said, with a light laughter in his tone. He was easing the tension that was surrounding us, and I was only too glad to change the subject.
I laughed, shook my head. “Yeah well, I couldn’t stand what he was saying. I hate when people try to take down someone’s character and self-worth simply because they live their life differently.” I took those things personally, and I was never the type to sit back and listen to other people’s bullying.
“Rob’s been my best friend since grade school, and he told me he was gay when we were in high school. So, I take offense when people say things like that, too. I’ve seen too many people pick on him and try to bring him down.” I smiled at him; it felt good knowing that he would stick up for the people he cared about.
“My parents are gay… Like, I have two dads.” He raised his eyebrows at the new information I offered, and leaned back against the wall to get comfortable. “My dads asked a friend to surrogate for them. She found out she had a tumor while she was pregnant, but it made her so happy that she could make her life worth something by giving my dads a child. She died not too long after I was born, so it’s always been my dads and me. When we moved into the neighborhood they live in now, I would always get picked on for having two dads. The neighbors acted nice, but I always heard them talking about how disgusting our family was. Having two dads is all I’ve known, so it never made sense to me why people would be so mean.
“I started picking fights with all the kids who would say something mean about my parents. I used to get into so much trouble for it, but I only knew that my parents loved me; I didn’t understand that other people saw our lives as wrong.”
I laughed and looked at Blake and saw him smiling at me so I continued, “My dads are great. They decided to never find out which one of them is my biological father, so it’s always funny when we get together. Dad is extremely white, and Daddy has darker skin because he is Filipino. I obviously got my skin tone and hair from Daddy, but they always act like they have no idea which one of them actually fathered me.” Blake laughed with me and then looked me in the eyes. I felt like he could see through all the bullshit, and see who I really was, even if I didn’t know myself.
“So, what about your eyes? You have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. I’m pretty sure they have been changing colors since I met you.”
“Okay. So get this, Dad’s eyes change between green and blue, and mine change the same exact colors. That just adds to their confusion.” I let out a big laugh, and added, “I really think that they don’t know, because not once in the last twenty years has that debate ever let up!” I laughed so hard, I started to get tears in my eyes. I heard Blake laughing with me, and it felt good to just release the emotions that happened in the last hour. I went from angry, to passionate, to anxious, to scared, and finally to comfortable in a short span of time, and I let it all out in that moment with Blake. Maybe it wasn’t that funny, but my frazzled emotions made me think it was the funniest thing ever.
Our laughter eventually eased, and I leaned my head against his shoulder. I put my hand on his knee, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. Blake’s thumb caressed my shoulder, returning all of the sensual feelings from earlier. Every nerve in my body focused on where he was touching me. We stayed like that for a few minutes before Blake suggested we get up and head back home.
I was dusting off my legs and shorts, when the back door opened to reveal Ms. Jonathon Higgins looking ready for a smoke break. He smiled when he saw us and said, “Did you see me go up? It was so much fun!”
“Yes, we loved your performance!” I said to him with a genuine smile. Blake came up next to me and squeezed my hand affectionately. Jonathon grabbed something out of his bag and
I laughed, shook my head. “Yeah well, I couldn’t stand what he was saying. I hate when people try to take down someone’s character and self-worth simply because they live their life differently.” I took those things personally, and I was never the type to sit back and listen to other people’s bullying.
“Rob’s been my best friend since grade school, and he told me he was gay when we were in high school. So, I take offense when people say things like that, too. I’ve seen too many people pick on him and try to bring him down.” I smiled at him; it felt good knowing that he would stick up for the people he cared about.
“My parents are gay… Like, I have two dads.” He raised his eyebrows at the new information I offered, and leaned back against the wall to get comfortable. “My dads asked a friend to surrogate for them. She found out she had a tumor while she was pregnant, but it made her so happy that she could make her life worth something by giving my dads a child. She died not too long after I was born, so it’s always been my dads and me. When we moved into the neighborhood they live in now, I would always get picked on for having two dads. The neighbors acted nice, but I always heard them talking about how disgusting our family was. Having two dads is all I’ve known, so it never made sense to me why people would be so mean.
“I started picking fights with all the kids who would say something mean about my parents. I used to get into so much trouble for it, but I only knew that my parents loved me; I didn’t understand that other people saw our lives as wrong.”
I laughed and looked at Blake and saw him smiling at me so I continued, “My dads are great. They decided to never find out which one of them is my biological father, so it’s always funny when we get together. Dad is extremely white, and Daddy has darker skin because he is Filipino. I obviously got my skin tone and hair from Daddy, but they always act like they have no idea which one of them actually fathered me.” Blake laughed with me and then looked me in the eyes. I felt like he could see through all the bullshit, and see who I really was, even if I didn’t know myself.
“So, what about your eyes? You have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. I’m pretty sure they have been changing colors since I met you.”
“Okay. So get this, Dad’s eyes change between green and blue, and mine change the same exact colors. That just adds to their confusion.” I let out a big laugh, and added, “I really think that they don’t know, because not once in the last twenty years has that debate ever let up!” I laughed so hard, I started to get tears in my eyes. I heard Blake laughing with me, and it felt good to just release the emotions that happened in the last hour. I went from angry, to passionate, to anxious, to scared, and finally to comfortable in a short span of time, and I let it all out in that moment with Blake. Maybe it wasn’t that funny, but my frazzled emotions made me think it was the funniest thing ever.
Our laughter eventually eased, and I leaned my head against his shoulder. I put my hand on his knee, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. Blake’s thumb caressed my shoulder, returning all of the sensual feelings from earlier. Every nerve in my body focused on where he was touching me. We stayed like that for a few minutes before Blake suggested we get up and head back home.
I was dusting off my legs and shorts, when the back door opened to reveal Ms. Jonathon Higgins looking ready for a smoke break. He smiled when he saw us and said, “Did you see me go up? It was so much fun!”
“Yes, we loved your performance!” I said to him with a genuine smile. Blake came up next to me and squeezed my hand affectionately. Jonathon grabbed something out of his bag and
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