Monica huffed. "She is clearly not Ludar. Her skin is so pale."
"Stefan's wife isn't Ludar either. We love her anyway."
Damian tightened his arm around my shoulders, and I let him tug me closer.
This was going to be one doozy of a day.
Chapter Eighteen
Damian
I could've wasted hours on trying to convince my mother that Heidi was not a foreigner just because she didn't have Ludar ancestry. Mom loved to trot out the Romanian phrases whenever I introduced her to a girl. How many Ludar women were there in the world? Probably not that many these days, at least not many who knew they were Ludar. There weren't exactly hordes of Rom of any ilk these days.
Heidi took it all in stride despite Mom's attempts to unsettle her. She might've looked a touch anxious now and then, but I stayed close to offer silent support. I also provided vocal support when my mother got too involved in her gypsy royalty routine.
Like when she waved a hand in a grand gesture and said, "Give me your hand, child. I need to read the lines and determine whether you are the right woman for my boy."
"Stop that, Mom," I said. "It's up to me to decide if Heidi is the right woman. Besides, I've already given her a palm reading, and it told me she has a beautiful heart. That's all I need to know."
Mom squinted at Heidi, roving her gaze over my girlfriend like she was checking for signs of demonic possession. "All right. If you read her, then I accept your assessment. Provisionally."
"Gee, thanks, Mom." Yeah, there was sarcasm in that statement. I loved my mother, but she seriously needed an editor to review every word she wanted to speak before she spoke it.
We all climbed out of the wagon.
My brother and his wife were waiting nearby, and they hurried over to us.
Before my mom could speak again, I barged in. "Heidi, this is my brother, Stefan, and his wife, Emily. Where are the kids, Stef?"
"We left them with Emily's parents. This sounded like an adults-only reunion, and I'm not talking about the nudist thing."
He threw a meaningful glance toward our mother.
Yeah, we both knew she was going to keep harassing Heidi, all in the name of protecting her full-grown son who knew how to take care of himself.
Stefan shook Heidi's hand, then looked at me. "Wow, you hit it outta the park this time, didn't you? This girl's wicked hot."
"And also a very nice person and very smart," I said pointedly.
My brother grinned. "You must have it bad. Should we start thinking about wedding dates?"
"No," our mother said. "I have not fully approved her yet."
I sighed. "Mom, you don't get to pick my girlfriends anymore. I haven't let you do that since I was fifteen, and we both know why."
Stefan chuckled. "Yeah, Mom only wanted us to date Ludar girls, but the only ones she could find had buck teeth and hairy moles on their faces, or they dressed like vampires." He glanced at my clothes, his brows lifting. "Guess you're into that now, though, huh? Does Heidi bite your neck, or do you bite hers?"
I rolled my eyes.
"Damian looks good in black," Heidi said. "But he dresses that way strictly for the tourists. The rest of the time, he wears a uniform."
"Uniform?" Stefan said, looking way too pleased about that. "Thought you quit the prison-guard thing so you could get away from that stuff."
"No, I quit to get away from the prison."
Heidi, who was standing next to me, slipped her arm around mine and leaned in to whisper, "Sorry. I didn't know the uniform thing was a secret."
"It's not, but I hadn't mentioned it to my family yet."