Page 37 of Mate Match: Curtis & Jae
“Jae! About time! Who have you brought?”
“Mom, Dad, this is my boyfriend, Curtis.”
There was a tense moment where I didn’t think they were going to speak to me. We took seats nervously on the overstuffed couch.
“Hello, Curtis, I’m Minjun. My wife is Haneul. You must tell us about yourself and how you met Jae!” Minjun clearly was more receptive to me than his wife.
“Nice to meet you,” I started, politely. “I own a renovations business where I have twelve employees now, though I’m in the process of hiring a few more. Jae and I met through the MateMatch app. I knew it was my best chance for meeting someone with the same outlook on life as me.”
“And what outlook is that?” Haneul asked, frostily. This meeting was not going well when it came to her.
“A family one,” Jae answered. “There’s more to tell you.”
His parents looked at him expectantly until finally Minjun spoke. “What is it, Jae?”
“I’ve moved in with Curtis. We’re pregnant.”
You could have heard a pin drop, the room was just that silent.
“You’re pregnant?” His mom looked stunned.
“Yes. Twelve weeks now. We’ve just had our scan. Would you like to see?”
“Of course!” Her words were softer. There was something in her eyes I couldn’t understand not knowing her well. She was guarded, yet hopeful.
It was when Haneul looked at our little bean I saw her soften fully. “Curtis, what’s your family like?”
I told them both the story about my dad raising me alone after Mom died. I might have been nearly an adult, still I’d needed my dad more than ever at that time. They asked me questions about my sister, her family, and if we were close. My smile widened as I thought about the warm welcome my family offered compared to Jae’s. I could hardly blame his parents for being stunned. My family had some warning. We’d sprung this on Haneul and Minjun.
They weren’t rude while they asked, just curious. The more I spoke, the more I could see the walls come down. They asked about our first date and how little bean came to be. Jae helped me answer, his face red with embarrassment. I even got them to laugh when I told them about training Percy to do jumps.
By the end, I knew they were going to accept me. Didn’t mean there wasn’t a tough road ahead.
“Your grandparents are going to be furious, you understand?” Haneul said softly. I saw her coldness in a new way. She was worried for Jae, just chose to show it in a different way, how she had been taught to.
“Yeah. I’m prepared for whatever. They’ve never really known what to do with me as a male omega. Things would have been easier if I was the beta instead of Iseul.”
Haneul took her son’s hand. “True. I will protect you from them as much as I can.”
“I will, too,” Minjun added. “We live so far from their control now. Why should we let their opinions have any bearing on our lives? Curtis, you seem to be the perfect man for Jae. Haneul, our Jae was never as calm or happy with Hwan, was he?”
She gave a bitter laugh. “No. I wish… I wish so many things. We shouldn’t have let them push him on you. I think you have picked right this time. The baby… I am so excited about the baby.”
“I am, too.” Minjun took his wife’s hand and kissed it. “We can’t wait to get to know you better, Curtis.”
“Thank you.”
We had afternoon tea and then dinner with his family. I stole away to send pictures of the scan to mine and found myself in Jae’s old bedroom. I could tell it was his room by the posters on the wall and all the art. For a long time, I stood there looking at each piece he had drawn. His style was familiar to me by now. He’d drawn my portrait, which was on my dresser next to a photo of him I loved.
“You’ll make sure he publishes that novel, won’t you? Hwan didn’t see the value in Jae’s art. I think you do.” Haneul approached me slowly, looking around her son’s room with a fond expression.
“He’s so talented, it would be a crime not to encourage him. Not that he needs it. He’s got a publishing date!”
“Oh! That’s wonderful! I wonder why he didn’t say.”
“I think he was just more focused on the baby because of the scan today. The book is nearly done. He’s got an office at our house. My dad wants to help with childcare so Jae can continue to work after. I’m cutting my hours to make sure—”
“That makes me so happy to hear. I would also like to help. With childcare. I want to be a presence in the child’s life. In all your lives. I hate that he was scared to tell us, though I understand why.”
