Chapter 37- Meet the Semples
"Mmmm, can we just play hooky all day? I don't want to get out of bed," she mumbled.
Robert smiled.
"Yeah, I know, your sheets are so soft," he exhaled and spooned closer to her.
"Oh! that's what you like about my bed," she smirked.
"No, I think it's also the good mattress, and you know what I'd rather do with you all day." He kissed her temple. "Messing the sheets all day but you know what we've got to do today."
"Oh no, please!" She turned her head into her pillow.
"Let's pick this up this evening, we'll have all night, I'm only leaving tomorrow."
"That's the reason why we have to stay, I don't see why we're wasting our day together to see your family."
"Are you saying my parents are not worth meeting?" He whispered in her ear still trying to make her look back at him.
"No, but I need my alone time with you more than they need to meet me."
"You're so cute when you're irrational."
The worst thing was that she knew he totally meant it. Since they had been roommates, he never had been judgmental about her Gilmore ways, he just put up with them in the most natural way: the pro/con lists, her coffee and sugar addictions, the sticky notes everywhere. She just could be herself and he even seemed to like it.
Despite what Robert would say, Rory was nervous to meet his family for the first time. She had delayed this moment for a while, but this time, Robert told her that he couldn't ditch his mother's invitation anymore and anyway it was ridiculous. As the weather was nice and that they only lived a few blocks away, they walked to the Semple family residence.
"I don't understand why you don't believe me, my parents are really very nice people, nothing to do with the Huntzbergers. I promise you it's gonna be fine and I'm sure they are going to love you." He kissed her on the forehead and held her waist.
"It's just a barbecue party with my close family and if you really feel too uncomfortable just give a sign and we'll go back home. Aren't you curious to meet my siblings? Don't be ridiculous Ror, I thought Steph talked to you about them?"
"She did."
"And? Did she say something that would scare you?"
"She said that your brother used to hit on her when he was at Yale."
Robert laughed.
"He did, but that doesn't make him a bad guy, and he won't hit on you because if he does, he knows that I would kill him. Besides my brother, what did she say?"
"That your mother was a sweetheart and that your father likes to cook."
"See, next time you will beg to go visit them. Here we are."
They stopped in front of a beautiful brownstone. Robert rang the bell and held Rory tight. The door opened and a grey-haired man wearing jeans, a dark blue polo shirt and a red apron with Robert's eyes smiled at them. She could picture how Robert would look in thirty years and thought that they could patent their icy blue gaze.
"Honey! Robert is here! Welcome, Rory, I'm really happy to finally meet you, I've heard so much about you." Henri took her hand with his and shook vigorously.
"Hello Mr. Semple, nice to meet you too."
"Oh! Please call me Henri."
A tall grey-haired smiling woman in a summer dress arrived.
"Come in, kids. Henri, don't leave them outside." She pushed him aside and gestured to show them inside. "Rory, you're even prettier than what Robert said. Can I hug you?" Without waiting for her answer, Lydia hugged her warmly. Rory blushed and didn't even have time to reply.
"And please call me Lydia, all my children's friends do it." They're really are nothing like the Huntzbergers. "Robert darling, just take Rory to the patio and offer her a drink, I'll be right there with you."
They followed his father outside where Robert's siblings were already there. A woman in her thirties was setting the table, probably his eldest sister. In the backyard, a black man was playing with a toddler. She barely had the time to scan the place before a handsome man stood in front of her.
"Now I understand why he hid you for so long. How come I haven't seen you at Yale?"
She laughed and extended her hand. "You must be Charles, Steph warned me about you."
He tsked. "Follow my number one rule, never trust what a beautiful blonde says, they always lead you to trouble."
He was definitely the charmer that Steph had described. A bouncy young woman slid between Charles and Rory.
"Hey, I'm Aubrey, the little sister. I'm so happy to finally meet you." She had his mother's smile and warmth.
"Nice to meet you, Aubrey, I really liked what you did with all Robert's apartment."
"I like her, Robert, try to keep this one."
Robert shook his head, it was going to be a tough family day.
"Rory, this is my older sister Nathalie, her husband Will and their little Matt."
Charles handled her a glass of wine and they all gathered around Rory, bombarding her with questions. She was amazed how friendly they were, just as if they already knew her and she realized that apparently, Robert had talked a lot about her to his family.
"I can't believe none of you took time to say anything to me, it's all about Rory," Robert pouted. His father guffawed.
"That's because you hid her for so long, we thought she only was an imaginary girlfriend. So, Rory, how is Robert treating you? If you have any complaints, don't hesitate to tell me, I know his manners can be a little rough, he's not used to be with women."
Rory laughed, parents were all good at making their kids feel uncomfortable. Robert was usually very together, but she noticed that with his parents, he was jittery and slightly peeved.
"Are we talking about the same Robert?" She asked.
"I cannot believe it!" Robert rolled his eyes.
"Yes, the Robert Semple who is teaching at Harvard. Did you know that he was designated one of the most eligible bachelors in Boston?"
"Oh! I do know that, and I made sure he wouldn't be nominated the following year."
"Well played, Rory," Nathalie said. She liked how her baby brother looked so happy.
While the afternoon was going on smoothly, Rory noticed that besides his physique, Robert inherited his laid-back attitude from Henri. She thought she was witnessing cloning. Charles also got his father's eyes, but definitely the maternal smile. For the first time, she wondered if they had children together, how they would look.
