SkyGirl5
Cadet
okay so here's the deal
i know a bunch of you have been reading at Random Fans -i've been posting my updates there while AA was down -i'm also now posting again at Allies
in the mean time, i'm going to post two chaps today and two chaps tomorrow here to get all caught up - during that time there won't be any new chaps at allies or RF - i'll wait until they're all in sync again before i continue
Chapter 10
The next morning, Sydney awoke wishing for death. She stumbled her way to the bathroom, barely remembering that she was at Michael’s place.
Upon seeing Sydney stumble into the kitchen, her hair an utter wreck, with black streaks surrounding her eyes where her makeup had run, he had to fight to keep a straight face. “Morning,” he managed.
“Shh loud,” she croaked. Then she took the cup of coffee he held out to her and cut him off before he could speak, “No talking.”
Michael gave her a thumbs up before backing away from her slowly. He showered quickly and when he returned she had her head resting on his kitchen table, empty coffee cup clutched in her hand. “You awake?” She gave a pathetic half-whine, half-groan and he laughed softly. “Poor thing. You want an Advil?”
“Found ‘em… took two,” she moaned. “Shoot me.”
“Sorry,” he said. He then sat down beside her and she lifted her head up slowly. “I take it you’re not much of a drinker.”
“No, I can’t really handle hard liquor… as evident by last night,” she sighed and covered her face with her hands. “Oh god… last night…”
“Yeah,” Michael cringed, not sure how much she’d remember.
She spread her fingers and peered through them to look at him with one eye. “Did I ask you to have sex with me?” she asked timidly. He cringed slightly and looked away. “Oh god,” she groaned and covered her face again, sounding horrified. “I am so, so, so, so very, very sorry.”
“Syd, it’s okay; you were wasted,” he told her.
“But I’m so mortified!” she whimpered. “I’ll just leave and you can forget I existed.”
“Syd, no,” he said as he reached out and took one of her hands gently. “Syd, it’s fine. No big deal, don’t worry about it.”
“But I’m such an ass! I ruined your birthday party!”
“You most certainly did not and don’t even think that,” he assured her. “I was just worried about you?”
“Yeah well,” she muttered and looked down at the table in front of her. “After the third guy asked me ‘your place or mine,’” she said in a macho tone, “I was at the end of my rope.”
“Clearly. I’m sorry my friends are assholes,” he told her.
“Nah, it’s okay… it was partly my fault. I mean, I thought most of them would be gay,” she told him seriously. Michael gulped and gave her a noncommittal shrug while breaking out into a cold sweat. “Anyway, I’m really, really sorry about the sex thing,” she cringed.
“Syd, its fine. No need to apologize,” he assured her.
She leaned over and kissed his cheek gently while standing up from the table. “Thanks for being a great friend… I’m gonna go. I’ll talk to you later – oh and thanks for letting me stay!” she called as she collected her shoes, purse and coat from the other room.
As soon as Michael heard his apartment door slam shut, he banged his head down onto the table and whimpered. He hated himself. He hated the fact that he was such an idiot and he couldn’t just tell her the truth. He hated the fact that her kiss made his cheek tingle. But mostly, he hated that he was falling for her and he couldn’t stop it.
~*~
A few days later, Sydney insisted on inviting Michael over for dinner as another apology for her behavior at his party. Though Michael assured her it wasn’t necessary, he agreed to come. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Sydney was actually a very good cook.
After eating, they were relaxing on Sydney’s couch while she worked on some of her knitting with her legs tucked up underneath her. The two of them were chatting about work that day, when Michael noticed something strange on one of her socks. “Hey… what’s on your sock?” he asked, changing the course of their conversation dramatically.
“Nothing,” she said quickly. Too quickly, as she tucked her foot beneath her.
“Yes there was. There was something written on there… Mrs. Something I think. What’s it say?” he asked. She ignored him. Seeing a piece of her sock sticking out from beside her leg, he grabbed for it and she squealed, trying to get away from him. Unfortunately, Michael had a firm grip on the sock, so in the process of her squirming, he managed to pull the sock off. “MRS. BLOOM?!” he burst out laughing and rolled back onto the couch in hysterics.
