Reboot Pt. 02

"This is beautiful, Jenna," Richard finally said. "I may not know much about modern art, but even I can see that you really do have a way with color. The whole thing just makes me want to smile. I'm proud of you, my girl."

"Thanks, Dad," Jenna said, and she really meant it. Richard Ibsen had never been liberal with compliments.

"What do you call it?" Sumita asked.

"Mother and Daughter," Jenna replied. There were two figures on the canvas, one large and one smaller, both composed of soft flowing shapes. They were joined in a way that looked like they were holding hands.

"I love it," Sumita said. "Thank you so much." She leaned over to kiss Jenna's cheek. Jenna blushed at the display, and she looked to her parents for a reaction. When none came, she allowed herself to relax a little.

Sumita's gift to Jenna was a Hopi silver belt buckle, engraved with a bear paw.

"You're a very hard woman to shop for," Sumita said. "You don't wear pretty clothes, you don't wear jewelry..." Rose and Ingrid both rolled their eyes in agreement.

"Well, thank you, Sumi," Jenna said, laughing. "It's gorgeous, and you've found the one thing I will actually wear every day."

After opening presents, it was time to start getting cleaned up and ready for church.

"You don't have to come, if it makes you uncomfortable," Richard said to Sumita. "A relationship with God is a personal thing, and I don't want to force it on anyone."

"I'm fine, and I'd like to go," Sumita replied. "I went to Catholic school for two years when I was growing up in Brazil, and we had Mass twice a week, so I'm quite familiar with at least some Christian traditions. I like to think that every religion has something to teach us, even if we're not believers."

"Very open minded of you," Richard said approvingly. "More'n a certain one of my daughters used to be." He gave Jenna a knowing glance.

"I'm going, Dad," Jenna said, a little hurt. "Please don't push it."

Richard winked at Jenna, pleased with himself for getting a rise out of her. "Yes you are," he said, smiling and cheerful, "and it's going to be a beautiful service."

Jenna made an effort to smile back. Church wasn't her thing, but even she could manage Christmas. They all piled into Ingrid's minivan for the drive to church.

Jenna tuned out most of the service itself, focusing instead on Sumita and how she reacted to the small evangelical church her family attended. Sumita was as relaxed and natural as she was with anything else. She sang, stood, and knelt at all the right times, and she recited the parts of the prayer book that she could agree with as a non-believer and stayed silent for the rest.

When the service was over, Jenna was pleasantly surprised at her own mood. Church was usually an ordeal to be endured, even on Christmas. This time, though, the sermon was uplifting and brief, the music was beautiful, and she could actually feel the bond of community around her, something she had never understood before. Maybe Sumita was a good influence.

After church, they went home and changed out of their church clothes, and when Ingrid was ready, they sat down to a dinner of turkey and all the trimmings, just like Thanksgiving.

"I always feel like I should do something else after Thanksgiving, like lutefisk or pork ribs or a roast," Ingrid explained to Sumita as she arranged the platters and serving bowls on the table, "but everyone likes turkey so much that another one a month later is just fine."

"Lutefisk, Mother? Really?" Jenna asked, cringing. "I think we can all agree that turkey is much better." Rose and Brendan added their hearty agreement.

"Look at the kind of family I've raised," Richard said to Sumita, shaking his head. "No respect for tradition. I'll have you know that lutefisk is absolutely delicious."

"I'm sure it is," Sumita said, "but I'm afraid I'll never get the chance to try it. I'm a vegetarian."

"Of course you are," Richard said, remembering. "I'm sorry. Never mind about the lutefisk."

They all joined hands and bowed their heads while Richard said the blessing, and then they raised their wine glasses (even Brendan, who was allowed a little on holidays) and toasted Merry Christmas.

"Now you'll want to avoid this stuffing, dear," Ingrid said to Sumita, pointing to a serving bowl. "It was cooked inside the turkey."

"This is fine, though," she added, pointing to another bowl. "I cook it in muffin tins, so the outside gets nice and crunchy."

"Thank you, Mrs. Ibsen," Sumita said.

