Meet the Parents
By the time Wednesday night rolled around, she was completely convinced that Tyr either wouldn't show up at all or would show up with divorce papers in hand to further humiliate her. She was therefore surprised when she got a call on her cellphone late on Thursday night from a number she didn't recognize. Her mother was yelling at her about her life choices once again. It seemed she'd been saving up her scorn for when she saw her daughter. Disi knew it was too good to be true that her mother would understand.
"Hello?"
"Where are you staying, Bliss? You never told me your parents' address."
"Tyr?" The girl sounded so shocked that he would call that he frowned. What the hell had been going on this last week?
"Yes, Bliss. It's me. I flew down just as we discussed. I rented a car and I'm about to get on the road as soon as you tell me which way to go."
"Oh." He heard her take a deep breath and sniffle before she answered. "Um… I know the address, but I don't drive often, so I can't give you directions. Here. I'll give you over to my Mother. She'll direct you to the house."
"I don't need directions, Bliss. I have a navigation device right in the car. I only need an address to plug in." She gave it reluctantly and he had to wonder about that. Instead of worrying about it, he focused on the aggressive drivers in this city. He showed up in Germantown a half-hour later. Disi was waiting on the front stairs when he arrived. She looked broken and that angered him. She didn't deserve to be demonized for what she'd done. It was an honest mistake as far as she was concerned; helped along with his magic.
"Come here, Bliss," he said gently when she didn't automatically jump into his open arms.
"If you're going to divorce me you should just go ahead and do it," she replied, tears trailing misery down her plump cheeks. "I-I won't fight it. This was all my fault anyway. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. I just-" The rest of her statement was lost to time as he covered her lips with his. Tyr Anasazi was pissed off. Was this what her family had been filling his little one's head with? Was this their petty revenge for her so-called misdeed? Wrapping her up in his arms, he flicked her mouth open and invaded it, massaging her tonsils lovingly while she moaned her unconscious approval. Once he was sure she wasn't going anywhere, he started massaging the back of her neck and her tensed shoulders. This was his woman and she needed a little TLC after what was probably a hellish week. He reluctantly tapered the kiss after a while, sensing someone behind him but not caring who it was.
"Listen well, little one. You belong to me," he said firmly. "You have been my woman since I first laid hands on you. No one is ever going to take you away from me. You belong to me, body and soul. And if you need a reminder of that fact, I'll be happy to give you another demonstration. And I don't care who's around when I do it," he winked, turning to face whoever just cleared their throat behind him.
"Take your hands off my daughter," William Adams growled, having just come home from work to this shocking display.
"I haven't gotten a chance to hold my wife in a week. I intend to put my hands all over your daughter tonight."
"Tyr!" Disi huffed an embarrassed laugh. Her father was surprised. He'd expected some lovestruck kid like his little girl, full of good intentions and nervous respect. But here before him stood a mature man, self-confident and quite frankly, a little full of himself. No, this wouldn't do for his only girl-child.
"Do you do much cradle robbing?" The protective father spat angrily. "She has to be at least ten years younger than you. Did you knock her up that night just for spite? Qudsiyya has a good family that will stand by her long after you've moved on to the next best thing."
"I don't intend to move on at all," Tyr shrugged. "I've already found the best thing in your beautiful daughter. That's why I married her."
"An easy thing to say to fool my daughter in a world where divorce is as easy to come by as shoes."
"He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord," Tyr quoted the Bible expertly.
"Proving that even the devil quotes Scripture," William growled. He was therefore surprised when the man before him laughed and hugged his little girl.
"I see where she gets it from now," Tyr continued to chuckle.
"Gets what?"
"Your daughter's first words to me were 'are you evil'," Tyr explained, still hugging Disi close.
"Then she should have gone with her instincts," William insisted, his already loud voice rising as his anger and frustration with the interloper rose. "Or are you into demons now?" he asked his silent daughter.
"Do not insult my wife," Tyr said with calm authority. "You've obviously been using her as your emotional punching bag all week. I will not tolerate you abusing my woman."
"Does he speak for you now?" William shouted at his child angrily.
"Why not?" she shrugged, relaxing into her husband's arms with a dreamy sigh. "You haven't been interested in anything I've had to say all week. At least you're listening now." Before William could berate his daughter, his wife came out of the house.
