Clueless Camping - 18. Unwelcome visits

We surfaced from a deep sleep to the sound of Jacob’s cell phone ringing. As he fumbled around on the bedside table trying to find it, I lifted my head to get a glimpse of the time. Wow, it was almost nine in the morning.

“Det’ Jacob,” I heard my fiancé mumble sleepily. “Åh, hej Mor,” he continued, and I knew he was talking to Benedicte. “Ja. Det’ OK. Mmm-hmm. Hva’ da?”[1] There was a long pause while his mom talked. I let my eyes close, and my hand was on his chest, relishing the warmth of his skin against my palm. Thus I felt the moment he tensed, and I didn’t need the ‘Shit’ he uttered to know something was up. But since he hadn’t jumped out of bed, and soon went back to listening with the occasional ‘Ja,’ ‘OK’ and ‘Det skal jeg nok’[2] thrown in, I didn’t worry too much.

When he hung up with a ‘Vi ses senere,’ I knew he’d told her we’d see them later. I was almost proud of how many Danish phrases I had picked up. But I would never get used to Jacob’s relaxed attitude about using swear words in front of his parents. He’d tried to explain how Danes used ‘Shit’ and ‘Fuck’ much more casually than their equivalent in Danish, but I still felt it was wrong. Evan and I would have lost privileges for weeks if Father caught…never mind about that.

“Umm, I need the bathroom. I’ll be back in a bit.” Jacob kissed my cheek and I smiled contentedly. I had woken earlier and stumbled out to pee, half-asleep, so I could wait. I was still a bit groggy from being awoken, but in spite of the sounds of traffic from the street, I thought I could hear Jacob’s voice, distant and muffled. He was gone for five or ten minutes perhaps, but it was only as he came back, and I saw him put down his phone, I realized he must have called somebody.

“Did you call Tor?” Perhaps my sister had stayed the night, and my mom was upset. But surely Kristin would have texted her, and she was old and independent enough not to have Mom worry. But maybe my sister had told her she was with us….

Jacob shook his head and sat down on the bed next to me. He bent over to kiss me, and I was distracted for a moment. When his lips finally left mine, I asked a different question. “Were you talking with Chris?”

“Yeah, he’s already been out running, the energetic bastard. Hard to believe he’s three years older than me.”

“Mmmm, OK, what are their plans for today?” We had agreed this day should be relaxing since the next few were going to be busy, what with dancing lessons, more sightseeing, and the engagement party. Not to mention Evan and I needed to talk to Mom about everyone’s plans for the future.

“Well, they’re going to come over here fairly soon, so you may want to get up. Do you want to shower first?”

“Yeah, OK, I’ll be quick.” By now I knew something serious was going on, but I wanted to be fully awake before I asked. Twenty minutes later we were both dressed and having breakfast together. I managed to eat some toast and drink a glass of OJ before my anxiety got the better of me.

“Jacob, please tell me what’s happening. Why did your mom call?”

“Your grandparents are back.”

“My grandparents? Do you mean Mom’s parents? I thought they were in France?” According to Kristin, Mom had found out they were visiting Aunt Rikka, which meant she could postpone the talk till after Evan and I were gone. Kristin had added that Mom seemed pleased about the delay. It confirmed my impression of a probable lack of support from our maternal grandparents. We already knew our paternal grandparents would side with Father, and I didn’t really care. I’d prefer to forget that part of my family, even though Evan insisted a couple of our cousins were OK.

Jacob was patiently waiting for me to focus on him again before answering. “They turned up yesterday evening and demanded to talk with your mum.”

“Why…? Fuck, my father contacted them, right?” I might not swear in front of my parents, but sometimes those four-letter words were the only way to express how I felt.

He nodded, and I got up to pace.

“Was he with them?”

“No, but there’s no doubt he is behind their visit.”

I walked around trying to decide whether I wanted to know what had happened or not. “Is this why you called Chris?”

“Yeah, I promised Mum to let all of you know. I also called Tor while you were in the shower.”

