Page 10

Aldo

I check my hair in the mirror again, making sure it looks okay. I’ve dyed it a pretty purple color, only realizing it matches Gendry’s skin when it was all done and dried. I’m not sure if I did it by accident or if my subconscious wanted us to match but either way, I think it looks really nice on me.

“You look perfect,” Gendry says beside me, resting a hand on my thigh. He gives me a gentle squeeze and a soft smile that shows off the little fangs I love so much. Not to mention how much I enjoy the feel of them against my skin. I have a bite mark over the place that Gendry is currently squeezing and yep, I really need to stop thinking about that before I pop a boner in the car outside my mother’s house.

I need to get my shit together. Taking in a deep breath, I calm my racing heart. We’re just having lunch with my mother, what’s the worst that could happen?

“I can tell that you are worried. Are you sure you want me here? I do not wish to add to your worry.”

Gendry’s soft words break me out of my anxiety spiral. Everything is going to be okay. My two favorite people are about to meet.

“I’m okay,” I tell him, bringing his hand to my mouth and kissing his knuckles. It’s been about two months since we sat down and had our talk about how we were feeling about each other. The night ended with the most amazing round of sex and since then, we’ve been nearly inseparable. Sure, I still need to go to work and Gendry does things with Christian. He’s also started working at the bookshop with my cousin, Carlos. We’re not attached at the hip, but every night we end up in bed together. It doesn’t even always lead to sex, some nights we just fall asleep whispering and holding each other.

I’ve never been so happy in a relationship before. All the men I’ve dated before ended up not working out for one reason or another. Maybe all that time, they never worked out because they weren’t Gendry . Maybe I was waiting for the alien next door.

Jesus, that sounds like the title of a terrible porn parody.

“I want you to meet my mama. She’s going to love you once she sees past,” I pause, waving a hand at Gendry’s face, “all of this.”

“All of this?”

“Yeah,” I say gently. “The fact that you’re purple and an alien and have a pair of antennae on your head. It might take her a second but she’ll love you once she gets to know you.”

“I hope so,” Gendry says. “I want her approval for our relationship. Family is important. I need her to know that my feelings for you are true. I need her to know I would do everything in my power to keep you from hurting.”

My heart gives a twinge within my chest, affection practically bursting through my seams. It’s getting harder and harder not to throw myself into Gendry’s arms and tell him that I’ve fallen completely and utterly in love with him. I’ve only known him a few months but I already know everything I need to know about him. I love him.

“Let’s go,” I say, unlocking the car and stepping outside. I swallow around the nervous lump in my throat and head to the front door of Mama’s home. It’s small and just on the outskirts of town. The perfect little setup for a house of one.

I knock on the door and only a moment passes before my mother is opening the door, greeting me with a wide smile. She immediately pulls me into a hug. We’re about the same size so when she pulls back to greet Gendry, she has to look up at him, the same way I normally do.

“Oh,” she says, turning back towards me. “Who is this, Aldo?”

“Mama,” I say slowly, holding on to her shoulders and giving them a squeeze. “This is my boyfriend. His name is Gendry.”

“I see,” is all she says before turning around and walking into the house. “Come in! Lunch is ready to be served. I hope you brought your appetite because I made a lot.”

I let out the breath I was holding. Turning towards Gendry, I grab his wrist and walk inside, closing the door behind us.

“This is going really well,” I tell him under my breath.

“Is it? I cannot tell.”

“Oh yeah. She invited us both in. If she was upset she would have taken off her shoe, thrown it at my head, and then told us to leave so she could have some time to cool down. This is going super well.”

Gendry gives me a look that makes me chuckle. “I’m kidding. She wouldn’t do that. But trust me, I can tell she’s going to make a genuine effort to get to know you.”

“As you say.”

We walk into the kitchen where Mama is taking a tray of enchiladas out of the oven where she was keeping them warm. Half of them are covered in her homemade red sauce and the other half are covered in her green sauce. My mouth immediately begins to water with anticipation. It’s been too long since I’ve had Mama’s cooking and I tell myself I’ll be better about coming here to visit; especially if I only have so much time to do that before…

“Sit down, sit down,” Mama says, pulling me from my thoughts. Gendry and I sit beside each other at the little round table. Mama carefully sets the tray down before pulling out three plates for us. Then she sets down forks for everyone.

