Moment of Truth

Chapter 6: Marriage

"You know, back in the Philippines, I would getting courted by now," I tell the guys.

"Courted?" Yuzuru asks slowly.

It's two weeks before Yuzuru is off to his first competition of the season and I'm pretty excited about it. We're traveling to Montreal. I know that's still in Canada, but I still haven't gone outside of Toronto, so this will be fun. We're taking a car there since is only a 6 hour drive. Javier can't come with us because he has his own competition to go to.

It's after both of the guy's practices and we're just at a coffee shop down the street from the Cricket Club talking. It's nice getting to know them. They may be these big figure skating champions but they're just regular guys at the end of the day. We are on the subject of dating. Javier brought it up.

"You know, courting, Yuzu," Javier says to Yuzuru as if to try and rejog his memory.

"It's the same thing as dating, but in an old school sense," I try to help Yuzuru figure it out. "Like if a guy wants to marry me, he'll have to take me out on dates, do romantic things with me, meet my parents, I'll meet his parents, and then we get married."

"That's very old school. So right now you would have a boyfriend who wants to marry you?"

"Pretty much. My parents still call boyfriends suitor or escorts. There was one back in the Philippines about to court me, but I left before he could even get the chance."

I look over at Yuzuru and he looks deep in thought. I hope he isn't confused about this whole dating thing. My parents are rather traditional in that sense and expected me to be married before 25. My older sister has a suitor back home and they still talk as much as possible. Rumor is is that he might move here for her.

"Do you understand, Yuzuru?" I ask the Japanese boy.

"I think I do," Yuzuru says nodding his head a bit.

"Are you sure, Yuzu? After all, you don't date," Javier says jabbing Yuzuru's side.

"Javi! Don't do that."

"I'm just teasing you, Yuzu. You're such a little boy sometime."

I smile as Yuzuru crosses his arms in front of his chest. Javier shoots me a winks as he tickles Yuzuru's side and makes him burst out laughing. Other patrons in the coffee shop look over at our group. Yuzuru notices the stares and stops laughing. Javier and I share a little giggle.

"Are you courting your girlfriend, Javier?" I ask him as we've been focused on me.

A blush goes across his face as he is stuck by the question. "I don't know," he says scratching the back of his head. "Miki and I have never talked about getting married before. But we'd like to be with each other for as long as possible."

"Well that's nice. If I even think about dating a guy, I have to have the intention of marrying him. My parents don't want me wasting my time going out with guys who are not husband-material. But I can't think that far ahead in a relationship I just started."

"Are they picky?"

"Sort of. They've always imagined me marrying a doctor while in the Philippines. But since we've moved here, I'm not sure what they want for me. My sister's suitor is a nurse and my parents are okay with that."

"Why don't marry an Olympic gold medalist?"

"Javi!" Yuzuru exclaims as he shoves Javier for his comment.

I laugh at the two. "That would be sufficient for my parents as they want someone with prestige," I say winking at Yuzuru. He blushes in response. Suddenly I switch to Japanese to tease Yuzuru. "What do you say, Yuzuru-sama? Marry a little Filipino girl? I'll cook you all the Pancit you can eat."

"Waa!" Yuzuru exclaims frantically. His eyes go wide. "Don't say such a thing. I'm not courting you!"

"I'm just joking, Yuzuru. You're so cute when you're flustered."

"Guys, speak English!" Javier says feeling left out. "What are you saying?"

"Nothing!" Yuzuru exclaims waving his hands in front of him as if to wave off the past conversation.

I laugh at the flustered Olympic champion. I wrap my arms around him and give me a hug where I hold his face to my chest.

"He is so precious, Javier," I say ruffling Yuzuru's hair. "I was telling him that he should marry me and I'll cook him all the Pancit he can eat."

Javier laughs at the scene in front of him. Yuzuru's face has turned red from being pushed against my chest. I don't notice it as I laugh along with Javier. Yuzuru finally escapes my hold and covers his face with his hands.

"I better get an invitation to this wedding!" Javier jokes still laughing.

"Javi!"