Chapter 20 – Dinner

NOTES: So I couldn't sleep...so I thought I would update. Sasha meets Nef's parents, Adjo and Nefetiri.


bold text indicates text messages. Italics indicates Russian Language. Bold and italics will denote Arabic.

-----------------------------------------------

Nef’s POV


Christmas Eve…well my Christmas Eve not Sasha’s, I sat in the kitchen with my mother. She was making the final preparation for dinner. We were having a mix of Egyptian food, American food, and my mom had even tried to make some Russian food. She made simple things like pirogues and Shchi (cabbage soup). She had been prattling on about how her and my dad had met and gotten married. I had heard this story before. In fact I heard it every time I brought a boy home to meet my parents or Immy brought a girl home. I didn’t bring too many of them to meet the family only twice before tonight.

“Ommy, we’ve only been dating a couple of months so let’s not get to hasty.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“Well it was kinda roundabout way of us getting together and I want to be sure that he was worth it. I mean there’s no use in bringing him to meet you guys if it was just a fling.”

“So it’s not just a fling?”

I shook my head no. It was around 4pm when my dad got home from the hospital. He had been one of the neurosurgeons on call for the past week or so but he had taken time off from now through New Year’s. Sasha wasn’t supposed to be there until about 5:15 so I took the time to talk to my dad.

“Hey Baba,” I said as I plopped down on my parents bed.

My dad stood in the walk in closet getting dressed after a quick shower. “Yes Neffy.”

“I need to talk to you about something really quickly. It’s about Sasha – Alexander.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well he’s a really nice boy from a good family. I like him so could you please not terrorize him?”

“You’ve met his family?” he questioned.

“Not yet. They’re coming over from Russia it about a week and a half and he wants me to meet them.” Sasha had told me that he wanted me to meet his family. They were all coming; his mom, dad, sister, sister’s husband, and his sister's children.

“So how do you know he’s from a good family?”

“I know his story. We’ve talked about it, about his family.

“You usually don’t ask me to be nice to people.” My dad had moved toward the bed.

“Yeah, well I like this one. I would like it even more if he didn’t run screaming from the house because you threatened to hunt him down.”

I reached up to tie my dad’s tie. He laughed and said that I was his little girl and that it was his job. When I walked down stairs to the living room I was nervous. I really wanted this to go well. Immy, Khai, and Set where split between the dining room and the kitchen helping my mom get stuff set up for dinner. We always had a formal family dinner on Christmas Eve. This was however one of the rare years when none of my grandparents would be here.

“Hey Nef, when is Alex supposed to get here,” Khai called from the dining room.

“In about 15 minutes.” I walked into the foyer to sit by the door.

I looked through the pane glass door when I heard a car pull into the drive way and saw that it was Sasha’s silver Mercedes. He walked to the door carrying to bouquets of roses and a bottle of wine. I opened the door for him and welcomed him in.

“These are for you,” he said handing me the bouquet of red roses and placing a chaste kiss on my lips. The boy always brought me flowers.

We walked toward my parents and he gave my mother the bouquet of multi-colored roses and said “It nice to meet both of you.” My father took the bottle of wine from him and shook his hand. My dad instantly recognized him but he didn’t make a big deal about it. I took his coat and gave it to Immy to hang in the coat closet.

“No way!” Khai said as he walked into the foyer. Sasha was Khai’s favorite player.

“Sasha that’s Khai and the runt behind him is Set. You’ve already met Imhotep.”

We migrated into the living room and sat down on the couch. I sat on the love seat holding his hand in mine while my dad sat in the single chair, my mom sitting on the arm. My brothers sat on the couch staring at him.

“Oh, this is intimidating.” Sasha looked nervous. He looked like he was being led to the slaughter.

He was bombarded with questions: how did we meet, when did we get together, what were his intentions. My mom asked me what he did for a living and everyone laughed.

“Ommy, you missed it,” Immy teased.

“Ommy, I told you that Sasha worked with the Washington Capitals Hockey Club.”

“Yes, you told me on Saturday.”

“He’s a player for the Washington Capitals Hockey Club, number 28.”

