by Liz Durano
“What are you two doing there?” Ma calls out. “Join us. We brought a lot of food.”
“I need to check on Piper,” I say as I turn toward the nursery but Dad clears his throat and glances down at the baby monitor I'm holding in my hand. I'd completely forgotten that I'd hooked it around my index finger the whole time. Piper's sleeping form fills the display, her soft breathing audible.
“She'll be fine,” Dad says before cocking his head toward the living room. “Do you really want to leave your friend alone with your mom?”
I force a smile, regaining my composure as we make our way to the dining table. He pulls out a chair for me and I sit down across from Jordan. I set the monitor on the table, praying that Piper wakes up. It will give me an excuse to leave but at the same time, Dad’s right. I can't leave Jordan alone with my Mom. I feel like I've just been exposed and it's only a matter of minutes before someone asks the inevitable question.
“So how do you two know each other?” Ma asks as Jordan glances at me before he turns to look at her.
“We met last year.” He doesn't seem the least bit flustered the way I am. In fact, he's smiling and enjoying the food that Ma has served him. All the rectangular foil containers are on the table, their lids off. My relatives sure do nothing half-assed. Even for a confirmation, they go all out, renting the church hall for the celebration and ordering enough food to feed half of Queens. How my parents think I can finish all of the food they've brought over, I don't know, but given Jordan's presence, I don't have to worry. But even if we’ve just eaten, if Jordan has spent any time around Filipinos, he’ll know it’s rude to say no to one’s offer of hospitality… especially my mother.
“Really? Last year?” Dad asks before looking at me. I can see it in his eyes. He's enjoying seeing me uncomfortable. “Where did you meet?”
“In the neighborhood,” I reply, picking up a fried egg roll and taking a bite.
“Where?” Ma prods.
“Polly’s,” I mutter. “Karaoke night.”
Ma's eyes widen in surprise. “I didn’t know you liked karaoke. Did you, Jordan?” The way she says his name makes me cringe. Jor-dan, with emphasis on dan.
“She sings really well,” he says and my foot manages to hit his shin under the table. He doesn't even wince. He just takes a forkful of noodles into his mouth and winks at me.
“She does? Really?” Dad asks, his tone clearly teasing and amused. I glare at him but it doesn't do any good. He keeps going. “I thought you hated karaoke, Peanut.”
Jordan looks at me. “Peanut?”
“It's her nickname,” Ma says.
“You guys are embarrassing me.” I know it's no use but I feel like a teenager caught seeing some strange boy her parents haven't met until now. Actually I feel like a teenager more than the doctor that I am with her straight A's and cum laude honors. This moment is worse than any medical rotation I've ever done.
“I think it suits her,” Jordan says as I direct my glare at him but he just grins back at me.
Yep, way worse.
Fifteen minutes later, Piper stirs and I get up from the table and go to the nursery. As I change her diaper I hate having to eavesdrop in on their conversation as if making sure that Jordan doesn't say anything he shouldn't say. I really should just tell my parents the truth. It'll come out sooner or later anyway.
Dad appears in the doorway as I finish buttoning Piper's onesie and carry her in my arms. “Something's bothering you, Peanut.”
“I’m fine, Dad.”
“You can tell us anything, you know,” he says.
I nod. “I know.”
“I know you do, but there's still something you're not telling us.”
“Does it bother you that I don’t tell you everything?” I ask.
Dad slips his hands inside his pants pockets as he leans against the door. “What bothers me is that you're worried about your reputation more than anything. You know I don't care what people will say about your reputation.”
“The other doctors do. Even the hospital.”
“Your patients don’t,” he says.
“Ma does,” I say as I bounce Piper in my arms. “It’s the most important thing to her. I’m her perfect daughter.”
“She'll get over it.”
“Easy for you to say.”
He sighs. “Would you rather have her call Kevin and invite him to dinner with you and Piper there?” When I shake my head, he nods. “I didn’t think so, but that’s exactly what she did today when we ran into him during the confirmation. He’s single again, by the way. And he says hello. You know that’s a big deal to your mom. Even a hello.”