“Gimmie that,” Sydney said, turning pink as she groped for her sock. She managed to yank it away from him and put it back on her foot. “They were a gift… from my sister,” she said timidly.
“Suuuuure,” he laughed. She turned a deeper shade of pink. “Bloom… like Orlando Bloom?” Sydney nodded slightly and Michael laughed harder.
“So, I have a little crush… so what,” she said casually. He continued to laugh. “Oh come on, tell me he’s not cute?!”
“I never said he was ugly, I was laughing at the sock,” he assured her.
“Shut up,” she muttered to him. He grinned at her. “Alright fine, Mr. ‘I never talk about my romantic life,’ what celebs do you have a crush on?”
“Um,” he began cautiously. “I don’t really have any crushes on celebs at the moment… well, at least not enough to wear their name plastered across my sock.”
She laughed softly. “Okay then… describe your perfect mate then. What would he look like?”
“Oh, I don’t know…,” Michael grumbled as he shifted somewhat uncomfortably in his seat. “You tell me yours, then I’ll tell you mine.”
“Okay,” she smiled. She then shifted on the sofa so that she was facing him before beginning to list. “Well… light colored eyes – not brown. They’d have to be green or blue… and a square jaw, maybe with a cleft chin… sandy colored hair… just a little over six feet tall…”
As she was listing, Michael grew more and more anxious, along with a healthy dose of panic. He looked over slowly at her and saw she was grinning. When they locked eyes, she burst out laughing. “That was mean. You need to be serious,” he told her while taking a deep breath to calm his heart rate.
“Sorry,” she laughed. “But I was serious with some stuff like the light colored eyes and square jaw. Hmm, what else… oh, he’d definitely have to make me laugh… and he’d have to be sweet. And I like guys who are a little sensitive, not all macho and felgercarb… huh, it still sounds like you,” she laughed.
Seeing that as an opportunity, Michael opened his mouth but before he could even utter a syllable, Sydney continued, “But it doesn’t really matter. I mean, I’m really into my not dating thing right now. Who needs men, right?” she asked him with a playful little smack to his arm.
“Right,” he said weakly, trying to regain the motivation to continue living.
“Now, it’s your turn, mister,” she grinned and poked his shoulder lightly.
“Okay,” he sighed. Then he very carefully chose his words as he spoke, “Well… kindness is key. Sweet, definitely… oh, um, not really career driven. I mean, I’m really career driven and work obsessed, so someone else like that would drive me literally insane… I don’t really know about the physical stuff, it doesn’t really matter to me… well, obviously someone who doesn’t weigh five hundred pounds but…”
“Right,” she laughed. “Sounds good.”
“Yep,” he sighed, relieved he managed to get through that without mentioning a gender.
“What about kids? Do you want kids?” she asked.
He nodded. “Definitely. Being a pediatrician, I can’t really imagine my life without them – especially kids of my own.”
“Oh,” she said sadly. “That must be hard… I mean, could you have kids of your own?... Maybe if you found a woman who would… you know, give you her eggs or something,” she answered her own thought.
“Yeah… you know, I guess I hadn’t really thought about that,” he laughed slightly.
“Ah well, I’m sure it will happen for you. You’d be a great Dad,” she said, patting his shoulder softly.
“Thanks,” he smiled at her. “What about you? You want kids?”
“Oh yeah!” she said enthusiastically. “I want ‘em now. I want to steal every baby I see.”
He laughed. “Probably shouldn’t do that.”
“No,” she cringed. “So… you’re going to your parents for Thanksgiving slash your birthday, right?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Yep, a nice, long two hour drive. Yippee,” he said sarcastically. “But it will probably be the last time I see them this year so…”
“Why?” she asked.
“Oh well, they just informed me they’re going on a cruise for Christmas and New Year’s so,” he shrugged.
“You’ll be alone for Christmas?” Sydney asked sadly. He nodded. “You can’t! Come to my mom’s with me.”