“Tor?” I managed to ask before the reason dawned on me. My brain wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders this morning. In spite of the bad news, a delighted smile broke out. “So, Kristin did spend the night, eh?”

“Yes, she did.” A matching grin told me all I needed to know. “I think she made Tor a very happy man last night; I haven’t heard him sound this bubbly for years.”

“Are they also coming here?”

He shook his head. “Tor will take her directly home.”

“Does he have a car?”

“No, a motorbike.”

“Do you seriously mean to say my sister will arrive home on a motorbike after having spent the night with a man?” I gaped at Jacob, unable to believe what he was suggesting. “Mom will have a heart attack.” I shuddered at the thought of how Father would react.

“Good way of distracting your dad and grandparents, eh?”

“Father will probably want to kill your best friend. No one is good enough for his darling daughter. But hopefully he won’t find out.”

“Russ, do you seriously believe your dad doesn’t have my parents’ house under surveillance after what happened the other day? And your grandparents came back this morning demanding to see you.”

I gasped; tried to take a deep breath. Somehow, it didn’t work. I needed more air; why couldn’t I get enough? Desperately, futilely, I gulped after air, and black spots swam before my eyes.

Two strong arms wrapped around me, a warm body pressed close to my cold, shaking one, and a calming voice distracted me. “Relax, love. Breathe with me, slowly. In…and out.” The slow cadence of Jacob’s words and breathing soon had me following him, and the darkness receded.

“I’m sorry, Russ. You were doing so well, but I should have waited till Evan was here. Don’t worry; you don’t have to meet with them.”

“I should be there for Mom,” I mumbled. Jacob led me back to the sofa and made me sit on his lap. It was the safest place I knew, and he had told me he loved it when we cuddled this way. I guess it satisfied his protective and caring urges, as sentimental as the idea might be.

“She has my mum, and Kristin will be there soon. She isn’t asking you to come there, but she wants you and Evan to know what’s going on, so you can make your own decisions. You’re adults now, legally and mentally.”

“Why didn’t she call us herself?”

“Do you mean Isa or my mum? I think your mum is trying to keep you out of the situation, and my mum doesn’t have your phone number.”

At his explanation, I realized Jacob had meant Benedicte and not Mom when he said ‘she wants you and Evan to know what’s going on.’ I didn’t know whether to be pleased my mom was trying to shield us from being hurt, or pissed about her protective-mom behavior.

“Anyway, from what my mum was saying, your grandparents are mostly upset about Isa leaving her husband. They were trying to persuade her to reconsider, but she kept saying their ‘differences in opinion were irreconcilable.’ She tried to avoid telling them what it was about, and apparently your dad hasn’t filled them in either.”

I could read between the lines. “But she did tell them in the end.”

Jacob sighed. “This morning when they came back and kept nagging her. They were telling her Henry was heartbroken over her hasty decision and asking what it would take for her to change her mind.” He looked almost proud of my mom as he went on. “She told them she would consider joint couple’s therapy with the purpose of reconciliation when he accepted his sons had found the loves of their lives and were going to marry them.”

“Did they understand our fiancés are guys?”

“Not at first, but when the truth eventually emerged they insisted on speaking with you and Evan. Your mum told them they could attend the engagement party, but only if they wanted to congratulate their grandsons. That’s when my mum slipped out to phone me.”

“Do they know you’re my future husband?”

“I’m not sure, but probably. Isa may have told them where the party is taking place and why, assuming they want to attend. If they side with their son-in-law on this, I assume Isa will tell them to get lost.”

“Maybe that would be easier. I’m not sure I want them to be at the party.”

“If they support you, Evan and your mum, wouldn’t it be nice to have more family there?”

“If…” I shrugged to show my skepticism.

Jacob nodded. “You may be right; my mum has never liked her half-brothers much, but I think Karl is worse than your grandfather.”

“Her half-brothers?” I stared at him in shock.

