“Really?”
“Yes. I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm indestructible, so she doesn't worry about me.”
“That's kinda sad,” Liam said a quiet voice. Katya cleared her throat.
“She doesn't worry because she thinks Wulf is a god,” she explained. “You should see the way she looks at him – like a movie star is in her home or something. It's incredible.”
“My mom cries every time I come home,” Liam chuckled.
“Awww. Why?”
“She cries at the drop of a hat. When I'm happy, when I'm sad. When I got a new car, when I wrecked the new car. Sometimes we'll be sitting around the table, just telling stories and laughing or whatever, and she'll start crying at how sweet it all is,” he laughed.
“Jesus,” Wulf groaned.
“I think it's sweet,” Katya piped up. “My mom isn't emotional, but she likes it when I'm home.”
“I bet she's just like you,” he guessed. She shook her head.
“You'd guess wrong. My mom is somewhat of a society matron. I had to go to etiquette classes, wasn't allowed to date until I was sixteen, had a curfew until I went to college. She's fun, don't get me wrong, just kind of prim and proper,” she explained.
“So basically exactly the same as you used to be before we met,” he teased.
“Oh god, you're right. I guess I am like my mom,” she sighed. Wulf cleared his throat.
“You look like her.”
Both Liam and Katya glanced at him.
“I kinda do,” she agreed. He shook his head.
“More than 'kind of' – you could almost pass as sisters. Same hair, same height, same eyes,” he continued.
“You're gonna be a hot old lady,” Liam cracked up.
“Oh, shut up,” she grumbled. Wulf smirked.
“He's right. Your mother is beautiful, and you're prettier than she is,” he told her. “You're going to get even more stunning with age.”
“Katya has a hot mom,” Liam snorted.
“Okay, just calm down. My 'hot mom' is also happily married and wouldn't appreciate this conversation at all,” she informed them, though she inwardly glowed at the “stunning” comment.
“Well, I for one am now super excited about this meeting,” Liam said through a huge grin.
Mrs. Tocci didn't cry when she saw Katya, but she did hold her in a tight embrace for an almost awkwardly long amount of time. While that happened, Mr. Eugene Tocci introduced himself to Liam, smiling big and shaking his hand. Katya managed to pull away from her mom in time to see her dad shake Wulf's hand, exchanging an expression that spoke leagues, then he pulled the younger man into a fatherly hug.
“Good to see you, son,” he said, letting Wulf go before turning to his only child. “But even better to see you, pumpkin.”
“I missed you so much,” she sighed, almost falling into his hug. She was close to both her parents, but since moving out on her own, she didn't get to see her father half as much as she saw her mother, so every time was special.
“Me, too. Lots to talk about kiddo. I'm building a gazebo!” he told her. She groaned and pulled away.
“Not again. Remember the shed?” she told him. He rolled his eyes and while keeping one arm around her shoulders, he led her towards the front door.
“That was years ago. This is different, it comes in a kit, I can't possibly screw it up,” he assured her. She laughed all the way into the house.
Liam was given a tour and offered a room, but before he could accept, Wulf stated loudly that Liam would sleeping over at the Stones' house. No need to put the Toccis out more than they already were. Liam made a face like he'd chewed on a lemon, but he didn't argue. There was a round of goodbyes, then the men trooped back out the front door.
“It's good to be home,” Katya moaned when she sank into the sofa in the living room. Her dad was in his study, working on a ship-in-a-bottle. He was an academic, but always needed to be doing something with his hands.
“It's good to have you home, dear,” her mother sighed as she sat down, as well.
“Thanks for letting us invade,” Katya continued, resting her head back and closing her eyes.
“Of course! You could bring home twenty people, you know that,” her mom assured her. There was a pause, then she cleared her throat. “I was surprised, though. When you said Wulf would be coming.”
Katya's eyes popped open and she stared at the ceiling. There may have been a slightly drunken, sobbing, confessional phone call made to her mother at an inappropriate time of night. They'd talked more about it since then, but never in too much detail.
“It's been a weird couple of weeks,” Katya mumbled, finally looking at her mom.
“Sounds like it.”
“I'm just ...” she searched for the right words. “Confused? Stupid? I don't know, mom. We're not together – for real, this time, so don't start anything or try to push us together,” she said in a stern voice. Her mom held up her hands.
“I won't!”
“But he does feel bad, and I thought maybe ...”
Again, she had to rack her brain to think of what to say. “I want to torture him and make him uncomfortable by forcing him to be in your presence” just didn't sound good, no matter how well she could word it.
“Maybe your father could talk to him?” her mother suggested.
“Oh god, no. I don't want to get back together with Wulf, and I don't want Dad reading him the riot act, or even being mad at him. I'm an adult, and relationships end – but that doesn't mean anything bad has to happen to theirs,” Katya insisted.
She'd had a lot of time to think about it – Wulf and her dad did have a relationship independent of Katya. Not anything too big, they didn't call each other or anything, but Katya knew that the few times Wulf had visited home during school, he'd made a point to stop by and say hello to Mr. Tocci.
Katya's dad had always looked in on the Stones after the divorce, taking special care to spend time with Wulf. Not a lot – Wulf had always been fiercely independent, not to mention busy with after school activities and jobs. But it was Mr. Tocci who'd taught Wulf how to drive a stick shift, and Mr. Tocci who'd surprised Wulf with a limo for his prom date, and Mr. Tocci who'd written Wulf a glowing recommendation letter for college.
So if her dad was the closest thing Wulf had to a decent father figure, and Wulf was the closest thing her dad had to a son, she wouldn't ruin that bond. Not for anything. Not even if she couldn't stand Wulf.
“Your dad wouldn't let that happen. He's concerned, about both of you. He was so happy when I told him about you and Wulf – he'd kind of secretly hoped it would happen, I think. So he was understandably sad when it went south. But he still loves you both,” her mom assured her. Katya nodded.