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My mom gave her a look, but then turned back to me. “Well, Caden, sweetheart, we kind of thought so. Were you seeing this person at Christmas?”
“Yes. Since early September, actually. And we…we’re in love.” I glanced up at him instinctually.
My mom had a little smile that I was pretty sure I was going to make disappear. “Is this someone in the room with you right now? And the one you’re spending spring break with?”
“Yes. And yes.”
“Ok, then, why so secretive? I know it’s not an ideal meeting, but can’t we say hi to this person over the phone right now?”
I hesitated. Jamie was waiting for my answer, and I knew that if I chickened out, he would soothe me and tell me it was ok. But I was done hiding from the people closest to me. If they didn’t accept me, accept him, well, it would hurt badly, but I had people who did. I would not live without Jamie just to please other people. Was Cindy smirking?
I took a deep breath. “Ok.”
I motioned Jamie forward, and he raised his eyebrows as he mouthed, “You sure?”
I nodded resolutely, and he slowly crawled up the bed toward me. Right as he flopped down beside me, I blurted out, “I’m gay.” He looked tentatively at the phone, making sure he was in the frame with me. “Mom, Dad, Cindy, this is Jamie.”
Their reactions were jarring. But not like I’d expected. “Ha! I knew it!” Cindy cried gleefully, “I told you he’d come out before spring break. You both owe me twenty bucks.”
My parents begrudgingly pulled out their wallets. “What?” I said.
My mom handed Cindy a twenty-dollar bill as I suddenly realized that during our phone conversation and even during Christmas, she’d carefully left out a gender when she questioned me about anyone I might be seeing. She hadn’t asked if I had a girlfriend, but simply if I had anyone special. If I was seeing anyone, who this someone was. “I really thought you wouldn’t tell us until summer,” she said simply.
My dad, visibly annoyed at having to hand over twenty of his dollars, said, “You couldn’t have hidden it from us for two more months so your sister wouldn’t be so insufferably smug?” My mom smacked him on the arm.
“What?” I said again, and I became aware that my mouth was hanging open, but I was unable to fix it.
My mother started fretting. “Well, this was a terrible introduction. I’m so sorry. Our family isn’t usually like this. Hello, Jamie. It’s so nice to meet you. We’re Caden’s family. I’m Amanda and this is Eddie, but you can call us mom and dad if that’s easier. And this is Cindy.”
He glanced at me, then looked back at the phone. With a smile and a little wave he said, “Hello.”
“Well, he’s really cute, Caden,” Cindy spoke up from behind my parents, “Unlike that weird little dude you had a thing for in high school.”
“Ok, what?”
My mom looked back at Cindy. “Oh, now be nice. Gavin wasn’t bad, he was just quiet and gangly. He wasn’t ugly. He works at that gym now, you know. His dad was a terrible sheriff. I’m glad he got kicked out of office.” It was obvious my mom had been lying when she said our family wasn’t normally like that, because they were still going, and my mind was thoroughly messed up by that point. I’d said “what” too many times. I was just staring at my phone in silence.
My mom finally seemed to remember that we were still on the call, and also that she was discussing the person she apparently perceived as my ex in front of my current boyfriend. “Oh, dear. Let’s try this one more time. We’re Caden’s family. Apparently, we’re a bit of a mess. But it’s very nice to meet you, and hopefully you’ll come meet us in person sometime soon. Maybe during the summer?”
“Nice to meet you, too,” Jamie said politely, still with his little smile.
My mom must have noticed my utter shock and confusion because she addressed me next. “Oh, sweetie, it’s ok. Why are you so surprised? We assumed you’d tell us when you felt the time was right, or just bring home a boyfriend one day. We never wanted to push you into anything you weren’t ready for. When you started dating so many girls, we wondered if you were bi, but the more you seemed uninterested in the ones you were dating, the more certain we became that you weren’t.”
I must have still looked confused, because she went on, speaking to me gently like I was a silly kid trying to hide an obvious secret, and apparently that’s what I was. “Caden. Honey. You made out with Gavin in our backyard, right in front of the kitchen window at one point. We’ve been hoping you’d find someone you truly love, because all we want is for you to be happy. When you didn’t seem to be finding anyone, though, I got a little worried that you felt the need to hide it and pretend to be someone you weren’t. I was going to have a little heart to heart with you this summer, and make sure you knew you could talk to us. But now I see, you were just waiting for the right person to love. I’m so glad you’ve found him.”
Jamie was fully in the frame, and they didn’t seem to mind that he was wearing a midriff-baring, mesh shirt and matching gloves. They didn’t mind that his nails were painted a shimmery midnight blue, or that he had a little make-up on. They didn’t seem to care about anything other than the fact that I was happy with him. My dad was smiling at us. Cindy was still smirking because she’d won a bet thanks to me. It was so different from a gun in my face. Maybe I’d tell them about that someday. Later. Cindy kissed her money and said, “Thanks, big bro. Nice to meet you, Jamie.” She bounded out of the room.
My parents told me they loved me but had to go so they could get to a card game at the neighbor’s house. My dad told Jamie to take good care of me. Then he reminded us about safe sex. My mom smacked him again and told him I knew that. Then they said goodbye and hung up.
I let my phone drop, my mouth still hanging open and the word “what” still at the tip of my tongue. I finally looked over to find that Jamie was grinning at me. “Well,” he said, “that was kind of awkward but fun at the same time. Your family seems pretty cool.”
I snorted out a laugh. “I don’t even know what just happened.” But relief washed over me because I did know. I’d just told my family my secret and found out they’d known all along. They hadn’t loved me any less or treated me any differently all those years. They’d simply been waiting for me to be ready to tell them. I still had their support.
Jamie’s grin softened into a sweet smile. “What happened is you just found out your family loves you for you. All of you. Just like I do.”
I felt my lips turn up into a smile as well, and I leaned forward to give him a peck on the lips. I was feeling pretty good about everything. I had Jamie. I had the support of my family and closest friends. I wasn’t quite ready to come out at school, thanks to assholes like Brad, but my outlook was certainly getting better.
We made our way toward the library side by side, but not suspiciously close. We were late, but it was worth it. On our way there, however, the only thing that could dampen my mood happened. We ran into Brad. He had two of his lackeys with him, and they stopped us on the path, refusing to move out of our way. I was already prepared to fight. I was over it.
