Chapter 6
We all sat down and began dinner, chatting and conversing gaily. We talked about where Alexa had lived, what her favourite places to live had been and funny things that had happened to her. She was sitting between mom and myself, often reaching over and touching one of us on the shoulder or forearm as she talked, a very European thing to do, I'm told.
She asked about what my mother and father were working on, their projects over the summer and what they'd be teaching in the fall. She seemed genuinely fascinated to hear about everything they had planned and clearly looked up to them for their accomplishments as scholars. She then beamed a smile at me.
"What about you, Alex?" she asked, giving my shoulder another squeeze. "What are you going to do when you go back in the fall?"
"I've been back and forth about that," I admitted, pausing in my annihilation of the food my mom had presented. "Since I've got the scholarship, I could possibly live on-campus, but that might not be ideal, since I might get idiot roomies in a dorm. If I stayed here, it's a reasonable drive, not more than thirty minutes to the campus where most of my classes will be held."
"That makes sense," she mused. "Not to mention the occasional home-cooked meal as opposed to cafeteria food or the stench of ramen noodles throughout your dorm."
I made a wry face. "Didn't know you had ramen noodles in Europe. Well, I knew you had them, but I guess I just figured that Europeans knew better."
She giggled. "We do, but the real horrid part was the universities in Stockholm or Berlin when we visited those. The dorms reeked of boiled cabbage. Affected proletariat students everywhere. If I had a Euro for every Che Guevara poster I came across..."
"Wow, even in this day and age?" mom said, furrowing her brow. "Old habits die hard, I guess. But Alexa, what are your plans? You're here now and you said you intend to stay. What will you do?"
Alexa blushed a little as she drank some of her wine. "I've been pondering that. I contacted your university and explained my situation and asked if a transfer of my records and scores was possible. Once they viewed them, along with my scores from high school, they seemed very amenable to my attending and even offered me a scholarship."
"That's wonderful!" my mom said gleefully. "I barely know what to say! You'll stay here with of, of course, right?
"Oh, I couldn't impose like that," Alexa said hastily. "I couldn't keep disrupting your family life like this."
There was silence at the table for a moment. Alexa then continued. "We haven't really discussed it, Karen, but mom left me a very generous inheritance, so I can easily find a place for myself, whether I attend the university or not. I've also got your share of the inheritance, incidentally. We'll discuss how I can transfer it to you later."
Mom cleared her throat and smiled. "That's very generous, Alexa. Michael and I are doing well enough, however, so perhaps we should talk about giving my share to your nephew so he has a nest egg when he graduates?"
Alexa smiled at me. "That sounds like a brilliant compromise. But back to my original point, I couldn't stay here and impose on you."
"Nonsense," my mother said firmly. "I only just got you back in my life, what makes you think I want to see you move away so quickly?"
"Well, if I go to the university, it's not like I'll be far away," Alexa reasoned.
"Oh, please," my mom almost snorted. "There are some weeks I barely see my husband and that's just because he works on another area of the campus. If it weren't for this house, I'd never see him."
My mom looked at me now. "Alex, I'm going to ask you something and I promise you we will all abide by your decision happily. Would you possibly be adverse to allowing my sister to stay in your room over the summer while she decides what she wants to do?"
I made a show of thinking about it, although I knew what the answer was before she'd finished asking the question. I finally nodded.
"Okay, that's cool. Alexa can keep my room. I'm happy to help."
My mom put her hand over her mouth as she tried not to cry in relief. My dad gave me a big grin and a pat on the shoulder. Alexa looked at me, her face at first a mask of no emotion but then a warm smile grew over it and she nodded.
"Thank you, Alex," she said. "It will feel like I have a family."
"You do," mom said, getting out her chair and hugging Alexa. "We are your family, silly."
I continued eating, waiting for the waterworks to stop.
Good thing I'd taken a lot of food.
***
"I'm very proud of what you did tonight, Alex," my mom said as she washed dishes and I dried them. "This whole situation was pretty much thrust on you and you've adapted very well."
"Thanks," I said as I dried a plate and stacked it away. "Gotta be a team player in a family, right?"
"It helps in cases like this," mom agreed. "But I know it'll be a big change for you. And that brings me to another subject."
"Oh? What's that?" I asked, having a small dread that I knew what it was.
Mom paused in her washing. "I'm glad that you're going to try to get along with my sister. I'm glad you two have so quickly begun setting your rules and boundaries, like she's not going to feel like she has to be an authority figure just because she's your aunt. But you'll need to get used to the fact that Alexa is sometimes... different in how she reacts to things and interacts."
"Like what?"
"Well, Europeans are much more... oh, tactile than North Americans tend to be," she explained. "Remember how she kept touching us all through dinner when she was talking with us? That's what they're like, it's part of the way they express themselves and has been for a long time. For continental Europeans it's very much a part of their culture. Not just touching but they also hug much more freely than we do. Your dad and I already resolved that we'll embrace this trait in her, so to speak, but I just want you to be aware of it and not be weirded out by it."
"So it's just her being her if she touches my arm or shoulder while she's talking to me or hugging me when we greet one another?" I asked, knowing the answer and very pleased with it, but determined to play dumb and maybe a little reticent about the practice.
"Yes," mom confirmed. "If it gets uncomfortable for some reason, Alex, just tell me and I'll have a little talk with her. I doubt it'll upset her, she's a reasonable girl. I just know you can be territorial about your personal space and want you to at least try and adapt for her, okay?"
"Uh, well, I'll try," I said hesitantly, scratching my head for effect. "No promises but I'll try."
"That's all I ask..." mom said as she nodded in satisfaction and continued with the dishes.
***