"Aren't you going to introduce me to your husband, Babygirl?" Darlene asked over her husband's bile. She gave him a hard look for embarrassing her in front of the neighbors before turning to the young couple. "Please come in. You must be the 'Tyr' my daughter has been talking about. I'm Darlene and that is my husband, William. And while I can't say that I'm pleased to meet you, I must insist that you come in off the street before we discuss this further."
"That's fair," Tyr nodded, moving past the older woman and into the house. As her daughter followed behind her man, Darlene mimed, fanning herself with an excited expression on her face at the girl. Disi managed a small smile at her mother's antics, knowing that this 'discussion' was far from over. In the meantime, Darlene shrugged at her husband when he glared at her. Once the group was settled in the living room with glasses of water in hand, Darlene decided to re-open the unpleasant topic.
"Now," she said calmly. "Why are you here, Mr. Anasazi?"
The man being addressed looked at her incredulously. "I came to see Mrs. Anasazi and meet her family," he finally answered. Both parents looked uncomfortable with her new title. Disi hadn't referred to herself that way once in all of her visit. Tyr, correctly guessing this, smirked. "Get used to her new surname. While she will always be an Adams, she now belongs to me. And it's my name that she will be referred to from now on."
"Until you get tired of her," Darlene snapped.
"So, never," he snapped back. "Qudsiyya is my woman. I've never met such a fascinating study of contrasts and contradictions. We may not have had time to learn every little thing about each other, but she has my heart. What we did the night we met might have been wrong in your eyes, but it was necessary. I couldn't let her get away and I am an impatient man. I also am very used to getting my own way. And what I want is my lady." Darlene and her daughter practically had hearts in their eyes from the romantic declaration. William, however, was not impressed.
"That sounds all well and good, Mr. Anasazi. But my daughter cannot live on flowery words and empty promises. I would rather you finished running whatever game you're running on her and go back to your life."
"I'm not running a game on her, Mr. Adams," Tyr answered in kind.
"Of course you're not," the older man smiled condescendingly. "But just the same…"
"You're not understanding me, William," Tyr said angrily. "The only endgame I have in mind for your child is more babies after this one. I have my perfect mate. She is a wonderful companion and her personality contrasts with mine enough to keep the rest of our lives interesting. I will not grant her a divorce. There will be no 'moving on'. She belongs to me and me alone. Am I making myself clear?" That last part put William's back up, but the doorbell rang just as he was about to respond.
"Is this him?" Disi's sister-in-law, Michelle, exclaimed as she barged into the living room. She was circling the attractive male like a predator, eying him up like a prime rib steak. "Ooh child. You don't do anything halfway, do you? That will be one beautiful child!"
"And a child is the most my sister will ever get out of a man like this," Charles observed, annoyed with his wife for drooling over another man.
"Oh, it's definitely not going to last," she agreed readily. "Now that I've seen him, that much is obvious. But that doesn't take away from the fact that he is the most attractive male I have ever seen. I can suddenly understand why she went home with him." The man in question looked annoyed that she was talking about him as if he wasn't there. That didn't stop him from dropping his shoulders back in an unconscious display. Seeing this, Disi couldn't help a stab of jealousy. Here he was, declaring his undying love for her, all the while displaying that perfect body for anyone to see. But maybe that was just the way with alpha males. And my God, was he an alpha male! Every part of his body was sculpted to perfection, demanding to be worshipped and adored. And according to him, he was all hers. The thought made her giddy.
"I beg to differ, Madam," Tyr contradicted her declaration. "Qudsiyya and I are solid. We'll be together for years to come."
"Doubtful," Michelle sniffed. "There's no connection between you two to base your relationship on. Besides a baby and lackluster sex, what do you even know about her that makes you feel like you want her?"
"I know that she has the purest heart I have ever encountered in my life. I know that she is fiercely dedicated to her friends and family. Her work ethic is firm and her sense of humor is contagious. In short, I know enough about her that I desperately want to know more."
"Bullshit," Charles called him out, his tone and stance screaming aggression. "You were just drunk and latched onto my poor little sister as a fuck buddy."
"Charles!" Disi and their mother admonished the older man for his profanity.
