AN: I made an error when I first posted this chapter. I completely forgot that it was Maxine Valera and not Valera Maxine, lol! Hopefully I corrected all those errors now.
It had now been just little over a week since Joseph had woken up from his coma. He was recovering slowly, but fine. Horatio had also recovered a lot, but still wasn't allowed to leave the hospital.
Valera and Jason were on there way to Valera's parents. They would be spending three days in the Valera household.
Valera's parents lived in Washington DC.
"So, tell me more about your parents." Jason said. He and Valera were in a taxi, only a few minutes away from their destination.
"Like what?" Valera asked.
"Like what kind of persons they are. Are they open? Mean?" Jason asked.
"I told you they're the nicest people on earth." Valera smiled, "They're open, friendly, and maybe a bit too open actually. At least some people think they are."
"Will they remind me of you?"
"Maybe. I guess we have the same stubbornness and honesty." Valera said.
Jason smiled.
"Then I'm sure I'll like them." He said.
Valera smiled.
Soon the taxi pulled up outside a big white house. It had two floors and Jason though he spotted a glass house on the back yard.
"Alright, here we are." Valera smiled and paid the driver.
She and Jason walked up to a big door. Valera apparently had a key, and she opened the door.
Jason's eyes widened at the sight in front of him. The house was huge.
The ceiling was high and there were pictures from famous artist on the walls. As Valera gave him a tour. He noticed that every room in the entire house could have at least twenty taxi cars in them. Most of the walls were white and there was a BIG screen TV, a home movie system in a separate room, a lot of musical equipment and lots of other stuff that Jason would never afford.
"Pretty luxurious huh?" Valera asked once she and Jason had settled in the downstairs living room.
"Oh yeah, wow. Is your family rich?" Jason asked
"Yeah, a little bit. But we all live on old money that my great grandfather earned." Valera said, "How he got all the money I don't know though."
"And yet you live in a small apartment that's ready to fall apart?" Jason asked.
Valera smiled.
"I like my apartment." She said.
"Where's my little mischievous daughter?" A male voice yelled from the hallway.
Soon a brown haired man in a wheelchair came into the living room.
"There she is!" He smiled. Valera hugged the man.
"And you must be her boyfriend." The man said and shook Jason's hand.
"Yes, sir, Jason Maxton."
"We don't call each other sir or Ma'm around here, we're not that formal." The man smiled, "I'm Tom Valera."
"Well, then… Tom, nice to meet you." Jason said.
"Nice to meet you too Jason." Tom said, "I heard that you were a doctor."
"Yes, sir… um, Tom, I'm a doctor."
"Good! At least now we know Vally haven't brought home a junkie." Tom smiled, "Not that I care, as long as you have a good sense of humor and some courage inside of ya."
Jason smiled.
"Where's mom?" Valera asked.
"She's outside in the glass house. Having a session." Tom said.
Valera nodded and grabbed Jason's hand.
They walked out to a big glass house. Through the glass walls, Jason could see a bunch of people sitting or laying in different positions.
When he and Valera walked inside the glass house, he just stopped and gaped.
There were at least ten couples sitting in different sex positions, taken from the Karma Sutra book.
"I told you my mom was a sex therapist." Valera said when she saw Jason's shocked look.
It was a woman who looked just like Valera, but older, that led the whole thing.
"They don't mind that we're watching?" Jason asked.
"No." Valera said, "She's never had any people over here that are ashamed of going to her sessions."
"Vally!" The older copy of Valera said.
"Hi mom." Valera smiled.
The woman hugged her daughter and then looked at Jason.
"Hi, I'm Elisa." Elisa said and pulled Jason into a hug. Jason hugged back hesitantly.
"Jason Maxton." He said.
"Well, well, well, Jason Maxton. Dr Jason, right?"
Jason nodded.
"My session is over soon, and then we'll have some coffee." Elisa smiled.
Valera nodded and she and Jason left.
