“Are you happy, sweetheart?” asks my dad.
I nod. “I’ve never been happier.”
“And you have everything you need to make this transition work?”
“I need to resign from work, pack up my house, and book flights back to Bulgaria, but I have everything planned.”
My dad nods, but my mum is still just staring at me.
“Mum.”
“I don’t know what to say. I’m a little lost for words.”
We stare each other down and everything is carrying on around us. Gavin clears his throat and sits forward.
“Mum, what would you rather, she stays here and falls into a black hole with no room for return? Because, let’s face it, we were all worried before this holiday. Look at this…”
Gavin takes out his phone, goes to my Facebook timeline, and shows my mum and dad some of my pictures with Giovani. Just looking at the pictures again stabs my heart.
“What do you see, Mum?”
Tears fall down my mum’s cheeks and she tries to swipe them away before causing a scene. “You look happy, sweetheart.”
“I am, Mum. I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t happy. I wouldn’t be doing any of this if there was a tiny part of me that wasn’t sure. I want to do this. I want to live life, see places, and be with someone I…” I clear my throat. “Someone I love.”
And that’s the first time I’ve said that out loud, but I like it.
“I’d like to meet Giovani before I give you my blessing.”
“I’d like you to meet him. In fact, he’s agreed to do a Skype with you guys. I’ll come by tomorrow and we’ll do it. It will give us all tonight to digest everything. I’m not doing this to hurt any of you. I love you all.”
“We know, sweetheart,” My dad reaches over the table and takes my hand. “We love you so much. It’s a lot to take in, but if you’re happy then I’m happy.”
“Thank you, Dad.”
“And I’ll just have to come back to Bulgaria with you to meet Giovani and Lucca.” Gavin nudges my side and I laugh.
I knew this would be happening at some point, because although he’s stalked Giovani, it won’t count until he’s seen him face to face.
“I wouldn’t expect any less from you, bro.”
“Good. Now that’s settled, let’s order, because I’m starved,” says Gavin dramatically.
And that’s how our family reunion started. It went better than I anticipated, and for that, I’m happy. I just need to get my mum on side and show her that I’m doing the right thing.
***
“Are you sure you don’t mind dropping Harleigh off at home?” asks Dad.
“No, I don’t mind,” said Gav. “It will give us time to catch up.”
“Okay, sweetheart. We’ll see you tomorrow. I’m sorry Sebastian got caught up at work, but we’ll fill him in tonight, and he’ll be there tomorrow for this Skype call.” My mum leans into me, places a kiss on my cheek, and squeezes me tightly.
“It’s okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I part from my parents and walk over to Gavin’s car that he left here earlier today, because he travelled to the airport with Mum and Dad.
“That wasn’t too bad, huh?”