“You’re a professional athlete?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Dinner was uneventful and Sasha managed to completely charm my mother. Conversation was polite and my brothers spent a great deal of time asking about the NHL, Russia, and Sasha’s family.

“Nefertiti, will you come and help me in the kitchen?” my mom asked me as we cleared the table. “I need help with bringing desert out.

I really didn’t want to leave Sasha alone with my father. He had been too quiet tonight. I looked at Sasha and then at my father.

“Baba, be nice to him.” I warned as I went with my mother.

As soon as we were through the doors to the kitchen I asked my mom “what does Baba what to talk to him about?” Now my mother has never been able to keep a secret, not from family, not from us, and definitely not from my father.

“Nothing, just guy stuff.”

“Guy stuff like what?”

“Honey, he’s just being a dad. Don’t worry.”

I am not paranoid. I know my father. I went out on my first date in high school and my date quite literally ran screaming from my house after meeting my father. My dad can be a mean prick. I have no illusions about it.

I helped my mom clear the table and bring out dessert. Only Khai and Set where still there.

“Where did they go?”

“The study, I think Baba is showing Alex his hunting rifles.”

I really wanted to smack Set. My mother however frowned at beating the snot out of younger siblings.



Sasha’s POV

Nef’s father looked intimidating. His face was set in an almost glare for most of the night. I thought that playing for his favorite hockey team might win me a few points but that wasn’t the case. He never said it exactly but I could tell that he didn’t care for me too much.

“Have you slept with my daughter?”

Woah, that question came out of left field. Is it too late to say I don’t speak much English?

“I have spent the night with her.” That sounded like a reasonable answer. I mean I couldn’t just say “Yes, I had sex with your daughter.”

“I don’t think you’ll be good for her.”

“Why you think that?”

“She’s a bright girl with a bright future. I don’t think your lifestyle is good for where she needs to go.”

Nef told me he would say this. This guy barely knew me and was judging me. Not all pro-athletes are jerks or assholes. Be nice to your girlfriend’s father. Sasha, be nice to your girlfriend’s father.

“What lifestyle? Hockey? I not have much of a life outside of it during the season.” I smiled. The time that I had left after hockey was divided between my family and Nef.

Imhotep was sitting in the chair next to me. He didn’t say much but I knew that he liked me. He had sufficiently threatened my life during the disaster that was the first time we had met. Sorry about almost calling your sister a whore. Nef still hadn’t exactly forgiven me for that one yet. Maybe her Christmas gift would soften her up a bit.

After the “conversation” that mostly consisted of subtle threats on my life with Nef’s father I really didn’t feel like I was any closer to getting his approval than I was before he knew I was dating his daughter. He was however incredibly polite. I’m sure that if I wasn’t dating his only daughter I would find him to be an amazing man. That one little minor detail made him hate my guts. Well maybe not hate me but definitely strongly dislike me.

After dessert I went to the closet where Imhotep had put my coat to get the
present that I’d bought for Nef. Her family had mostly gone to other parts of the house to give us a few moments together.

“Oooohhh presents! I like those.”

“You not open it until tomorrow,” I warned, putting it into her hands.

“No promises,” she shook her head batting those wonderfully long eyelashes at me.

I had been teasing her since I agreed to come to dinner with her family about the presents I had gotten her. She didn’t do well with waiting.

I took the gift back. I hid it behind my back and said “Then I give it to you later.” She glared at me but said nothing. She went over to the tree and pulled out the present she had gotten for me. I was curious as to what she could have gotten me. I held out one hand to take it from her.

“No. You don’t get it until Christmas.”

“I won’t open it until tomorrow,” I promised.

“Christmas isn’t tomorrow.”

“Yes it is.” Her Christmas was December 25th.

“Not for you. January 7th you bully.”

I smiled and said “that fine.” I knew that Nef wouldn’t be able to wait to see what I had gotten her. Not because she was excited for a present but because she couldn’t stand not knowing. Her curiosity would drive her crazy. I could wait until then. She put the gift down on the couch and then moved to stand in front of me. When her arms wrapped around me I thought she was going to hug me. Instead she reached for the box I held behind my back.

