“Well, I was wondering,” Sophie took a breath, “Auntie Cleo and Ivy moved in together near their anniversary, and when they had the party to celebrate it, Auntie Cleo asked Ivy to marry her.” Ah, Jade could see where this was going now.
“Yes, she did.” Jade said, letting her niece process what she wanted to say next.
“Do you,” Sophie pouted her lips and wiggled them from one side of her face to the other, the same thing she always did when deep in concentration. “Do you think that’ll happen to Dad and Toni?”
Jade let out a breath and smiled warmly at Sophie. “If it did, how would you feel about that?”
Sophie took her time before answering, it seemed to be something she’d thought about before, “I think Dad is really happy when he’s with Toni, and Willow feels like a sister already.” She took a breath before adding, “I didn’t know my mom, but Toni seems like a really nice one.” That hit Jade in her heart.
Sophie rarely talked about Taylor, her mom who she never got to know. Jade couldn’t imagine a life without her own Mom, who was close with all of her kids. Sophie had never even felt her mom hold her because Taylor had died giving birth to her. Jade often wondered how that impacted Sophie’s view of Moms. More so now when a mom-figure was in her life for the first time.
“To be honest with you Soph, I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. Moving in is a big enough step to take, and most people do that for a while before getting engaged. Auntie Cleowas just impatient, as always,” she threw her niece a wink and got a giggle in return. “You should see how living together goes, and if you feel you want to, have a quiet word with Dad, let him know how you feel about it all. He may be annoying, but we both know he’s really kind of great.”
“He’s the best!” Sophie corrected her aunt.
“Listen, Squirt, we’ve been through this,mydad is the best, and he just so happens to also be your Grampy, so there.” She stuck out her tongue, and the pair descended into a fit of laughter.
“Auntie Jade,” Sophie eventually asked once she caught her breath, “when you’re home for Friday Night Dinner, will you bring April with you again this time? I really liked her. She’s so pretty.”
Jade smiled at her niece but saw the sadness in her own eyes looking back at her on the screen. “She’s busy training for the next big tournament, Squirt, so she won’t be with me this Friday.”
“Maybe next time though? I got a new dress that was just like hers, and I want to wear it when she’s next there.” Jade’s heart swelled with love for her niece’s open acceptance of her partner.That is if she’s still my partner by next week.
“I’ll let you know, ok?”
“Ok,” Sophie smiled at her.
Not long after they said their goodbyes and hung up.
Chapter 39
April
“Thank you for coming,” April said as she let Dani into her house.
“Of course, you sounded so upset on the phone,” Dani said as she dropped her bag and took off her shoes without looking away from April.
April knew she looked like an absolute mess. She’d been that way since the day that nearly broke her. When Jade had suggested they pause for a week to let April make her decision over her dad’s plan. And when Suzie delivered her threatening ultimatum.
April stood rooted in the doorway, not even closing the front door. Her best friend waited a minute before moving in and wrapping her arms around April’s shoulders.
“Whatever it is,” Dani said, “we’ll figure it out, ok?” She reached out a bare foot and kicked the door shut moments before April broke down in her arms.
April had held it all in since that day. She lost her match the following afternoon and packed up her stuff to return home. She swallowed everything down while her dad and Jon seemed to double-team her about every point she lost. Few of their words made it to her ears. When she got home, she hid in her room unless she was training or completing gym workouts. Her Mom allowed her to eat her meals in her room as she knew something was going on with her youngest but didn’t know how to ask what it was. For that, April was grateful.
Dani directed her through to the large grey couches, sat April down, then headed to the kitchen. When she reappeared, she had a bottle of water in each hand, giving one to April before she sat down beside her, resting her own bottle in her lap.
“Take your time, start as far back as you need to, don’t leave anything out, and let me know when you want or need me to talk. Otherwise, I’ll sit here and listen.” Dani used the same comforting tone she had back when they were in high school and April was failing English but didn’t know how to tell her parents. She truly was the best friend April could ever wish to have.
April tried to open the bottle of water, but her hands were shaking too much. Dani reached for it and opened it for her with a sympathetic smile before handing it back. April took a long drink, then began to open up.
She told Dani about her dad’s indirect acknowledgement of her being gay as her manager, but no response at all as her dad. She revealed his plan involving Simon. She told her about explaining that conversation to Jade. She then let Daniknow about Jade’s suggestion of radio-silence, and that was why she hadn’t reached out to her partner over what followed their conversation. She finally exposed Suzie’s recent behavior climaxing in her threats and ultimatum.
When she was finished, she took another breath.
“And you’ve been dealing with all of this on your own? This whole time?” Dani asked, gently but April could tell there was a tone of irritation underneath for not reaching out to her closest friend for help sooner.
“I didn’t know what to do. I had to try and process what had happened first before I could reach out and have any hope of being coherent when telling you all that had been said.” April admitted, slightly defensively in her response.
