Chapter Forty Two-Meet the Parents

The next day I called my sister to advise her that I would be bringing a guest to Christmas dinner out in Tsawwassen. She was not only surprised but ecstatic at the news. She weaseled the info about Glorfindel out of me and told me how happy she was for me. I told her not to say anything to the rest of the family as I wanted it to be a surprise, and she said I was stressing her out because how do you keep a secret like that? I told her if she could keep the secret about my folk's fiftieth wedding anniversary surprise party, she could do this. She promised to do her best, but she had to tell Tony, her husband. I agreed and confirmed the time and what I was to bring for dinner.

It felt weird to call Glorfindel 'Finn', but I couldn't afford to let the cat out of the bag as it were. Part of me began to get excited about introducing him to my family. The other part of me felt a wee bit of trepidation about the whole thing. How was I to explain the sudden turnaround in mood? How was I to explain how Glorfindel and I met? The sudden 'engagement'? I sat down on Glorfindel's couch with the fire going strong, and wracked my brain for plausible excuses.

Glorfindel came into the room with a couple of mugs balanced in his hands. Sitting down beside me, he put the mugs down on the coffee table in front of us.

"Here. Drink this. It's cocoa. Rather good, if I must say. Why didn't you explain chocolate more to me? Had I known it was this good, I would've tried it much sooner. As it was, I didn't discover it until I had been here for nearly three months," he picked up a mug and waved it under my nose.

I looked into the steaming mug and saw mini-marshmallows floating on top of the creamy chocolate goodness. Taking a sip I said, "We have bigger issues to deal with. For instance, what do we tell my family? About you I mean. How do we explain how we met, our engagement, my sudden mood change? I'm not terribly emotional to begin with, but having me go from being in a depression to being happy as a clam is a little suspicious, don't you think?"

Glorfindel tipped his head in thought, "I think if I tell them we met a year ago, became friends and it blossomed just recently, they would understand."

"And the engagement?" I took another sip of the cocoa.

"We can avoid telling them until the New Year. I can wait to make our marriage official, even though I'd like to do it right away," he rationalized.

"Okay. That might work. Now about my mood change. I'm not a bi-polar personality, so how do we explain my sudden change?" I stroked his thigh with my free hand.

"I will have to think on that one," he put his mug down and took mine away from me as well. "I have something else on my mind right now," he leaned in and kissed me gently and then more intensely.

I shifted closer to him and slid my hands under his sweater, stroking his warm skin. Glorfindel pulled me down, laying my head gently on the couch, as he climbed on top of me and shifted my legs apart so he could kneel between them. His body pressed against mine and I could feel his growing erection pressing against my thigh. I parted my legs farther and slid my crotch under his hardness. Glorfindel groaned and tilted his pelvis to press harder against me and I responded by thrusting my hips up. His hands wandered under my shirt and wriggled up my back to undo my bra. I felt the brush of fingers over my nipple and I arched my back, pressing my body harder against his. Glorfindel reached down and undid my jeans as I lifted my hips to help him get my jeans off. With my pants down by my ankles, I felt his fingers slip the crotch of my panties to the side as he wriggled a finger between my nether lips. A moan escaped my lips as I felt his digit stroke my bud and dip inside me. Glorfindel placed kisses in a trail down my body until he reached my mons. Pulling my underwear aside, he pushed his face between the apex of my thighs and started to suck on my bud while his fingers stroked my deep inside. It didn't take long to reach my climax. While I was recovering from the rush of sensations, Glorfindel had pulled my panties down past my knees and shoved his pants and shorts down far enough to expose himself to me. He lined himself up with my body and opened me to allow him entrance. The feeling of him sliding into me sent ripples of pleasure through my body, like an aftershock from a cataclysmic event. Glorfindel began to thrust in a regular rhythm, and I shoved my hips up to meet every lunge. I kissed every bit of skin that came into range of my lips. Glorfindel caught a nipple in his lips and sucked it into the tightest nub that pulsed with every swirl of his tongue. I felt the rise of another climax as I listened to Glorfindel grunt hard and felt him thrust faster. The rhythm of my hips became erratic as I crested and fell into orgasm. Glorfindel cried out and his thrusts became irregular as he climaxed inside me. My body still shook with small tremors as he fell on top of me, breathing in choppy gasps. My feet were still encased in my jeans, and my left leg could only flop uselessly over the side of the couch, unable to move any farther.