“Uhm, yeah, didn’t you know? Your great-grandmother died a couple of years after giving birth to her fourth child. Her husband, my grandfather, married again and his new wife is the mother of my twin uncles and Mum. My mormor is twelve years younger than morfar.”

“So you’re only related to my mom via a common grandfather?”

“Yeah, but she’s still my cousin until she becomes my svigermor. Something I look forward to very much.” His kiss stopped our talk, because our intimate cuddle only ended when the door buzzer announced the arrival of Evan and Chris.

To my surprise they had brought a small suitcase, the one Evan had used as a carry-on. When Chris saw my wondering look, he explained. “We brought a change of clothes in case we want to take Isa out for dinner or something. That way we won’t have to go back to the hotel first.”

“Chris likes to dress up, but I told him to leave his ties at home. I suspect he snuck one or two with him, but now he has found out for himself Danes have a very relaxed dress code.”

I smiled and told Chris, “Yeah, totally relaxed. You should see them at the beach, more like no dress code.”

Jacob shook his head. “Oh no, today people are a lot more shy about their bodies than twenty years ago, not to mention the seventies. Most women used to be topless on the beach, but it’s becoming rarer today. Some women blame advertising for sexualizing breasts to the point public breastfeeding is frowned upon. Others say we have let other cultures impose their uptight morals on us.” He shook his head sadly. “In particular the sex-denying, anti-nudity, religious…uhm…Americans.”

For a moment we all stared at him in shock. I know I had expected him to name religious immigrants with strong sexual taboos as the new influence, like Muslims. But when Chris protested, Jacob told him Facebook, Google, American films, images and news had much more impact. He grew quite passionate in his repudiation of what he considered ‘bad examples’ for the rest of the world.

“It’s awful to read those stories about anti-abortion campaigns, even bombings; girls forced sexually at frat parties and made to feel guilty afterwards; boys bullied or assaulted in locker rooms; insufficient sexual education and the rejection of the need for contraception and family planning, especially in third world countries. But the scary part is religious beliefs and conservative views are behind most of it and have had such a huge influence in politics and the attitude of men. Why do many universities in the States allow Frats to promote disrespectful behavior towards women and gay people? Oh, of course bad stuff happens here too: we have homophobia in sports, and girls can have a hard time getting justice after date-rapes. But the dean of my college would ban any club involved in discrimination or sexual harassment. And, yeah, there are countries in Europe which are worse when it comes to anti-gay and anti-abortion laws. But none of them are able to spread their religious and cultural conservatism, and we certainly don’t admire them or import tons of entertainment or their social media customs.”

“Not all U.S. states are the same. Like Europe, we have liberal and conservative regions, and I think my country mostly tries to promote good values like free speech, democracy and equal opportunity,” Chris defended us. “And no one is suggesting you should introduce the Frat system, or change your Pro-choice stance, or give up free Porn. But you’re right about religion playing a much bigger role than here; after all, many of the first immigrants fled persecution by Government and Church for their beliefs. Being part of a community united by faith and trust in God is important to many people, not just Americans. In fact, Swedes and maybe Danes are the odd ones out, together with China, with their low adherence to religion compared to most of the world.”

Jacob nodded. “I know the surveys you’re talking about, and I was surprised Sweden scored higher than Denmark on being secular. Canada and Australia were similar to several Western European countries. But the really interesting statistic was the one where they compared the relationship between income and religion. Wealthier nations tended to be less religious, except for the U.S.A.”

“Are you saying my country got rich in spite of being religious?”

“No, I’m saying most citizens in wealthy countries gradually place less emphasis on religion and more on human rights and science. Although, I have to admit there is a tendency for some people here to ignore facts which don’t fit their belief or cause. And I’m not just talking about politicians.”

“Yeah, we see that back home too. The internet is a great place for crazy conspiracy theories.”

Jacob chuckled, and they began listing the worst ones, trying to out-do each other in weirdness.

Evan and I were huddled together on the sofa, finding comfort in being close while our men had their heated discussion. He whispered to me how it was pretty funny to hear Chris defend religious attitudes, since he was not particularly religious himself.

