Chapter 8: An Important Family Event

Our drive home was a nervous, silent affair, but when we arrived, Shani and Anh immediately grabbed Cate and dragged her upstairs to get dressed. She had no idea what was going on. I walked upstairs and let Allison and Natalie dress me in all my finest, though they once again warned me not to sit down. Soon I had Cate in Allison's little red BMW as we drove off into the distance. She still had no clue what was going on, but by then she had a pretty good idea. After all, my sister is nobody's fool.

"So, just where are we going?" she asked, no longer able to constrain her curiosity.

"Hey, you know me," I replied, grinning at her, "I don't talk about anything without the approval of everyone involved."

"There's going to be someone else there?" she asked, looking momentarily crestfallen before suddenly brightening. "Are Chalise and Kitty going to be there as well?"

"No," I replied, mildly upset she was beginning to anticipate things that I hadn't planned. "But that doesn't mean there aren't other people involved, or other secrets to be kept," I teased, trying to keep her guessing.

She sat for a moment contemplating that before turning to me once again. "Are you taking me to l'Oignon Pleurer, just like you did with Kitty and Chalise?"

"No, Cate," I told her. "What would it look like if I took you out for a romantic date in a restaurant where they know both us and our parents? It probably wouldn't be a problem, since no one would know what we were planning, but we'd both be so nervous you'd never be able to relax and enjoy the experience. I'll take you there some other time. For now I want romance, and I'll take it wherever I can find it. l'Oignon Pleurer isn't it, though."

"Oh, good, I finally get a little romancing," she twittered, looking more excited to have me take her out in public than what I planned afterwards. "Do I get the traditional corsage, too? Oh, wait, it's too late, we've already left the house," she lamented.

Smiling to myself, I reached under the seat and pulled up a nice blue flowered corsage, selected to match her dress, and handed it to her, admittedly with a little bit of a smirk.

She broke into a big grin and leaned over to kiss me on my cheek—an act that required her to shift her seat belt—and she proceeded to fasten it to her dress.

"Uh-uh," I warned. "I'm supposed to be the one to do that. Otherwise there's absolutely no reason for me to be here. You'll have to wait until we arrive, then I'll fasten it on you. Until then you'll just have to hold it in your lap and appreciate how beautiful it will look on you."

Her smile grew bigger and brighter and she grasped my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "You realize you didn't need to do any of this, don't you?" she asked gently.

"Oh, no, I absolutely need to, because you're a beautiful woman and you deserve it, and there's no reason why you should miss out on this just because you fell in love with your brother. But also because if I didn't, my girls would skin me alive," I explained, grinning at her. We both laughed, knowing just how true and how much of an exaggeration it was.

"What's more, expect to dance with me at the Prom as well, as I'm planning on dancing and romancing you at our Prom as well as Kitty and Chalise. Unfortunately you may have to share me with a bunch of other women, but I'm not sure we can avoid that at this point."

"I'm waiting with bated breath. Along with a few other bated breathers, too," she laughed along with me.

We continued to talk and tease as I drove all the way to Carbondale, so we had plenty of time to talk. But we avoided all the usual topics. There was no mention of strange abilities, or other women, of Watchers or Seers or girlfriends or troubles at school. No talk of miracles, spirits or medical treatments. Instead we spoke about our lives and what we wanted and what we enjoyed. We kept it light, but we both spoke seriously, both about the topics of discussion and about our feelings about each other.

"Oh, just so you're aware, Julia stopped by and apologized to Kitty yesterday. We were a bit surprised, but she seemed to be really sorry. If I didn't know any better," Cate said, teasing, "I'd suspect she's got a bit of the Alex bug herself. You wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would you? I know how you like to orchestrate things."

"Me? Heavens no," I blustered in protest, "all I need is someone else chasing after me. I try to dissuade them all I can as it is. I'm not about to actively encourage it." Cate swatted me playfully at my teasing retort but didn't pursue the matter, so I figured I was off the hook. For the moment, at least.

