The front door opens behind us, and I whirl around. Deep red and black wash away the gray and blue when I see Landon’s tear-stained face and swollen eyes. I’m on my feet in a heartbeat. “What the hell happened?”
I rush toward the door, anger choking me. Not a chance in hell I’m gonna let her hurt Landon. I’m caught by an arm wrapping around my waist, and then I’m being pulled into Landon’s arms and squeezed half to death. “Please, just let me hold you for a second,” Landon whispers, his voice choked and thick, like he might cry again.
I nod, my body going pliant instantly. If he needs this, I’ll give it. I want to give him anything he needs. His heart pounds furiously under my ear, and I wrap my arms around his back, holding him just as tight.
“Room for one more?”
“Always,” Landon answers, opening his arms and dragging Ben to us.
I’m not sure how I’ve ended up squished between the two of them when it should be Lan squished between us, but I’m just glad we’re all together.
Landon lets out a shuddering breath, his body relaxing the longer we stand in our embrace. And finally, he speaks. “Can you two come inside and meet my mom officially?”
I pull back, gazing up at him. “How did it go?”
He shakes his head, tears welling up in his eyes. “I can’t talk about it right now, or I might cry again. But it’s okay, I think. She wants to meet you.”
“So you’re not breaking up with us?”
Landon’s face twists. “Why… would you ask that? Of course not.”
I bury my face against his chest again, relief making my knees weak. Fear is such a weird thing. Especially because it’s not always logical. I’m sure this is one of those moments, but I can’t help it.
“Let’s go inside,” Ben says softly.
I nod, reluctantly letting go of Landon.
Landon holds his hands out, and Ben and I each slide our fingers through his. I give Landon’s hand a gentle squeeze as Ben opens the door for us to all go back inside.
I’m not sure what I’m expecting when we walk in, but it’s not for Mary to be standing by the couch, her eyes just as red as Landon’s, wringing her hands together nervously.
Her eyes fall to our clasped hands. I’m still not sure what to expect. Not sure what her thoughts are or how their talk went. With a deep breath, she takes a step toward us. She locks eyes with me. “Parker, right?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“It’s really nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” I whisper.
Turning her attention to Ben, she greets him again. “And Ben. It’s nice to meet you as well.”
Ben echoes my words.
“Can we all have a seat, please?”
She looks nervous, maybe even more nervous than Landon was before we came here, so I take pity on her and slide onto the couch. Landon isbetween Ben and me, and I haven’t let go of my death grip on his hand. Don’t plan to either.
“I’m sorry if we got off on the wrong foot. I—” Mary’s voice cuts off abruptly, and when she speaks again, her voice is wavering and choked up. “I wasn’t aware that Landon was hiding such a big secret from me. And I didn’t know how afraid he was to tell me. I was a little surprised with what happened when you guys first came in…”
Landon clears his throat, and when I look at him, he’s got questions in his eyes. I give him a slight nod. “Parker’s nonbinary, Mom. It’s not ‘you guys.’”
Confusion crosses her face, and her eyes fly to mine. “I’m not sure what that means.”
“I can explain,” I offer gently, squeezing Landon’s hand. Turning my attention to Mary, I smile at her. This won’t make or break anything for me. My relationship with Landon isn’t dependent on whether his mom accepts my gender identity, but it sure will make holidays more difficult in the future if she doesn’t. And I plan on spendinga lotof holidays with Landon and Ben. “So, I don’t really identify with either binary gender. Instead of using gendered terms like he or she or guys or girls, I prefer gender-neutral terms and using they/them pronouns.”
She slowly blinks at me, thinking hard. Finally, she nods. “Okay… I’m still kind of confused, but I can…” Her eyes dart nervously between me and Landon. “I can do research on this, right?”
That feels like a good sign. I nod. “Yeah, definitely.”
