Chapter 25: Chapter 23: Doors Remain Open

Chapter 23

Doors Remain Open

“Um, Mrs. Perri…” laughed Titus nervously, shifting his weight. “We… we were.” He sucked in his lips. “We weren’t doing anything too…”

“Hmmm, I see.” She looked Titus in the eyes.

“Oh my god.” I hid my face.

“From now on, the door will remain open, boys. Boyfriend or girlfriend the rules are the same.” She patted my knees. “Now, I made you both a sandwich, and I expected them to be eaten.” She stood and returned to the kitchen.

Leaning back into the cushion, I laid the cool waterbottle on my eyes.

“Feeling better.”

“No.” I fell over against his shoulder. “I never been so embarrassed. My mom should never know a thing about that kind of stuff.”

“She’s okay with it though. You and me.” He put his arm around my shoulder and squeezed me against him. “It went pretty well. Better than I thought actually.”

I took a deep breath. “I wasn’t too worried about how my mom would react, but I’m terrified of what my dad is going to do.”

Titus nodded. “Maybe it’ll be about the same.”

Sitting up, I raised an eyebrow. “For me, not you.” I climbed off the couch and wandered to the kitchen.

He chased after me. “What do you mean? Was he weird with your girlfriends?” He looked like a scared pup as he waited for me to answer.

“Boys,” called my mother, setting our plates on the table. “Sit, we still have things to talk about.”

“Aden?” whined Titus, following close behind me. “Tell me.”

“Not now,” I muttered.

We all sat down and started to eat, accepted for Titus. His head was on the table, and he looked miserable. “He’s going to kill me.”

“Depends,” said my mother, “on how far you’ve gone.”

I choked on my sandwich. Quickly taking a drink, I forced it down.

She took of a sip of her drink. “That bad,” sighed my mother. “Aden, I’m fine with you being gay.” She took a deep breath. “If it makes you happy, then I have no issues with it. But you know what your father and I expected from you.”

I bit my lip. “Dad, are we...”

She reached over and patted my hand. “For now, we won’t tell him. I’ll ease him into the idea a little before we do. Don’t worry though, Aden, your father will always love you. Titus, I’m not so sure.”

“What?” said Titus panicked. “It’s going to be bad, isn’t it?”

She picked at the edge of her sandwich. “Like I said, it depends what has been going on in that room.” Her eyes flashed up for a moment. “Anything slightly sexually related, my husband is not going to okay with. Aden knows this.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “We’ve discussed this matter on multiple occasion.”

My face was blaring with heat. “We didn’t,” I whispered.

“Yeah, Mrs. Perri. We’ve haven’t. Just kissed and, and….” Titus sighed and sunk into his chair.

She held up her hand. “I don’t need the details. Just know, girlfriends rules transfer over to boyfriends.”

“I’m sorry,” I said hopefully.

“By how guilty you both look, I’d say you broke them already.” She leaned against the armrest on her chair. “And we’ll leave it at that. So,” my mom took a deep breath. “Doors remain open at all times. No intense kissing, no touching particular area.” She looked between us. “Don’t care that it’s the same body part, in this house it’s not allowed.”

“Oh my god,” I covered my face. “Mom.”

“Aden, we’re making this clear now, so there'll be no questions about boundaries later. Titus, keep those hands where I can see them.”

He lifted his out from under the table and gave her a nervous smile.

“See easy enough. When your father is home, let keep touching to a minimum until we work things out. Heaven forbid he walks in on what I did. Quint won’t just leave.” She gave me a stern look. “I know my husband very well. Hurt his little boy, and you won’t be able to hide fast enough.”

“Mom,” I whined. “Stop it, please.”

“I’m just making things clear sweetheart.” She grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’ve listen to him rant and rave for years. He may be discreet about it, but he’s not very fond of the majority of those girls you’ve dated. But, because they were girls, he kept it to himself. Titus, you will not be so lucky.”

“I’m dead.” He banged his forehead on the table. “I’m so dead.”

“You’ll both be fine,” she said with a smile. “I knew Titus was a good match for you, didn’t realize how good he would be though.”

I sucked in my lips to stop from smiling. “Yeah, we are pretty good together.”

***

I sat with my mom in the backyard later that night. Titus had gone home, and my dad was inside watching the news. I took a drink of the lemonade my mother had brought me.

“He’s a nice boy, Aden,” she whispered. “I’m happy you figured this out. It’s a hard step to take. Though I wish you would have come to me sooner.”

“I should have.” I laid my head on her shoulder. “I was just scared. I’ve never heard you or dad say anything about gay people, I was just nervous that you would hate me for it.”

“I would never hate you, Aden. You’re my world. But,” she looked at me from the corner of her eye.

“What?” I sat up.

“I still expected grandchildren.”

Laughing, I shook my head. “Of course.”

“I’m serious young man. This new development does not get you out of that responsibility. I need a grandbaby to spoil. Adoptions, surrogacy, doesn’t matter what you choose, but I will be getting a grandbaby.”

I smiled and took another drink. “You’ll get your grandbaby, one day.”

She took a deep breath. “One good thing came of this.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t have to worry about any accident happening.”

My mouth fell open. “Mom.”

“After today, if Titus had been a girl, I would be worried.”

“Mom stop.” I could tell I was blushing again from the heat radiating from my face. “I understand. We’ll cool it.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.” She kissed my cheek before going back inside.

I remained outside, enjoying the night air. Today was over. Nothing was better than knowing I would never have to come out to my mother again. Coming out to my father, though, still terrified me.