Beyond the Black Curtain

Chapter 23 - The Mom Situation

Sebastian

Another half hour passes until my small team leaves me in the hospital with Rae. She sees them off by the door, Josh being the last as she had to ask him to bring her a fresh change of clothes. She finally returns and climbs on the right side of the bed. I scoot a little to give her room; she then rests her head on my chest, my arm serving as another cushion for her back. We both let out contented sighs despite the predicament I'm in. That's the thing with Rae, no matter how shitty things get, all I'll need is her and everything seems to be better somehow.

Her slim fingers trace circles over my hospital clad torso and I revel in its calming effect on me.

"Soooo...care to tell me why Josh called you stubborn earlier?" she finally asks, breaking our easy silence.

"Ah crap," I say. "Nothing gets past you, huh?"

"'Fess up, Stan," Rae says warningly. I realize then I wasn't getting out of this one. I'm already in a damn hospital bed, right?

"Fine," I say to which Rae pats my chest. "Good man, go explain yourself," she responds.

I then proceed to tell her what happened to me earlier in the day, how I basically bullied Josh into getting me the medication I needed to get the fever down just so I can go meet her at the airport. I make sure to emphasize amidst all of it the reason why and that I am completely at fault for being selfish and stubborn.

"I'm just...I can't say how sorry I am for all of this, me being hospitalized is totally unnecessary," I say in closing and kissing the top of Rae's head after. She sighs and snuggles up closer to me. Despite feeling slightly feverish still, I relish Rae's warm body pressed up against mine.

"Eh, you're forgiven. Just don't do that to me again. You're the only one I have, you know," she says sleepily and lets out a long yawn. I can tell the sudden 180 of our evening has gotten her worn out. I let her sleep in my arms even after Josh returned another half hour later with Rae's clothes and toiletries. She woke up anyway.

"Was that Josh?" she asks as she perches her chin on my chest. I nod and she moves to get up, but I pull her closer instead.

"Noooo...," I mumble complainingly.

"Baby, I've been in the dress for hours and my face feels like make up is eating it. Let me get off all this gunk and I'll be back before you know it, mmkay?" Rae says with a chuckle.

"Fine," I pout and reluctantly let her go. "Make it quick."

She hops out of bed and skips to the en suite bathroom. She comes out less than 10 minutes after, looking comfortably dressed in a pair of a form fitting skinny jeans and loose, flowy powder blue top. Her face, now devoid of any make up, turns up to a smile as she plops down Indian style on the other end of the bed.

"I like you better without all that junk on," I say, referring to the make up she had on earlier. "Mom doesn't like make up too. She could even tell if I had foundation on in an interview with MTV years ago. Since then, I stuck to ensuring I always have a pack of oil control film instead."

"Ugh," Rae groans and buries her face in her hands. "You had to remind me, did you?"

"What? That you're meeting my mom in a few hours? I told you many times, she's gonna l—"

"She's going to like me, I know, you told me about three times already! That doesn't mean I don't get to feel nervous and a little terrified, you know?! I mean, it's not like you're meeting my family ever!"

"Listen to me," I grab both of her hands and kiss her knuckles gingerly. I tilt her chin up so that we were looking eye to eye. "You have the right to feel that way, but you need to slow down on the negativity, babe. My mom really is excited to meet you, especially after I told her you lost your family years ago. Me, being an only child, I know she's looking forward to have somebody to care for like a daughter. I think she already likes you more than me."

"You're kidding?"

"I wish I was," I say after laughing at her response. "She's always asking about you."

"Can I ask you something?" Rae finally says after about a minute of silence. For the first time in months, something in her eyes sort of unnerves me. I've never seen this seemingly insecure side of her.

"Sure sweetheart, you know you can ask me anything," I say gently but reassuringly.

"Sebastian, do you think...I mean...fuck the timing of this..."

I chuckle at her fumbling over what to say, though I hoped that at the same time she didn't hear the undercurrent of nervousness in the way I sounded. "What is it? Just spit it out, baby," I tell her, making sure not to scare her off. Rae paused for a bit then shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Seb, never mind. It can wait. It's probably my tired brain messing with me," she finally says. "Besides," she jumps off the bed. "You need to get some shut eye before your mom arrives. You're probably going to need the energy when she unleashes her motherly wrath on you." She offers me a small smile and then she retreats to the couch to fiddle with her phone.

Now I feel worried because I am absolutely sure that there was something bothering her. I want to know whatever it is so that I can reassure her that she nothing to worry about so long as she has me. Then again, I don't wanna force her into telling if she's uncomfortable which she was earlier. I decide to let her be for now. Right now I just want her to be as relaxed as she possibly could before Mom arrives.

"Okay then," I reluctantly say. "But could you please stay here in bed, with me, please?" I must have sounded like a little boy, but I didn't care, I just wanted her close.

Something in her expression shifts as I her eyes soften once she returned her gaze upon me. Her smile is serene as she left her phone on the coffee table before rising to rejoin me on the bed. I instantly relax as soon she's wrapped up in my arms again.

"I love you so much, Rae," I tell her, my voice husky and just barely above a whisper.

"I love you just as much, Sebastian Stan," Rae tells me as well. "Always."

My eyes water at her response. I press my lips atop her delicate crown as I fell into a tranquil sleep.

Multiple muffled voices pull me from under the comfortable slumber I was having causing me to slowly flutter my eyes open. They widen upon recognizing my mother's face looking at me with a calm, easy smile.

"Sebastian, draga, este ea?" she asks me and I see a tiny glint of excitement in her eyes. I try to stay still and smile back proudly. (Darling, is that her?)

"Da mama, vreau să o trezesc?" I reply to her but Rae stirs awake away, what a light sleeper this girl, I chuckle inwardly to myself. "Ah well, look at that." (Do you want me to wake her?)

"Mmm, what time is it? Are they here?" Rae mumbles almost incoherently, her eyes still half closed.

"See for yourself," I tell her with a smirk. She gingerly turns around and almost falls off the bed upon seeing my mom. Thankfully, Josh is there to break her fall. He and I laugh and I see Mom let out a giggle too. That was a promising sign.

If I'm being truthful, the thought of introducing a girlfriend to my mother has always been a daunting notion to me. I was always finding some fault at whoever I was dating at the time and I'd deem her unworthy to be in my mother's presence.

I treat her like a goddamn queen because she is one. No matter how much I give back to her, it would never be enough compared to everything she sacrificed for me. I promised myself that whoever it was who I decide for her to meet, she would be the one. Like everything I put myself into, it was always all or nothing. Rae is everything to me and nobody else I've ever dated could hold a candle to her.