Arthur Sakho

"Don't be nervous," I said to Trevon as we pulled up to my family house.

"I'm not nervous," he said, but clearly he was.

"My family is going to love you," I said.

"Yeah," he said, but his smile was strained. I was probably going to be the same next week when I meet his family. I had more reason to be nervous though. I had to meet his grandpa. He didn't have to meet any of my grandparents.

"Ready to go in?"

He nodded a little too energetically with that same plastered, fake smile. Before we could exit, his phone rang and he sighed audibly with relief. He didn't even look to see who was calling before he answered it.

"Hello."

There was a pause while he listened to whoever was on the line. "Sure. No problem. How much do you want?" Another pause. "Is that all? I can give you more. Alright. What are you going to get them?"

That was when I realized he was stalling. I nudged his leg. His handsome eyes turned to me. He knew I had caught him.

"Alright," he said. "Send me your account number. I'll transfer the money. No need to pay me back. You can consider it my Christmas present to you. Okay. Bye."

He hung up. I raised an eyebrow at him waiting for him to explain to me what that was all about.

"That was Vinny," he said. "He hasn't found a job yet. I don't know why." I had praised him whenever employers had called me for a reference. Vincent had always done well in school. He had always stayed out of trouble. And when he had worked at his family's factory, he had done a great job. He hadn't slacked off because he was family. "He wants to get presents for Chet and his family. I told him before that I would give him money. He was asking to borrow some so he could get them presents for Christmas."

"I see," I said. "You're a good friend."

His smile was genuine at this. "Let's go inside," I said. His smile faded as I opened the car door. We got out. He trailed a step behind me as we walked up to the house. I clasped his hand in mine. The foyer was empty when we walked inside. I could hear women talking further in the house, but couldn't make out words.

"I'm home," I called out.

Footsteps ran across the floor upstairs and then down the stairs. Eva sprang into view and threw her arms around my neck in a tight hug.

"Arty," she greeted.

"Hi, Eva," I replied.

She pulled away and looked Trevon up and down. His eyes darted to me not sure what he should do under my sister's scrutiny.

"You're even more handsome in person," she said. Then she threw her arms around him. "Welcome to the family."

I pried her arms off him.

"Thank you," Trevon said. "It's nice to meet you."

"My turn," my mom said. I wasn't sure when she arrived, but she was now standing behind Eva. Eva stepped aside and my mom pulled Trevon in a tight hug. "Welcome," she said to him.

"Thank you," Trevon said.

"Mama, are you just going to ignore me?" I asked.

My mom smiled at me. "Of course not," she pinched my cheek before she hugged me. It was warm and safe and everything a hug from your mother should be.

"Did I hear Arty?" my dad asked as he came into the foyer followed by David. My dad was headed my way to hug me, but as soon as he saw Trevon he changed direction and hugged him instead. A great, big bear hug that caused a burst of air to rush out of Trevon's lungs. So David hugged me first instead.

"Welcome, welcome," my dad said as he let go of Trevon.

"Thank you," Trevon said.

"I'm David," David said and extended a hand in greeting to Trevon. He was the first one to greet him normally.

"Trevon," Trevon said as he shook my brother's hand. "It is nice to meet you."

"Well, come on," my dad said and threw an arm around Trevon's shoulders even though Trevon was taller than him and so now my dad was tilted at a weird angle. "You can help me and David in the garage."

"Dad," David said, "I'm sure he doesn't want to work on building your wooden crate that you don't need and I have no idea why you are making it."

"It's fun, David," my dad said. I followed them as they started to the garage. "It builds character."

"It builds bruises and cuts," David said and pointed to the large bruise on the back of my dad's hand. I wondered briefly how he got it, but didn't care enough to ask. He probably hammered it be accident.

"You're coming too, right?" Trevon asked me over his shoulder.

I scoffed. "There is no way I'm going into my dad's garage. Have fun," I waved to him as my dad pulled him into the garage followed by David who shut the door behind them.

"You can help us make dinner then," Eva said. "We were just going to get started."

So I helped them make a chicken, rice, broccoli cheese dish, salad, rolls and steamed vegetables. Any chance I got, I went and listened at the door of the garage. My dad must have asked him about his major because Trevon was talking about astronomy the first time I listened. The second time I listened, my dad was trying to teach Trevon about the proper way to hold a hammer and David was refuting my dad saying Trevon was holding it correctly. The third time I listened, the three of them were laughing at something. I had no idea what they were laughing about, but it warmed my soul and made me smile.

