looked out of the window. The snow was coming down even heavier now. There was no way we could drive back tonight. Levi would never find a cab this time on Christmas Eve. He was stuck and he knew it.

“I’m going to our room.” He fled upstairs, then realized he didn’t know which room was ours.

“Matt?” His voice sounded so insecure and hesitant. I followed him, taking the steps two at a time.

Standing there at the top of the stairs, he looked beaten. Depleted. I wondered briefly if he would get better from a feeding, but realized that wasn’t the cause. I hugged him without saying anything. What could I say? I had no idea why braba had that reaction to him. She had never given any indication she wasn’t ok with me being gay. I heard the stairs groan behind me and saw my mom coming upstairs.

“Boys, I don’t know what has come over that old bird. I’ll try and talk to her later. Right now, she’s just shaking her head and mumbling. Maybe she isn’t well. Why don’t you rest a bit before dinner and we’ll try again later?”

It seemed like a good plan and I got Levi inside our room and on our bed. Neither of us were in the mood for any funny business, both simply clinging to the other for comfort.

We must have drifted off to sleep. I was suddenly vaguely aware of movement at the far end of the room and sat up with a start. In the dark room it was hard to see at first, but after a few moments my eyes got used to the poor lighting.

“Braba?” I stared at my great grandmother who was standing there, staring at me with an expression in her eyes that could only be described as wild. Had she finally lost her old mind? Then I realized she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at Levi. I glanced over at my boyfriend and he had an equally strange expression in his eyes.

“Levi…?”

He didn’t respond. Instead, he got out of bed and walked towards her moving as if he’d been hypnotized. Braba was mumbling and actually crossed herself when he got nearer. She didn’t back away though. I rose to be ready to intervene if something happened. Just thinking that made me shake my head in disbelief. Happen? What could possibly happen between my boyfriend and my braba? Correction, my vampire boyfriend and my braba who seemed to be chanting now. Weird words in a language I had no knowledge of. The she said one word I had no trouble understanding.

“Vampire!” It came out in a hiss and Levi gasped, but didn’t move. When she turned to leave, I knew I had to stop her. How the fuck did she know?!

“Braba, please. Don’t go! Please, I can explain!” I pleaded with her and she stopped before she opened the door.

“Yes?” Her voice was so cold, so unfamiliar. “Why did you bring that into our house?”

Levi flinched when he realized she was talking about him, her voice full of disdain.

“He is a vampire, a blood sucker. The eater of man flesh! He’s evil!” I was taken aback by the force of her hateful words. At the same time, I got incredibly angry. How dare she speak of Levi like that?!

“Braba, no! That is not true!” She looked at me with a disbelieving look on her face. How to proceed? Should I lie? It didn’t seem like a possibility. Should I gamble and tell the truth? She seemed to know it anyway. “I mean, yes. Technically, he is a vampire.” Levi gasped and I could tell his instincts were telling him to run. I held onto his arm to prevent him from leaving.

“He is a vampire, but he is not evil! He loves me and I love him. It’s not what you think.”

“He doesn’t suck blood? He doesn’t hunt and kill?” Her words were harsh, but I couldn’t deny the truth.

“No! I mean no, he doesn’t kill. He only feeds from me, being very, very careful to not take too much. He is so scared to hurt me.” She appeared to be listening and relaxed a little, so I continued. “I’m his boyfriend but also his companion. When he’s with me, he has no need for hunting. He doesn’t like hunting or hurting people. Please, believe me!”

I didn’t know if what I said made any sense to her, but I figured if she knew about vampires, she might know about their needs and habits. When she finally deigned Levi with a look, I had to stop myself from jumping up and down in joy. She had indeed listened.

“Are you hurting my vnukie?” Her serious expression made the endearing term for me, grandson, sound a bit ridiculous, but Levi didn’t smile. He just stared at her with his dark eyes, not moving, not speaking. Finally, he shook his head.

“No, I swear I would never hurt Matt. I love him. Please, I beg you to believe me. If I have to leave, I will go back to being a monster again. Please don’t make me do that!” Levi was getting increasingly upset and I tried to calm him by stroking his back. Braba listened without responding. Then she held out her hand, reaching for Levi’s head. He didn’t know what to do at first, but then he knelt down to allow her to touch him without having to rise up on her toes.

Braba put the fingers on her right hand at Levi’s temple. He stared at her, confusion on his face. Then she mumbled something. It looked like a jolt of electricity went through Levi, his body swaying as if braba was pushing very hard against him. I knew that wasn’t possible, so I got concerned. What the hell was going on? Levi seemed ok, so I didn’t intervene. I was on full alert though. No one was getting hurt. I would see to that.

Braba was mumbling louder and louder until she finally released Levi. He sank to the floor, panting heavily. I went down with him, cradling him in my arms. Braba on the other hand was as calm as ever. Before I could even ask, she spoke.

“He is pure of heart.” Just like that, she smiled. As if everything suddenly was ok. She started to leave the room. I couldn’t have that.

“Wait, what?” I had to get some more answers. “What did you do?” I glanced down at the still shaking Levi in my lap.

“He will be ok. I did a reading. Saw his heart. He speaks the truth.” She was nodding her head, looking pleased.

I didn’t fully understand what had happened. The relief flooding me was immense. Then more questions arose.

“But what will you do? Will you tell anyone? Can you keep our secret?”

“If you want me too.” She looked at me. “However, I think being honest with your family would be a good thing. If you let me explain it to them, they will not be as upset. He will need protection, a family. We can give that to him. Together.”

When the full meaning of her words sank in, I actually started crying. A family? That would mean other people who could care for Levi. Other people would know him and love him. I looked down at him and saw his eyes meeting mine. Eyes now filled with hope. She hunched down and patted his head, all smiles and warmth.

“Braba will deal with them. Just give me some time. Now, I believe it’s dinner time, boys.”

With that she left the room, leaving me and Levi in a mess of emotion. Mostly happy.