"Shocked?" Valera asked, once she and Jason were alone in the back yard.
"A little yes." Jason admitted.
"Want to run away?"
"No, no. Not at all." Jason smiled.
"Well, I did warn you." Valera smiled.
"I know, but hearing and seeing are two different things." Jason said.
"Well, I might as well warn you that my mother is not ashamed about asking people about their sex lives. And my father will take you out on all sorts of adventures." Valera grinned.
"And what should I answer if they ask anything strange?"
"Well, you answer whatever you feel like. If you're lucky enough to get some room to answer." Valera smiled, "Mom and Dad practically never stop talking."
Jason nodded.
-I-
Eric smiled at his father as he walked into his room.
"Hey dad, how are you today?" He asked.
"Fine." Joseph said.
"You sound just like H."
Joseph laughed, "I do?"
"Yeah, he says that all the time." Eric smiled.
"Even to you?"
"No, not since we got together. But before that he said it all the time. He still does sometimes to the other." Eric said.
"I've been thinking Eric." Joseph said, "About you."
"Or more specifically about my sexual orientation, right?" Eric asked.
Joseph nodded.
"I'm just curious as to how you suddenly figured out that you were gay."
"Well, to be honest I'm not completely gay. I am bisexual, with a very strong leaning towards gay. So I just say I'm gay." Eric said.
"But you dated Natalia once?" Joseph asked.
"Yeah, for a short while." Eric said.
Joseph looked confused. Eric sighed.
"Dad. I have loved Horatio since the first time I saw him. It was the first time I had ever fallen for a man." Eric said, "At first I refused to believe it was love. But after a while I couldn't deny it."
"And the only man you ever wanted to date was him, right?" Joseph asked.
"Yeah. I knew that I could only love him with all of my heart. But I had no idea that he was gay. And I didn't plan on telling him. I though that he and I could never be together." Eric said, "So, I dated women."
"Until that night when he told you that he felt the same." Joseph said.
Eric nodded.
"I have found myself." Eric said, "And I wasn't a whole person before I met H."
"You're friends must be jealous." Joseph smiled, "Jealous that you can have such strong love and affection for each other."
"Well, most of them have found their true love as well." Eric smiled.
Joseph nodded.
"How is Horatio by the way?" He asked.
"Cranky. He wants to leave the hospital, but his doctor Jason has made it clear to everyone that he is not allowed to leave until after the weekend."
"But he can't still be in a bad condition can he?" Joseph asked, "I understand how I can be, considering that I'm over 60."
"No, but he has a fever." Eric said, "The doctors are just being cautious."
"Well, that's good. I bet he would run right back to work if they let him leave now." Joseph chuckled.
"No way. I'm going to make sure that he doesn't leave the house unless it absolutely necessary." Eric smiled.
"But you're leave of absence is running out soon."
"Yeah, but I'll just take some more." Eric said.
"Have Elena told you?" Joseph asked.
"About the baby, yes." Eric said.
Joseph nodded, "That's good. I'm going to be a grandfather again." He smiled.
Eric smiled.
"And I get one more kid to baby sit."
"Since when have you been baby sitting?" Joseph asked.
"You don't think I do that?"
"No, you leave them all to Calleigh to take care of." Joseph grinned.
"I used to." Eric said, "Not anymore. But then again it was a while since I had to baby sit."
Joseph nodded.
"You know, you always ran away from your duties when you were a kid." Joseph grinned.
"I wanted to do other things than clean my room and take care of the dishes." Eric said.
"Yeah, it must have been really hard to do that four times a month." Joseph grinned.
"It was." Eric smiled, "It wasn't good for my brain to do all that." Eric joked.
Joseph chuckled.
-I-
It was dinnertime at the Valera household.
The food on the table was enough to feed eight people. And there were only four present.
"You haven't been dating very long." Elisa said, "But you have already brought him home to meet us." She smiled at Valera.