“Oh Syd, I could-”
“Nope; you’re coming,” she interrupted, not letting him protest.
“You’re sure?” he asked.
“Totally sure. Besides, you can be my buffer against Nadia that way,” she smiled hopefully.
“Thanks, Syd, I’d love to come,” he told her.
“Great!” she beamed and hugged him.
Chapter 11
Not wanting to interfere with the Bristow’s Christmas too much, Michael told Sydney that he wouldn’t spend the night Christmas Eve like she had invited him too. He was simply going to come at one for lunch, that way the three Bristow women could have their morning present opening routine undisturbed by him. He arrived at twelve fifty bearing a plant for Sydney’s mother, candy for her sister and a tiny wrapped present for Sydney. He rang the doorbell with one free finger and then waited patiently.
A moment later Sydney opened the door, huge grin across her face, but instead of pulling him in the house, she pushed him further back out onto the porch. “Okay…” he said slowly.
“Sorry, I forgot to tell you,” she said in a quiet voice. “My mom doesn’t know you’re gay and don’t tell her, okay? She doesn’t really like gay people.”
“What?!” he hissed quietly.
“I’m SO sorry,” Sydney cringed. “But… she’s just one of those people who stereotype gay people as flamboyant and diseased. My ‘he’s more like Will from Will & Grace’ argument doesn’t really work with her. After she knows you she’ll be fine, just uh, don’t mention it, okay?”
“Uh huh,” he nodded, wondering what her mother would think of a non-gay man pretending to be gay because he was too much of a moron to tell the truth.
“Okay great! And merry Christmas!” she said happily as she pulled him inside. “Oh, um, Nadia’s flight was delayed so she should be here soon.”
“Oh good,” he said. Then, he smiled at the approaching woman.
“You must be Michael; it’s wonderful to finally meet you. Sydney’s only said the best things about you,” she said to him.
“Oh well… thanks, it’s nice to meet you Mrs. Bristow,” he smiled at her.
“Oh,” Sydney cringed. “It’s Derevko, she went back to her maiden name. That’s totally my fault, I forgot to tell you.”
“Thanks,” Michael said to her with a ‘what else didn’t you tell me’ glare.
“It’s fine, you can just call me Irina,” Irina said with a casual wave of her hand. “Come, have a seat.”
“Thanks… oh, here, I brought you this. Merry Christmas,” he said, holding out the bag with the plant to her.
“Oh. aren’t you a sweetheart, thank you so much,” she smiled and took the bag. They were barely seated when the front door burst open and Nadia rushed inside.
“Hi, sorry I’m late, stupid snow,” she grumbled. “I was- oh, Michael, I didn’t know you were coming…”
“I told you I invited him,” Sydney told her with a slight eye roll. Nadia shrugged, set her luggage down and gave her mother a hug.
“I’m going to go change out of this getup, be back in a few,” Nadia said while tugging at her flight attendant’s uniform. Then she grabbed her bag and disappeared up the stairs.
“I’m going to get lunch out,” Irina said.
“You need help?” Sydney asked.
“NO, I’m fine. Stay here and talk to Michael,” Irina told her.
Sydney nodded and waited until her mother left before turning to Michael and asking, “Do you know why Eric told me to schedule my yearly appointment with you as soon as possible?”
“What?!” Michael asked, totally confused.
“Yeah, um, the other day I ran into him at the mall and I just stopped and said hi, you know the usual small talk, but as I was leaving he said ‘don’t forget to schedule your yearly appointment with Mike early so you get in’. Then he walked away,” she explained.
For a moment, Michael thought silently with a furrowed brow, trying to determine what exactly his insane friend was saying, and then it hit him. “Oh,” he sighed helplessly. “Eric thinks I’m a gynecologist.”
“What?!” Sydney laughed.
“Yeah…”
“But… pediatrician and gynecologist are nothing alike,” she said.
“I know,” he groaned. “But he thinks a pediatrician is an obstetrician which translates into gynecologist in his abnormal mind.”
“Wow,” Sydney said in utter disbelief. “I don’t know whether I should be more disturbed about Eric’s concern for my gynecological heath, or by the fact that he thinks that a baby doctor is… that,” she cringed.
