Tears trailed down Hannah’s cheeks all over again. “Don’t you want to know that you’re your own person?”
“I am. You already said that. I’m not this weird farmer bitch from mythology, but I also am. I can deal with that. Mostly. I really hate how not cool it is. But you’re a big badass god and my dorky accountant.”
“I’m not a dork,” she muttered.
Emily wiped Hannah’s cheeks and planted a soft kiss on her eyelids. “You are. You want to be an accountant. No one wants to be an accountant. That’s literally the plot of both The Tick and The Producers.”
Hannah grumbled.
“And that’s not very Thor now, is it? But it is Hannah. It is one hundred percent the woman I love.”
She nodded, fighting back a sob.
“So let’s just try to take this as it comes. We found out we’re gods. That’s weird, but we’ll deal.”
“But doesn’t it change everything? God, Alys and I were mugged, and I put the guy through a wall. This isn’t a human thing. These aren’t the kind of problems I’m supposed to have. I wanted a normal, boring life. With you,” she added. It was still true. It shouldn’t be. This all should have sent her as far away from Emily as she could reach, but how could she want to be anywhere else?
Emily’s eyes widened, and her mouth opened, then closed before she finally managed, “You were mugged?”
“It was nothing.”
“You were mugged?” Emily licked her lips, glancing around the dimly lit room. Hannah was almost glad she’d ripped the door off, since she wouldn’t even be able to see now that the sun was down. “I should’ve been there. I shouldn’t have let you go off like that. I could’ve protected you. Are you okay? Is Alys okay?”
Hannah nodded. “We’re fine. It really wasn’t anything that bad. Okay, I guess it was. He did pull a gun on us, but I’m Thor.” She hated how good that felt to say. “I saved the day, and then Alys told me to head home and that they’d talk to the cops. I was kind of freaking out.”
“I can understand why!” Emily hugged her tightly, as if she was trying to make sure Hannah was really there.
“Not that.” Hannah had to gently pull herself free to breathe. Suffocating like that would be a good way to die. “The mugger didn’t even really scare me that much. Like, yeah, it was scary, but I just needed to stop him…to…” Those damn tears returned. “To put him down. I shoved him so hard, he went through a wall. I wanted to kill him. I would have for misgendering Alys, but as soon as I saw what I had done…” It was too much. She wouldn’t face that thought again. “But it’s all okay. We’re fine. We’re safe. Everyone lived.”
“I’m so glad. Holy fuck. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to worry.”
Hands clasped her cheek, those oceanic blue eyes searching hers. “Please don’t scare me like that. I need to know that you’re safe. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Emily leaned in, kissing her hard, and Hannah lost track of any thoughts in her head. This was exactly where she needed to be.
Chapter Thirteen
“They’re going to be here any minute,” Hannah squealed, and Emily couldn’t tell if it was out of fear or excitement. For herself, it was mostly fear.
She glared at the rows of beer in the fridge. She wanted to drink a few dozen to calm her nerves, but she was pretty sure that would be the exact opposite of helpful. She’d met precisely one girlfriend’s parents before, and it had gone about as amazingly as trying to smoke a pig indoors. And she only came up with that comparison as there actually had been a fire. What were they going to think about the older woman Hannah had moved in with?
Hannah threw herself onto the couch and let out a low mournful moan. “I’m not ready. Can’t they come tomorrow? We still need to go over everything. What if they’re weird about us sharing a bed? They never said anything about it before, but it’s not like I ever really gave them the chance. They probably think we’re already sleeping together, right?”
“Honey, it’s fine.” Emily did her best to sound soothing as she ran her hands through Hannah’s hair. “You don’t need to worry.” She hoped.
“Are you good with parents?”
She faltered but recovered surprisingly quickly. “I’m a quick learner.”
Before Hannah could react to that cop-out of a response, her phone chimed. Saved by the cheery pop music. Emily could faintly hear a voice on the other end. “Wait here,” Hannah said as she leapt to her feet. “I want to see them first.”