Enchiladas with a side of beans and rice. She even has a container of sour cream for me, knowing I love adding that to my beans and rice. My heart aches as I think about leaving her behind. I might have gained a partner but I’m worried about losing my family.

I haven’t even made a definitive decision yet and already I’m mourning things. I need to get a grip. Maybe I’ll sit down and talk to Mama about it, see what she thinks before I decide anything.

“What are you waiting for, mijo? Dig in,” Mama says, passing me the spatula so I can serve myself.

“Sorry, Mama. My head is in the clouds,” I say with a chuckle.

Her eyes dart between myself and Gendry. “I see that.”

I place two enchiladas onto Gendry’s plate, one with red sauce and one with green. Then I grab myself two as well. I take the translator from my ear and hand it to Mama.

“Put this in your ear. It’ll make it so you and Gendry can speak and get to know each other.”

Mama looks skeptical but she takes the translator from me and places it into her ear. As she serves herself, she looks to Gendry expectantly. He takes a giant mouthful of enchilada and grins. It makes him look like a chipmunk with a cheekful of nuts and it further proves how far gone I am about him because I find the gesture ridiculously adorable.

Gendry quickly swallows. He speaks to Mama, his words deep and guttural. It’s been a long time since I’ve been unable to understand him. His words flow over me and despite the fact that I don’t know for certain what he’s saying, I can tell he’s happy based on the tones of his voice. I’m embarrassed to admit that it’s also making me kinda horny to hear him speak his native tongue like this.

Mama’s eyes widen as the translation device does its job, allowing her to understand him. She turns towards me.

“Do you also have one?”

I shake my head. “Just the one. I have no idea what he’s saying right now. Hopefully only good things.”

Now there’s a twinkle in her eyes and I’m not sure I like where this is going.

“Tell me,” she starts, getting a little smile on her lips. “What are your intentions with my boy?”

“Mama!” I say, letting out an embarrassed groan. “Don’t ask him that! He’s very honest and he’ll actually tell you anything you ask him.”

“Well, I’d like to know. Is he here to stay? Is he stowing you away in the trunk of his spaceship and taking you away from me? These are things mothers should know, mijo!”

Gendry begins to speak and his eyebrows tell me he’s actually explaining everything to her in a very serious matter. Gendry knows when to be silly but when it comes to matters of the heart, he’s always very straightforward and serious. It’s one of the many things I adore about him. I just wish he wasn’t spilling his heart out to my mother on the first meeting.

Although, based on the look on her face, maybe Gendry always wearing his heart on his sleeve isn’t such a bad thing after all.

“Thank you for your honesty,” Mama says with a nod. She takes a bite of her food, chewing slowly. I dig into my own food as well, wanting to keep busy so my heart doesn’t explode from panic.

“Has he told you all our secrets?” Gendry snorts, shaking his head. “Okay, that’s good at least.”

“He said he cares about you a great deal but despite all the affection he has for you, he would never ask you to leave me behind to fend for myself. He says family is very important.”

“Oh,” is all I can manage to say. “That’s umm, that’s good.”

“Anything you’d like to add?”

I turn towards my mother. Clearing my throat I say, “I care about him a great deal as well, Mama. This is like nothing I’ve felt before.”

My mother reaches over to me, taking my hand in her own. “Long ago I’ve accepted that the future I saw for you was not the same future you would achieve. I wanted you to marry a beautiful woman but then you came out to me as gay. I wanted you to be a lawyer but then you told me, quite fiercely, that your passion was hair. I wanted you to marry a rich man,” she says, her eyes darting over to Gendry. “But now you’ve brought home an alien.” Mama finally gives me a grin. “What am I going to do with you, mijo?”

“Keep doing what you’ve always done.”

“Love you until you eventually ship me to a nursing home,” she says, nodding her head. Gendry asks something and Mama giggles. “A nursing home is a place where nurses are available around the clock to take care of people who have a hard time taking care of themselves.”