"Please do call me Ingrid, dear," she said. "Anyway, everything else on the table is okay for you to eat, except the turkey of course. Even the gravy. I sautéed some shallots in butter instead of using pan drippings, and I used vegetable stock. There's no point in mashed potatoes and stuffing without gravy."

"That's so thoughtful of you Mrs., um..., Ingrid," Sumita said. "I can't tell you how many times I've seen a perfectly good vegetarian meal covered in very non-vegetarian gravy. Some people just don't understand. It really was nice of you to think of me."

"You're a guest in our home, dear," Ingrid said, "and we want you to feel welcome."

Dinner was delicious, as it was at Thanksgiving and every year before. Ingrid even got Richard to agree, grudgingly, that the shallot gravy was a pretty good substitute for the real thing.

After dinner, Sumita sat down on the living room couch to chat with Richard and Ingrid while Jenna, Rose, and Brendan washed up in the kitchen. Richard asked Sumita about her work, and they soon found common ground. Richard worked at a company that supplied microcontroller-based components to the naval yard in Bremerton, which intersected neatly with some of the low-level software Sumita had written in college.

When Jenna emerged from the kitchen, she let out a huge sigh of relief. She knew her mother would love Sumita. Her mother loved everyone, and she had never been as upset about Jenna being gay. Her father was her big worry, and when she saw him sitting in his easy chair chatting with Sumita, her dark-skinned, lapsed Hindu, lesbian girlfriend, like they'd know each other for years, she knew everything really was going to be okay.

~~~

Later that afternoon, Sumita and Jenna bundled up in heavy sweaters and sat outside together on the porch, in the two hand-carved rocking chairs, for a break from the closeness inside. They'd be stuck in a car with Rose and Brendan for the drive home soon enough.

"My parents really seem to like you," Jenna said.

"You sound surprised," Sumita replied, feigning offense. "Why would you bring me if you thought they wouldn't?"

"I just..." Jenna said. "I didn't know what to expect."

"I know," Sumita replied. "And I know how much they hurt you in the past. But they really are good people, and it's obvious how much they love you. I'm really glad you asked me to come with you."

"I am too, babe," Jenna said. "I am now, anyway. I really wasn't sure about it, but I'm very happy you're here. I love you, Sumita."

"I love you too, Jenna," Sumita replied. "And that reminds me of something."

"Oh?" Jenna asked. "What's that?"

Sumita dug into her pocket for a little box. "I have one more Christmas present for you," she said, and handed it to Jenna.

Jenna tore open the wrapping paper, opened the box, and tipped the contents into her palm. It was another Hopi silver piece, a keychain holding a single key.

Jenna's heart leapt into her throat.

Sumita smiled at Jenna, a broad, beaming smile as bright as the sun. "You don't have to decide right away," she said. "I know how much your life is tied to Rose, with the business and all. And then there's the commute, with your early schedule..."

Jenna groaned at the reminder, but it didn't even come close to dampening her mood.

"I was thinking that you could paint in Gita's room, near the window," Sumita continued. "That's where the best light is. We'll have to figure out something else for the summers, when she's home, but..."

Sumita kept talking, saying all sorts of sensible, practical things, but Jenna wasn't listening. She was staring at the keychain in her hand and allowing herself to imagine a future with Sumita.

"Are you really asking me to move in with you?" Jenna asked, barely holding back happy tears.

"Yes, Jenna dear," Sumita replied. "I really am asking you to move in with me. I want to spend my life with you. I want to go to bed with you every night, and I want to wake up with you every morning."

The happy tears leaked out the corners of Jenna's eyes.

"I love you, and I can't imagine my life without you," Sumita said. "I don't know how all of this is going to work, but I suppose we'll figure it out as we go."

Jenna bolted up from the rocking chair she was sitting in, plopped herself on Sumita's lap, and kissed her full on the lips, right in front of the living room window. So what if her parents could see?

"I'll take that as a yes," Sumita said, with that deep, warm laughter in her voice that made Jenna melt.

"Of course I'll move in with you," Jenna said. "You've made me that happiest woman in the world. I couldn't imagine a better Christmas."

~~~

Thanks to everyone who made it through to the end. If you enjoyed the story, please take a moment to rate it or leave a comment. If you didn't, please do as well.

Salish