“I guess I used to consider myself as part of a religious family, but not any longer.”

“Russ, God doesn’t love you any less because you’re gay.”

“You know what? I don’t care whether God loves me as long as Jacob does.”

“I love you too. Twin bond.”

“I know that. I’ve never doubted it for one minute. Twin bond. And I love you, En.”

His response was to hug me, hard. I think he shed a few tears on my shoulder too. I held him and felt oddly protective of my normally strong twin. Gradually I realized our fiancés were no longer chatting and I nudged Evan.

“Hey, maybe we can get an explanation of what’s going on.”

We looked at Jacob who blushed. “Sorry, I got carried away.” He went on to outline the situation with our grandparents in more detail, including the fact they had turned up on his parents’ doorstep last night without any warning at all.

“Your dad obviously told them where—”

“Don’t call him that,” Evan interrupted.

“Pardon?” Jacob said.

“Don’t call that rotten bastard ‘your dad.’ He isn’t our father any more. You can call him Henry, or evil bastard, but not something he has lost all rights to claim.”

“Uhm, OK, sorry.” Jacob looked at me and I nodded in agreement. “So, the bastard obviously roped his in-laws into the proceedings, hoping your mum would be persuaded to go back to him, or at least give him a chance to talk to her alone. From what my mum said, that was pretty much the topic of discussion yesterday. Only he could have told them where Isa was staying, since they came directly from the airport.”

“But they don’t know where we are?”

“Not unless Henry told them my address. The Mama Bears would never reveal it, unless they believed your grandparents care about you and support your mum.”

We all smiled at Jacob’s name for Benedicte and Isa. Just then the phone rang, and Jacob picked it up and looked at the caller ID.

“It’s my mum,” he told us before answering. “Ja?”

There was a long silence while Benedicte spoke and we all waited anxiously. Jacob did his best not to give anything away by his facial expressions, but I saw him wincing mid-way through the phone call. He ended it with another “Ja, OK,” before hanging up.

“OK, here’s a quick summary of events. Apparently Isa was still arguing with your grandparents when my mum came back from phoning me. I think it’s safe to say we won’t see them on Saturday. They were finally at the point of leaving when Kristin turned up. Henry must have been hiding nearby, because he popped out and started shouting at her. Tor…ehm…shut him up and sent him packing, together with your grandparents.”

We all stared at him, and Chris was first with asking the obvious question. “How did Tor shut him up?”

To our surprise, Jacob chuckled. “He decked him and told him ‘no one disrespects Kristin or my best friend in my hearing’ and then he frog-marched him to the car with your grandmother running behind them clucking like a distressed hen, according to my mum. Your grandfather was sensible enough to get in the driver’s seat and take off once the other two were inside.”

There was a shocked silence and then Chris burst out laughing. “Oh my God, I would love to have seen that. I’m tempted to hire Tor as Russ and Evan’s bodyguard for the rest of the week.”

“As if I need a caretaker,” Evan huffed. We all looked at him, and Chris raised an eyebrow. My twin blushed and muttered, “Other than you, I mean.”

I had noticed something else though. “You said Tor mentioned ‘his best friend.’ That means Henry said bad stuff about you too.” Evan gave me a satisfied smirk when I called our father Henry, and Jacob shrugged.

“Perhaps, but I don’t know. Mum didn’t say.”

“How did Kristin feel about Tor going all protective knight on her?” Evan asked, and we shared a quick grin. We both knew it could go either way. She might be insulted or impressed, depending on how she felt about her ardent admirer.

“You’ll have to ask her yourself when you see her. For Tor’s sake, I hope she wasn’t upset.”

Talking about Tor and Kristin was a lot nicer than the other topic, but I knew we had to face facts. “What do we do now? Should we stay here or go to Mom?”

Jacob and Chris exchanged looks, and they both pulled us closer to share hugs. I think they knew we needed to feel loved and protected.

Chris spoke first. “Do you want to be with Isa for her sake or for your sake?”