I stare at him in horror. “Mom didn’t ask him.”
“Yes, she did,” Dad says. "Your mom wasn't joking yesterday when she said Kevin asked about you. You two were together over seven years, Peanut. You were engaged. You even had that announcement in the parish paper, remember?”
“The wedding banns. Yeah, of course, I remember. Kevin insisted on it when I preferred we kept it quiet.” But I’d also been neck deep into my medical school exams and then my residency followed by my Fellowship. All our milestones together were marked by something that had to do with my medical career. He’d always made room for it knowing that it was important to me although in hindsight, it was important to my mother. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone.
“You even attended that pre-wedding class you were required to attend prior to the wedding,” Dad continues. “And then you called it off after that weekend.”
“Cold feet,” I mutter as visions of missionary sex forever with Kevin flash through my mind. I never told anyone, not even my closest friends but I’d dumped him over sex… or our lack of it. Whenever I asked him to be more adventurous in bed, he wanted me to tone it down. He liked to initiate the sex, he said. But what if you hardly ever initiate it? I’d demanded one day, a question that had him storming out of the apartment, insulted. But after seven years of unsatisfactory sex and maybe the occasional wild one (doggy style) when he’d had too much to drink, I’d had it. Was it normal to have a better relationship status with my vibrator than with your boyfriend? It didn’t even matter that people considered us the cutest couple they knew and did everything they could to get us back together. No, give me rough. Give me rugged. Give me anything but cute.
“Kevin and I are history, Dad. We were actually better as friends in the end,” I say as Dad peers beyond the door toward the kitchen. I overhear Ma tell Jordan not to clean up but he replies that he’s got it. He even tells Ma to remain seated.
“Well, they seem to be getting along just fine,” he says. “Your mother actually sat down when he told her to. He’s taking care of the cleanup. That’s a first. She just might like him, Peanut.”
I take a peek and sure enough, Ma is sitting at the dining table watching Jordan scrape the leftovers into the trash and then rinse it in the sink before arranging it inside the dishwasher. “Wow.”
“Do you have a girlfriend?” Ma asks and I look at my dad in shock.
Oh, crap! “No, she didn't just ask him–“
“Interview time,” Dad says as he takes Piper into his arms. “If he gives her the wrong answer, it may mean Kevin's back in the running.”
“Oh, hell no.” I rush out of the nursery, determined to save Jordan from my mother's interrogation. But as I make it to the dining room, I realize Jordan doesn't need any saving. If he has a hidden charm meter, it's like he'd set it to the maximum. He also looks damn good in my kitchen, tight t-shirt and all. His upper back muscles outlined through his shirt are just begging for identification. I can name them all, too.
“No?” Ma says, perplexed. “How can someone as good-looking as you not have a girlfriend? Are you gay?”
He shuts the dishwasher door and washes his hands at the sink, taking his time to answer as I appreciate the sight of his ass in tight jeans. Then he turns around and leans against the counter. “Not gay. Just picky.”
“M
y daughter's single, by the way, in case you didn’t know that,” Ma says as I stare at her in horror.
“MA!”
“Yes, I knew that.”
“So why don’t you ask her to be your girlfriend?” Ma asks as I bury my face in my hands. This is worse than I thought. “She’s a specialist, you know. Kidney and liver. And she graduated top of her class. Full honors in everything. She’s very smart.”
“She did?” Jordan is clearly enjoying my humiliation and I wish I could toss something at him, a shoe maybe if one was within reach.
“Ma, stop.”
“And she's got the cutest baby, in case you haven't noticed,” Dad chimes in from the hallway.
“Oh, I noticed,” Jordan says, laughing.
Ma’s eyes widen. “And that’s okay with you? That she has a baby?”
Finally I’ve had it. “If you guys don't stop, I'm kicking you both out.”
“That would be great then,” Dad says, grinning. “Then both of you will be alone again.”
“Dad!”