“Worried I’ll make a bad impression?”
Hannah didn’t bother answering, so Emily was left stewing in her own nerves as she waited. This had to go better. But how? She’d never learned how to interact with parents. Her own wanted nothing to do with her.
She tried sitting. Then standing. Then pacing around the place. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, but she settled on leaning against the wall, then realized that looked weird and went back to sitting on the couch.
“And you feel safe here?” she heard someone say as they opened the first door. Hannah’s mother, she suspected. “Even having to use this back door? Do you trust your landlord?”
Hannah had the tact not to mention that they’d heard a gunshot a few blocks away the other night and that their landlord had already entered their apartment once since she’d moved in without any sort of notice or even bothering to knock. Hannah said, “Of course. The place is super safe, and our landlord is a great guy. He even gives us extra food sometimes.”
“‘Our,’ ‘us,’” her father repeated. “Are we finally going to meet this girlfriend of yours? You’ve barely told me two things about her.”
Emily hurried over, realizing that sitting on the couch might make her look like a slacker. “Now, that’s the setup for a great entrance if I’ve ever heard one,” Emily said, opening the door to the Olsen family. She was wearing a nice button-up blouse and slacks, as she’d refused Hannah’s suggestion of wearing a dress, with her long hair pulled back in a ponytail. “Name’s Emily Johnson.” Extending her hand toward Hannah’s father, she added, “You must be the parents of the amazing woman I’m living with.”
“We would be that exactly. I’m Mark, and this is Cheryl,” he said, a goofy grin on his face as he shook the proffered hand. “She’s pretty. You really lucked out, Hannah.”
The elbow to the gut from his wife did little to dispel his good spirits. “How old are you?” Cheryl asked as she also shook her hand. That wasn’t a great sign.
Emily’s smile grew more forced. “Well, as young as you look, I must be older,” she tried.
Unfortunately, that seemed to be the exact opposite of what Cheryl wanted to hear. “So how old is that? I just want to make sure my little girl is safe.”
“Cheryl,” Mark muttered.
The door to the main house and the attic apartment opened, and they took it as an opportunity to shepherd Hannah’s parents through the second door and downstairs. Emily hoped Cheryl would forget what they were talking about.
“So you were saying?” she asked.
Holding her hands up in surrender, Emily replied, “I’m twenty-seven. I assure you, I’m taking fine care of your daughter, and the only thing my age means is that I was old enough to rent a truck so she could move in more easily.”
“Well, I—”
“Kiddo, Emily, do you think you could grab us a drink? It’s been a long drive, and we’re both parched.”
“No problem,” Emily said.
“Sure,” Hannah added, as they dashed to the kitchen. “Grab waters. I think my mom might have a heart attack right now if she realized I’m old enough to have beer.”
“She doesn’t know you drink?”
“Oh, she knows. She bought me my first drink when I was fourteen, but there’s a big difference between that and accepting that the girl you’re still trying to baby is an adult who can buy her own beer.”
“Yeah, I get that
.” She opened the fridge and grabbed a couple of bottled waters. “You want to give these to ’em? I’m a little worried your mom might think I’m trying to poison her or something.”
Hannah glanced around them as if she was looking for any eavesdroppers. “Don’t give her any ideas. But it should be fine. Even if they know I’m Thor.”
Emily stared. Hannah hadn’t said anything about that. “You told them?”
“No. I’m just…Don’t worry about it. I’d rather they not overhear this. And I’m probably being crazy.”
Bearing the water bottles, they found Hannah’s parents sitting on the torn-up leather couch. Cheryl looked a lot calmer. What had Mark said to manage that? Emily handed them the water. “I hope Aquafina’s okay.” She took a seat on the beige recliner. The lever had come off long ago, but it was still a perfectly comfortable chair.
“It’s fine, thank you,” Cheryl managed, taking a sip.
“Did you want us to show you around town?” Hannah asked, sitting between her parents.
“Sure,” Mark answered, a warm grin on his face.