“Welcome to my world,” Michael said very seriously. Then they both burst out laughing.
After that, they went into the kitchen to help Irina bring out the food she had made. As it turned out, she had prepared enough for a small army, so there was far too much to choose from. “This is all delicious, Irina,” Michael said after he had taken a bit of every different food item on his plate.
“Thank you, Michael,” she smiled at him. “So, Sydney tells me that you’re a pediatrician?”
“Yes,” he confirmed with a nod.
“That must be a wonderful profession,” she said.
“Oh yes, I love it. Definitely,” he nodded.
“And… you’re not married?” she asked with a grin.
“Moooom,” Sydney groaned loudly while giving her a deadly glare.
“Sorry, I take it back,” she raised a hand in defeat.
“Of course he’s no- OUCH!” Nadia screamed after there was a loud bump underneath the table, clearly an indication that Sydney had kicked her sister to silence her. Sydney smiled innocently at her mother, who was giving her an incredibly suspicious look. “Anyway,” Nadia cleared her throat. “Where are your parents, Michael?”
“Cruise to the Bahamas,” he told her.
“How nice of them to leave you behind,” Nadia laughed softly.
“It’s okay, I had to work… plus I sunburn easily,” he shrugged with a slight laugh.
“Uh huh,” Nadia nodded.
“So how did you two meet again, I forget?” Irina asked her daughter and Michael.
“Oh well-”
“We met at the grocery store,” Sydney cut him off quickly. “We started talking and… I invited him to Stars on Ice, remember?”
“Ohhh yes,” Irina nodded.
“Stars on Ice,” Nadia snorted with laughter.
“Shut up,” Sydney glared at her.
“I love Stars on Ice. What did you think of it, Michael?” Irina asked.
“Oh, um, it was nice. I don’t know if I’d be excited to go to another one,” he admitted honestly with a slight laugh.
“So, you wanted to shoot yourself,” Nadia smirked.
“Shut up, he didn’t say that,” Sydney snapped at her sister.
“No, it wasn’t that bad,” Michael assured everyone.
After that, they fell into relative silence while they all finished their meals. Their conversation didn’t pick up again until dessert, when Sydney asked her sister, “What’s with you? You’re being twitchy.”
“I’m not twitchy,” she said in a tone that made it obvious she was hiding something. Everyone looked at her curiously. She sighed in defeat and flopped back in her chair. “Fine, okay, fine. I’m pregnant.”
“What?!” Sydney and Irina gasped loudly in horror. Meanwhile, Michael shrank back in his seat, dreading the impending fight between the family members.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m pregnant,” she said quietly.
“Dare I ask who the father is?” Irina asked in a very disapproving tone.
Nadia shrugged. “Some pilot guy.”
“SOME PILOT GUY?!” Sydney and Irina screeched together. “Nadia, honestly, I thought you had more sense than that,” her mother shook her head.
“Sorry,” she said quietly.
“What are you going to do?” Sydney asked her.
“I dunno… I’m barely a month along, so I have some time to decide…,” Nadia said cautiously.
“You will not have an abortion, young lady,” her mother said in a very scolding tone.
“I know that,” Nadia grumbled.
“Did you tell the father?” Sydney asked.
“No,” Nadia said quietly. “Whatever, it’s no big deal.”
“It most certainly is! But we’ll talk about this later. I’m terribly sorry, Michael,” Irina said to him.
“It’s fine,” he assured her with a smile. After that, no one spoke very much.
~*~
“I’m sorry about that insanity. My sister,” Sydney sighed in a helpless tone as she walked Michael out to his car.
“It’s fine really. I just hope she’s ok,” Michael said.
“Oh don’t worry, my mom won’t kill her,” Sydney told him with a slight smile.
Michael laughed softly. “Thanks again for inviting me, Syd. I had a great time.”