Something beeps and we all look around, searching for our phones except for Jordan who pulls his from his jeans pocket. He checks the display and gives us a sheepish smile. “I’m afraid I have to leave. I forgot I was supposed to be somewhere.”
“Your girlfriend?” Ma says and before I can protest, Jordan shakes his head.
“My parents. I told them I'd drop by as soon as I finished here.” He steps away from the sink and meets Ma who has her arms open to give him a hug and a peck on the cheek like he's a long-lost nephew and then to Dad who shakes his hand. He turns to face me and I can feel my parents watching us carefully.
“Thanks for letting me hang out.”
“Thanks for stopping by and fixing my sink,” I murmur, the nearness of him making me forget everything else, even my discomfort at my parents’ ribbing.
Piper laughs as he walks past Dad and he stops to touch the tip of her nose, smiling as Piper grips his finger. Same reddish hair, matching green eyes, and then there's the nose. How could anyone not see the similarities? “See ya later, Piperator.”
Everyone is quiet as Jordan steps out of the apartment and shuts the door behind him. Suddenly whatever playful mood that had filled the room just minutes earlier is gone. Ma and Dad turn to look at me and they don't have to say a thing.
They know.
Chapter Ten
I can't believe I forgot all about the dinner my parents arranged for Caitlin who flew in to see me after my year out of the country. I couldn't even come up with a response to her text message, not in full view of Addison and her parents.
Caitlin: Where the hell are you????
When I get to Forest Hills forty minutes later, Caitlin is standing on the porch, her arms folded across her chest. Three years younger, she might as well be the older sibling because she's too serious about everything. Her flaming red hair reaches the small of her back and her eyes are the color of emeralds.
"Where've you been?" she asks as I climb the steps toward her although her mouth widens to a grin. She unfolds her slender arms and I pull her in a deep hug.
“Visiting friends. I didn't realize how late it was,” I mutter as I pull away to gaze at her. I haven't seen her in a year and she looks just as beautiful as ever. She could be a model if she wanted, with modeling scouts stopping her on the street but her passion is molecular biology. When she won that scholarship, no modeling contract could make her change her mind.
“Is this with your new girlfriend?” She eyes me suspiciously. "Where have you been hiding her all this time? In the Philippines?”
“Chelsea, a few blocks from the High Line. Perfect place to hide girlfriends,” I reply wryly. I make my way to the front door but Caitlin grabs my arm.
“I need to hear it from you first before all hell breaks loose in there,” she says. “Mom is upset and Dad is trying his best not to call Gus and tell him to rein his daughter in.”
“And you? How are you dealing with this?”
She shrugs. “I’m a scientist, Jory. I observe. So spill the beans. What happened?”
“Remember when I broke up with Rachel? Remember what a mess that was?” I ask and Caitlin nods, opens her mouth to say something but stops herself. Rachel had gone ballistic, convinced that I must have found someone else and had cheated on her. She followed me at job sites and even confronted one of our clients who’d come out of her house to offer me and the guys bottles of iced water, accusing her of stealing her boyfriend. Thank God, Rachel’s father, Gus, wasn’t on-site or he’d have beaten me to a pulp thinking I really did cheat on his daughter. Needing the whole thing to blow over and for Rachel to calm the hell down, I decided to fly to the other side of the world and build schools and clinics.
“You were with her for five years, Jory. That’s a long time to be with someone,” Caitlin says. “But it’s also no reason to keep going just because you hit the five-year mark if she’s really not the one.”
“That’s why I had to get out of the country. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say and I heard that it worked,” I say. “I heard she was dating someone else and that she was happy this past year.”
“Yeah, but that didn’t last,” Caitlin says. “But I don’t want to talk about Rachel. What about this girl then? The one Rachel saw you with. The one with the baby? She’s convinced that you cheated on her.”
“I never cheated on her, Cait. I’m not that type of guy,” I say, leaning against the porch banister and crossing my arms in front of my chest. “I hooked up with Addy three months after I broke up with Rachel and just before I left for my trip with ReBuild to Heal.”