“Emily knows the area better than I do,” she said, gesturing toward her. Now if Emily could only live up to that, it might finally be an opening to win some trust. “I’ve only been living here for the past week, though there’s this amazing taco cart by the grocery store. Any idea where you’d like to go, babe?” She emphasized the last word, looking right at her mother.
“Yeah, actually. It’s prime rib night at this place near here.” Emily gave Hannah a quick glance as if asking, “that’s what parents eat, right?” She was woefully out of her element here, but Hannah gave her a smile and a quick nod. “Most of the other stuff around here is dive bars and fast food, unless you want to go up toward Stark. I’ve only been to this place once, but I recall it being pretty good.”
“That sounds great,” Mark replied quickly.
Cheryl nodded. “Do they have a senior discount?”
Emily’s smile grew more forced. “I have absolutely no idea.”
“I suppose you wouldn’t.” With a light chuckle, Cheryl climbed to her feet, wincing slightly. “All right, let’s go. My treat.”
✥ ✥ ✥
“It’s a bar.” Cheryl’s derisive sneer doubtless put the fear of God into the little restaurant. Or Odin? Damn, this was even throwing off Emily’s dumb jokes. “First those streetwalkers on the way over, and now this.”
“Honey, your favorite restaurant is a bar,” Mark said.
“Well, yes,” she said, glaring at the placard displaying the specials. “But it’s not like this. It’s much nicer.”
A few minutes later, they were seated, but Cheryl was nowhere near finished complaining.
“The prime rib looks fantastic, dear,” Mark said, pointing to the little handout that showed the day’s special.
“It does, but everything is so expensive.”
“Come on, it really isn’t. Especially not compared to Seattle.”
She fixed him with a gaze that brooked no argument. “I don’t mean for us. Our poor Hannah is only an intern, and she’s got her student loans. How is she supposed to afford anything in this city?” Looking like she just came up with an idea, she turned to Hannah and said, “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather come live with us?” Could that have been her trying to keep Thor a secret? But then why send her off to college in the first place? “We won’t charge you any rent, and you can start working on saving up for your future.”
“Mom, I’m sure. I have an internship with a huge company here, and it’s likely to end up with a full-time job after this summer. I wouldn’t be saving up for my future. I’d be throwing it away.” She squeezed Emily’s hand hard enough that she had to stifle a pained whimper. “Besides, all of my friends are here—hell, my whole life is here, and I—” She stared into Emily’s eyes, and Emily’s fears vanished. It didn’t matter how this went, she still had Hannah. She could relax. She wasn’t going anywhere. “And I love Emily. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You what?” her mother asked.
Emily gulped. There was no way she was going to win Cheryl’s approval at this rate.
Mark held his hands out, looking between them. “Ladies, why don’t we all figure out what we want to eat first? I’m sure we’re all really hungry, and we’ll feel better once we have some food in us. How about we get these bacon cheddar chips? They have a star next to them, so I’m sure they’re delicious.” He seemed so harmless. Maybe even nice. He seemed like an actual proper dad.
“I got them last time, and I loved them,” Emily said, squeezing Hannah’s hand. She searched her face for a second before she continued, “And I love your daughter. Possibly even more than those chips.”
Hannah elbowed her.
“Definitely more than the chips. I love her more than…Hell, more than I’ve ever loved anyone. I completely understand why you’d be suspicious of me. I’m five years older than her and a bartender, and I even have a tattoo, so I’m sure I’m everything you were scared she’d find on her own, but I swear, I’m taking good care of her, and I will do everything in my power to never hurt her.” Not that anything could. Hannah was Thor, after all. But this was getting to her too much. Maybe it reminded her of her own parents, or maybe Hannah freaking out the other day already had her too terrified of losing her. She felt something run down her cheek. Damn it, was she really? Since when did she get this emotional? “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to splash some water on my face because I am not crying in the middle of a bar.” She kissed Hannah chastely but with enough force to seal her words, and said her order in case the waiter came around.
As Emily walked away, she could hear Cheryl asking, “Is that true?”