“Well, you’re welcome…and thanks for coming. Drive safe and I’ll call you, okay?” she said. He nodded and she leaned up and kissed his cheek before waving goodbye as he got into his car and drove off.
i know a bunch of you have been reading at Random Fans -i've been posting my updates there while AA was down -i'm also now posting again at Allies
in the mean time, i'm going to post two chaps today and two chaps tomorrow here to get all caught up - during that time there won't be any new chaps at allies or RF - i'll wait until they're all in sync again before i continue
Chapter 10
The next morning, Sydney awoke wishing for death. She stumbled her way to the bathroom, barely remembering that she was at Michael’s place.
Upon seeing Sydney stumble into the kitchen, her hair an utter wreck, with black streaks surrounding her eyes where her makeup had run, he had to fight to keep a straight face. “Morning,” he managed.
“Shh loud,” she croaked. Then she took the cup of coffee he held out to her and cut him off before he could speak, “No talking.”
Michael gave her a thumbs up before backing away from her slowly. He showered quickly and when he returned she had her head resting on his kitchen table, empty coffee cup clutched in her hand. “You awake?” She gave a pathetic half-whine, half-groan and he laughed softly. “Poor thing. You want an Advil?”
“Found ‘em… took two,” she moaned. “Shoot me.”
“Sorry,” he said. He then sat down beside her and she lifted her head up slowly. “I take it you’re not much of a drinker.”
“No, I can’t really handle hard liquor… as evident by last night,” she sighed and covered her face with her hands. “Oh god… last night…”
“Yeah,” Michael cringed, not sure how much she’d remember.
She spread her fingers and peered through them to look at him with one eye. “Did I ask you to have sex with me?” she asked timidly. He cringed slightly and looked away. “Oh god,” she groaned and covered her face again, sounding horrified. “I am so, so, so, so very, very sorry.”
“Syd, it’s okay; you were wasted,” he told her.
“But I’m so mortified!” she whimpered. “I’ll just leave and you can forget I existed.”
“Syd, no,” he said as he reached out and took one of her hands gently. “Syd, it’s fine. No big deal, don’t worry about it.”
“But I’m such an ass! I ruined your birthday party!”
“You most certainly did not and don’t even think that,” he assured her. “I was just worried about you?”
“Yeah well,” she muttered and looked down at the table in front of her. “After the third guy asked me ‘your place or mine,’” she said in a macho tone, “I was at the end of my rope.”
“Clearly. I’m sorry my friends are assholes,” he told her.
“Nah, it’s okay… it was partly my fault. I mean, I thought most of them would be gay,” she told him seriously. Michael gulped and gave her a noncommittal shrug while breaking out into a cold sweat. “Anyway, I’m really, really sorry about the sex thing,” she cringed.
“Syd, its fine. No need to apologize,” he assured her.
She leaned over and kissed his cheek gently while standing up from the table. “Thanks for being a great friend… I’m gonna go. I’ll talk to you later – oh and thanks for letting me stay!” she called as she collected her shoes, purse and coat from the other room.
As soon as Michael heard his apartment door slam shut, he banged his head down onto the table and whimpered. He hated himself. He hated the fact that he was such an idiot and he couldn’t just tell her the truth. He hated the fact that her kiss made his cheek tingle. But mostly, he hated that he was falling for her and he couldn’t stop it.
~*~
A few days later, Sydney insisted on inviting Michael over for dinner as another apology for her behavior at his party. Though Michael assured her it wasn’t necessary, he agreed to come. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Sydney was actually a very good cook.
After eating, they were relaxing on Sydney’s couch while she worked on some of her knitting with her legs tucked up underneath her. The two of them were chatting about work that day, when Michael noticed something strange on one of her socks. “Hey… what’s on your sock?” he asked, changing the course of their conversation dramatically.
“Nothing,” she said quickly. Too quickly, as she tucked her foot beneath her.
“Yes there was. There was something written on there… Mrs. Something I think. What’s it say?” he asked. She ignored him. Seeing a piece of her sock sticking out from beside her leg, he grabbed for it and she squealed, trying to get away from him. Unfortunately, Michael had a firm grip on the sock, so in the process of her squirming, he managed to pull the sock off. “MRS. BLOOM?!” he burst out laughing and rolled back onto the couch in hysterics.