Marie showed up not long after. She surprised me when she went into the garage to introduce herself to Trevon. None of us except David and Joseph usually went into the garage. David and Joseph would have avoided it too if they could have, but someone had to be in there to look after dad and those two at least knew what they were doing.

Joseph and Jade didn't show up until dinner was on the table. Lizzy had to work, but she would meet Trevon when we had our Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve.

"Uncle Arty!" Jade let go of her dad's hand and ran to me. I scooped her up and hugged her.

"Did you miss me?" I asked.

"Yes," she said and kissed my cheek then her arms circled around my neck and squeezed tightly while her little cheek touched mine.

"I missed you too," I said to her.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Trevon," Joseph extended a hand to my boyfriend. Trevon shook it.

"You too."

"Do you want to meet my boyfriend, Jade?" I asked.

She peeked at Trevon shyly.

"Hi," Trevon said to her. She buried her head in my shoulder.

"She must think you're handsome," Joseph said. "She only acts shy around men she thinks are handsome." Jade scowled at him and the rest of us laughed.

"Let's eat," my mom said.

We all sat around the table. Trevon of course sat next to me. He was more at ease than when we first arrived. He told my mom he read all of her books and she gave him a brief synopsis of what her next book was going to be about. He answered my family's questions and even joked with David a bit. I wasn't jealous about that. Ok. I was a little. But Trevon was mine and that was all that mattered. And as I far as I knew, David was straight.

Jade left her place by her dad and came and sat on my lap. Trevon smiled at her and offered her his roll. She smiled shyly at him and took it. After a few minutes she moved from my lap to his and fed him the roll. It was a little bit of a turn on seeing how well he interacted with my niece and my family.

When dinner was over and everyone who didn't live there had gone home, Trevon and I went back out to the car to get our bags.

"I like your family," he said.

"They are nice," I said.

He smiled and pulled his bag out of the trunk. Then he got my bag out of the trunk and swung it over his other shoulder. As if he couldn't get any hotter.

"What?" he asked. I had no idea what expression I wore on my face for him to ask that, but I walked up close to him. He didn't back away, just stared at me. I connected our lips in a chaste kiss before I pulled away.

I led him up the stairs and into my bedroom.

"Your parents are really okay with us being in the same room?" he asked.

"Yep," I said. I took my bag from him and dropped it onto the floor then I did the same with his bag.

"What are you...?" but before he could finish his question I kissed him again. This time it was not a chaste kiss. Our lips moved together, tongues entwined, bodies heated. I pushed him back until he fell back onto the bed. His eyes darted to the closed bedroom door as I climbed on top of him. I kissed down his neck while my hands slipped under his shirt to touch his skin.

"Wait," he murmured, but his arms came around my waist.

I kissed along his jaw until our mouths connected again. My hands trailed under his shirt and traced his muscles. His hands slipped under the hem of my shirt and skirted up my back.

"Wait," he said again. He rolled over so he now hovered over me. I started to wrap my arms around his neck to pull him close, but he got off me. I pouted. "Art," he said. "We shouldn't do this here. You are not quiet."

"I can be quiet," I said and tried to pull him to me again, but he stepped back.

"You say that now, but in the heat of the moment, you are not going to be quiet. It's one thing if it's our neighbors. It's another thing entirely when it's your family."

"So we can't have sex at all the entire week that we're here?"

He thought about it. He clearly did not like the idea as much as I didn't.

"I guess there is a possibility if no one else is in the house or if we can find somewhere else to do it, but not where your family is close by."

I sighed. "Fine. What about when we are at your house?"

"No," he said. "I don't want them to hear either. My sisters will never let me hear the end of it."

"Do you really expect me to go without sex for two weeks?" I asked.

"We'll work it in somewhere," he said.

"We better," I said in a stern tone, but it just made him smile. He sat next to me on the bed and took my hand in his. His thumb lightly rubbed over the back of my hand.

"You were so hot holding Jade," I said.

He smirked. "Really?"

I nodded. "Do you want kids someday?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I've never thought about it much. I guess it was always in the back of my mind that I would get married and have kids someday, but it isn't a necessity. It isn't something I've put a lot of thought into and longed after. Do you want kids?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. It would be hard to have the time for kids if I'm going to dance in New York. Maybe eventually. Maybe after I retire, but then I might just want to relax and not worry about kids either." I paused as I looked at his handsome face. "But, after seeing you with Jade, I might reconsider."

He smiled wide at this. "Maybe someday," he said. "But it's not something we have to seriously ponder for awhile. School first, then careers and then we'll see what happens."

I nodded and put my head on his shoulder. I loved him more than I had loved anyone. I couldn't imagine us ever being apart.