Henry Adamson took some deep breaths, held unto his doorknob and slowly eased himself into his house.
"Agatha! Honey!" he called out to Vukan's mother, who walked out with a pair of mittens in her hands.
"You came back later than usual", she said with a suspicious look on her face.
Vukan's father shrugged his shoulders and tiptoed excitedly to meet his wife before planting a kiss into her cheek. "Well, guess what?"
He knew his wife wasn't one to appreciate the guessing game. She would remain silent till the end of time if she had to.
"Well, you remember my high school friends, whom I said I lost touch with? I met him at the coffee shop and you should have seen us bonding on old times", he sounded in an absolutely excited manner.
His wife mumbled some incoherent words before standing akimbo. "You want me to believe you are this happy because you had a coffee date with an old high school buddy?"
Henry Adamson paused to watch the judgmental and quite skeptical expression on his wife's face.
"Well, I wasn't out with another woman, if that's what you're thinking about", he teased her. "On the contrary, we decided to hook our sons up on a date. He has a gay son too and I cannot wait to tell Vukan the good news".
His wife shook her head, making him wonder about what he had done wrong. He approached her but watched her point towards the stairs where the hooded figure had been sitting the entire time. Vukan cast off his hoodie, shot his father a disappointed glare and shook his head.
"I hope you picked out a wedding suit too and a nice house to live in while we are at it", Vukan said in a sarcastic manner.
"Don't you take that tone with me, boy!' his father warned. "What on earth is wrong with you?"
Vukan raced down the stairs and stopped some feet away from his father. "I am not the one going around trying to match people's kids when they didn't ask him to!"
Henry Adamson had honestly thought things would blow out in a different way to what he was seeing. He turned to his wife and the smug smile on her face indicated it wasn't something she would have done or that she had expected him to do.
"How am I the bad guy here? I was only watching out for you and I honestly don't see the big deal in going out on this date and if you don't like the guy, you can turn him down", his father continued.
Vukan could not believe his ears and even more, the fact that his father didn't see anything wrong or creepy in his actions.
"What if he turns out to be far better than all the crazy guys you have been with?" his father asked.
Vukan shook his head to sow his disbelief. He folded his arms across his chest and listened to his father ramble on about what relationships should be like and how matchmaking used to be a very excellent idea in the past.
"You should be happy you've got someone watching out for you… I never had that growing up", Vukan's father protested.
Vukan stepped towards his mother and replied, "He does realize we aren't I the Stone Age anymore, right? Can you please make him realize that I have the right to choose whoever I want and that he shouldn't go around and be fixing me on dates like I am his project".
The air was definitely getting tense between both men and while Agatha couldn't see any negativity coming through from it, she stepped in to diffuse the situation before it escalated.
She turned to her son. "Vukan. I understand your worries and I can truly relate with them, but I promise you that your father doesn't actually want the worse for you. He must have done this to help and nothing more, so I beseech you to give it a go and see how things turn out".
Vukan couldn't quite believe his mother was taking her husband's side, but she fell silent and stormed off without protesting. The duo watched him disappear from sight before letting off an exhaustive sigh in relief.
"Thanks for having my back", Henry Adamson said as he leaned over to kiss his wife on her lips.
Agatha halted her husband's actions by placing a finger on his lips and warning him. "Don't ever go around trying to fix or match our son up again with anyone. You should know better when it comes to matters of the heart".
She tapped him gently on the cheek and smiled before walking away. Henry Adamson stood there, thinking of how crazy his wife and son was and if Peter Douglas was having any better luck on his end.
***
"There is no bloody chance in hell that I will be forced into being somebody's date when I don't even know anything about them!" Peter's son refuted plainly. "How on earth did you even come to this arrangement, dad?"
Peter ran his hand over his bald head and wished there was hair there for him to mess with. His son wasn't having it and while he had tried his best over the past hour to explain, there just didn't seem to be a way out.
"Well, I don't care! I already promised my friend that my son will be there and you are not going to shame me", Peter responded. "If you know what's good for you, then you wouldn't back down from this".
It was the first time they had been at loggerheads in a while. His son paced back and forth, breathing heavily and pausing intermittently to look at his father with absolute despair in his eyes.
The front door opened and Peter Douglas's wife walked into the room.
"Mom, can you please talk to father about the fact that I want nothing to do with the arranged date he agreed upon with his old high school friend", their son demanded.
Peter looked at his wife, who shook her head and replied, "Forgive your father for being old school, but if he made this plan with his friend, then it might be polite to indulge them, don't you think?"
Peter jumped to his feet and clapped for his wife for supporting him straight away.
"Well, I am not going and you cannot make me!" his son raged before turning away and racing to his room.
The duo left in the sitting room shared a brief blank expression with each other before breaking out into a loud cackle.
"He can be so dramatic", Peter's wife said. "Do you think he will attend this meeting though?"
His wife wore a thin frown and said, "You mean the hookup? It all depends if you are willing to offer him the right incentives. You know he loves and respects you and that means he is most likely to bend to your will often".
Peter figured out the best incentive for his son. He was sure it was one the young man wouldn't dare turn down, even if the date idea seemed rather tacky in the first place.
Peter Douglas' elder sister, Sarah chuckled. She did not meet their eyes but concentrated on knitting the woolen gloves which can be useful for the winter.
"May I ask what is so funny, Gavi?" Peter questioned his sister.
"Nothing, Gavu. I am surprised that you are ready to plan this ill-fated boy's future forgetting your own daughter who is old enough to get married."
Words Gavu and Gavi are used by siblings in the Canzos to speak with each other in respect. Right now, they are not in a position to concentrate on that.
"Sofia is still recovering from what that idiot Brad did to her. They both are my kids and I know my duty." Peter replied.
Sarah stood up and pulled up her knitting kit in anger. "You can shut my mouth with your words, Gavu. But remember one thing, that boy will never fit in our family and will surely be the reason for our loss. We have already left our house, town, and jobs for that boy and he has no gratitude towards us."
Peter closed his eyes in anger. "What are you expecting from a kid? Oliver has suffered a lot and we are his family. I just wish you will stop thinking of the kid as a stranger. He is as equal as Sofia in this house." He stormed out of the room.