“What do you mean?” Evan asked.

“Do you want to go to your mom to support her and help her, or to see if she is OK? If you’re considering doing anything for her sake, think about what she wants and needs.”

Evan and I stared at each other, and I got the idea he preferred me replying.

“I guess we’re thinking of her and not so much what we need.”

Jacob kissed the side of my head. “That’s perfectly understandable, and I’d feel the same. But that’s why Chris’ question is important.”

My future brother-in-law gave me a warm smile. “I think your mom needs to know her children are safe, happy and loved. All good parents wish the same, even if they don’t understand what makes you tick those boxes. My mother explained this to me when I came out to her as a Dom.”

Now Chris was the recipient of intense gazes, but he didn’t lose his calm façade.

“You came out to your mom as…you’ve never told…so Dotty knows I like…” Evan sputtered and I didn’t blame him. I certainly didn’t want Benedicte to know about any kinky stuff Jacob and I might end up doing. Although, being a Dane she would probably take it in stride and just wink at me.

I saw Chris give Evan’s back and neck a gentle rub, and my twin calmed down. “Never mind, we’ll get back to that later,” he promised with a poke at Chris’ stomach. Evan knew, as I did, that we had more important topics to discuss. But I hoped he would ask about the ‘coming out’ story when I was present. It was bound to be interesting and maybe even funny. It also made me wonder how Dorothy and Gerald, Chris’ parents, would react when they met me and Jacob. Evan had talked about introducing us as soon as we arrived in the States, but I had avoided saying a definite yes or no.

I took a deep breath. “You think Mom would prefer we didn’t get involved in her fight with Mommar and Moffa? That’s why she hasn’t called us and your mom didn’t tell us to come over?”

Jacob nodded. “That was the impression I got from Mum, but I can’t be sure. My suggestion would be to wait and call back once things have calmed down. I think we should go there later today, and I wanted us to be together, in case we had to join the rest of the family in a hurry. We can take a taxi from here and arrive in twenty minutes.”

Chris gave Evan another hug. “I’ve only known your mom for a short time, but I think Isa is a sensible and strong-willed lady. She’s able to deal with her parents as well as Henry, but she’ll also ask for support if she needs it. My guess would be she prefers you to be out of the way while she deals with these issues.”

“You mean like the way she sent me packing and didn’t contact Evan after the whole thing first blew up?” I couldn’t keep the resentment out of my voice and Evan nodded to let me know he felt the same. I noticed Jacob take a deep breath, but he stayed silent. I turned to him quickly. “The result was awesome, but unintended on her part, and it could have been achieved in a better way. Her idea of fleeing to Denmark was OK, but why didn’t she come with me at the time? Why didn’t she call Evan and tell him she was fine with him…us being gay? She could have gone to see him, told him where I was, offered to pay for him to go fly over too.”

I turned back to Chris. “You said yourself these months were tough on Evan, and while I know Henry is the main culprit, Mom didn’t make the situation better with all this hiding. And now she’s doing it again; treating us like kids, keeping us in the dark, trying to protect us from the truth, the ugly stuff, making the decisions on her own.”

“But at least this time we’re together,” Evan said with a small hitch in his voice as he reached a hand out to me. I felt Jacob give me a tiny push, but I was already rising and stumbling over to embrace my needy twin.

“Yes, and nothing will ever separate us again,” I vowed.

We clung to each other for a few seconds, but as we pulled apart, Evan giggled. “Apart from your plans to backpack around Asia for three months, you lucky bastard.”

I joined his laughter. “Yeah, apart from that. But just see it as Jacob and I taking the long way home.”

“I can’t wait for us to live next door to each other. We’re going to have so much fun.”

His words reminded me of an obligation, and I looked up at Chris. We had ended up sitting on the floor in front of the chair he and Evan shared, and the fond gaze from my future brother-in-law warmed my heart. It was so nice knowing he approved of the bond between Evan and me.

“Thank you for making it possible, Chris. You couldn’t have given me a better engagement gift, and I’ll be grateful forever.”

