Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Fitch choked on the potato he’d just swallowed and snapped his eyes to his mother as he coughed.
Beside him, Ansel tensed. “Children?”
“Yes, do you want a family one day? Do you like kids?”
“Christ, Ma—”
“Watch your mouth, son,” his father said.
“Um. I’ve never really thought about it, Mrs. Donovan.”
His mother hummed like she understood. “Well, you are still too young yet, I suppose. But Fitch is made to be a father.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
Ansel looked at him. “I think you’d make a great dad.”
This seemed to please his mother because she nodded. “And you know, there are so many options available for same-sex couples these days—in vitro, surrogates, even adoption.”
Meg snickered across the table and Fitch shot her the evil eye.
“This goes for you too, young lady,” his mother said. This shut Meg up pretty fast and her cheeks turned a nice rosy shade.
“Ma, we’ve only known each other for a few weeks. It’s a little early for this conversation.” Fitch rubbed a hand down his face.
“It’s never too early to plan for your future.” Thankfully, his mother let the topic go and returned her focus to cutting the meat on her plate.
After that they talked about the business and school, but eventually the conversation turned to Ansel’s dancing.
“I confess, I watched one of the videos before meeting you,” his mom said. “Meg mentioned they’d seen you dance and I was just so curious.”
A flash of fear crossed Ansel’s face before he quickly concealed it. Under the table, Fitch entwined their fingers.
“They are amazing, aren’t they?” Fitch asked.
“All my friends are stalking the four of you, it’s kind of crazy,” Meg said.
“Really?” Ansel asked, still looking at his mom at the end of the table.
“I can’t believe how you all move so gracefully wearing those shoes. I can’t even walk a straight line.”
Ansel took a deep breath before replying with a cautious tone. “We practice a lot.”
“They rehearse every day,” Fitch added.
“That’s dedication.” This came from his dad with an impressed lift of his eyebrows.
“We love it. Dancing brought us together,” Ansel said. “They are my family.”
“What about your parents?”
At his mother’s innocent question, Ansel flinched and set his fork on the table before clearing his throat. “My family’s not as supportive as you are.”
“Oh.” His mother’s brow wrinkled and she shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
“Because of your eccentricities?” his father asked with a wave of his hand to indicate Ansel’s head-to-toe style.
“Pop,” Fitch warned.
“What? I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with dressing that way. But I can see how it might be difficult for some parents to accept, that’s all.”
Ansel let go of Fitch’s hand and tugged on the tie around his neck as a blush spread up over his cheeks. “It’s okay, Fitch, your father is right. I was a challenging child.”
“Now, don’t twist my words,” his father said. “Parents should love and support their children no matter what, but sometimes it’s hard to do. Marge and I love our kids to hell and back, but when Meg came out, we cried. Not because we loved her less, but because we knew her path would be full of obstacles. And now our son will be headed down that same path and there is nothing we can do about it.”
“Dad, it’s not like it used to be.” Meg reached out and rubbed his arm.
“That’s good, sweetie, but we still worry. And now we’ve got double the fear. Being different is always hard. And you—” he nodded at Ansel “—are quite peculiar. I don’t know how we would have handled it.”
Fitch was about to admonish his father, but Ansel placed a hand on his knee.
“Mr. Donovan, lately I’ve come to understand that we are all given challenges in life, sometimes difficult ones, but we are never given anything without a reason and nothing we can’t handle.” Ansel took a breath and smoothed down his tie before continuing.
“You and your wife have loved and nurtured these two and raised them to be good people who can influence the world for the better. You’ve protected them until they became strong enough to defend themselves. I’ve only met her twice, but I know Meg is smart and tough and willing to stand up for her beliefs. And Fitch...” Ansel looked at him, and the emotion swirling those green eyes almost stopped Fitch’s heart.
How the fuck had this become such a tense mess? Fitch debated gathering his lover up and heading out the door, but he couldn’t shield Ansel from the world. No matter how much simpler it would be, they couldn’t just have each other. If they wanted a future together, they would need to come to terms with family, in every sense of the word.
“Fitch is the most incredible, giving, honorable man I have ever met. Whatever path they each walk, you and your wife have given your children the tools to come out the other end, and maybe—hopefully—to help others not so fortunate along the way.”