Once Glorfindel had regained his composure, he pulled himself off of me and helped me back into a sitting position. I felt a gurgle between my legs and a little fluid seeped out onto the cloth of the couch.

"Oh, oh, I'm getting your couch mucky," I stood up and put my hand between my legs.

"Don't worry about it. It will clean up. Sit down and let me hold you," Glorfindel pulled me back down and curled up beside me.

I felt a little awkward with my jeans and panties tangled around my ankles, so I yanked them back up over my backside and scooted back up on the couch near Glorfindel. We cuddled for a while, and I contemplated how it seemed odd to be cuddling with a guy. Sure it was Glorfindel, who was an elf now turned human, but all my experiences with Earthly males did not include cuddlers. I had married a cuddler, and I loved being with him like that, but I still found it oddly amusing.

The week flew by quickly, as I moved out of my apartment and into Glorfindel's home. I would lose a month's rent on my place, but I considered it money well spent as I now was reunited with the man I loved. Glorfindel remarked repeatedly on the great number of books I had, and I reminded him that my intellect was part of why he loved me. He huffed under his breath on how I should've married Erestor, as we had so much in common. I knew he was kidding. Erestor! Really. Intellect was the only thing we had in common.

Finally Monday arrived and we bundled up our bodies and promised foodstuffs, and drove out to my sister's.

Cathie opened the front door upon our arrival and called for Tony to come out and help. Tony had a gleeful look on his face as he greeted Glorfindel.

"Finn! Good to meet ya. I'm Tony, and that's Cathie over there. Welcome and Merry Christmas!" he slapped Glorfindel's back in a friendly greeting.

Glorfindel laughed and patted Tony's back in return, "It is good to meet you Tony. I've heard so much about you."

Tony looked nervous for a split second, "All good I hope?"

"Yeah Tony, I've been spilling all your dirty secrets. Like how you enjoy fixing the house up and going waterskiing every chance you get," I grinned.

Tony gave his trademark short laugh and took some of our parcels and brought them inside the house.

Everyone was there already. My Dad came down the stairs from the living room and held his arms wide open. "Hello, hello! And you must be Finn!" he walked up to Finn, and shook his only free hand, "It is good to meet you. Here let me take that from you so you can get your jacket off." Dad took the tray of food we had brought and a couple of gift bags and climbed back up the stairs.

We took off our jackets and shed our shoes before we climbed the short steps to the living and dining room. My twin brother was sitting by the fireplace with his son on his lap, and his wife sitting on the couch near him. He looked Finn over and grinned. My older brother John, gave a mellow, "Hey, howsit goin'?" before he returned his attention to his Caesar.

My eldest niece slipped up beside me and whispered, "Nice one Karyn. He's a keeper."

Cathie popped her head out of the kitchen and asked, "Finn, I'm just making up some G & T's, do you want anything?"

"Oh, wine if you have it," he politely replied.

Tony entered the kitchen and laughed, "We could open a liquor store here. Whaddalya have? Red? White?"

"Uh, red please," Finn took my hand, "What do you feel like Karyn?"

"Tone, can you pour me a Coke?" I asked.

"It's in the fridge," he pointed and then laughed at my chagrined look, "Did you really expect me to get it for you? C'mon, you're not a guest, you're family."

I walked over to the fridge and took out the bottle of Coke and poured myself a small glass. I was going to be the designated driver, so I steered clear of all temptations. Tony handed Glorfindel a glass of Pinot Noir from the Okanagan's Mission Hill winery. I approved the choice. Dad must've brought it. We moved back into the living room and my twin brother got up and walked over to me. Glorfindel was pulled down to sit with my eldest nephew and his new wife. Chris sidled up beside me and leaned into my ear.

"He's nice. Don't screw it up," he whispered.

I poked him in the ribs and said sarcastically, "Thanks. Because I need your approval to be with Finn, right?"

Chris laughed and moved away from me and sat down on the floor by his wife.

