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“Is Father joining us?”
It was Simon who answered that question. “I left him in his study. Both Mother and I have spoken to him and told him that enough is enough. It is his decision now. I said that if he couldn’t act like a grown-up even for one hour, not to bother coming out of his office.”
I was starting to wonder if I had walked into a parallel universe where everything was the exact opposite of what I remembered. I had waited six years for someone to stick up for me and tell my father what was right and wrong. And now just because of what had happened, they were doing it. If they had done that in the first place, perhaps I wouldn’t have gotten into that mess. However, that also meant that I might not have met Richard.
I stood there for a moment in shock until I heard his footsteps along the corridor. That was a sound that I had never forgotten, usually because it meant trouble for me. As they got closer, I stood there watching the door, waiting for him to walk in. It wasn’t long before I saw his frame fill the doorway. He stood there for a moment and looked from me to Richard to my mother and brother. For a while, he was silent.
He looked at me again and spoke. “Could we have a talk in my study, please, Daniel?”
I didn’t think I had ever heard my father say “please” to me in my lifetime. The way he spoke was unnerving. Was he just putting on a front for my mother, or was he up to something else? I felt as though he was playing mind games with me.
He turned around without me answering and headed back up the corridor to his study. I went to follow him, but felt a hand take hold of my arm. With the tingles I felt, I knew it was Richard.
“Do you want me to come with you, Daniel? I said I would be beside you every step of the way, and that includes now.”
I smiled over at my man. I knew he would stay with me, but this was something that I had to do alone.
“I need to stand up for myself for once in my life and not be put down. Thank you for being there for me, but this is something I have to do myself.”
I leaned in and gently kissed him on the cheek, then walked out of the room and down to my father’s study. To my amazement, he had left the door open. Usually, he would close the door and expect you to knock and wait for him to call you in. I stood in the open doorway, not daring to walk in without his permission.
“Can I come in?” I addressed my father as he stood there with his back to me, looking out the large picture window at the garden outside.
He slowly turned and looked at me with a sad look on his face. He just nodded his head, and I walked inside and closed the door behind me. I stopped in front of his desk and was just about to ask him what he wanted to talk about when he spoke.
“I realise now that I have been a terrible father to you. Because you did not fit into my vision of how I expected my eldest son to act, I cast you aside and treated you unjustly. Can you ever forgive me?”
I stood there for a moment, flabbergasted, nearly falling into the seat behind me.
Did he really mean what he was saying? Or was he just saying it to keep my mother happy? There was one thing missing from his admission, though. Would he accept me as being gay?
“Father, as much as I appreciate what you have just said, there is one thing you have omitted to mention or refer to: my sexuality.”
I saw his shoulders slump as he sat down in his chair. I decided it was safe for me to follow suit and sat down across from him. I continued to watch him as a lone tear fell down his face.
He looked up and continued. “Daniel, I’m sorry. I’ve spent most of my adult life thinking that a man loving another man was wrong. Illegal, even. It’s difficult to change that opinion. When you told us you were gay, I didn’t know how to react or what to say. I tried to pretend it wasn’t true, that you were just going through a phase. I know it was wrong, that I was wrong. Then, to make matters worse, I made you marry Katherine just because I didn’t want anyone to know. It helped that her father didn’t want her to marry Kevin. We saw it as a way of fixing everything, but we both know how that turned out. I know saying sorry doesn’t take back everything I have done.”
He took a deep breath before he continued.
“It will take me a while to get used to the idea, but all I want is for you to be happy. If that means you live with, love, and marry a man, then I won’t stop you again. Not that I could. All I need to know is if whoever you are with truly loves you and is not using you for your money. As a father, I wouldn’t want that, no matter who you were dating.”
The tears that I had been trying to hold back were finally starting to fall from my face. It wasn’t a full acceptance, but it was a start. It meant there was still a chance for us to rebuild the relationship we had when I was younger.
“I know it’s difficult for you, Father, and I’m not expecting miracles. All I ask is that you finally acknowledge that I am gay and that I’m not going to change. I don’t expect you to like it, but I do expect you to respect me both as a person and as your son.”
He smiled slightly. “I realise that now. Your mother and Simon have been quite clear on that fact, and I have also apologised to both of them. I let my ego and personal image cloud my judgement on what people would think if they found out my eldest son was gay. I shouldn’t have done that. I love all of you and realise now how close I came to losing you all. Now, if you will let me, I want to give my eldest son a hug.”
He got up from his seat and walked around to me. I got up and placed my arms around him as he did the same. It had been years since we had done this. I knew we still had a long way to go, but small steps led to bigger ones.
He let me go and spoke. “Now, are you going to introduce me to the man who not only saved you, but stole your heart?”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Richard
Ihad been sitting in the kitchen with Joyce and Simon for about thirty minutes. The longer he was gone, the more I worried about Daniel. I hoped that it was a sign that his father and he were working things out, but I knew there was always a chance that they would never be able to reconcile. I just hoped for Daniel’s sake that they could.
The fact that Joyce and Simon had both accepted us as a couple and were happy for us both was comforting. At least it meant that Daniel still had ties to his family, and then hopefully his father would come around eventually. We had been chatting about the work that I did, and Simon was regaling stories of Daniel when he was younger and how much he looked up to him, along with the trouble they both used to get into.