"Yeah, that's unusual for you Vally." Tom said.
"Vally?" Jason asked.
"Well hello genius, they've been calling me that all day." Valera said, "It's their nickname for me."
"It's only because that's what she thought her name was when she was a kid." Tom smiled, "She refused to believe that her surname was Valera until she turned nine. No one really calls her Maxine."
Jason chuckled.
"So she was stubborn back then too?" He asked.
"Oh yeah!" Tom chuckled, "My little girl made sure that things were done her way."
"You'll have your hands full with her." Elisa grinned.
"I already have." Jason smiled.
Valera smacked his head.
"Tomorrow Jason, I'll take you out on a race you'll never forget." Tom grinned.
"It's a wheelchair race right?" Jason asked, "Val told me about it."
Tom grinned.
"Yeah, you might want to bring an extra pair of pants, ´cause you'll be shitting your pants tomorrow." Tom laughed.
"Tom is a crazy. But don't you worry Jason, I'm calm as can be." Elisa smiled.
"Yeah, what exactly do you teach during your sessions?" Jason asked.
"I teach everybody to open up their sensual senses." Elisa smiled, "I bring the spark back in dead relationships."
"She teaches old people mostly." Tom said.
"And you're not embarrassed at all? Aren't they embarrassed?" Jason asked.
"No, dear Jason. People shouldn't embarrassed about sex. In fact we should be glad that that we have our type of "Mating rituals". Animals have far more boring ones." Elisa said.
"Like the fish for example. First mama fish comes to a place and leave her eggs. Then papa fish comes, a long time later, and give the eggs milk or whatever it is they eat." Tom said, "And that's it."
"Boring isn't it?" Elisa said, "You see Jason, I don't want people to be ashamed about sex. Let's face it; we all have it at some point."
Jason nodded.
"I never really thought about it that way. Is that why you have so many people in one group?" He asked, "So that they see that there not the only ones who have problems or who wants to explore something new?"
Elisa smiled.
"Yes, that's exactly why." She said, "I think it's good."
They all talked more about their lives until midnight. Then they retreated to their rooms.
"They're cool." Jason said, "I like them."
He and Valera were getting ready for bed.
"Yeah, that's what all my previous friends and boyfriends have said too." Valera said.
"Val, maybe the reason that you find them embarrassing and crazy are because they're your parents." Jason said.
Valera chuckled.
"I love my parents." She smiled, "All I'm saying is that by the time we leave this place you won't find them so cool anymore."
Jason smiled, "I don't believe you."
"Dad will scare the shit out of you tomorrow."
--
The first thing that Tom did to scare Jason was to open the door to his and Valera's bedroom at 6 am. Then he rushed inside with his wheelchair with honk, "Good morning!" He exclaimed.
Jason almost jumped out of his own skin when he saw Tom laughing like a maniac, wearing a helmet and honking.
"Good morning Jason, are you ready for today's adventure?" Tom asked.
Jason yawned.
"It's six am Tom." He said.
"I know, a perfect time for a race, don't you think?" Tom smiled and left the room.
Valera hadn't moved yet.
"Val, is he serious?" Jason asked. She didn't answer, so he shook her a little.
Valera stirred.
"What is it Jason?" She asked.
"You didn't wake up from the honking and yelling?" He asked.
"No, I knew dad would do that." Valera said, "I grew up with them you know."
"And you couldn't have told me?"
"Ops. Now get dressed and have fun today." She smiled and went back to sleep.
Jason sighed.
He got up and got dressed.
He found Tom outside the front of the house. Next to Tom's wheelchair was another wheelchair.
"This is your wheelchair for today." Tom smiled.
Jason nodded and sat down in it. Tom gave him a helmet.
"Now just follow me." Tom said and started leaving the house.
It didn't take long to reach their destination. After only a few minutes Jason and Tom were standing at the bottom of a slope. Jason gaped at what he saw.
