Meeting the In-Laws
Excerpt from Reclaiming Duback, Chronicles of Han book series -
"
Prosia.
City of bad memories and worse
experiences for me.
Jade could not wait to disembark,
pulling me along down the stairs of the aircraft.
Our non-commercial aircraft had to park
on the furthest side from the runway and we were driven in a small cart to the
airport buildings.
Panam was to await Julie's flight while
Jade was to show me around the city.
What felt like a lifetime ago, my wish
to see the city finally came true.
All the trees were in full summer bloom,
alternating streets with shocking showers of lilac purple and sunflower yellow.
People were milling everywhere and
vehicles were driven in rows through the fallen flowers that carpeted the
streets.
I had been feeling better after the
sleep, but now a headache started up with the close proximity of all these people.
Jade asked our hired vehicle's driver to
hurry up. We wished to reach our destination in the shortest possible time.
At last we entered a more secluded residential
neighbourhood and Jade's concern for me turned into excited expectation at the
prospect of seeing her family.
"They do not know I am coming. I
hope they are home" she babbled excitedly.
Our driver stopped in front of a normal,
comfortable looking, one storey family residence. The trees in this street were
mature and having already shed most of their flowers, neon green leaves adorned
their branches.
"Come on!" Jade encouraged me,
almost jogging to the front door, banging loudly on it.
A bear of a Kwailuan opened the door,
engulfing Jade in a hug. Kissing her fondly on the head, the conversation
switched to telepathic and I could not follow it.
Jade turned to me after the man allowed
her to disengage from his arms.
"This is Han, dad" she told
him. "Han, my father, Leykwõta."
Nodding, the huge man acknowledged our
acquaintance.
"Good day, sir" I replied,
bowing respectfully.
"You should find your mother in the
rooms" he told Jade, keeping the door open for his daughter to slip past
his huge frame.
"I guess you can come in as
well" he told me, moving into the house to allow me to pass.
This was my first time that I actually
had to face a social introduction involving a girl and I felt small and
overwhelmed by the hostility this man portrayed towards me.
He showed me to the common room where
comfortable furniture was arranged facing a broadcasting set. A mantle ran
above a fireplace situated against one wall of the room. Photos were arranged
above it and as I was not invited to sit down, I made my way across to inspect
the photographs.
Two dark-haired girls could be seen with
their parents in most of the photographs. Jade was one of them.
*That would be Skye, my eldest* Mr
Leykwõta answered my unspoken question telepathically.
"You have beautiful daughters"
I replied in Kwailuan.
*And you think yourself a god* he
thought back at me.
I was not sure if I was supposed to have
heard that remark, but I suddenly knew why this man was treating me with such
aloofness.
He was not sure what to do with me
either, especially being born from a Clan that now acknowledges me as such.
"Here he is!" Mrs Leykwõta
announced from the entrance of the common room, gliding up to me, taking hold
of my face in both her hands, kissing me on the forehead.
"Welcome, Han" she told me.
"Jade talks so much about you. When
she contacts me" she informed Jade over her shoulder.
"Please, sit" she insisted,
seating herself on the couch, inviting me to sit beside her.
Not delaying, I sat down next to her,
knowing that I was raising Mr Leykwõta's blood pressure.
Mrs Leykwõta had Sparr's same metallic
sheen to her more yellowish skin. It was the same sheen Jade's skin sometimes
showed in direct sunlight. She was a beautiful, delicately shaped woman with
sculpted features and only slightly slanted, almond eyes.
Jade made herself comfortable besides
me, sandwiching me between herself and her mother.
This made Mr Leykwõta even more enraged.
"What gives you the right to claim
my daughter as your partner - and that on Global Broadcasting!" he
suddenly blurted in his frustration.
I stared at him in shock. Jade giggled
nervously, but Mrs Leykwõta did not take any nonsense from her husband.
"They fit wonderfully
together" she told him. "I would have given my approval of their
union even if I did not know who Han Storm really is."
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