Gendry asks something else, his head tipping in that way I find incredibly adorable. Mama shakes her head.

“I would never ask Aldo to take care of me like that. That’s such a burden and he has his own life to worry about without me getting in the way.”

“Mama, you’re not a burden. Not ever.”

“Hush, Aldo, your giant boyfriend is trying to speak.”

I sputter. “Mama! He is not a giant!”

Mama cocks her brow at me. “Compared to you and I? Gendry is a giant, anyone can see that.” Then she tilts her head, looking between us. “It does make me question the logistics of--”

“Mama! Absolutely not! Don’t ask him or you might actually hear the answer of how.”

“Okay, okay,” she says, raising her hands and giggling to herself. “An old woman can’t have any fun anymore.” She turns towards Gendry, gesturing for him to speak. He says something that makes her chuckle. I look between them, shaking my head. Maybe introducing the two of them wasn’t such a good idea after all.

Lunch goes on without any hitches or concerns. Gendry and Mama get to know each other, the two of them grinning and chuckling while I’m left to hear a one sided conversation. I can’t wait until I can get a permanent implant like Gendry.

Well, you know, if I actually go to his home planet with him.

Who the fuck am I trying to kid? Of course I’m going with him. Seeing him interact with my mother has only made my feelings for him stronger!

Gendry stands up. I look up at him in question but it’s my mom who tells me he’s going to use the bathroom. Before he goes, he leans down and kisses the top of my head.

“That matching hair was a nice touch,” Mama says with a grin. My cheeks flame but all I do is roll my eyes at her.

“It wasn’t planned.”

“If you say so.” She reaches over and takes my hand again. “While he’s gone, I want to say something, just for you to hear.”

“Okay,” I say slowly, looking into my mother’s eyes. She’s the person I trust most in the world. My father died when I was really young so it’s my mother who’s done everything for me. It’s been the two of us against the world for as long as I remember. It hurt me so much to leave and get an apartment of my own but Mama wanted me to have independence. To go out and live my life.

I don’t want to leave her here.

“I love you, Aldo. I love you more than I have words to say. You are my son and nothing will ever change that.”

My heart clenches where it sits within my chest. “I love you too.”

“I know that,” she says with a soft smile. “I have seen you with other men. None of them were good enough for my boy. None of them looked at you like Gendry looks at you.”

“How does he look at me?”

“Like you’re the reason the sun rises every morning. He loves you, mijo. I’ll admit, the fact that he’s purple really threw me off, but I can see you make each other happy.”

I swallow around the lump in my throat. “Mama?”

“I want you to go with him, when the time comes. You should experience everything life has to offer you. What’s that saying your cousin is always spewing? Right, umm, live life balls to the wall.”

“Oh my god,” I blurt out, a surprise laugh bursting out of me and stopping the tears threatening to fall. “Mama!”

“Don’t hold yourself back, Aldo.”

“How can you know all this from just one meeting? Huh?”

“I have intuition like no one else. I can just tell. Trust me.”

I squeeze Mama’s hands. “Mama? Would you consider coming with us? I’m sure we could have a nice home there, something with a suite connected to us so you don’t have to be far. Please?”

“I’ll think about it. I might be getting too old for space travel.”

Gendry says something as he walks into the room from the bathroom. He raises his brow at me, making sure I’m okay. I nod my head and turn towards Mama.

“He says I’m not too old for anything. He really is a keeper, Aldo, he knows when to flatter his elders.”

Gendry chuckles and I can’t help but mirror the noise. The two of us stay for coffee and dessert with my mother before finally piling back into the car and heading back home. There’s so many things swirling around inside my head but the biggest thing is a brand new certainty I didn’t have before I came here.

I should have known talking to my mother would help, it always does. When the time comes, I’m going to go with Gendry back to Deltourah . I’m going to live with him there. I’m going to be his matron and everything that comes with it because I can’t go back to life before Gendry was here.

He’s it for me and instead of feeling scared of that realization, I feel liberated.

“Everything okay, delgando?”

I have no idea what that word means but it makes my chest flutter with butterflies. “Everything is perfect.”