I've always known Tess is a lesbian, ever since I was a kid. It was another reason my parents disapproved of her. They weren't the types to be outwardly bigoted, but they would be fine if it were another kid and they absolutely did not want their own child to be gay. It otherized Tess in their eyes, and they worried about what others would think.
Tess being a lesbian wasn't a deal breaker for them, but the disapproval only further fractured their relationship. I never saw it as anything but a part of what made my sister who she is, and my sister is one of the greatest people I've ever known.
Tess likes women the same way I like men. How could that ever be wrong?
She's never had a steady, long-term girlfriend before. With her job and her personality—type A, particular, maybe a little too intense and direct for people—she's never found someone to settle down with.
And Tonya, who's bold, protective, loyal, quick with sarcasm, and quicker with her fists, might be the exact type of balance Tess needs.
But Tonya's still grieving her late wife, so she might need more time to heal.
No matter, with Tess getting out of the military and moving, they could take their time to see if something could grow.
All I know is, I'm surrounded in this room by people who love me, and that's all that matters.
Tonya seems to gain her bearings and blinks out of the spell, walking over to Callum and me and planting a big smacking kiss on both of our heads.
"Alright, gather around, kids," Tonya announces, reaching into her back pocket with a grand flourish and producing a Blu-ray disk. "I have presents, and then later, we will watch the greatest Christmas movie of all time."
Tonya clears her throat and puts on an awful German accent,"' Now I have a machine gun. Ho-ho-ho... '"
???
Tonya, Callum, and Tess are playing cards at the kitchen table. It's some game that when they tried to explain the rules to me, my brain immediately shut off, and I kindly bowed out before my eyes glazed over. I think my mind is a little too active right now to pay attention to a game, anyway. But from the noise they're making at the table, they're having a good time.
And it just makes mesohappy to hear them.
I wanted Tess to approve of Callum so much, and from thesmiling looks she keeps shooting me, I can tell she does. Callum is always so in tune with me, asking me if I'm okay, if I feel alright, if I need anything, if I'm hungry or thirsty, or if I want to go take a nap. He does it like it's as natural as breathing for him, without making me feel like he's hovering.
Tess just looks on in approval every time he does.
Earlier, after dinner, I insisted on helping clean the plates even as Maeve and Callum tried to tell me to go sit and rest. I refused, and Tess—bless her—offered to wash while I dried. Callum grumbled, but when he saw that I wasn't backing down, he brushed a kiss on my head and said to call him if I needed him before stepping outside with Tonya to keep her company while she smoked.
"He's more attentive than Paul," Tess said casually, handing me a dish. "He's always watching you, making sure you're okay, making sure you feel okay. I like him."
I eyed her skeptically, "You don't likeanyone."
And she doesn't. It took her a long time to even warm up to tepid with Paul, and with my exes—Spencer, she tolerated, but Max, shedespised.
"Yeah, well," she'd replied, glancing toward the back door where Callum and Tonya had disappeared. "Things change."
Now, I smile as I watch my sister chuckle and shake her head at something Callum says. Maeve walks up next to me and wraps an arm around my shoulder, gently squeezing, and I lean into her embrace, laying my head on her shoulder.
"Do you remember your last reading?" she asks quietly, after a couple of minutes.
"I'll never forget," I smile immediately. "The Tower, Strength, The Star, Two of Cups..."
Thinking back to that day when I walked into this store by chance, on the worst day of my life, and ended up meeting my soulmate...
"The Tower... sudden disruption, often necessary. What has broken needed to break. It feels like destruction, but it's just the removal of waste."
Paul cheating on me, while painful, was necessary because, as I think back now on our relationship, I am certain that he was not the person I needed next to me through this journey. I needed Callum. Maeve. Tonya. Bailey. Atticus and Jane. Parker. April. Sasha and every other new friendship that I forged through the fallout of Paul's betrayal. The pain, the breaking, the pure destruction of my life was worth it because it allowed me to build something better. Something I never even dreamed of. True friendship. A family.
Pure love.
"Strength... Not force. Courage, the quiet kind. You already possess the inner fortitude to face your challenges head-on."
"The Star. Healing. Healing. Hope. You will face your challenge and will come out on the other side better for it."