Robert brought the plates in the kitchen where his mother was preparing dessert.
"I like her," his mother smiled gently at him and locked eye with her son.
"Join the club," the edge of his mouth upturned.
"She's a keeper, how do you plan to end the long distance?"
"I applied for a tenure position at Columbia."
"Hope you'll get it, I'm happy for you, and then you'll be back in the city."
Robert checked that everybody was outside.
"Mom, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure honey. Can you grab the plates of tuiles aux amandes on the counter?"
"Oh! You made them?" They were his favorite French biscuits.
"I did, I had to make a good impression on the first girlfriend you've brought home in what? 20 years?"
He smiled at his mother and mustered the courage to ask her for advice.
"How do I know that what I'm feeling is love?"
Lydia stared at her son. From her four kids, he was never the one asking personal questions much less about feelings. She had already sensed that he was serious with Rory, but it seemed that it was even more than that. She put down the tray and smiled at him.
"Honey, love is hard to determine. In the beginning, you can sometimes mistake it with infatuation, or the desire of companionship, or even lust. I only met it once, so I'm not an expert. I can only tell you how I knew, I just felt it. It was different than with the guys I'd been before your father. The first weeks we'd been together, I wanted him to connect with all the people in my life, I wanted to spend all my time with him, and I know now that he reciprocated these feelings. Progressively, our lives became intertwined and without noticing it, we began to think of ourselves not as separate individuals but as a couple. We turned out to be an "us". And then, we started to share our dreams, our fears, our goals, our past, our future. At some point, your father who always was a very secretive person felt he could share with me his deepest secrets that he had never told anyone before."
Robert listened carefully to his mother. Aside from the last part, everything was exactly what he was experiencing in his relationship. He was sure of his feelings, but it dawned him that he had now to mature and be able to share with Rory his own secrets. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, Geez, he had even thought to change so that she would be his emergency contact person. He just had this last guard that he couldn't let down fearing that all the sorrow and the lost feelings would invade him again. He knew he was still fragile concerning Antoine's death. He had buried those feelings for so long, hid them from his Yale friends. At that time, he thought it was the right way to be able to move on. He was starting a new life in Harvard, Steph was in New York, the guys were still at Yale, what was the point telling them? He just thought it was much easier to shove all this aside. Anyway, stateside, only his family knew Antoine and how close they were to each other, so whenever he needed to talk about it, he just went back to them. His mother had once mentioned that he could maybe share the story with Finn when they were both living in Boston, and he almost did several times but always backed out at the last second.
Aubrey burst into the kitchen and immediately saw that her mother just had a serious conversation with her brother. Robert had his lost gaze that she knew so well and she walked to him to squeeze his arm.
"Hey guys, do you need any help? Bro, if you don't come back soon your lovely girlfriend will switch to Charly, he's seriously trying to charm the pants off her, you know how he can't help it."
Robert shook his head and grabbed the biscuit plate to go save Rory from his brother's claws.
She had a very good time with the Semples and couldn't help smiling while they were walking back to her apartment.
Her mother had always pointed out the downsides of society. Meeting the Semples showed her a brand new vision of this world, that they were people living in it perfectly happy without being snobbish, pretentious and smug. Though Robert's family were typical WASPs just like the Haydens or the Hunztbergers, they were nothing like each other. Was it because they were from New York and not Connecticut? Even if she had read in the New York Times a few years ago that WASP families influence on America was declining, they still did represent the old American elite. Nevertheless, the Semples were different. In a strange way, they had managed to live with the harms and the goods and turn all that to their advantage. How did they do that? She now understood where Robert's ease in every situation was coming from. He had this quality to adapt to the environment and never be out of place. She guessed it was one of the reasons the Democratic Party wanted him to run. Now that she had met his family, she knew where it was coming from.
His parents were incredible people, the most open-minded she had ever met. She couldn't believe that Henri was the CEO of one of the most (if not the most) important venture capital firm in the country and yet never talked shop during the whole meal, and he joked with his family while handling the barbecue. She was also amazed how cultured they were. It was not as if they were throwing names or quotes constantly during the conversation, but more with their ability to straighten their arguments with the perfect example. In particular, his mother always had the wittiest comments, Lorelai could definitely love her. And yet, everything was natural and simple there. Even their house interior design was different, there were major paintings on the wall like in the Huntzberger mansion, but she didn't feel it was crushing the atmosphere, it was just the right place. Steph was right, they were just good people, even Charles.
"My parents are quite taken with you, you know," Robert says while they were approaching her apartment
"They are?"
"Why wouldn't they be? They are able to recognize amazing people, and you, Miss Gilmore, are the most extraordinary woman on this continent."
"Oh, I've been downgraded to the continent, you used to say on earth."
"That, my dear, is because you haven't kissed me in the last hour," he smirked.
She turned to him, put her arms around his neck and kissed him with all her heart. She was the happiest girlfriend of the Universe and this wonderful man will get her undivided attention this evening.
A/N: Your last reviews gave me the energy to write this chapter faster than usual and as I won't be able to work on this story for at least a week, I chose to share it with you sooner than usual. I only could do that thanks to the lovely Anonymousgg who edited in no time.