The slope had several cones placed out, a ramp, a small wooden stair, and a long tunnel.
"This is my own slope." Tom smiled, "This is where I do my own little stunts sometimes."
"Now, this is how it goes. You do slalom around the cones, then you go up on the ramp and just jump down, it's a small ramp so you won't get hurt. Then you go up the stairs and then down on the other side. And at last you go through the tunnel and get as fast as you can to the finish line." Tom said.
"I'm going to die." Jason said.
"Oh no you won't." Tom chuckled, "I've done this hundreds of times. And all I got out of it was two broken ribs and a serious concussion."
Jason gaped at Tom.
Tom smiled, "Jason, I have a safety line for you." He said, "It's attached to a tree at the top of the slope."
Jason nodded.
Tom and Jason then took some sort of elevator up to the top. Tom put the safety line on Jason.
"You built this all by yourself?" Jason asked.
"No, Vally helped me." Tom smiled, "Its' been here for almost fifteen years Jason."
Jason nodded.
"Ready?" Tom asked.
Jason could only nod.
Tom grinned and gave a little push down the slope, just to make sure that Jason wouldn't chicken out.
Tom went after Jason.
Jason's face was white as ghost and he was certain that he was going to die.
He saw the cones coming closer and knew that he had to get some sort of control over the wheelchair. He reached down to grab the wheels. He didn't get a good grip, but he managed to turn a little.
He managed to get pass four cones out of twelve. The rest he just drove over.
He could hear Tom laughing behind him.
What Jason didn't know was that Tom's safety line made sure that the wheelchair kept a certain pace. A pace that wasn't actually faster then a ten-year-old kid that runs around on flat ground.
However, to Jason it seemed as if was much faster.
He now got closer to the ramp and noticed that it was indeed very small.
But Jason was still scared as hell. He managed to survive the ramp and now made his way towards the wooden stair. Jason was covering his eyes. He shrieked when his wheelchair started shaking. He knew he was on the stairs. Then it stopped and the only thing left now was the tunnel. Which couldn't really be that bad. It was just a tunnel.
So Jason relaxed a little and went inside the very long tunnel. Only to realize that someone had placed a thin bag of flour inside. It was hanging from the tunnel roof and when Jason's head hit it, all the flour fell down on him.
Soon Jason saw sunlight again and it didn't take long before he reached the finish line.
The safety line made sure that the wheelchair stopped.
Jason was panting and he could hear his own pulse in his ears.
Tom stopped next to him, laughing his ass off.
"You know, take a look at the slope now." Tom laughed.
Jason looked. And saw that the whole thing really wasn't that bad. The slope wasn't very big and all the objects in it were so small it was almost ridiculous.
Tom kept on laughing.
"I've never been so afraid in my entire life." Jason said.
Tom just laughed, "You win." He smiled.
-I-
It was Saturday afternoon. Jason was still shaky from the wheelchair race.
Tom had been laughing all day about it.
Now Jason and Valera were walking in a park not far from Tom and Elisa's house.
"So you survived the race, that's good." Valera smiled.
Jason chuckled.
"It sure was scary." He said, "But when I looked at the slope after the race. I noticed that it really wasn't that bad."
"You know I used to race against my father when I was a kid." Valera smiled.
"What made you stop?"
"I don't know. I guess I lost my interest for it." She said, "For many years I blamed my parents for scaring my friends away."
"Every time I brought someone home they would test their fear and make complete fools out of themselves." She sighed.
"But you love them anyway." Jason smiled.
Valera nodded.
"Yes. I do." She smiled, "And I'm so happy that you're still here."
"Valera, even if your parents would have freaked me out, I still wouldn't have left you." Jason smiled.
Valera smiled and kissed him.
"Jason, we've only been together for little over a month." She said.
"Yeah?"
"But I haven't met your parents yet." She said.
Jason sighed.
"I know." He said sadly.