“You’re welcome, although I hope you realize I did it for selfish reasons too; so you don’t have to feel obliged. I like where we live and don’t want to move, and I love the rewards of making Evan happy.” His grin and Evan’s chuckle in my ear prompted a similar reaction from me. At the same time I felt my face get warmer and I tried to push away the hot images of my twin tangled with this handsome dark-haired stud. I wasn’t attracted to Chris, but I could certainly see why my twin was.

I gave Evan one last hug and rose to go back to Jacob, who was busy with his phone. When he was done, he pulled me back in his lap.

“I’ve texted Tor and Kristin to find out what is going on. I don’t want to call my mom in case she hasn’t yet told Isa about keeping us updated. Plus, I think your sister can give us the best estimate of your mom’s state of mind and what we should do.”

“Maybe Mom is busier trying to get her mind around Kristin’s arrival with Tor than anything her ex-husband or parents are doing,” Evan said with a smirk.

“In that case, we don’t want to remind her about us,” I agreed.

“Could Tor get into legal trouble for punching Henry?” Chris asked Jacob. I hadn’t thought about that, and we all waited anxiously for the answer.

“I suppose Henry could try to claim assault, but with only one punch to the guts, there’s not much evidence. And it would draw unwanted attention to his reason for being in Denmark. If Isa or Kristin told the police they were scared by his behavior, I doubt they would follow up on Tor. I hope nothing happens, because even being charged might mess up his chances to work as a security guard.”

“So instead of using Tor to distract attention from us, we should probably make an effort to take their minds off of being chased away.” Evan frowned as he spoke, but moments later a familiar grin lit up his face. Uh oh, this meant he had come up with another wild scheme, which might land us in trouble.

“Why don’t we go visit our grandparents? They wanted to see us, right? We should introduce them to our fiancés. I can see you’re wearing the rings already, and I can pretend to be engaged the American way.” He held out his left hand and we once more admired the heirloom ring.

“Do you know where they live? And what if Henry is there?” I was surprised Chris didn’t object to Evan’s crazy suggestion, but perhaps this was his way of derailing the plan.

“I have their address in my list of contacts, because Mom made us send them Christmas cards every year. I don’t care if the evil bastard is with them or not.”

Jacob looked at me and I shrugged. I didn’t have any better suggestion.

***

The door to the apartment opened and our grandmother gasped. Evan immediately took the initiative.

“Hi Mommar, godt at se dig.” Evan had asked Jacob how to say ’good to see you’ in Danish, and he did well on the pronunciation in my opinion.

“Jamen du godeste,”[3] our grandmother exclaimed, before her hand flew up to cover her mouth.

“Må vi komme ind?” I asked in my meekest voice, giving her my best puppy eyes and holding out the box from the baker. “Her er wienerbrød.”[4]

“Ja, ja selvfølgelig,” she said and moved back to let us enter. “Knud, Evan og Russell er her,”[5] she called into the apartment, and I knew she had told Moffa who had arrived. Hopefully, no one else was present.

We pretended she hadn’t rudely ignored Chris and Jacob as we all followed her into the living room. Our grandfather was awaiting us, and he frowned when our fiancés entered the room behind me.

“Moffa og Mommar, må jeg introducere Chris Aldercroft, my future husband,”[6] Evan said in his most polite manner. He turned to take Chris’ hand. “These are my mother’s parents, Knud and Emma Hansen.”

“And this is my fiancé, Jacob Toft. You met his parents last night,” I added and had the pleasure of seeing my grandfather flinch, looking somewhat ashamed. He whispered a translation to his wife, and Jacob awarded them a frosty but polite bow of his head.

“How do you do? I hope this unannounced visit isn’t inconvenient,” Chris said, showing his charismatic man-of-the-world façade. The expensive clothes he was wearing probably helped too. We had all dressed in collared shirts, nice pants and proper shoes, but his stuff had an indefinable quality of discreet designer outfits. His smile was bland as he nodded to both of them, but didn’t offer to shake hands. Jacob echoed his speech in Danish so Mommar could understand.