Caitlin frowns. “Don’t tell me. A one-night stand.”
I exhale. “Pretty much. I met her at Polly’s, that bar close my co-op, and then we hit it off. I even sang. Can you believe that? A duet. I Got You, Babe by Sonny and Cher.”
My sister laughs. “Pictures or it never happened.”
“I’m happy there aren’t any pictures. I was horrible,” I say, laughing. “But she salvaged it. She’s a good singer.”
Caitlin studies me for a few moments. “You like her.”
I nod. “I do.”
“So what does she do?”
“She’s a doctor, a nephrologist with a private practice in the East Village and I guess she’s also working at Miller General though I’m not a hundred percent sure about that. Maybe she’s on call or something, but her name was on the list of doctors when I was looking for her number when I got back.”
“And this baby?”
I pull out my phone and show her Piper's pictures. “We did a DNA test on Friday and we should get the official results next week. You can hand me the official cigar then.”
“No way. Smoking's bad for you,” Caitlin says absently as she scrolls through Piper's pictures, enlarging Piper's face on the screen. “And of course, you guys had to pick the one office where Rachel works. No wonder she just about had a coronary when she saw you, although she shouldn’t have told anyone about it. She just broke every HIPAA law in the book.” She hands me the phone. "Well, congratulations, Jory. She looks just like us when we were babies and I'm sure Mom will be over the moon once she finds out it's true and will demand we all march over there to Addison's house right now and introduce ourselves.”
I shake my head. “You better not.”
“Oh, before you walk in there. I gotta warn you.”
“What?”
“Campbell’s joining us,” she says.
“And? You know he has bionic hearing when it comes to Mom’s cooking,” I say, pausing when I see Caitlin’s broad grin, like she knows something else. “What?”
“Rachel’s in there, too.”
Caitlin must have warned my parents not to discuss Addison or Piper because there’s no mention of it at all, and I’m glad. With Rachel glaring at me from across the table, I can only imagine what she’ll say. Will she break down? Get angry? I don’t know anymore, and I don’t want to kno
w. Instead, we talk about the latest thing she's studying, something about a Princeton thesis on flavivirus RNA and immune systems. I'm sure it all goes above our heads but Caitlin is so animated as she talks about it that we simply nod and maybe, in a way, understand what she's really saying, that yellow fever virus differentially interacts with certain cells in mouse models and that these dynamics influence outcomes of infection... or something like that.
This is why no talent scout can ever drag Caitlin into the modeling world. She's determined to be a molecular biologist and come up with ways to combat disease that she'd probably frustrate the poor guy with terminology even before he can start his spiel. But Caitlin can only talk so much about her courses. When Dad finally asks me how I'm doing, silence fills the room.
“I’m doing great,” I reply as I swallow the last bite of Mom’s famous corned beef and cabbage. I’m too full from the last two meals I’ve had and now this.
“Where were you?” Rachel asks accusingly.
I almost tell her it’s none of her business but I don’t. It’s a simple question. “I was with a friend.”
“In the city?” She prods.
“Yeah, in the city.”
“I’m glad you made it, Jory,” Dad says.
“Me, too. You have no idea how much I’ve missed Mom’s cooking.” Next to me, Campbell continues to eat, unperturbed. It’s no secret he loves Mom’s cooking and Mom loves that he wants to learn how she does things. They usually end up in the kitchen discussing recipes and substitutions for certain ingredients that aren’t readily available. And ever since he moved to Manhattan, Campbell’s put everything he’s learned to good use with girlfriends and friends, including me whenever I’d crash at his place after work and he’d cook something up that’s a close copy of Mom’s signature dishes.
“When are we going to meet them?” Mom asks and Caitlin almost chokes her cheesecake. Campbell thumps her back while Dad gives Mom a look. Rachel just pouts.
“Soon, Mom,” I reply.
“That’s it? You won’t even tell us how you guys met? When did you meet her? Was it while we were together?”