Shibari

"I should talk to my mom about it when I get home, and actually, that's a good reason to go visit grandma and ask her what she thinks."

Xander chuckled nervously. "Maybe we should start with a simple introduction and see how they take the idea of us being in a relationship first?"

I was a little shocked. "You want to meet my parents already?"

"Uh... well... you just said you want to tell them that you're getting married and want to turn your grandma's house into a Bed and Breakfast. Don't you think they should meet me before talking about any of that?"

"I actually thought you'd want to avoid meeting them until you were more certain they'd accept you -- or am I wrong in thinking that a lot of people have to worry about how their parents react?" I questioned because it was practically written in stone that kids had to hide these things from their parents or risk getting kicked out and disowned.

Xander rubbed the back of his neck. "If we were talking about meeting my parents, I'd think two or three more times about doing it, but you're sort of making it sound like you're going to go settle all of this tonight and have us living together by this time next week."

I smiled at him. "That's one of the advantages of belonging to a rational family. So long as I present them with a solid and decently well thought out plan, they'll accept anything."

"Plus," Dimitri added. "They really believe in letting him make his own choices since there's not much point in life otherwise."

Xander was clearly confused by that, but rather than try to explain, I simply kissed him.

"So... you want to go meet my parents?" I asked, trying not to show just how excited I was by the prospect.

"Yeah... I have to admit that I'm pretty curious about them now," Xander said, kissing me several small times as he did so.

"Mmmm..." I hummed happily.

It took about a half an hour to order smoothies as a sort of late breakfast/lunch -- since it was actually coming up on dinner time -- and then get dressed and drive to my house. As we passed Dimitri's house, he sat up abruptly and pressed his face to the window.

"Mom's home!"

"That's weird," I murmured with a concerned frown.

"Normally you know that there's nothing in the world that could make me miss dinner with your parents tonight, but if my mom's home, something serious must be wrong," Dimitri babbled, clearly worried.

"Good Luck! Say hi to Oksana for me," I said as I stopped at the end of his driveway to let him out.

"I will! And I'll text you later to let you know what's going on."

"Same," I stated, certain that I'd have at least some sort of reaction from my parents to report.

Xander and I were both quiet as I finished driving to my house. Until I heard him muttering under his breath: "This must be an expensive apartment building. Even the parking garage is full of luxury cars."

I chuckled softly and kissed his hand. One of the things I loved about him was that he had no idea I was a spoiled little rich kid, so he had agreed to my crazy proposal thinking that I was a normal guy like everyone else. However, before I could tell him that this was our house and not an apartment building, I noticed something that made me frown.

"What the...?" I got out of the car and walked over to the top-of-the-line transport van. "Why is this here?"

Xander slipped his hand in mine and gave me a concerned look. I gave him a kiss and led him out of the garage toward my house. Before we fully reached the front door, it opened and one of the maids gave me a reassuring smile.

"Your mother wanted you to know that your grandma is here. The entryway is a bit of a mess at the moment because all the necessary equipment is being stored there until it's decided which room she'll be staying in."

"So grandma's going to be living here?" I questioned in surprise.

"It seems she had a minor stroke last night and the doctor recommends putting her in a care facility, but your grandmother refused and your mother saw no reason to have her anywhere else when there's plenty of room here."

"Good point," I agreed reasonably.

"And the cook is making a choice between maple glazed salmon and steak tartar for dinner with crème brûlée for dessert. Should I tell her to add your friend for dinner?"

"Yes please," I answered politely. "And let her know I'll have the steak tartar."

"And you?" She asked Xander with a friendly smile.

"Uh... salmon?" Xander replied uncertainly.

"Great! I'll let her know."

"Any way you could persuade her to add some pâté to my plate?" I wondered.

"Of course! She knows how much you love it," the maid answered. "And before I forget, I cleaned your bathroom today and noticed you were low on shampoo and conditioner, so I put them on the list."

"Alright," I replied with a shrug since it was something my mother bought and I never noticed when or if I was running low. It just always seemed to be there.

"Are you ever going to come say hi to me?" A gravelly yet stern voice demanded from the sitting room.