“No! Bad girl.” I held my arm straight up in the air and she couldn’t reach it.
I am about 10 or so inches taller than her so with my arm hold the gift in the air she couldn’t reach it. Even with the high heels she had on it was still out of reach.

“Oh that’s just mean.” I heard from the archway between the living room and the foyer. I turned to see Im standing there. Nef tickled my arm pit and I yanked my arm down dropping the gift on the floor. Cheater! Tickling me to get what you want is against the rules! She scooped it up and darted behind Imhotep before I could grab her. She laughed and shouted “Victory!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her. I sat down on the couch and picked up the box she had tossed there.

“I open it now?” I asked her.

She held the box to her chest as slowly walk back over to me.

“Yes.”

I tore off the wrapping paper and it reviled a Dolce and Gabbanna jewelry box. In side of it was a silver watch a white gold face plate. It was beautiful.
“Call me old fashioned, but every man should always where a nice watch.” Old fashioned girl. I marveled at how well our personalities matched. I always brought her flowers when we went out on dates or when something important came along. It was a behavior that I’d learned from my father. There were many times when I was younger when my family had to live apart because of me and hockey but whenever my parents reunited my father brought my mother her favorite flowers.

I leaned over and kissed her, probably a little more enthusiastically than I should have. When I pulled back I told her to open her gift. I knew she wouldn’t last until morning and I wanted to see her face.

She opened the box to find a diamond and pearl drop necklace. It was simple and classic. I thought that it would look beautiful on her.

“It’s beautiful.” She kissed me, pulling me closer to her. I heard Im cleared his throat behind for the archway where he still stood.

“Beat it,” she said.

“Nope. Baba told me to watch you guys to make sure there was no monkey business.”

“I wanna be your monkey baby,” Nef began to sing.

“Swing my thing and drive you crazy,” Imhotep responded

“I’m gonna crawl all over you…You're gonna crawl all over me.” They sang together.

I looked at the twins like they were crazy because let’s face it…they were a little crazy. Nef went over to the stereo and the song “Monkey” by Poets and Pornstars began to play. She and Im began dancing and jumping around the living room.

She moved over to where and sat on the couch and sang to me

“I wanna be your monkey baby
this little devil gonna drive you crazy
everybody wants to climb your tree
nobody else can swing like me

c'mon c'mon

I wanna be your monkey baby
swing my thing and drive you crazy
I wanna be your monkey baby
you could be my monkey lady
ditch your ride and turn around
this whole world is crashing down
every city every town
looking for what we have found

you could be my monkey baby
I wanna be your monkey baby
you could be my monkey baby
I wanna be your monkey baby.”

By now I had gotten use to the randomness that was Nef’s personality but seeing her with her twin made me pause. This girl is batty. She bent over, placing her hands on my thighs, singing the sultry words in my ear. That voice should have been illegal. It made me think of her as a beautiful seductress whose purpose was to fulfill my every pleasure. It wasn’t exactly thoughts meant for the living room of her parents’ home.

I groaned and she giggled. She knew how easy it was to tease me. I couldn’t help that I found virtually everything she did incredibly sexy. There was a certain sultriness to the way she moved. There was a certain appeal to her voice when she spoke in that low breathy voice. It brought me right back to the times we’d been together and I could hear her saying “more,” “harder,” and “faster.” It brought me back to the times when I heard her scream my name.

Come on Sasha get a grip on yourself. You can’t drag her off to bed and have your way with her…at least not until the weekend.

“Bring your family to the game on Saturday,” I said. I wasn’t sure how long Nef would be in Baltimore for the holidays

“Everyone?”

“Da, you guys sit in the one of the boxes that Ted has.” There were several suites that Ted had reserved throughout the season; for players, family, business partners, and charity events. “You stay with me before I go to West Coast?”

I wanted to spend the few days before my West Coast trip with her because when I came back my family would be here and they would be here for about a month.
“Da, but only if you’re a good boy.” Enough with the teasing! I don’t think I can take much more. My backside was still pleasantly sore from Monday.

When it came time for me to leave she walked me out to the drive way where my car was parked. I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tightly.

“I see you Saturday, milaya moya.”