Dinner was a great success. Glorfindel acquitted himself well. Everyone laughed at his jokes and plagued him with oodles of questions, which he answered patiently. We had worked out a story that we had met through mutual friends and had been friendly for a while before it had become something more. I told Glorfindel to say that my friend Anne and her live-in boyfriend Sam were the ones to thank for our meeting. I said to say that Sam and he had met during the course of his work and had become friends, as Sam was a big environmentalist, working for the Sierra Legal Defence Fund. I figured it would be a logical leap for everyone to accept. My Mom and Dad looked supremely pleased when they found out Glorfindel was a partner in an environmental consulting company. I don't think it had anything to do with being environmentally responsible, but more to do with being fiscally solvent. My sister looked like she was going to choke on her wine when she found out that Glorfindel owned his own home in Arbutus. Cathie loves the old homes in that area, so when she found out his house was almost 95 years old, she was salivating. John didn't care too much about Glorfindel's job or house, but he did perk up when Glorfindel told him that his company kept season tickets for the Canucks. My Mom loved that too. She's a rabid Canucks fan and Glorfindel told her he would take her after the New Year. John managed to finagle an invite too. I told him to take Dad along, so they would all have fun together.

All night long my family kept giving me little thumbs up and big grins to show how pleased they were for me. By the end of the evening, Glorfindel had won my family over and I knew if we announced our engagement in the New Year, we wouldn't have any problems as my family would be ecstatic. The drive back home was quiet, with the occasional giggle from me and quiet chuckles from Glorfindel. Just as we were crossing the Oak Street Bridge, we simultaneously cracked up. I had been thinking about how Chris was grilling Glorfindel on his sports team preferences and Glorfindel kept saying he wasn't really sports minded, but enjoyed watching a well-played game. Chris was sure Glorfindel was hiding some secret affinity for Toronto and Glorfindel was trying to steer Chris off the topic, as he really didn't watch sports. I asked Glorfindel what he was laughing about, and he said he was remembering how my family were being less-than-subtle in expressing their approval of him. I said it wasn't him; it was that I hadn't brought home a loser and they thought they had a chance of actually marrying me off. Glorfindel had laughed and asked if I brought home losers often, and I explained I had only brought home two guys, but when I dumped them, my family closed ranks and said they weren't good enough for me and I could do better. My family is an odd mixture of protective and insulting. They will gather the troops when there is trouble, but then insult you to high heaven when things are fine.

The next day I got phone calls from everyone, saying how they loved meeting Finn and when was I going to do the right thing and settle down. Mostly my mother was asking about the state of my marital status. She had gotten wind of my living-in-sin situation and instead of confronting me teary-eyed in the kitchen to demand evidence of my virginity like she had with Lisa, my sister-in-law; she just called the next day to guilt me into admitting I was going to marry like a proper girl would. I said it had not been discussed, but not to lose sleep over the situation as I had it under control. My Mom can be rather dramatic when she feels someone is being 'immoral', so I played down my sexual status and emphasised how much Finn liked her and how he was pleased that she would accompany him to a Canucks game. Mom wanted to grill me a little more, but my call waiting buzzed on my cell and I had to say goodbye. Not a moment too soon I felt, but then I was confronted by Chris in a verbal barrage on how I needed to 'land this fish' before he got away, and when on God's green earth was I going to make an honest woman of myself? I had to talk him down from his almost-hysteria and assure him that patience was a virtue, and shouldn't he relax as it would all sort itself out. Chris was partially assuaged, but hung up with a parting shot saying how guys like Finn didn't grow on trees and I had better get on the ball. He always did mix his metaphors.

When I had hung up on the final call from my sister Cathie, I turned to Glorfindel and let out a huge sigh.

"What was that for?" he asked as he came up to me and rubbed my neck.

"I think we need to announce our engagement on New Year's Day at the family dinner, or I'll get clobbered then too," I informed him.

Glorfindel chuckled and led me into the living room and sat me down on the couch. "We will announce it at the New Year's Day dinner and then perhaps that will ease your family's minds. I think then we could plan for a Spring wedding, hmmm?" he ran his fingers through my hair.

"That sounds fabulous. Something simple. Of course with my family, you never know how that'll turn out," I lay back against his chest and played with his free hand.

Glorfindel kissed the top of my head, "Everything will be just fine. Do not fret about this."

I hoped he was right, as I didn't want a hassle and liked to keep things easy. Sometimes life doesn't cooperate.