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Even after five decades in the US, she still rolls herRs. To me, her accent sounds like home.
She stands to wrap her arms around me, but her eyes are set on Sarah. She’s quick to push me aside and engulfs her in a hug, too. “And you’re Sarah. Gorgeous. I am so spoiled, all my boys have chosen such adorable partners.” She pushes Sarah to the seat closest to her, pulling her chair before I can. “Tell me everything there is to know about you.Everything.”
“I—” Sarah looks at me, her eyes wide and desperate.
I probably should have warned Sarah, but then she would likely have bailed. Liliya has no sense of propriety when it comes to her family, and by extension, whatever girl we introduce to her.
“Sarah’s pre-med,” I offer.
“A smart girl!” Liliya claps her hands. “A lawyer and a doctor. You’re going to make gorgeous babies with a brain. And less insane than your little brother’s.”
Sarah hides behind her menu, but I just shrug. I knew babies were going to be the principal subject matter for lunch. “I should hope so.”
“I want to be a vet,” Sarah says, probably desperate to change the subject.
“Good, good! We need one in the family. We already have Magnus as the family doctor. He’ll stitch up his brothers, and you can take care of any emergencies for Bambie, Bruce, and Bear.”
“Bear?” Sarah echoes, confused.
“Dez’s rescue—you knew him as Tiny, I think.” To my grandmother, I explain, “Sarah volunteered at the shelter where Daisy picked him.”
That’s all it takes for my grandmother to profess solemnly, “You’re marrying this girl. Don’t mess it up, boy. You know I manage forty-nine percent of your trust fund.”
Sarah laughs nervously. I roll my eyes. I’m marrying her. She just doesn’t know it yet.
“Tiny is now called Bear? Aw,” she coos. “And how about the other two?”
Mamie’s quick to pull her phone out to show a thousand pictures of her miniature poodle.
Our server comes, and we send him back with our drink orders—none of us have had time to look at the menu, as those two are getting along like they’ve known each other their whole life, like I expected them to.
Introducing her to Liliya first was smart. Ma will be equally sweet, but I can’t imagine a way to have Sarah meet my mother without my father being near, and that might send her running in the opposite direction, as fast as her legs can take her. I wouldn’t even blame her. I’d run if I could.
“As for Bruce,” I say, “That’s Markus’s old dog.”
Mamie sighs. “Yes. That boy.”
She proceeds to tell Sarah how Markus came to acquire him. First, he stabbed the owner, then he brought the dog to our father and exchanged one year of pure obedience without a single question for keeping it. At age six. Pa sued the abusive owner, and Bruce became part of our family.
Another loved one we’ve basically kidnapped.
“All B-names,” Sarah notes.
“That’s actually a Keller thing,” Mamie says with a smile.
“My mom’s dad’s name is Mark Augustus Keller,” I say. “And her mom was April Marie Stewart. Same initials. So he called her Marcella after him, and called my uncles names that started with A: Arlo and Augustus. I don’t know why, exactly, but we’ve stuck to that tradition.”
“Hence Marius, Magnus, and Markus,” says Liliya. “And his cousins are Damon and Dean.”
“Bruce came first,” I say. “But then Mamie got Bambie. When Dez adopted Tiny, Markus must have made her pick a B-name.”
My grandmother snorts. “Boy, if you think that boy makes Daisy do anything, you haven’t paid attention. She’s dragging your brother about by the balls, that one.”
To my unending confusion, she’s right.
Our drinks arrive without the chatter ending, and we have to ask the waitress to come back again for our food order. The conversation is completely natural, without any awkward pauses, partially because of who my grandmother is, but also because Sarah quite simply fits in with us. Withme.
By the time we’re done at the restaurant, we’ve switched from coffee to wine, and it’s already getting dark. I can tell Sarah doesn’t want the meeting to end any more than my grandmother does.
