Nora doesn’t say anything. I’m not sure there’s anything to say. She just steps up beside me, her arm pressing up against mine to let me know she’s here.
“Next,” the TSA agent sitting on the stool at the podium says.
That’s me. I guess this is it.
As I take a step forward, I hear something way off in the distance.
My name.
It’s quiet. Barely even loud enough to be heard. But I do hear it.
“Stevie!” the voice calls out again, this time slightly louder. Closer.
I hold in my breath and close my eyes as I turn, ignoring the TSA agent, who’s growing impatient with me. I wait until I hear my name called a third time before I allow myself to open my eyes…
There on the other side of the river of people flowing past…
Mom and Dad.
I let my breath out in a gasp as they sprint across the tan tile.
“Ma’am, next!” the TSA agent yells, but I don’t even look at her. Instead, I duck under the tape and out of line to meet them, Nora close behind me.
“Stevie!” my dad calls out, his breathing heavy and dragging, his coveralls coated in car oil and gasoline and who knowswhat else. My mom comes up right behind him as I step up to meet them both, all of us trying to catch our breath.
I don’t know what to say. Even if I did, I’m not sure I could actually get anything out right now.
What are they doing here? Are they just here to stop me?
“Dad?” I croak out, and he immediately pulls me into him hard, almost violently, wrapping his arms around me so tight that I think he might not ever let go. But eventually he does, and as I step back, he holds up a piece of paper. My letter.
“This is…” He keeps his head down as he closes his big hand around my letter, crumpling it into a ball and dropping it onto the floor at our feet. “I don’t care about this. Iloveyou. I’m sorry if I’ve said things in the past to make you think that I… that I would ever in a million years not love you. That I would ever not want to see you again.”
He still loves me.
When he picks his head up to look at me, tears spill over his cheeks, making gray lines down his face. “Look. I don’t really understand all of this.” He motions between me and Nora. “Okay? I don’t, but… IknowI don’t want to lose you. Please.Pleasedon’t leave because of me…”
“Dad, you don’t know what that means to me. But I’m not leaving because of you. I’m leaving because ofme.Okay? I just… I know you love this town, but it’ll never accept us. I can’t stay in Wyatt.Wecan’t.” I look over my shoulder at Nora standing just behind me with our bags.
My mom steps in front of me but keeps her eyes locked on her feet. “I’m not really sure what to say. I know what I did was…” She shakes her head and takes a deep breath,steadying her voice. “With the Church and everyone… I just didn’t want your life to be harder than it’s already going to be… or maybe that’s just what I told myself to feel less shitty about how I reacted that day. And then when you didn’t remember, I just thought it was the second chance I’d never get otherwise. I thought things could go back to the way I so desperately wanted them to be again. But the truth is I didn’t erase it. I hurt you then and again now, instead of shielding you from hurt like I wanted to, like a mom is supposed to.” She finally meets my eyes. “I know I don’t deserve it, but… if you couldeverforgive me, Stevie, I—I…” She breaks down in silent tears and I pull her into my chest, the two of us clutching each other.
“I forgive you. Of course I forgive you,” I tell her, and I can feel her shoulders relax around me.
“Thank you,” she whispers, pulling my head down into her sweater now. “I want you to know if I could go back… I would tell you that it’sokay. I would tell you that I love you, that I will always love you no matter who you fall in love with, and no matter what the Church or anyone else says. That I’ll be there for you when it gets hard, not that you should avoid the hard times. I would tell you that I’m so happy you found someone to share yourself with, and I’d really want to spend time with her so I could see all the things that you see in her.”
“Hi, sweetie,” I hear her whisper over my shoulder to Nora, and my heart swells as I sob into her chest.
She steps back and holds me out in front of her, a big smile spread across her face. “And you got into UCLA. Oh my gosh, Stevie, I amsoproud of you.”
She’s proud of me.
She takes my face in her hands, holding me so close that I can see my reflection in her pupils. I wait for her to ask me to come back home, to tell me that I don’t need to rush into going.
“Now… You two take care of each other. Call usanytimefromanywhere. I don’t care how late it is or what kind of trouble you’re in. Youcallus. Even if you just forgot something and need us to send it.”
Wait… what?
I lean away from her, squinting in disbelief.