“Ih nej, det er da helt i orden,” she replied and took rescue in her hostess role. “Jeg laver kaffe og te.”[7] She mumbled something about wienerbrød at Moffa as she shuffled past him towards the kitchen to make coffee and tea. I was fairly sure her ‘helt i orden’ didn’t mean she felt the situation was OK.

Chris kept a slow conversation going by asking about their visit to France. He actually managed to find common grounds in discussing the merits of French red wine compared to wine made in other parts of the world. I had forgotten my grandfather used to work in one of the major Danish supermarket chains as a wine buyer, and he spoke French as well as English. Jacob seemed to listen to the discussion with interest, but Evan and I soon got bored and wandered into the kitchen.

“Can we help you?” I asked, knowing Mommar could understand this much. She seemed pleased to let us carry cups, plates and everything else into the living room, where we set it out on the low table in front of the sofa. Chris and Jacob drank coffee with the old people, but Evan and I stayed with tea. I had a hard time eating anything, but I managed to take small bites of the sugary treat we had brought.

“Did you spend much time with Auntie Rikka and our cousins in France?” Evan asked Moffa, after we had exhausted the obligatory small talk related to the weather and the food.

“Yes, we rented a cottage quite close to them, so we visited often. Victor and Simon were staying with us for a week; they get along well.” When he saw our blank looks at those names, he explained Victor was Theo’s youngest, who at thirteen was a year older than Simon, the son of Rikke and Louis. Uncle Theo and his family had spent three weeks in France this summer, and Simon had stayed behind for two extra weeks, and was due to return home in a couple of days. I got the impression my grandparents were supposed to have been his companions on the flight home, but he quickly avoided this issue by complaining about the difficulty of keeping two youngsters entertained.

“They like spending time on their iPads, but of course we want them to go outside and play too. Luckily they both enjoy swimming, and the house had a pool and a heated indoors spa; excellent for Emma’s arthritis too.” He told Mommar what he had said and she nodded and smiled with a ‘yes, very nice’ in order to be part of the conversation. She spoke to him earnestly, obviously asking him to translate, and I heard my mom’s name mentioned. Would they now bring up the reason for her leaving their son-in-law?

He turned to me and gave an approving nod. “Emma says it’s good to see you looking fit and healthy, Russell. We’ve been worried about you, after Isabella told us how you had a hard time recovering from your illness.”

I stiffened, but managed to mumble a nervous ‘Thank you.’ Of course, Evan grabbed the opportunity.

“We can thank Jacob for that. He took Russ camping, cycling, canoeing, swimming, and walking all summer. In fact, he’s the main reason my twin is finally happy as well as healthy.”

He managed a feeble ‘Oh, I see’ in return, but Evan went on as if Moffa had endorsed the idea with enthusiasm.

“I was upset when Mom suddenly sent Russ to Denmark, but I have to admit her decision turned out for the best. Jacob is a great guy, and handsome too, don’t you think?”

We waited for him to translate, and of course he had to do it honestly because Jacob could understand every word. Mommar made small anxious clucking noises, and when she looked over at him, my fiancé calmly said, “Jeg elsker Russell, og Isa accepterer os.” I knew he had told them he loved me and Mom approved.

Chris simply said “Ditto for Evan,” which worked in both languages. There was a small awkward silence and then Mommar desperately offered us more coffee and tea.

It was almost comical the way our grandparents tried to avoid talking about the elephant in the room. Evan kept hinting at the reason why we were all in Denmark. He chatted brightly about the nice family lunch we had on Monday, and going sight-seeing before we met up with Kristin and Tor, whom he called ‘another handsome blond Viking.’ I almost had a fit of anxious giggles at the look on Moffa’s face.

