Page 47 of Bear My Heart

A middle-aged man downstairs who was probably Peter's father, responded to the last, and began herding the family up the stairs, muttering, "Go, go, there's room in the living room, everybody's gotten to see her now, don't crowd the poor woman, sorry," which was to Shanti as he got two grandparents and a sibling past her in the foyer, and moved everybody else out of sight once they were up the second flight of stairs. Only once he'd turned the corner upstairs did Brenda take a step back and gesture at stairs herself.

"It's safe now. I think."

"I feel confident. And it smells wonderful in here."

Brenda beamed. "Deep-fried halibut and shrimp."

Shanti shook her head as she went up the stairs right behind Peter. "I've never had halibut. Is it good?"

"Is it—" Shanti thought Brenda might faint, and everybody in the upstairs erupted in half-serious outrage at the question.

"It's the best whitefish there is," Peter murmured beneath his family's debate, all of which was about how good halibut was, no it was better than that, how could anybody not know that, well she's from Outside, you know, you can't trust Outsiders to know anything about fish⁠—

"I am so sorry," he added in a whisper. "They're not usually like this."

"Are you sure?" she whispered back.

"Honestly, they're not. But they're a little excited to meet you." By that time they were upstairs and the entire debating family fell silent, all with expressions that indicated they were trying very hard to be on their very best behavior and failing terribly. The living room they sat in was long, with two big couches and an armchair, a picture window at the far end, and a television in the corner that backed up to the stairs, like an afterthought. The lights were all on, bright against the darkness outside, and Shanti realized everybody else was a little dressed up, too. They were all trying to make good impressions on each other, she thought.

"This is Nan," Peter said, starting with an old, grey-haired, round-faced woman on the right who had taken over the armchair like it was her own personal throne.

"Nancy," the old woman pronounced in a much more obviously clipped accent than Peter's. "That's why I'm Nan. Covers all territory. Nana and name."

Shanti beamed. "It's nice to meet you, Nan."

"Those are my sister and brothers, Lynn, Jack, and Aaron, my Mom and Dad, he's Carl, and Grandma and Grandpa Pat and Patty. You can figure out which is which on your own."

"Really? Pat and Patty?"

"Really," one of them said. "We decided we had to get married just to confuse people."

Shanti laughed. "There are probably worse reasons to get married."

The other one said, "There are better ones, too," and a cackle went up around the room before Peter's sister, Lynn, said, "You've really never had halibut?" When Shanti shook her head, Lynn's eyes widened and her smile grew. "You're in for a treat, then. Can we bring her fishing?"

That was directed at Peter, who lifted his eyebrows. "First, you should ask Shanti. Second, no, it's December. Although I guess the rockfish is good at this time of year," he added immediately, sounding as if he was contradicting himself.

"There's trout, too," his father said, but his mother made a face.

"There's no point in trout. It's weak salmon."

"Really?" Shanti asked again. "Salmon's better than trout?"

Peter's entire family focused on her with a soft, "OooOOOOoooooh," as if she'd said something truly stunning. After a bit of silence, his brother Jack said, "Yeah," with a grin that reminded her of Peter's. "And I bet Alaskan trout is better than whatever you're used to. Do you like boats?"

"I've never been on one?"

"Cheechako!" Nan said gleefully. "You'll either love it or high-tail it out of here!"

"It means newcomer," Peter breathed, and glared at his family with a certain amount of heat, though it was tempered by fondness. "Please be nice to my fated mate?"

"Have you seen him turn into a bear?" his sister promptly demanded. "Do you want to see the rest of us turn into bears?"

"Outside!" Brenda yelled. "And if you're not careful I'll mean Outside-outside!"

Shanti said, "Oh my God," faintly as Peter's siblings all leaped up, obviously prepared to go charging outdoors and show her how they, too, could turn into bears. Even—worse? Better? Funnier? She wasn't sure—even something-er, two of his grandparents seemed entirely willing to do the same, hauling themselves out of their couch. Nan stayed where she was, looking smug about staying in.

Peter also said, "Oh my God," under his breath. "I'm sorry. I don't think I can stop them."