“Is what true, Mom?”
“Is she taking good care of you? Do you love her?”
“She is, and I do. I didn’t move in with her because it was convenient, as much as we love to pretend that’s the case, and as cheap as the rent is, I moved in because I can’t imagine not seeing her when I wake up. I want to be with her so badly. I know how scared you are, but I need you to understand that she means the world to me.”
Emily had heard more than enough and far more than she should have, but with a massive grin, she ran to the bathroom. As painful as this was, it seemed like what Emily expected normal moms to sound like. She’d only seen them on TV, but this seemed like an overprotective parent, not someone trying to keep a secret about their god child. Hopefully, Hannah was realizing the same.
A minute later, she returned, her hair and the collar of her shirt clinging to her where the water had splashed. “They come?” she asked, pretending there was no greater concern on her mind than her prime rib.
“Yeah, I ordered you that stout we tried the other week.”
“Sweet. It was delicious.” So she did get beer in front of her parents? Emily was all the prouder. She wished she’d had the courage to be so open with her own. Not that it would’ve gone half this well.
“What’s your family like, Emily? Should we be expecting to meet them over the holidays?” Mark asked.
Emily was increasingly convinced that he was trying to beat Cheryl to any insensitive questions, but he was probing in what was without a doubt the most sensitive recesses of her psyche. It had been planned as an emergency topic of conversation—their secret weapon—if Cheryl reacted as badly as she’d ended up doing. It looked as if they didn’t have a choice but to deploy it. Hopefully, it would eliminate any remaining coldness on Cheryl’s behalf.
Emily sighed. She hated talking about it. Hannah had been incredibly touched by the fact that she was willing to discuss it with them at all. Sucking on her teeth to buy a bit of time, she glanced at the table, hoping their drinks had magically arrived. “They’re not great. I haven’t talked to my family in six years. So, no, I doubt you’ll be seeing them.”
“You don’t talk to them?” Cheryl asked, sounding genuinely concerned. It was a welcome change from her previous tone.<
br />
“No. They really didn’t appreciate my coming out. I moved away from North Carolina shortly after. I couldn’t put up with them anymore. Or that whole state. Not with how they treated me after I came out. The food is the one thing good about it, and I have a friend here who can make it just as good.”
“You’re from North Carolina?” Mark asked. “You don’t have any accent.”
“Yeah, I worked at that for a while.”
“Oh, Emily, I’m so sorry,” Cheryl finally said. Hannah’s eyebrows shot up. Their secret weapon had been even more effective than expected.
“It’s okay. My life worked out pretty well.” Beaming, she planted a kiss on Hannah’s temple.
“Well, I promise,” Cheryl said. “Despite how I sounded, I’m nothing like them. We’re so proud of our daughter for being who she is…and…and I guess if you’re going to be such a big part of her life…” She hesitated. Saying this clearly pained her. “Then I’m happy to welcome you into the family. I don’t want to be another person rejecting you.”
Emily’s worst fears came true. She cried in the middle of the restaurant. Hugs, beer, and some napkins did a good deal to counteract it, however, and by the time they left the place, they were all laughing and chatting as if they’d known each other for years, one big happy family. This had gone so much better than she’d feared. Before the senior Olsens returned to Seattle, they even made Thanksgiving plans together. Despite the weird godly hang-ups, her new life with Hannah was looking to be a perfect one.
Chapter Fourteen
“You sure you still want to go to Alys’s tonight?” Hannah asked, exhausted from a long day of work. The one other intern in the accounting department had made a massive enough mistake that he was no longer with the company, and she and Isabel had had to go through all of his work, trying to sort out what went wrong. They’d expected a decimal point being in the wrong spot, which happened to everyone sooner or later, but instead, it seemed he’d just given up and was making the numbers up whole cloth. Isabel had joked that he’d be a great accountant for the mob. After all that, Hannah was absolutely in no mood to leave the house. That would involve clothing, and she was enjoying the freedom from that that living with her girlfriend entailed.
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