Chapter 13
Facing Fears
We returned home to Baltimore and collapsed. I had switched the Monday rotation for my Sunday rotation so the next time I saw Kenna was Tuesday night. We had enjoyed New York a lot. Showing Kenna around was like taking a child to Disneyland for the first time, everything was fresh and new and exciting because it was that way to her. Coming back to work had been a real downer, but luckily I received an interesting case and spent most of my time determining why this man's organs were shutting down. It turned out to be an Aspergillus niger infection from a bad tile job in his bathroom. When I returned home late, I found Kenna waiting for me with a late dinner.
"I was worried because you didn't call."
"Had an interesting case. Wait until you do your residency, you won't get much time during the day to do anything, especially stop to call people." I barked.
"Greg, I was just noting that I was worried, I wasn't angry. There was a phone call from your parents. They're coming in this weekend to see you."
"Crap."
"Should I move into the other bedroom?"
I couldn't believe she asked that question, "I'm 32, not 12. If I'm living with a woman, they'll just have to accept it."
"We should give up our bedroom and sleep on the sofa bed."
I shook my head, I knew my Dad, "They won't stay here. They'll have reservations somewhere in town. I'll call them."
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Sure enough his parents were staying at the local Hyatt. They arrived Friday night and were going to leave the following Thursday morning. Greg warned them that he had rotation on Friday and Sunday and they understood, or at least his Dad understood, work came before family in his book. His Mom asked if he could get the time off, but Greg told her that he had just taken some time off and couldn't. They gave Greg their flight numbers and he wrote them down.
I could tell that he was dreading their visit and I wondered if it had anything to do with me. Greg warned me that their reaction to him living with a woman, a young woman at that, would probably be amusing.
I couldn't stand the idea of his folks coming to town and then having to take a taxi to the hotel. So I didn't tell Greg, but I met the plane with a big sign that said, "John House." I immediately spotted a couple that I thought looked like the photographs I had seen. They were both dressed in nicely pressed summer clothing. Mr. House looked like he Marine officer, with a "can do" attitude. He had on a short sleeved plaid perma-press shirt. Mrs. House had on cotton pants, a sleeveless blouse and a summer blazer. They looked like a typical middle-class couple, not exactly what I had expected. I think I had expected two ogres to get off the plane. Instead, I was looking at a more sophisticated mirror of my parents.
"Excuse me, are you Mr. & Mrs. House?"
I saw them both smile with amusement. Mrs. House said, "Yes, that's us."
"My name is Kenna Palmer. I am," I always had trouble telling people that I was Greg House's girlfriend, "Greg's girlfriend. I've come to collect you and your baggage and take you to your hotel."
Mrs. House looked at me strangely, as if she couldn't believe that Greg had a girlfriend. "Greg never told us about you. I'm glad to meet you, this is John and I'm Blythe."
They both shook my hand and then we left for the baggage carousel. On the way over to the hotel, we discussed how Greg and I met. I think they were uneasy with the fact that I was so young compared to Greg. But when I told them that I had already obtained my doctorate in Neuroengineering they seemed very impressed.
Mr. House seemed flabbergasted, "You look so young to be a doctor. How old are you?"
"I'm 22."
"That's young all right. It seems like he's hit the trifecta, beauty, brains and personality." Mr. House said.
"Thank you. Greg is no dummy himself. He's always surprising me with his knowledge of so many subjects. He must've gotten his genes from you two."
When Greg got off of work the next day, he was surprised to find his parents sitting in the dining room having coffee with me. He came in and gave his dad a handshake and his mother a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. I got up and went to the kitchen to get him a cup of coffee. He followed me into the kitchen.
"What are they doing here?"
"They're your parents and they're having coffee with the woman you're living with. I went to the airport last night and picked them up. I wasn't going to let your parents take taxis all over town when we had a car."
He looked at me suspiciously. "I had the car last night."
"I cycled over, picked up the car, took your parents to the hotel and then drove back to the hospital and cycled home."
I could tell that he wasn't happy that his parents were sitting in the dining room. It meant that he didn't have a chance to prepare himself for meeting them. It was then that I realized that the chasm between them was really deep."I'm sorry. Obviously I should have let you do it your way. I just didn't want them to meet me and think that I was sitting here on my rear while they had to take a Cab." Turning to him, I gave him a hug as I looked up into his eyes and could tell that he was very tired. He managed a slight smile back and then picked his mug up and went back into the dining room to talk to his parents before he went to bed to take a nap. The entire weekend was awkward.
His parents had lots of questions about us, including whether or not we were going to get married. I started to answer the question but Greg butted in, "Maybe, but Kenna has to get out of med. school first."
I have to admit that I was going to tell them no, so I was surprised to hear that Greg was qualifying it. I think he wanted to his parents to believe that we were a normal couple, in love, and building a life together rather than two really good friends who had taken the same bus to the next stop on the relationship line before taking different connections. I kept my mouth shut.
When we took them to the airport, they gave me a hug and Mrs. House whispered to me, "I like you Kenna, but I can see that you don't have the same feelings for Greg that he has for you. Please don't hurt him too badly."
I wasn't sure what she meant by that but I must have looked surprised because on the way home, Greg asked me what she had said.
"She said that she liked me."
Greg looked at me suspiciously, "Is that all she said?"
I nodded and we rode the rest of the way home in silence. Her words haunted me for the next week, but as I prepared for med school I forgot them. We had been living together for almost three months and like most couples, we had developed our own routine. Greg took out the trash, put the trash cans on the street, took the car to be washed, did a few loads of laundry and in general, helped around the house when I asked or begged. He also mowed the lawn and pruned the rosebushes. During the summer he paid for all of our living expenses with the exception of the utility bills, which I paid. I was still working at the lab 20 hours a week and using most of my money to buy things like clothes for Greg, underwear for me, and to purchase little things for the home. The sex was never perfunctory, although it did slow down. We no longer made love every time we looked at each other. A lot of the time Greg was tired when he got home and frankly, I appreciated the nights off. I also appreciated the nights on, because there was no doubt in my mind that Greg was an exceptional lover and I was determined to learn all I could from him in the sex department.
Despite what he says, Greg really does like to cuddle. There were nights when I would've preferred for him to stay on his own side but he insisted on spooning me. I didn't realize then how much I would miss it later.
Dear Readers, I want to post a lot this week before I go to to Yosemite. So, I'll post when I think you've caught up and I'm here to post.