"I still don't understand why we need a proper affair like this to meet Feliciano's friend," stepfather said, straightening his ascot. "Feliciano, don't you have many other friends? What makes this one special?"
Eliza and me glanced at each other. She was wearing a nice dress and I was wearing a sports jacket and slacks that I saved for nice restaurants and stuff.
"Well—" Eliza started hesitantly, but she was interrupted by knocking from the front door.
"He's here!" I exclaimed happily. I hurried to the door and flung it open to see Ludwig. He was dressed in an outfit a lot like mine, except mine was dark blue and his was dark green.
"Hi," I said, moving aside to let him in. As he took off his shoes and placed them on the shoe rack, I continued, "I'm glad you made it!"
He smiled. "So am I. I wouldn't want to miss meeting your family."
I grinned and led him to the dining area. Eliza was setting out bowls of beef soup around the table as stepfather sat down. I was about to sit down, but then I quickly got up and pulled out Ludwig's chair for him. He smiled and nodded in thanks and sat down. Eliza and I sat down.
"Thank you for dinner," I said to Eliza like I always did.
"Thank you, Mrs. Edelstein," Ludwig said politely.
Eliza smiled and looked like she was about to say something, but then she glanced at stepfather and apparently decided not to say anything.
"Thank you, Elizabeth," stepfather said. He started on his meal and we all dug in as well.
"So, Ludwig," stepfather said. "It's nice to meet you."
Ludwig quickly swallowed his soup and nodded. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Edelstein."
Stepfather seemed impressed by his manners. "Feliciano," he said, turning to me, "is there any particular reason why you wanted all of us to dine with him?"
My eyes flicked to Eliza, who was looking nervous. Ludwig glanced at me and furrowed his brow slightly—he didn't know that I hadn't told stepfather yet.
"I . . ."
Surely he would accept it? I was his stepson!
I took a deep breath.
"He's my boyfriend."
For a minute there was dead silence. Stepfather's expression was complete shock at first. But soon, it turned to thoughtfulness, and then apparent understanding.
"I see," he said, smiling slightly. "I'm not sure that quite explains it, but if you two are that close . . ."
I smiled brightly. Eliza seemed torn between confusion and relief.
"Well then," stepfather said, returning to his meal. "Ludwig, do you have any hobbies? What do you do for work?"
"I don't have many hobbies," Ludwig admitted. "I enjoy baking—"
"He's really good at it," I said, smiling. Ludwig glanced over and smiled.
"Feliciano," stepfather snapped. "Manners. Don't interrupt."
"Sorry."
"It's fine," Ludwig said quickly. "I enjoy baking. As for work, I have a part-time job on the weekends at IKEA doing manual labor."
Stepfather nodded. "That sounds like a tough job." He glanced at me with a frown. "Feliciano, you should take after his example."
"Roderich," Eliza hissed.
"I can try to find a job this summer," I said, shrinking under his stare.
"You're—you're an amazing painter," Ludwig said. "I bet anything people would be willing to buy your artwork."
I perked up. "You think so?"
Stepfather raised an eyebrow. "Painting isn't work," he said dismissively.
"With all due respect, Mr. Edelstein," Ludwig said, "I took painting last year with Feli, and it was my hardest class. In any case, I believe that anything you do regularly and get paid for can be considered a job."
"If you say so," stepfather sniffed.
Eliza smiled sympathetically at Ludwig and me and raised an eyebrow at stepfather when he wasn't looking. Ludwig smiled nervously and I nodded.
The rest of the evening passed without much more conversation.
Ludwig's time to leave came all too quickly.
"I should be going," he said, standing. "Mr. and Mrs. Edelstein, thank you for having me here, and thank you for the lovely meal."
"It was so nice to meet you," Eliza said, taking both his hands briefly and smiling.
Stepfather shook hands with him. "It was nice to meet you, Ludwig."
"It was very nice to meet you two," Ludwig said formally. "I hope I'll see you again."
"I'll see you out," I said, jumping to my feet. I walked with him to the front door, waited 'til he got his shoes on, then walked with him to his car.
"That went well," he said.
"I'm so glad stepfather's okay with us dating!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah," he said, smiling. "With what you told me about him, I didn't think he would take it that well."
I grinned. "Well, we don't have to hide it! So that's good!"
He nodded. "Feli, thanks for having me over."
We hugged and kissed. After that he got in his car and drove away. I watched him go before heading back inside.
As I went back to the kitchen to help Eliza with the dishes, I heard stepfather say, "Ludwig is a very nice young man, isn't he?"
I hesitated, then stopped just before the corner and quietly listened in.
"He is," Eliza said warmly. "I'm so glad you took that well, Roderich."
"Took what well?"
"You know—" she hesitated. "That they're . . . boyfriends."
"Oh! Well, yes, I was surprised—but it was only a matter of time. After all, you ladies use that kind of thing with yourselves all the time, don't you?"
". . . What?"
"You say things like, 'I'm going out with my girlfriends,' or 'My girlfriends and I are going out Saturday—' Things like that. I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising that young men have started using 'boyfriend' in the same way."
Silence.
"Yes," Eliza said at last. "Yes, it's not too surprising."
"But I'm not sure Ludwig is a good influence on Feliciano," stepfather continued.
"Roderich, you said Feliciano should take his example—"
"Oh, yes," stepfather said, interrupting her. "Yes, in that way, certainly. Ludwig is a hardworking young man, and if Feliciano doesn't become a musician—now there's art which requires work!—I would love for him to take after Ludwig in responsibility. However . . ."
I could hear the frown in his voice.
"I don't like the way Ludwig looked at my stepson," he said. "Like a—homosexual."
He said it as if it was a swear word.
"I don't want Feliciano to be influenced like that," he continued. "He should be a nice, upstanding young man. Ludwig seems nice enough, but the way he looked at Feliciano . . . it rang of a bad upbringing."
Silence.
"Don't you agree?"
". . . Of course," Eliza said softly. "I can tell Feliciano about it later."
"Thank you, Elizabeth."
I stared up at the ceiling.