“Gimmie that,” Sydney said, turning pink as she groped for her sock. She managed to yank it away from him and put it back on her foot. “They were a gift… from my sister,” she said timidly.
“Suuuuure,” he laughed. She turned a deeper shade of pink. “Bloom… like Orlando Bloom?” Sydney nodded slightly and Michael laughed harder.
“So, I have a little crush… so what,” she said casually. He continued to laugh. “Oh come on, tell me he’s not cute?!”
“I never said he was ugly, I was laughing at the sock,” he assured her.
“Shut up,” she muttered to him. He grinned at her. “Alright fine, Mr. ‘I never talk about my romantic life,’ what celebs do you have a crush on?”
“Um,” he began cautiously. “I don’t really have any crushes on celebs at the moment… well, at least not enough to wear their name plastered across my sock.”
She laughed softly. “Okay then… describe your perfect mate then. What would he look like?”
“Oh, I don’t know…,” Michael grumbled as he shifted somewhat uncomfortably in his seat. “You tell me yours, then I’ll tell you mine.”
“Okay,” she smiled. She then shifted on the sofa so that she was facing him before beginning to list. “Well… light colored eyes – not brown. They’d have to be green or blue… and a square jaw, maybe with a cleft chin… sandy colored hair… just a little over six feet tall…”
As she was listing, Michael grew more and more anxious, along with a healthy dose of panic. He looked over slowly at her and saw she was grinning. When they locked eyes, she burst out laughing. “That was mean. You need to be serious,” he told her while taking a deep breath to calm his heart rate.
“Sorry,” she laughed. “But I was serious with some stuff like the light colored eyes and square jaw. Hmm, what else… oh, he’d definitely have to make me laugh… and he’d have to be sweet. And I like guys who are a little sensitive, not all macho and felgercarb… huh, it still sounds like you,” she laughed.
Seeing that as an opportunity, Michael opened his mouth but before he could even utter a syllable, Sydney continued, “But it doesn’t really matter. I mean, I’m really into my not dating thing right now. Who needs men, right?” she asked him with a playful little smack to his arm.
“Right,” he said weakly, trying to regain the motivation to continue living.
“Now, it’s your turn, mister,” she grinned and poked his shoulder lightly.
“Okay,” he sighed. Then he very carefully chose his words as he spoke, “Well… kindness is key. Sweet, definitely… oh, um, not really career driven. I mean, I’m really career driven and work obsessed, so someone else like that would drive me literally insane… I don’t really know about the physical stuff, it doesn’t really matter to me… well, obviously someone who doesn’t weigh five hundred pounds but…”
“Right,” she laughed. “Sounds good.”
“Yep,” he sighed, relieved he managed to get through that without mentioning a gender.
“What about kids? Do you want kids?” she asked.
He nodded. “Definitely. Being a pediatrician, I can’t really imagine my life without them – especially kids of my own.”
“Oh,” she said sadly. “That must be hard… I mean, could you have kids of your own?... Maybe if you found a woman who would… you know, give you her eggs or something,” she answered her own thought.
“Yeah… you know, I guess I hadn’t really thought about that,” he laughed slightly.
“Ah well, I’m sure it will happen for you. You’d be a great Dad,” she said, patting his shoulder softly.
“Thanks,” he smiled at her. “What about you? You want kids?”
“Oh yeah!” she said enthusiastically. “I want ‘em now. I want to steal every baby I see.”
He laughed. “Probably shouldn’t do that.”
“No,” she cringed. “So… you’re going to your parents for Thanksgiving slash your birthday, right?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Yep, a nice, long two hour drive. Yippee,” he said sarcastically. “But it will probably be the last time I see them this year so…”
“Why?” she asked.
“Oh well, they just informed me they’re going on a cruise for Christmas and New Year’s so,” he shrugged.
“You’ll be alone for Christmas?” Sydney asked sadly. He nodded. “You can’t! Come to my mom’s with me.”
“Oh Syd, I could-”
“Nope; you’re coming,” she interrupted, not letting him protest.