Chuckling softly, I led Xander to where my family was sitting in a circle around a table having tea. "Hi grandma. I'm glad to see you're okay."

"No thanks to the morons who work for me! If I didn't have a cellphone to call for help, I might have actually died last night!"

"Mother, please. The doctor said it was just a minor stroke. You weren't in any danger of dying," my mother reminded her in a placating tone.

"That's not the point!" Grandma exclaimed fervently, even pounding her fist on the arm of her motorized wheelchair. "I pay those idiots a LOT of money to take care of me, and do they? No! I should fire the lot of them!"

"Mother, they're domestic help. Only your caregiver is technically supposed to look after you, and she goes home at night. But please try not to worry, while you live here, we'll hire two more caregivers so that you have someone to help you out at all hours," Mom promised in all sincerity.

"Good! They can start by getting me a hot chocolate!"

Mom sighed and rubbed her forehead. "You're not supposed to have any sweets for the next few days in case that was a contributing trigger for your stroke."

"Don't you dare try to treat me like a child! If I want hot chocolate, I'd better well get hot chocolate!"

Clearly tempted to growl from frustration, my mother turned to look at me. "Sorry for being so rude. Benjamin, please introduce your guest to us.

I kissed grandma on the cheek and whispered a promise to slip her some chocolate later on, which made her grin happily and pat my cheek. "You always were my favorite grandchild," she murmured as I straightened up, apparently forgetting that I'm her only grandchild.

"Mom, dad, grandma, this is Xander... We're getting married."

"What???" All three asked in surprise.

My grandma smiled and squeezed my hand. "I was only 16 when I married your grandfather, you know. I'm sure you'll have a long and happy marriage... but who are your brides?"

I chuckled nervously. "Grandma, remember how they made it legal for gay people to get married?"

"Well yeah, but what does that have to do with your brides? Oh! You mean YOU are marrying HIM... Whatever makes you happy, I guess, but really! I just don't understand you young people these days!"

"Thanks grandma," I murmured, kissing her on the cheek again.

"For the love of Einstein and Tesla!" My dad burst out. "Didn't I tell you NOT to make any decisions regarding marriage until AFTER your arm healed?!"

I held up my arm to remind him that my cast was off. "My arm is healed."

"He gets this from your mother," dad grumbled at my mom.

"He probably does," my mom lamented in agreement. "Honey... this seems rather extreme. You've only been broken up with Amanda for less than two months."

I held up a hand to stop her from making a list of everything that has changed recently. "Listen, I know this is sudden, but I have actually given this serious thought. We decided to be engaged with no set date for now -- to make sure that we're able to get along should we get married. Also, Xander wants to open a Bed and Breakfast, and I was going to ask if we could use grandma's house --"

"Good riddance! That house stopped making me happy when your grandfather died! I was thinking about burning it down!"

"MOTHER! I grew up in that house!"

"Then YOU can burn it down!"

"No, how about rather than burning it down, I turn it into a Bed and Breakfast?" I suggested even though I was fairly sure it was a done deal already.

"Whatever makes you happy," she granted with a huff.

Despite clearly looking upset, my dad stroked his chin in thought. "I suppose that renovations wouldn't cost too much. The house is in excellent shape. I could call Joseph and ask him to take a look and submit a bid. Provided nothing unexpected is wrong, I could have a construction expense account opened by Monday."

"Oh... and I've always wanted to remodel the entryway," my mother added. "It's the dreariest place in the whole house." She pulled out her phone and started scrolling through her contact list. "In fact, I could see to it that the woman I used when redoing my bedroom takes the job. She has excellent taste -- which would be perfect for your needs."

"Thanks mom," I murmured, genuinely touched.

"So then, do you plan to take a business class at the local college?" Dad asked.

"Wouldn't it be a management class?" Mom wondered.

"Do I need to?" I questioned. "Seems like it should be easy enough to run. And besides, couldn't I just hire a manager?"

Xander laughed. "That's actually where I come in. I HAVE taken business and management classes."

"Oh..." mother stated, not quite sure what to make of the idea that I wanted to marry a man I'd never even mentioned before.

"Oh my! I just took a good look at you and realized how handsome you are," grandma said, taking one of Xander's hands in hers. "I always wanted another grandson."