When we arrived in Carbondale, Cate was all business, anxious to see where we were going. I drove us downtown to a little out of the way place I'd seen. I'd asked Allison to check it out for me and she'd told me some good things about it. I pulled into a quiet little sushi restaurant called "The Lotus Garden". Cate looked at me a little questioningly.

"I've never eaten sushi before," she informed me, something I was already perfectly aware of. "How do you even know I'll like it?"

"I figure we'll have fun trying. If you don't, we'll laugh about it as I take you to the local burger joint. But I expect us to enjoy ourselves and I'll appreciate getting to know you all over again—away from everything that reminds us of our previous lives and obligations. The whole idea was to get you away from your previous expectations and surroundings. I want to meet a new girl tonight. I'm not interested in my little sister, I'm interested in this beautiful woman sitting beside me who's won my heart," I said as I leaned over and kissed her. She returned it enthusiastically, but I had to break it off soon.

"Let's get that corsage on you," I offered. "I hear it's supposed to set off your eyes, and I'm anxious to stare into those beautiful peepers during dinner." With that I opened the door and got out. When she started to open her own I stopped her, telling her "tut, tut, tut". I then proceeded to circle around and made a production of opening her door, bowing as I did. She graciously exited, looking like a regal princess. I took the corsage from her and carefully pinned it to her dress. I'd gotten better at doing so over the past couple of weeks.

After that I extended my elbow, and after she took it I proceeded to lead us inside. The place was an old fashioned sushi restaurant featuring oak walls, paper doors and seating on the floor. The maître d' was Japanese and spoke with quite an accent. When I told him my name and informed him we had reservations, he escorted us to the back of the restaurant to a tiny intimate room and waited while we removed our shoes and helped us get seated on the floor. A young girl, clearly the owners' daughter, came in and proceeded to light a string of candles, both on the table and around the room. Quiet Japanese string music played in the background. A couple of flowers sat in a vase on the little table between us. I had no idea what they were, but I guessed they were from a native mountain cherry tree, which I'd read were popular in Japan. The whole scene was beautiful.

Once they disappeared, I leaned forward and kissed my sister's hand and told her how much I loved her.

"I'm sorry you had to wait while I courted Kitty and Chalise," I began.

"No, no, I under—"

"No, I don't want to hear it," I told her. "As I was saying, I'm sorry you had to wait in the background, but as you guessed, it was important to me. It was something that I needed to do, and quite frankly I think I love them both. But the love I feel for them doesn't diminish the love that I feel for you. They can never share what the two of us do. You know as well as I the limitations we'll face in our life together, but I don't want you to ever think that I don't cherish what you give me, or that I love you any less."

"Oh, Alex," she sighed, but was interrupted when the Japanese waitress, who'd apparently been waiting, entered and asked us if we wanted anything to drink.

I spoke to her in Japanese that I knew was weak but that I hoped would be understood. I'd worked it out carefully with Ai beforehand, so I was careful to pronounce it correctly. I knew it was far from perfect, but her gracious smile told me that she appreciated the effort that I'd made.

"I'm afraid that's about all the Japanese I know," I told her, blushing slightly. "I've been carefully instructed on what to order, but I'll hold that until you get back. That will give me a chance to romance this beautiful woman a little more."

I must have said the right thing, because she giggled the entire way out of our little room.

"What was it you ordered?" Cate asked.

"Just the house tea, I just told her I didn't want to be distracted from admiring your beauty," I told her.

"Oh, you, I can't believe you went to all that effort just to say that," she said, waving me off, but I could tell from her expression she didn't really mean it. Her eyes positively beamed as she watched me. Looking into her eyes I appreciated what I'd been missing with my girls. I like looking into people's eyes. My girls might not need the eye contact to see into a person's souls, but I still saw them as the windows into a person. What I saw now was a wonderful woman who really wanted to get to know me better, and that was a beautiful thing in itself.

