Achilles is used to a life with rules and structure. Being attracted to men doesn't fit into what he considers structured. But he's used to burying things deep down, and this is just another item on the list.
Xander crosses into his life, and he's...
Achilles shook her hand with both of his, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs—"
My mom smiled, "I've been divorced for a while now, please, call me Ama."
"You look so young." Achilles was still shaking her hand, almost frantically.
My mom laughed, "Well, I am a vampire, dear." She looked to me, "Xander, some blood, if you will."
I left them for a moment to talk and got my mother a packet from my blood fridge. I checked on the roast in the oven and checked it's internal temperature with a thermometer. When I came back to Achilles and my mom they were sitting together on the couch and my mother was paging through a photo album.
"And this is Xander when he was five. He was so precocious, always asking me questions. All about music." I leaned over to look at the photo, seeing a black and white picture of me as a child, playing with other kids from my village. Human and vampire alike. "There was one piano in the village and all he'd want to do is play on it. It didn't take very long to realize he was a prodigy. Even among vampires, prodigies in anything are rare, normally our age is what gives us an edge. Henry didn't want us to live in the village. But, I told him one of my conditions for marrying him was that we live in the village for at least the children's childhoods. My culture is very important to me." My mother paged through the album, pointing to my father. "This is my former husband, Henry Konrad von Ostermaier. He gave me my two wonderful children." The picture was in a sprawling field, with my father wearing a traditional Ghanaian outfit matching my mother's. They were standing together, holding the infant that was me, and my older sister was standing beside my father. She was the only one smiling for the picture.
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—When I'm talking traditional outfits, I just mean they're wearing something like this. Not sure if I mentioned but Xander's mom is African but specifically from Ghana. She probably would've been there at a time when it was called the Gold Coast. Since, y'know she's a vampire. Remember, Xander's dad is White, probably German and that his parents' arranged marriage was meant to better unite the European and African vampire alliance due to their past issues mainly due to slavery. —
Achilles looked up at me, "You have a sister?"
I blinked, "Yeah. What, did she never come up?"
He started looking offended, pursing his lips, "Yes, Xander. She never came up."
My mom interrupted, "They have a good relationship, they've just been a bit distant the past year or so. Klara is closer to her father, and Xander doesn't—"
"Are you helping me with the food, Mama?" I interrupted, speaking in French because I knew she didn't like the language. I slipped into Twi then, "Don't talk to him about her, we need to focus on dinner."
But Achilles still looked annoyed, fiddling with his phone, "My mom sent me a text. They'll be here in a half hour."
"Oh my God." I said, "It's go time, people. We need to make this the best dinner ever. Achilles, you need to find some smooth jazz that says 'Welcome to my not quite humble abode. Please, feel comfortable enough to take off you shoes but certainly not your socks.' And, do we have ice? I feel like they'll want ice. My mom and I are just going to make some rice because honestly, what's a meal without rice? I'll take out the finger sandwiches." They were staring at me like I was crazy. "Chop chop people, we do not have all day."