"Thanks, um..."

"My name is Lydia, but you can just call me grandma."

Xander chuckled, not quite sure if it was really okay to do so.

Mom sighed, sounding a little defeated. "Well, I suppose that if things go well with the Bed and Breakfast, then it would be the perfect place to hold a wedding come next... summer?"

"Probably not," dad interjected. "If it really does go well, they'll be booked during the summer. In which case, it would probably be better to hold the wedding in late fall or winter, when not many people are traveling."

"Wow!" Xander was clearly taken aback by how quickly my parents had gotten on board with these plans. He turned and gave me a serious look. "I'm warning you now, meeting MY parents will not go this well! We might both have to brush up on our fighting skills, and I'll probably have to call my sister and have her hide all the guns and ammo before we show up. I can already tell you that my dad's going to be drunk. My mom will be high; hopefully passed out, which'll actually be for the best because while my dad can be a mean sonovabitch, my mom tends to be sweet as pie until she just snaps for no reason and tries to murder everyone in sight. I think the first meeting should really just be the two of us waving from inside my locked car before driving away. And actually, maybe it'd be even safer to just Facetime with them."

"Uh..." I droned, wondering if he was being serious.

"But at least my sister will be happy for us," Xander finished with a smile that made my head spin for a few seconds.

It was a struggle to keep my composure, but I didn't want to act like a lovestruck dumbass in front of my parents. After clearing my throat, I managed to sound more or less normal as I asked: "Would you like me to show you around?" Which was code for: Let's get to my bedroom right away so I can kiss the fuck out of you!

"Sure," Xander murmured, probably relieved to have an excuse to get away from my parents for a few minutes. Sure enough, the moment we were out of the sitting room, he muttered in my ear: "I didn't expect them to accept things so quickly. I really thought they'd argue..."

"I was actually expecting them to wonder when I turned gay, but I'm glad they didn't because I have no idea how to answer that question," I confessed as I led him up the stairs.

"Yeah, I'm not sure I'd call myself gay either," Xander agreed. "I mean, my kink is serving my Master, and gender doesn't really matter. Does that make me Bi?"

I shrugged. "If you are, then I probably am too since I still like women."

"I have no problem with that," Xander said with a smile. "Just... do you think you could promise me not to play around with anyone not part of the club?"

"I can absolutely promise that," I vowed. "I'm not actually the type to play around, I just... feel safe at the club, if that makes sense."

"Completely," Xander agreed, squeezing my hand. "And I'll promise the same."

We were finally in my room and I practically slammed the door shut in my eagerness to kiss him. Our kissing got so hot and heavy that we didn't have time or the strength to move from the door to the bed. He tugged my shirt off while I focused on unbuttoning his pants.

"So sorry to interrupt you," my mother's voice called out from the intercom, making me feel like a bucket of cold water had just been dumped over my head. "But one of your friends just arrived."

"That's weird," I murmured with a puzzled frown. "Dimitri is practically my only friend, and if he'd come over, he'd have just walked into my room."

"Good thing I get along with him then," Xander said with a soft chuckle. "Since if he does that a lot, he's probably going to see us having sex quite a bit."

"Should I send him to you or have him wait in the parlor?" Mom's voice interrupted us again.

I turned and pushed the button on the intercom next to the door. "Yeah, send him here."

Thankfully, the time it took to get here would be enough to put my shirt back on. And help Xander fix his pants. And give him another quick kiss or ten.

"Benjamin?" A maid called out after knocking on the door. "Your mother asked me to bring your guest here."

"Thank you," I replied as I opened my door to find Joel standing there behind her. "Why are you here?"

"You haven't called me," he stated.

"That's because I didn't want to talk to you," I informed him in no uncertain terms. Then I sighed and stepped back to let him in my room.

He watched the maid walk away until I shut the door again. "She's pretty. I wonder if we can poach her -- at least for a week or two."

"That's pretty shitty of you," I remarked dryly.

"What, you never sleep with your maids?" Joel asked in a tone that made it clear he thought this was a normal thing to do.

"Why would I? I had a girlfriend for three years," I reminded him.

