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She scowls at me for a second before hitting my shoulder, and not lightly.
“Ow?” I say accusingly.
She just smirks. “Talk shit, get hit,” she informs me like we’re suddenly teenagers again and she really does know everything that I don’t.
“But—”
“But nothing,” she interrupts. “You’re all consenting adults. You’re all adorable together. And you’ve always loved taking care of people. Your other boyfriends never let you, though. If you ask me, even from a glance, this seems like the healthiest relationship you’ve ever had.”
I open and close my mouth. However, I find I have nothing to argue back with.
“It’s very early days,” I say instead, trying to deflect some of her enthusiasm that’s quite frankly a little scary. I have no idea where this relationship is going, and I don’t want to jinx anything.
“Fine,” she concedes. “I’ll keep my mouth shut about looking like the real deal. But what are you going to tell everyone?”
“Um…that we’re friends?”
She scowls again. “You’re going back in the closet?”
“No!” I cry, offended, but she’s not done.
“You’re putting those boys back in the closet as well, you realize.”
“No one is getting in any closets,” I grumble.
She shakes her head. “But don’t you see? If you hide your relationship, that’s exactly what you’re doing.”
I chew on my lip, not wanting to admit she might be right, but also not feeling ready to label what we have just yet. It’s all so fragile. Everything in me is screaming to protect those boys, especially our baby, Coco. He’s been through so much.
“Colby’s family is homophobic,” I tell her, looking in the direction they left in. “They tried conversion therapy. I think they hurt him. They definitely disowned them.”
When I turn back, Anisha’s expression is murderous. “How much does a ticket to Australia cost again?” she snarls.
I laugh at her dramatics, and eventually, she huffs and smiles.
“Fuck them,” I say, meaning it. “They don’t matter. But I really don’t want to hurt Colby in any way or put him in a position of being judged or ostracized by anyone here.”
My big sister wraps her arms around me like she used to when I skinned my knee or got bullied at school. But then she leans back to look me in the eye.
“What do you think is going to hurt more, hun? Someone here hypothetically getting weird…or you not wanting to publicly claim this relationship for what it really is in front of your family.”
Well…shit.
“I didn’t think of it like that,” I said heavily.
She hums. “I know you’re probably wary of announcing something in its infancy, but you’ve got to trust me on this one. Grab that happiness when you can. Sometimes life doesn’t go the way you’d planned. You don’t want to regret anything. Gregory might have turned into a total shit stain in the end, but he wasn’t always like that. He used to be fun. He made me smile. I don’t regret that or the two awesome daughters he gave me.”
I puff out my cheeks and nod at her. “Okay. I’m listening. I’m not saying I’m going to walk in there and announce that I’ve gone all woke and got myself two boyfriends just to spite the conservatives, but I promise I’ll think about it.”
She snorts. “I dunno, that would be pretty hilarious.”
“It would,” I agree. “I’ll talk to my boys about it first, though. I’ll definitely tell Mum and Dad before our trip is over.”
She’s got that devilish sparkle in her eyes again. “You call them ‘my boys’ a lot. Are you Daddy?”
“W-what?” I splutter. “I…uh…shut up.”
She howls with laughter, already dancing her way toward the kitchen. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me, Daddy Cool.”
