New Home, New Life

[Demeter]

His mother seemed to have gotten past the fact that his nuddie pictures were on public display and being sold to complete strangers. It might have been because his sisters were keeping her plied with drinks but it made for a calmer evening. Zach eyed Brielle when she appeared to next to him. "You know, one would think that one's beloved, most special, sweetest elder sister would have given her baby brother some sort of advanced warning about the family horde showing up."

When Brielle sputtered something about the visit being a complete surprise and how she and Elise had run into Saiyuri and the horde at the New Orleans airport, Zach rolled his eyes. "I suppose I'll be nice and not let something slip about your secret life in order to shift the attention off me. Mom's hovering and treating me like glass and it's starting to annoy,"

Brielle, being the only one to have seen him before he left for Japan, nodded. "Well, what would you expect after what you told us. I saw you Zach; you were glass. Oh, and thank you for not telling her about my wife and our soon to be born child. I'm not sure she's ready for that."

Zach snorted. "we are going to the Onsen tomorrow. I've done the impossible and included everyone in the reservation. However, you will all be far, far away from Kyo and myself. I'm going to forget that you all are here and I'm going to relax and make love to my husband. Which is what I would have been doing all along if you people hadn't shown up."

And he'd almost reached a state of complete relaxation the next evening while floating in the private hot spring outside of the private suite he shared with Kyo. And, judging by the looks Kyo was sending his way, he was going to be very relaxed in a few hours.

And then karma bit him in the ass.

Saiyuri burst out onto the hot spring's patio, glaring and waving a framed picture at him. It was a photo of him and Kyo at their wedding ceremony at this very resort. And this was going to even worse then the confession from the other night, Zach thought as he watched his mother.

[Maira]

Brielle felt bad about not warning Zach that the family was going to be invading Japan. Specifically the part he resided in. She and Elise had been planning a little visit to see him and Kyo, Mercedes couldn't come because of how far along she was in her pregnancy, when of all places to run into her mother and the rest of her siblings they bumped into them at the gate for their plane at the New Orleans airport. The only thing Brielle could think of was that her Grandpa Darius (great grandpa technically) had let it slip to Saiyuri that she was going to Japan for a vacation with her Grandpa Katsu. And the more she thought about it, the more she wondered if he had let it slip on purpose. After all, Darius liked to meddle in his family's lives.

When Zach rolled his eyes at her explanation but then told her he wouldn't tell their mom about her own secret life, Brielle sighed with relief. There were certain things she was comfortable telling her mother, and other things she wasn't quite ready to admit yet. Elise bonding her was a comfortable subject, a dragon taking a bond partner was actually somewhat of an honor and as much as Saiyuri worried about her daughter being bonded to one, it was nothing compared to how she'd feel if she knew the pair were also in a committed romantic relationship as well. Working for Mercedes and them being close friends was also something that was easy to tell Saiyuri about. Like with Elise, telling her mother about her relationship with Mercedes was just a no-no. Mercedes's age alone would have Saiyuri worrying. Brielle had always been rather impulsive and she was certain that if her mother knew she had gone and married her first girlfriend, a much much older woman, Saiyuri would think Mercedes was taking advantage of Brielle or something.

Realizing that she'd been distracted, worrying over her mother finding out about her wife and baby-on-the-way, it too Brielle a moment to comprehend what Zack had said about the Onsen. Once it clicked in her head she squealed just a bit and practically bounced with excitement. The last time she'd been to the Onsen had been for Zach and Kyo's wedding and it had been an amazing experience that she'd gotten to share with Mercedes. Elise had been working that time and had come at the very end of their stay, but this time she'd get the full experience and Brielle couldn't wait.

*****

The gallery show had been a bit nerve wracking, but Saiyuri had been kept well stocked on drinks thanks to her daughters, and by the end of the night she was relaxed enough not to care that she was practically surrounded by nudie pictures of her baby boy. She was still quite relaxed the next day when Zach informed everybody that they'd be going to a very special place, his and Kyo's treat. When they got to the Onsen, the younger crowd all went off exploring and she and Thiery went to their room to have some peace and quiet. It was only later that day, when Saiyuri went exploring herself, that she discovered a very big secret that Zach had been keeping from her. She grabbed the framed picture from the shelf she'd found it on and went storming off to his room with Kyo and their private hot spring.

By the time she got to their room, Saiyuri was fuming and even though she knocked, when there wasn't an answer she just let herself in. It was clear immediately that nobody was in the room it self so she went out to the patio and the hot spring. She knew she was glaring at both men, and she waved the framed photo at them before asking, "You couldn't trust me to help you, and then you couldn't even trust me enough to tell me you were in love and getting married?" With that, all of her thunder melted out of her and suddenly she was crying. She gently set the picture down on a chair nearby and let her wings rip through her shirt as she launched into the sky. The rising thermals from the hot springs carrying her high and far.

She didn't return to the Onsen that night, or even the next. Only a call from Katsu to Thiery telling him his wife was safe at his home kept the family from worrying.