I also noticed that, in just the past several weeks, my sister had changed just as everything else in my life had. She no longer had the chubbiness to her cheeks that I'd always associated with her looks. Now she looked more mature and even more beautiful than my besotted brain kept telling me she should. But, as always, it came back to those eyes. Those eyes that drew you in and held you captive.

Our waitress, Chie Yoshida, came in bearing a pot of hot tea and a couple of cups. Ai had described some of the simpler customs of minor tea ceremonies. I knew I couldn't do anything officially, but I tried to do something in keeping with the setting. I poured for both of us, serving Cate first, as the official guest, before serving myself. I then lifted my glass, making my motions formal, to wordlessly show her that this was ceremonial, and gently blew on the hot tea, then made a quick bowing motion to her and sipped it, sighing slightly after I did. She followed my lead perfectly.

Chie again giggled slightly and began retreating quickly to leave us to our privacy, but I stopped her, telling her I was ready to order. When she was ready I ordered the Sushi deluxe, a pretty standard order that included the various things we should both be exposed to for our first foray into Japanese raw fish cuisine, but I went ahead and ordered a few other things I had been instructed to. Things like Salmon Roe with a quail egg, and a few other more esoteric items. Chie simply jotted them all down without comment. When I finished she nodded with quick "hai", telling me she got the order, so I simply nodded back and let her get busy.

"Well, someone seems to have done their homework for this date. Do you have any idea what you've just ordered?" Cate asked with a grin.

"Not really. Ai gave me a general idea, but I wouldn't recognize it if I passed it on the street, so I'm essentially shooting in the dark here. But I wanted to make sure I made a good impression, so I wanted to be sure I knew how to behave properly."

"Well, at least you didn't ask Tony for any recommendations on what you should eat," she said with a quick smile. "Yet you didn't think it was necessary to tell me where we were going, so I could prepare as well?" she asked pointedly.

"Quiet, woman, females don't question males in fancy Japanese restaurants," I bluffed. She recognized it for what it was, though, so we both laughed.

We continued to chat about various things, trying to deepen our understanding of someone we'd known all our lives but were now trying to see in a whole different light. I also discovered a few things. She, like me, had lost several of her older friends in exchange for a whole new set. It seems that Vicky was no longer very close to her, and Kitty and Chalise were her new best friends. I kind of regretted that, since it meant she was being drawn even deeper into my sphere of influence. That would mean she'd have less interests of her own, as an escape from me, if you will, that I thought might be necessary for us both.

I also learned that she'd been traveling to SIU during school, occasionally, making plans to attend courses that would allow her to rush her own graduation. While she wouldn't be able to attend summer school due to our planned travels together, she planned on doing some independent studies as well as taking several AP tests, which would allow her to get credit for courses she wouldn't need to take. Cate planned on moving her college education ahead in her efforts to assist me, and it looked like we'd actually be graduating together. That was why she'd been disappearing in the mornings and why she'd been missing lunches. She'd been taking a bus to SIU to take the necessary tests.

"Don't you think that will interfere with your general educational experience? You know, the whole social scene and such?" I asked. She just looked at me like I'd once again lost my mind.

"Alex, I don't need the normal college experience. I'm not looking for a reason to postpone growing up, I'm not looking for ideas of what to do with my life. I already know who I'll love for the rest of my life, I know what I'm going to study, and I know what I'm going to dedicate my life to doing. The university will still teach me things I need, but only in things that apply to helping you. Those are the only things that matter to me at this point. If quitting college right now would help you in your mission, then I'd do it in a heartbeat," she professed.

I just shook my head. As much as I hated to see her bypassing anything on account of me, she did have several good points. She was dedicated and knew what she wanted. She had before all this new stuff about my life had started. Now she was doubly dedicated. Asking her to give that up for a few years of drunken sorority parties seemed pretty silly. Still, I needed to encourage her to reach out and embrace things that had nothing to do with me. I'd have to consider it, I told myself. Maybe I could assign her a task concerning something unrelated to me. Kind of an oxymoronic concept, huh?