"Jason, if you don't want me to meet them, then…"
"No, Val!" He said, "I want you to meet them. But it's just that they live in China so."
Valera chuckled.
"I thought that they were bad people or something!" She laughed and smacked Jason.
Jason laughed.
"I tricked you didn't I?" He smiled.
"Yeah, you did."
"Seriously Val. They live in China. I've told them about you over the phone. But I don't have the money to come and visit them and they're not planning on coming back to America yet." Jason said.
"Not even for a quick visit?"
"No, but they said that they were happy for me." Jason smiled, "And I sent them a picture of you by e-mail."
Valera smiled and kissed Jason again.
Then they heard to familiar voices.
They started chuckling as they saw Elisa and Tom coming towards them.
"Hey there they are!" Tom said, "You two lovebirds ran away huh?"
"I hope we're not interrupting?" Elisa asked.
"No, not at all. But don't you have a session mom?" Valera asked.
"In one hour. Do you want to take part in it?" She asked.
Jason looked at Valera.
"Jason, if you survived the race you can certainly survive one of her sessions." Tom smiled.
Jason nodded, "Alright, then I guess we'll join you."
"Great! Now let's have some dinner." Elisa smiled.
--
Jason had thought that he and Valera would take part in Elisa's session. However, Valera had managed to escape somewhere and now Jason was standing in the glass house, with eleven other people that he didn't know and with Tom grinning at him from the door.
And on this particular day, the day that he had decided to join in, the group was an uneven number. That was of course until he had joined them. There were five couples there and one single woman. The single woman was usually at the session with her husband, but today he was ill and was forced to stay at home.
Now Jason was paired together with this woman, who was about fifty years older than him.
"Alright people, let's start with The Swastika, women extend your left leg, encircle the mans waist with your right leg, lay your ankle across your left thigh, and you men do the same thing." Elisa said.
Jason's face was red as a cherry. The others in the group had obviously tried The swastika before, because they were already done, while Jason was still struggling.
Tom was laughing from the door.
After a few minutes Jason and his partner were done. And Elisa moved on.
-I-
Sunday evening. Calliegh and Ryan were going to pick up Jason and Valera from the airport.
Their flight was ten minutes late.
"How do you think it went?" Ryan asked.
"Well, if it went bad Valera would have called and asked me to kill her parents or maybe kill Jason." Calleigh said.
"She would do that?" Ryan asked.
"No dummy." Calleigh said, "But she'd call me and be pissed as hell."
After a few minutes, Jason and Valera met up with Calleigh and Ryan. They were now in the hummer on their way to Jason's apartment.
"So what did you get to do Jason?" Cal asked.
Jason sighed.
"I was in this wheelchair race, I took part in one of Elisa's therapy sessions, I went bungee jumping with Tom into a giant aquarium with piranhas and then I had to listen to Valera's parents talk about how they met and all the things they did." Jason said.
Calleigh, Ryan and Valera laughed.
"But they didn't scare you away?" Ryan asked.
"No, I like them." Jason said, "But the bungee jumping was scary. I mean I didn't even know that something like that existed."
"Bungee jumping?" Ryan asked.
"No, bungee jumping into a piranha infested aquarium." Jason said, "I think I got bitten over thirty times."
"But only small bites though." Valera smiled.
"Yeah, but it was scary. And I did all this in just two days." He said.
"Friday and Saturday?" Calliegh asked.
"Yeah." Jason said.
"We just took it easy this morning before we had to leave." Valera said.
"So, you could visit them again?" Ryan asked.
Jason nodded, "Yeah, at least then I'll know what kind of adventures I could prepare for." He said.
Valera smiled and gave Jason a kiss.
In fact, her parents hadn't been as crazy as she had thought. And Jason hadn't run away. She had expected them to be far more open and curious than they had been.
She knew that she and Jason would have many happy years in front of them, and through those years, she wouldn't have to visit her parents alone.
TBC…