[Demeter]

The two men could only stare as Saiyuri first ranted at them before sobbing and flying off. Yes, it was true that they were married; had been so for six months now but next to no one knew. The staff of the resort, Brielle, Elise, Mercedes, Zach's friend Zayne, Katsu and Dasan were the only ones who knew about his marital state.

Those select people also knew that the wedding had been the result of a dare and too much Sake. Those same people also knew that they were in the middle of planning a larger, formal ceremony for late next year. Friends and family would be invited to that one. Zach had planned on sitting down with Saiyuri and telling her about his marriage but she'd gotten the jump on him and left before he had the chance to explain.

Zach groaned and rested his head on Kyo's shoulder when Thiery showed up, wanting an explanation. Judging by the strength of his grip and the low whimpering, Kyo knew that Zach was about to fall victim to another migraine. Kyo narrowed his eyes, wrapped an arm around Zach's waist and guided him towards the edge of the hot spring. Zach had been having too many headaches, especially migraines, and they'd planned on getting away to relax but his family just seemed to be adding to the stress. Drama was an excellent descriptor for the Greenwood clan.

As he helped Zach out of the spring, Kyo shot a glare at Thiery but he felt no satisfaction when the man stumbled back a few steps. He led Zach into their suite and helped him into bed. Once Zach had been dosed with medication and settled with an eye mask, Kyo left the room, quietly shutting the doors behind him. He looked towards Thiery. "Zach gets headaches all to often and far to easy. Stress is often the trigger. I brought him here for some much need relaxation but, and I don't mean to be rude, you people aren't helping/"

"I can see that. Care to explain why you married by son without his family present, much less not telling us."

"Why don't you have a seat and I'll tell you all about it."

***

Two days later, Zach clung to Kyo and kissed him at the train station. He was travelling south to talk to his mother, if she would just sit still and listen for once, while Kyo was staying at the resort to entertain the family. The day before a full blown migraine, complete with dry heaving, had kept him in bed. Kyo had watched over him, growling at anyone, even Brielle, who thought to bother him. Now he had to face the music and explain everything to his mother.

After the train ride, Zach stopped at his house for a shower and to grab a few things. He went over to Katsu's house and found his mother in the garden, looking completely miserable. He sat across from her and held out a framed photograph. It was the same candid shot as the one at the resort. "You can't keep it. That's the only one we have of the day. Though I am apparently going to have to have a talk with Zayne about just what he decorates his resort with. We weren't going to send these out yet but we thought to give yours to you early."

He handed over an off-white envelope and watched as his mother pulled out the contents. It was a wedding invitation for the ceremony and reception that would happen next year. Sighing, Zach ran a hand through his hair. the early afternoon sun sparkling on his gold wedding band. "I have a lot of things to say to you and I want...not, I need you to actually listen. I'm not sorry that I didn't tell you; I just didn't know how to say it. All of it. I still don't know how.

"Ever since Gabriel was taken, and I understand why you acted like you did, you've been over-protective of all of us, me more so than the others. At times, it seemed like you were trying to wrap me in cotton to keep me from being hurt. I never got to go anywhere or do anything because it could be dangerous. Life is dangerous, Mom, and you couldn't protect me or keep me wrapped up forever.

"As a kid, it was fine. My mom took care of everything. So what if I didn't get to play soccer, I got to spend time with my mom but as I grew up it started to wear on me. What girlfriends I had before Cade, all three of them broke up with me because of you. The curfews and the rules drove them crazy. No dates except in the living room in full view of you? Mom, you were a little insane back then. You drove one poor girl to tears."

Cade was on his feet now, pacing back a forth. Some part of his brain knew the words had to be painful to Saiyuri but he was on a roll now and couldn't be stopped. "And then there was Cade. I never told anyone about him because I was thrilled to have something for myself. And then when...it happened, I was devastated and I ran away.

"And I ran away because I wanted you to fix it for me. I wanted you to make everything better as you always had. I had the mad, mad plan that you would make Cade be with me. And that's when I realized that I needed to grow up. And in order to do that, I needed to leave and I needed to make the break fast and quick. SO I came to Japan and made Grandpa swear on Dasan's life that he wouldn't tell you just what was going on. I knew you would try to come over and make everything better.

"The first three years? All I did was go to school, drink coffee and make Grandpa worry that one day he would come to a body instead of a grandson. A few weeks before I graduated, I was hospitalized for exhausted and anxiety and depression. I made Grandpa swear again. And then I was working and making a splash on the world. And then I met Kyo. At first, we were just friends, though, really, he is the Japanese version of Uncle L. At the same time, I was being pursued by two people in my office except that became a game of one-up-manship. The anxiety got to me again and I collapsed at the office.

"In short, that was the kicker then spurred me into a relationship with Kyo and six months ago we were married. Honestly, it was a drunken dare that led to whole thing. And when we sobered up, we didn't want to undo it."

With a heavy sigh, Zach slumped back onto the bench opposite his mother. "I'm sorry, for everything, but I had to grow up and I had to do it my way. None of this is your fault, Mom."