“You’re sure?” he asked.
“Totally sure. Besides, you can be my buffer against Nadia that way,” she smiled hopefully.
“Thanks, Syd, I’d love to come,” he told her.
“Great!” she beamed and hugged him.
Chapter 11
Not wanting to interfere with the Bristow’s Christmas too much, Michael told Sydney that he wouldn’t spend the night Christmas Eve like she had invited him too. He was simply going to come at one for lunch, that way the three Bristow women could have their morning present opening routine undisturbed by him. He arrived at twelve fifty bearing a plant for Sydney’s mother, candy for her sister and a tiny wrapped present for Sydney. He rang the doorbell with one free finger and then waited patiently.
A moment later Sydney opened the door, huge grin across her face, but instead of pulling him in the house, she pushed him further back out onto the porch. “Okay…” he said slowly.
“Sorry, I forgot to tell you,” she said in a quiet voice. “My mom doesn’t know you’re gay and don’t tell her, okay? She doesn’t really like gay people.”
“What?!” he hissed quietly.
“I’m SO sorry,” Sydney cringed. “But… she’s just one of those people who stereotype gay people as flamboyant and diseased. My ‘he’s more like Will from Will & Grace’ argument doesn’t really work with her. After she knows you she’ll be fine, just uh, don’t mention it, okay?”
“Uh huh,” he nodded, wondering what her mother would think of a non-gay man pretending to be gay because he was too much of a moron to tell the truth.
“Okay great! And merry Christmas!” she said happily as she pulled him inside. “Oh, um, Nadia’s flight was delayed so she should be here soon.”
“Oh good,” he said. Then, he smiled at the approaching woman.
“You must be Michael; it’s wonderful to finally meet you. Sydney’s only said the best things about you,” she said to him.
“Oh well… thanks, it’s nice to meet you Mrs. Bristow,” he smiled at her.
“Oh,” Sydney cringed. “It’s Derevko, she went back to her maiden name. That’s totally my fault, I forgot to tell you.”
“Thanks,” Michael said to her with a ‘what else didn’t you tell me’ glare.
“It’s fine, you can just call me Irina,” Irina said with a casual wave of her hand. “Come, have a seat.”
“Thanks… oh, here, I brought you this. Merry Christmas,” he said, holding out the bag with the plant to her.
“Oh. aren’t you a sweetheart, thank you so much,” she smiled and took the bag. They were barely seated when the front door burst open and Nadia rushed inside.
“Hi, sorry I’m late, stupid snow,” she grumbled. “I was- oh, Michael, I didn’t know you were coming…”
“I told you I invited him,” Sydney told her with a slight eye roll. Nadia shrugged, set her luggage down and gave her mother a hug.
“I’m going to go change out of this getup, be back in a few,” Nadia said while tugging at her flight attendant’s uniform. Then she grabbed her bag and disappeared up the stairs.
“I’m going to get lunch out,” Irina said.
“You need help?” Sydney asked.
“NO, I’m fine. Stay here and talk to Michael,” Irina told her.
Sydney nodded and waited until her mother left before turning to Michael and asking, “Do you know why Eric told me to schedule my yearly appointment with you as soon as possible?”
“What?!” Michael asked, totally confused.
“Yeah, um, the other day I ran into him at the mall and I just stopped and said hi, you know the usual small talk, but as I was leaving he said ‘don’t forget to schedule your yearly appointment with Mike early so you get in’. Then he walked away,” she explained.
For a moment, Michael thought silently with a furrowed brow, trying to determine what exactly his insane friend was saying, and then it hit him. “Oh,” he sighed helplessly. “Eric thinks I’m a gynecologist.”
“What?!” Sydney laughed.
“Yeah…”
“But… pediatrician and gynecologist are nothing alike,” she said.
“I know,” he groaned. “But he thinks a pediatrician is an obstetrician which translates into gynecologist in his abnormal mind.”
“Wow,” Sydney said in utter disbelief. “I don’t know whether I should be more disturbed about Eric’s concern for my gynecological heath, or by the fact that he thinks that a baby doctor is… that,” she cringed.
