Daddy nods. “And discernment.”
I let out a half-laugh mixed with a half-groan. “Okay. Well. She’s trans.”
“We know,” they repeat.
I throw my hands up. “What is happening?”
Mama laughs softly. “You think we didn’t notice? Or that it changed how we see her?”
Daddy folds his hands together on the desk. “Zaria is a beautiful woman with a kind heart. That’s what matters.”
My body slouched as I declare quickly before I lose my nerve, “I’m also in love with Calil.”
Saying it aloud feels different.
Mama’s eyebrows lift slightly. Daddy’s head tilts to the side as if he’s in deep thought.
“We’re deciding to be in a polyamorous relationship,” I finish in one breath as if I was ripping off a bandage.
Silence.
Not heavy. Just processing.
Daddy exhales slowly, then looks at me in a way that makes my chest ache.
“If anyone deserves love and happiness without limits,” he says carefully, “it is you.”
Mama nods with her eyes shining bright with joy.
“The little girl turned fierce woman who has spent her entire life fighting her own body,” Daddy continues, voice thickening, “and still made space to love with her whole heart.”
My vision blurs.
“Despite everything,” he says, “your illness has never claimed your ability to love or to be loved. That is a testament to your spirit.”
Mama reaches across the desk again. “You love deeply. That is a gift, not a flaw.”
I swallow hard. “You’re not… disappointed?”
Daddy shakes his head firmly. “Love forged in truth. Love built on consent. Love rooted in care is not something I find worthy of condemnation.”
Mama smiles softly. “It may not look like what we imagined years ago. But neither did half the things in our own lives.”
A tear escapes before I can stop it.
“I just didn’t want to fail you,” I whisper again.
Daddy stands and walks around the desk, pulling me into a hug that feels solid and unwavering.
“You and failure don’t belong in the same sentence. You’re not failing,” he murmurs into my hair. “You’re living.”
Mama wraps her arms around both of us.
“You’re choosing joy,” she says. “And after everything you’ve endured—you deserve that.”
All this time I’ve been bracing for misunderstanding and rejection that wasn’t there.
All this time I’ve underestimated the people who raised me.