"It's true though," he defended himself. He turned back to the interloper furiously. "You know, I owe you an ass-whooping for knocking her up. And another one for stealing her name when you knew good and well that she couldn't keep you. I oughta-"
"Well that's one ass-whooping avoided," Tyr shrugged once more.
"What are you talking-"
"As I've explained to your parents, your sister belongs to me. She is the only woman allowed to touch me. She'll be able to have me for years to come. So you only owe me one ass-whooping. As for administering such punishment, you're welcome to try if you think you can take me." The two men looked at each other, Charles with belligerence in his gaze and Tyr with the same calm authority that grated on the Adams men's nerves. Then Charles took a swing at him. Tyr dodged with ease, gearing up to teach her brother a lesson in humility, when Disi stepped between the two stubborn men.
"Whoa! We're supposed to be family now."
"So you're okay with being his whore?" her brother growled. Disi flinched from the harsh words, but firmed her resolve quickly.
"I'm not a whore, Charles. Tyr Anasazi is the only man I've ever slept with. And I'm not his whore, I'm his wife. I have the documents to prove it." Her older brother looked at her furiously, not quite believing that they were on opposite sides of this argument. As kids - and even a little into adulthood - all the Adams siblings had had a little hero worship of their favorite brother. He'd used it to his advantage to keep the family together in times of strife. But this time it seemed like she was determined to get her own way. "I did wrong sleeping with him like I did, but I do not regret my decision, nor my decisions afterwards. I don't care that you don't like him. I love him."
"Qudsiyya, you don't know him well enough to love him. He could be anyone! He could do anything! There's nothing saying that he won't hurt you in the future. He could beat you or cheat on you or any number of things. You're living in Canada for Christ's sake! We can't protect you up there; it's his turf. I came here tonight to offer you a place to stay while you moved back to Philly. You can play with your Canadian friends over Skype or something. Right now you need your family. Think about the baby, sis."
"I am thinking about my baby, Charles. I've created a life. You and I both know how fertile Adams are. I can't just run away from what I've done. It's Tyr's baby and he has rights too." A long, tense silence spun out as the siblings glared at each other. Disi was therefore surprised when Charles smiled and pulled her into a warm hug.
"Alright, little sis, We'll try things your way. I don't agree with you about any of this, but I accept your decision. If he ever hurts you though, all bets are off. I love you too much to have you suffering in some foreign country."
"Thank you for trusting me, bro," she said, her eyes a little misty. She yawned tiredly and pulled away from her brother. "I'm going to bed now. It's been a long week. Goodnight." She reached out to Tyr, grabbing his hand with almost childlike innocence as she headed for the stairs.
William balked at the situation. "Where do you think you're going with that… that…"
"I'm off to bed with my husband," the woman insisted.
"Oh no. No, no, no. There will be none of that here," he growled. "That.. man can stay at a hotel. There will be none of your-"
"Then I'm going to a hotel too," she said stubbornly. "He's my husband, dad. You don't make my brothers' wives go to a hotel when they stay over."
"I won't have you-"
"Give it a rest, Pops," Charles interjected. "Equal treatment for all your children. She's right, you don't send the others away."
"That's different," William insisted stubbornly.
"No, it's not. Equal treatment." The two men stared off until the father relented.
"Don't blame me when-"
"She's already pregnant, Pops. It can't get worse than it already is. Goodnight, Qudsiyya," he called up the stairs. Disi disappeared up the stairs without a word to anyone. Darlene watched her go angrily, more than a little jealous of her little girl.
"How can you just accept this, son? Your sister just-"
"Think about this, Mom," Charles said. "Do you really want her feeling like she has no one to turn to when this thing falls apart? She needs an ally or she'll just stay in her bad situation out of spite. She's obviously going through with this insanity. We've made our displeasure known. Now it's time to offer some support and friendship. Otherwise, we will lose her to the Canadians." Everyone in the room blinked at his logic. It made perfect sense as they really thought about it.
"You're right, baby," Michelle said after the silence had stretched a while. "Your sister is not going to give up that fine specimen of male easily. We need to be there to pick up the pieces when he leaves her." The parents finally agreed, the subject turning inevitably to the man's attractiveness.