Hugh
Epilogue -Three months later
Atlaswasputtingsomebooks into a box while I was packing up the files in my office. It was our last day of work at Cross Corp.
It took longer than expected to leave because I hadn’t wanted to abandon the hospital project. It wasn’t complete, but the person taking over my position could easily wrap it up.
Linden had left two months ago to get our business started. For now, we didn’t have any offices and would just work from home to save money until our business took off.
I’d had a whirlwind of emotions that I was trying to control. I was feeling strangely sentimental, even if I hadn’t liked this job all that much. Leaving was certainly bittersweet. Maybe itwouldn’t have been so bad had my father not been so hard on me, or if he’d had a modicum of respect for me.
I hadn’t seen or heard from my parents since the day Linden and I had quit, and I’d avoided my dad while I’d been at work. He probably hadn’t wanted to see me either. No doubt I was a massive disappointment to him, but what else was new? The therapy I’d been in for the past month had helped with that, but I still had a long way to go.
Atlas came over and wrapped his arms around me from behind. “You okay?”
I turned to face him and held him back before kissing his head. “Yes and no.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m proud of you for doing something you’re going to love and finding your joy. You deserve it, handsome.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. I’m confident about my decision. It’s just…”
“You’ll still miss it.”
“Yeah, a bit. But it’s more about wishing Dad would’ve come around and… I don’t know.”
“You want him proud of you.”
I brushed back the curls from his face. I loved his hair. “Yeah. It seems silly, being in my mid-thirties, but it is what it is.”
“I think no matter our ages, we want our parents to feel that way about us.”
I lifted his face by his chin and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. “What about you? Worried about tonight?”
“Definitely, but I’m confident my family will come around. It will be hard for my parents to understand that I’m dating two men, but at least I have my brothers on my side.”
“Linden and I talked, and we’re pretty nervous about it. Are you sure we should tell them that part?”
“I’m very sure. I love you and Linden both equally. It wouldn’t be very fair of me not to share that with them. No one else has to know. My parents won’t divulge the details. I trust them. But just be ready to be bombarded with questions.”
“Okay. If that’s what you think is best.”
“It is.”
Linden and I agreed that our relationship would be a secret. Not that we wouldn’t go out on dates or live like we weren’t in a relationship, but we wouldn’t openly tell people we were. No one would understand, given that we’re first cousins. That sort of stigma could harm Cross Corp, which was the last thing I wanted. It was the price we had to pay to be together. But I loved that Atlas wanted to include both of us in his announcement.
“Have I told you I love you lately?” I asked.
Atlas smiled broadly and stood on his tiptoes to kiss me again. “Only about a hundred times.”
“I’ll tell you a million times.”
He winked at me. “You’re such a romantic.”
The sudden and loud knock on my office door startled us apart. When Atlas rushed off to finish with the books, I yelled, “Come in.”
I honestly hadn’t expected my father to stop by before I left. I wasn’t sure if I was grateful or irritated. Both?
“Atlas, would you please excuse us?” he said.
