Page 24 of Demure
“I understand. Does that type of call happen often?”
“When she’s angry at me, yes.”
“And how often is she angry at you?” he pressed.
“Since I moved to Dublin? Nearly all the time.” Sierra groaned before realizing how harsh that sounded. “But I promise my mom means well, she just doesn’t know how to deal with me. I’m not the type of daughter they usually teach you how to raise in those parenting handbooks.”
“Parenting handbooks?” Aodhan was obviously confused.
Sierra chuckled, “Yes, we humans write books to help other humans raise their children.” Now that she was saying it out loud, she realized how ridiculous it all sounded.
“So, you’re telling me, that humans have children when they don’t even know how to raise them?” Aodhan’s eyes were wide. “Just when I thought this world couldn’t get any crazier.”
“It’s not like that where you’re from?”
“Not at all.” Aodhan shook his head before changing thesubject just as the coffee shop came into view. “So, do you have brothers and sisters?”
“Yes, I have four,” she answered, reaching for the door handle. But before she could grab it, Aodhan was pulling it open so she could walk through. Such a gentleman.
As they walked in the door of the coffee shop, the warmth from the interior overpowering the cold of the day, Aodhan motioned to the long queue, which wasn’t abnormal for the shop. “You find somewhere to sit, and I’ll get some coffee, okay?”
She nodded but didn’t move just yet as her eyes surfed the menu, and her hands loosened the top buttons of her jacket. “Aren’t you going to ask what kind of coffee I want?”
Aodhan’s eyes widened. “There are different kinds?!”
Sierra couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face at his lack of knowledge of the human ways. “Only like about a million.”
“I had no idea,” he said honestly, scratching his chin. “I only thought there was regular coffee and Irish coffee. So, what kind of coffee do you want?”
“A latte, please, with almond milk.”
“Okay, latte, almond milk. I can remember that.”
Sierra looked around and decided to sit on one of the plush chairs in the corner. There was another plush chair next to it and a small table in between. It was cute, cozy, and perfect for a date. It was rare that she came here without her computer, and she wanted to take advantage of the comfy chairs for once. She watched as Aodhan waited in line for his turn, then approached the barista and ordered their coffee. He had worn a coat today, Sierra noted, which made his signature black beanie stick out much less than it had the day before. Sierra wondered if he ever tired of hiding his ears. Within a few minutes, he was walking toward her with two paper cups in his hand. He handed her one without looking.
“Are you sure this is mine?” she asked, spinning the cup to the label.
“Yes, I got two of the same.”
Sierra was a bit surprised, but considering Aodhan didn’t even know that different types of coffee existed, she supposed she shouldn’t be too shocked. “Well, I hope you like it then.”
“I’m sure I will,” he replied as he took the plush chair next to hers, setting the coffee on the small table and leaning his arm on the armrest closest to her. “So, picking up our conversation from before, let me get this straight: you have four brothers and sisters?”
“Yes, two brothers and two sisters. I’m impressed already that you remembered that.”
He took a sip of his coffee, wincing at the temperature before giving the cup a skeptical look and setting it aside. “Well, it’s not every day that you meet someone with such a large family, but also, we just spoke about it a few minutes ago.”
Sierra shrugged, blowing lightly on her coffee. “In America, it's quite common to have several children.”
“Really?” he asked. “In my culture, most families are lucky to have two children, if that. You hear of three children from time to time, but it’s very rare. My…people,” he improvised, “have a hard time conceiving and carrying a child to term.”
Sierra sipped her coffee as well, noting that it was indeed quite hot. “Yes, here, some women also have trouble, but most people can have quite a few children, and they do.”
“Where do you fall in the birth order?” He reached over and set his hand that wasn’t holding the coffee on hers.
She had never heard anyone use ‘birth order’ to ask that question, but Sierra was surprised to find it was more polite than the other ways people have found to ask her about her siblings. “I’m directly in the middle, and I hate it.”
He tilted his head to the side, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. “Why?”
