Chastised, he comes over, kneeling in front of me and taking hold of my hands. A chin jerk over his shoulder has Drew joining us and sitting beside me.
My brother’s gone from appearing worried to buzzing with excitement. “You going to tell her now?”
Tse grins, and nods. “Yeah. Okay.” He pauses. “Those phone calls you keep interrupting? I’ve been talkin’ to my mother.”
“HanálíLina,” Drew puts in. I smile. The Navajo for grandmother seems to take many forms, that’s the one Drew’s settled on for Tse’s mom. My brother became close to her while he stayed on the Rez.
A quick smile for Drew, Tse seems to like that he’s using a familial term for her, then he’s back to his explanation. “She wants to meet you. Well, all my Navajo family do.”
“I’d like that…” I start to tell him. To learn more about his heritage, and what makes my man tick. The white man is easy, the computer nerd as well. The biker, hmm, I’m starting to understand that, living here as I do. The Navajo part of him? That’s still a mystery. Seeing where and how he lived as a teenager, meeting the woman who birthed him, that might give me more insight into the man I’ve married.
His hand’s on my mouth, a sign I’m to let him finish. “Mom’s upset I married you so quickly. Nah, sweetheart. Not that I took you as my wife, but that we, in her words, ran off and did it in secret. She wants us to get married again, this time do it properly. In front of our families.”
The removal of his hand indicates I now have a chance to speak. “A second wedding?” I think back to the misgivings I’d had about the first, doubting at the time it was real. Then I snort a laugh. “In front of our families? Tse, I’ve only got Drew.”
“No, you haven’t!” Drew butts in impatiently.
“Drew,” Mouse growls a warning, then laughs, saying to me, “I’m learning Drew can’t keep secrets.”
“Can I tell her now?” Drew’s leg is bouncing, it’s obviously hard for him to keep still. “Please, Mouse?”
Tse sends him an exasperated look, then with a shake of his head, says, “Go on.”
“The Satan’s Devils are coming with us. Well, not all of them, but some. They’re our family now, Ma, aren’t they?”
Glancing at Tse, I see him grinning. I still think they’re more his than mine. But I’m not worried if a couple come along to a wedding I’m apparently not going to have much choice or hand in planning. “So, I just turn up?”
For the first time, Tse looks uncertain. “Sort of. I’ve just left everything to Mom and my grandmother. Since she got the idea in her head, she’s been unstoppable.” The tilt of his head shows he wants me to comment.
Biting my lip, I start to understand Drew’s excitement. It sounds different, interesting. Intriguing. Something good after all the twisted shit we’ve been through. I place my hand against his cheek. “I really have married a Native, haven’t I?”
He covers my fingers with his own. “Not yet,” he smirks. “But you will.” Then he grows serious, “Good surprise, or bad one?”
I’m cautious, having absolutely no idea what form this wedding will take. Tse and I have come such a long way from that first almost-nothing affair at City Hall. As I let the idea sink in, I realise we deserve to have people,family, around us when we fully commit to each other for life, a second time, with no doubts in our minds. Doing it for all the right reasons. I give him the answer he’s waiting for. “Good.” Then I come up with a problem. “What should I wear?”
“Mom’s got that in hand.” His reassurance comes quickly.
It’s touching how much Drew’s looking forward to returning to the Rez, his eagerness feeding my own curiosity to see where Tse had lived after his father had died.
A week later we set off, going a few days before whoever will be representing the Satan’s Devils follows us up. I’ve no idea who will come along, but suspect from some of the words Blade’s been having with Tse that the enforcer will be one of the party. I walked in on one conversation where Tse was rolling his eyes and telling Blade he wouldn’t see any scalping at the reception. I had no idea what he was alluding too.
Drew wanted to drive his car. Luckily Tse dissuaded him, and borrowed one of the club’s SUVs for the long journey. It’s like travelling with two little boys, each excited in their own way and eager to show me the sights. Tse slows and it’s Drew who points out we’re entering the Navajo Nation. I look around at the bare scenery as if the sign would suddenly summon up tepees.
“Hogans, Ma,” Drew corrects me, when laughing at myself I tell him what I’d been half expecting. “Navajo live in a hogan. Mouse, we going to see Billy and his horses?”
Tse grins over his shoulder at my brother in the back seat. “We might,” he replies. “Just don’t expect to ride.”
As Drew pouts at Tse’s response, I’m just pleased to see him enthusiastic and happy. These last few months have made him grow up fast. Sometimes it’s nice to have the reminder he’s still a kid.
I hadn’t realised the reservation was so large. It takes quite a while before we’re approaching signs to Window Rock, turning off the main road before we get to the town. After that it’s not long before we’re pulling up at his mother’s house,hogan,I correct myself, needing to remember.
Tse stops the SUV, gets out unfolding his long limbs, and walks around to open my door. My eyes are focused on thewoman who’s coming out of the eight-sided building constructed of logs, suddenly nervous whether she will think I’m good enough for her son.
Drew doesn’t hesitate at all. “HanálíLina,” he cries. From the slight quirk of her lips I suspect he’s butchering the pronunciation, but from the wide smile that quickly follows, see she appreciates the gesture, and holds her arms open for him.
Tse takes my hand and helps me step out. We’ve been driving for hours, a delicious cooking odour reaches my nostrils, making my mouth water and reminding me I’m hungry.
“Mom, meet Mariana,” Tse introduces me. “Sweetheart, this is my mom.”
