Page 13 of Oddly Fine

Beckett felt the urge to either scream or punch somebody.

“No! That’s not—”

“Beckett’s been through a lot! If he wants to tell us about—” his mother swiftly jumped to his defense.

But Beckett had had enough of this shillyshallying. Time to just rip off the Band-Aid.

“We’re fucking!” He yelled at the top of his voice like a drill sergeant. Immediately, they all fell silent and turned to look at him.

“Hayes and I are partners as in, we’re dating. We’ve been together since last Christmas. He’s my partner—my boyfriend, whatever. I love him.” Thank God he’d stunned everyone long enough to get that out there on the table before someone else threw in their two cents worth.

However, silence never lasted for long in that house.

“You’re gay?” Jackson looked stunned.

“For him,” Beckett replied with a quick nod.

His father stepped towards him and, briefly, he wondered if he’d get punched. He felt somewhat reassured that he could not recall a time when his father had ever raised a hand to him or anyone else.

Instead, John bypassed him and extended a hand towards Hayes. “Well, then—welcome to the family, son!”

Beckett felt his knees tremble with relief. It was just the right thing to say, apparently, to push the reset button on this whole dramatic scene. Suddenly, he and Hayes were tackled from all sides with congratulatory hugs and back slapping.

“Well, isn’t that just the most darling surprise!” his mother exclaimed, hugging Hayes tightly and wiping tears from her eyes.

“Thank you.” Hayes blushed and shuffled his feet awkwardly, making Beckett grin at his partner’s inability to maintain a cool façade in the face of his mother’s affection for him.

“So—wait—all this time?” Jackson asked in stunned amazement, unable to understand how they’d successfully kept this under wraps until now.

“It was obvious.” They all turned to look at Franklin who was smirking arrogantly while leaning against the doorway connecting the kitchen to the living room.

“You knew?” Maggie demanded irritably, as if he’d betrayed her by not sharing this previously.

He merely shrugged and replied calmly, “It was clear as day. Those two are head-over-heels for each other. I don’t know why you seem so surprised.”

Maybe Beckett was going cuckoo because Franklin sounded almost fond of them.

“Well, I didn’t see skedaddle!” Cynthia exclaimed, shaking her head. “That just goes to show—those damn gender norms, I just never even considered—” Mumbling disconsolately, she headed towards the kitchen.

Beckett’s feet seemed stuck to the floor, his heart hammering away, as his throat tightened with intense feelings of both relief that he’d finally put his cards on the table and disbelief that it had gone so well. Sensing this, Hayes wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him against his side, giving him a comforting squeeze.

“You look like you’re in shock,” Maggie said, lightly patting his cheeks and smiling mockingly. “Now is he triggered?”

With an annoyed grunt, Beckett shoved her away, which only made her laugh as she righted herself.

“Way to go on the coming out speech, bro!” She snorted and clapped her hands in a slow, exaggerated manner. “We’re fucking! Really? That’s the best thing you could come up with?”

“You wouldn’t let me talk!” Beckett whined pathetically.

Jackson barked a quick laugh while extending a hand towards Hayes. “Take care of the dumbass, will you?” Jackson asked, squeezing Hayes’ shoulder with his other hand.

“Working on it,” Hayes promised with a nod and warm smile.

Beckett rolled his eyes.

“Now let’s get some grub. I’m fucking starving!” Jackson complained loudly.

“Where’s your wife?” Franklin asked, as Jackson passed him.