Page 23 of Love Unlimited

He was pretty sure Ash had just signed his name, though.

Was that good or bad? By Ash’s expression, it at least wasn’t going badly.

Zhong settled into the next set of exercises, pressing his arms down to work his shoulders. Zhong hadn’t mentioned Ash to his parents at all. Not that he was trying to hide them. Well, maybe a little bit. It was just that his family could be so exhausting sometimes. His sister was still set on getting married, so he took it as a free pass to not bring up his own personal life. Ash had become the center of his world, but that didn’t mean he wanted to answer invasive questions about them.

I should give you a tour, Ash gushed into the phone. It had been clear from even the first few lines that Ash was slowing down substantially and using mostly SimCom or simultaneous communication—signing while speaking at the same time. The ASL grammar was a disaster, using mostly English word order. But presumably Ash’s mother was learning and needed the support.

Zhong couldn’t see her response, of course.

No, the place is huge. But he’s not stuffy about it. He inherited it from his aunt. It’s kind of Zhong’s place, too, though. He has his own bedroom and we’re in his workout room now.

Well, that was interesting. Ash talked about their mother a lot, but Zhong hadn’t realized quite how much they shared with her. He hadn’t even realized that Ash’s mother knew about him, let alone Dustin and his house.

Yeah, I know! They’re best friends.

What did Ash know? What had his mother asked? He knew it wasn’t normal for two adults to share a space like he and Dustin did, years after moving out. But Ash didn’t look bothered by explaining any of it. Hopefully their mother wasn’t either.

Yes! You can totally meet him now! Ash signed into the phone. They picked it up, then hopped off the bench.

Wait! Zhong signed frantically. Am I meeting your mother right now?

Yeah! Ash must have noticed his reluctance. I mean, if that’s OK.

I’m all sweaty and gross. And I don’t know her.

Ash shook his head fondly. She won’t care. Plus, I already told her about your sexy shoulders.

Zhong snorted. He didn’t understand Ash’s fascination with his shoulders, but he liked knowing that they liked his body. It was a bit strange that they’d told their mother about it, though. Growing up, Zhong had never seen his parents do more than occasionally touch each other’s arms in affection. Even a hug would have been considered overly affectionate and rude in the Chinese-American community he’d grown up in.

Zhong had obviously picked up more mainstream ideas about relationships from school, movies, and friends, but it was still odd to have Ash mention something like that so casually.

Would you rather wait? Ash asked uneasily.

Zhong considered. Ash had been excited about introducing him until he’d been the one to object. Even if their mother didn’t like Zhong, it was probably better to get it over with. Zhong was serious about Ash, and since he couldn’t quite give them everything they needed, he wanted to do everything else in his power to show his commitment. Which meant meeting the family.

No, it’s OK.

He was only slightly surprised when Ash settled on the weight bench in front of him, mimicking his position with their knees out to either side and folding themself into his arms. If Ash ever met Zhong’s parents, he’d have to warn them not to do that. But if Ash was comfortable sitting there during the introductions, he could use the support. Everything was better when Ash was close.

Ash held the phone back far enough to give them both space to sign, and Zhong finally got to see the woman he’d been hearing so much about. She looked just like an older version of Ash, same dark curly hair, sharp cheeks, and slender build. And she was already waving excitedly with the same shining eyes and joyful smile.

Nice to meet you! I’ve been hearing so much about you, she enthused. Her signs were slow, but her delight more than made up for it. You make Ash very happy.

Wow. He hadn’t been expecting that. Maybe he didn’t have anything to worry about after all. He signed around Ash’s body. I’ve been hearing a lot about you, too. Do you have work today? She was wearing powder blue scrubs, so it seemed like an obvious thing to talk about, especially since Ash had mentioned before that she was unhappy with some of the scheduling going on.

Nope. Just finished. I took over working for someone, so after this I’m going to sleep. But first I want to meet you. Tell me about yourself.

Zhong chuckled. She was just like her child, bounding away with excitement even though her vocabulary was limited. I don’t know if there’s much to tell. I like to garden, which I saw Ash telling you. I like to cook, which I bet Ash has told you, too. Two matching heads of curly hair bobbed in unison. And I’m a professional freelance editor for several different publications.

Sorry… what do all of those words mean?

They took turns explaining them.

Oh, cute. EDIT is like CHANGE, but a lot of changes. That was exactly it. Two fists with hooked index fingers switching places, then trailing downward as the motion was repeated.

Tell me something you edited. No hesitation, just friendly warmth.

Zhong thought for a minute. I had an interesting article on bone marrow transplants yesterday. He fingerspelled out each of the words, moving slowly for her to read. Mostly I’m excited to start editing a translation of some Chinese poetry as soon as the book comes in.