"Yeah, I heard you broke up with her. She's friends with my girlfriend and won't stop bitching about it."

"Why are you here?" I demanded grumpily.

"Right. Sorry. I mean that; I came to apologize. I feel really bad about fucking around with the bat and breaking your arm. Is there anything I can do? Want a new car or something?"

"I can buy my own cars," I stated coldly.

He sighed and shifted awkwardly. "My parents think I should give you one of my trust funds, and I sort of agree. After all, I ruined your future."

"I have enough money, so if that's all, you can just go," I suggested.

"Wow man, you were never exactly the friendliest guy, but now you seem to be a downright asshole," Joel remarked, but not like this information upset him. If anything, he seemed relieved that I was more like the rest of his friends than he thought.

I sighed in defeat and decided it would be quickest and easiest to just accept his apology. "Look, I don't need anything, but I believe you're sorry."

"Just let me get this off my chest..." Joel continued as if I hadn't said anything. "When word got around that you were scouted by all the best college baseball teams, I did feel jealous for about a second. But you have to understand that playing ball was never my passion, I just do it for fun. If I go to college, it'll probably be the same one my dad went to, which is the same one his dad went to. All they care about is how much money we can pay them, and it won't even matter if I slack off and spend all my time at frat parties."

"Do you have a point with this?" I wondered, a little curious despite myself.

"My point is that I hope you don't think I did it on purpose. I really didn't because I don't want to play college baseball, so why would I want to ruin it for you?"

I nodded in understanding. "I know it was an accident."

"Then why are you so pissed off at me?" Joel wondered, sounding surprisingly anguished by this.

"Because you weren't paying any attention to your surroundings. It wouldn't have happened if you'd just looked around and noticed that there were people around who could get hurt."

He huffed a small laugh. "You mean that you're mad because I wasn't acting as cautiously and rationally as you always do. I could never understand why you even wanted to play baseball, considering you never seemed to have any fun with it. You never seemed happy, except for when you managed to perfect a skill and amaze us all with it. Then you'd crack the tiniest sad little smile you ever saw."

"Just because I didn't go around dancing and shouting like a moron, doesn't mean I wasn't happy," I nearly snarled at him.

"Can you dance?" Xander asked, his eyes on fire with curiosity over this entire conversation.

I turned to smile at him. "Of course. It's part of the curriculum at the school I attended."

"Which means that it was probably some fancy private school," Xander murmured with a soft smile at me.

"Yeah," I admitted, feeling strangely shy for some reason.

"And is playing baseball the reason you're in such good shape?" He asked with a leer that looked me up and down and nearly made me blush.

"More or less," I answered. "Part of the training included things like running and lifting weights. We had a former pro baseball player as our training coach."

"Lucky!" Xander exclaimed with the slightest hint of jealousy. "Anyone I've heard of?"

"Probably, if you follow baseball at all," I said with a shrug.

"Any chance you plan to invite him to our wedding?"

I pinched my chin in thought. "I wonder if he'd even consider coming. I suppose I could send him an invite."

"I know we have more than a year before we have to decide on anything, but I have to admit, hearing your mom and dad talk about when would be the best time to have it, well, I got excited..."

"Me too," I admitted with a grin at him.

"You're getting married?!" Joel burst out incredulously. "TO HIM?!?!"

"I am," I confirmed with a soft smile. "Or at least I plan to. We've got a few other things to do first."

"Such as taking self defense lessons so that we can punch my dad out when he tries to strangle us," Xander said.

"You really think he'll try to strangle us?" I asked curiously.

"Honestly, it'll be about a fifty fifty chance between strangling us and just straight up shooting us with his favorite shotgun," Xander admitted a bit sheepishly.

"I'm sorry your family's so messed up," I murmured, running my right hand along his cheek. "But actually, I was thinking that the most important first thing we absolutely have to do is go shopping for a ring so that you can show it to anyone who hits on you."

He laughed and made a gesture like he was preening. "You think a ring will stop people from hitting on me? And besides, it's YOU that I have to worry about being hit on."

"I think I should add taking you to an eye doctor to the list of things to do, because you clearly need to have your eyes checked."