“Welcome to my world,” Michael said very seriously. Then they both burst out laughing.
After that, they went into the kitchen to help Irina bring out the food she had made. As it turned out, she had prepared enough for a small army, so there was far too much to choose from. “This is all delicious, Irina,” Michael said after he had taken a bit of every different food item on his plate.
“Thank you, Michael,” she smiled at him. “So, Sydney tells me that you’re a pediatrician?”
“Yes,” he confirmed with a nod.
“That must be a wonderful profession,” she said.
“Oh yes, I love it. Definitely,” he nodded.
“And… you’re not married?” she asked with a grin.
“Moooom,” Sydney groaned loudly while giving her a deadly glare.
“Sorry, I take it back,” she raised a hand in defeat.
“Of course he’s no- OUCH!” Nadia screamed after there was a loud bump underneath the table, clearly an indication that Sydney had kicked her sister to silence her. Sydney smiled innocently at her mother, who was giving her an incredibly suspicious look. “Anyway,” Nadia cleared her throat. “Where are your parents, Michael?”
“Cruise to the Bahamas,” he told her.
“How nice of them to leave you behind,” Nadia laughed softly.
“It’s okay, I had to work… plus I sunburn easily,” he shrugged with a slight laugh.
“Uh huh,” Nadia nodded.
“So how did you two meet again, I forget?” Irina asked her daughter and Michael.
“Oh well-”
“We met at the grocery store,” Sydney cut him off quickly. “We started talking and… I invited him to Stars on Ice, remember?”
“Ohhh yes,” Irina nodded.
“Stars on Ice,” Nadia snorted with laughter.
“Shut up,” Sydney glared at her.
“I love Stars on Ice. What did you think of it, Michael?” Irina asked.
“Oh, um, it was nice. I don’t know if I’d be excited to go to another one,” he admitted honestly with a slight laugh.
“So, you wanted to shoot yourself,” Nadia smirked.
“Shut up, he didn’t say that,” Sydney snapped at her sister.
“No, it wasn’t that bad,” Michael assured everyone.
After that, they fell into relative silence while they all finished their meals. Their conversation didn’t pick up again until dessert, when Sydney asked her sister, “What’s with you? You’re being twitchy.”
“I’m not twitchy,” she said in a tone that made it obvious she was hiding something. Everyone looked at her curiously. She sighed in defeat and flopped back in her chair. “Fine, okay, fine. I’m pregnant.”
“What?!” Sydney and Irina gasped loudly in horror. Meanwhile, Michael shrank back in his seat, dreading the impending fight between the family members.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m pregnant,” she said quietly.
“Dare I ask who the father is?” Irina asked in a very disapproving tone.
Nadia shrugged. “Some pilot guy.”
“SOME PILOT GUY?!” Sydney and Irina screeched together. “Nadia, honestly, I thought you had more sense than that,” her mother shook her head.
“Sorry,” she said quietly.
“What are you going to do?” Sydney asked her.
“I dunno… I’m barely a month along, so I have some time to decide…,” Nadia said cautiously.
“You will not have an abortion, young lady,” her mother said in a very scolding tone.
“I know that,” Nadia grumbled.
“Did you tell the father?” Sydney asked.
“No,” Nadia said quietly. “Whatever, it’s no big deal.”
“It most certainly is! But we’ll talk about this later. I’m terribly sorry, Michael,” Irina said to him.
“It’s fine,” he assured her with a smile. After that, no one spoke very much.
~*~
“I’m sorry about that insanity. My sister,” Sydney sighed in a helpless tone as she walked Michael out to his car.
“It’s fine really. I just hope she’s ok,” Michael said.
“Oh don’t worry, my mom won’t kill her,” Sydney told him with a slight smile.
Michael laughed softly. “Thanks again for inviting me, Syd. I had a great time.”
“Well, you’re welcome…and thanks for coming. Drive safe and I’ll call you, okay?” she said. He nodded and she leaned up and kissed his cheek before waving goodbye as he got into his car and drove off.