Now and then he would appeal to one of us and we did our best to add comments which upheld the pretense of this being normal and friendly; the nice grandkids paying a polite visit to the old people. He gave them more chances to bring up the matter of us being gay, but they didn’t bite. The most subtle was a casual reference about Chris and him ‘going home’ on Sunday, but I almost choked on my tea when Evan finally said, “It’s nice to be in Denmark; most people are so relaxed and tolerant. I look forward to coming back next spring for the wedding.”

Moffa pressed his lips together with a scowl, but Jacob translated relentlessly. For a moment I thought my grandparents would have joint heart attacks, but they still refused to let go of their polite pretense. Jacob sighed and spoke again. “Vi bør nok se at komme videre, vi har en travl dag. Guys, perhaps we should get going soon; we have a busy schedule.”

Our grandmother clucked nervously, “Ih ja, vi må da ikke holde på jer, hvis I har andre planer. Det var sødt af jer at bruge tid på at besøge os.”[8] She sent her husband a sharp look and he repeated her thanks for the visit, adding they were pleased to hear we were enjoying our time in Denmark.

We gathered at their front door and said goodbye. Evan was the last of us to exit and he turned in the doorway to give them a parting shot. “You told Mom you wanted to see us. Now you have, so why don’t you leave her alone. I hope your other children and grandkids will never have to doubt your love or support.”

Before they could say anything he closed the door firmly, and we lost no time getting down the stairs and away from the awkward situation. When we got to the local S-train station and stood waiting for our ride, Evan couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“See, I told you they were more about keeping up appearances and pretending things were fine than confronting well-dressed, polite strangers about being engaged to their grandsons.”

“How come you know them so well?” I asked.

“Are you kidding me? I must have complained two hundred times about staying with them, when you were in the hospital. I spent fucking hours listening to Moffa talk about the importance of keeping the right company, having proper manners, being respectful and helpful to your elders, getting a good education, dressing well, listening to your parents. God, the list was endless, and I think Mommar kept adding new subjects for him to lecture me about.”

“Oh,” I mumbled, trying to bring up my vague memories of Evan talking about his…our time in Denmark. But I knew I had ignored most of it, because I didn’t want to think about my bad luck and the devastating consequences.

“The evil bastard made me stay with them, and they wouldn’t let Jacob visit, so I was bored out of my mind. Mom was distracted and she also told me her parents wanted to get to know me better. But they didn’t; they never asked my opinion or what my interests were; they simply dragged me to museums and made me watch Midsummer Murders and other British TV series while they drank coffee and talked to each other in Danish.”

“I wondered why I couldn’t get hold of you,” Jacob said. “I tried once or twice, but your grandmother always said you were busy somewhere else.”

“Yeah, we all know the reason now. They knew you’re gay, so you weren’t proper company.” Evan sneered at the last words. “It’s almost poetic justice they tried to keep you away from me, when it was Russ you ended up falling in love with.”

“Henry kept me away from Russ too, but in any case I was dating someone at the time. You were my cousins, not potential boyfriends. I was as surprised as everyone else when Russ captured my heart. I think it can be classified as the most amazing, unexpected moment when he kissed me on the beach.”

I blushed but held his gaze and took in all the proud love and tender gratitude displayed in Jacob’s blue eyes.

“You didn’t tell me you kissed him first,” Evan exclaimed and poked my side.

“I didn’t…we sort of kissed each other…” my voice trailed off as I thought back to that night.

“Oh no, you definitely made the first move. I’ll never forget the moment,” Jacob said. “But if you hadn’t, I would have claimed those sexy lips before long.”

“Jacob!” I looked around to see if anyone else was close enough to hear, but luckily we had walked down the platform and away from the stairs where the few other passengers were waiting for the train. I noticed the electronic departure boards saying there was only a minute left before departure.

“The train’s coming,” Evan announced at the same time. He took Chris’ hand and I felt Jacob envelop mine in his warm fingers.

He used the noise of the approaching train to whisper in my ear. “Deny it all you want, babe, but I think you’re the sexist, sweetest guy on earth, and I want you more than ever.”

Oh Hell, who am I to argue with my determined fiancé?