Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“This was after the wedding,” Hannah clarified for me. “Where I did her a favor.”
“Kitty wasn’t any better,” Kola said, chuckling. “The only one who hasn’t said a word is Oliver, but I suspect he doesn’t care.”
“Well, I don’t care either,” my girl explained. “But I don’t want to be friends. And if I was in Kola’s shoes, I’d want someone else to talk to as well.”
“Next time we’re invited, I will politely decline,” I promised both of my children.
“No,” Kola was adamant. “I don’t want Dad and Uncle Michael to be strangers. And if you don’t show up for Aunt Sandy, then they will be.”
“You’re both very thoughtful people,” I said, about to rub my left eye.
“No,” Kola scolded, smacking my hand. “You’re just gonna make it worse.”
“Ohmygod, do not rub your eyes!” Hannah chided me.
It was like she was there. “You didn’t even see what I was doing.”
“I don’t have to. I can hear Kola.”
I made her hang up, and Kola and I got out of the car and headed for the front door. There ended up being a small group of us, walking together, and we all said hello and exchanged names, and I told Tierney, Mr. and Mrs. Sloan’s youngest, how much I loved the pale blue suit they had on.
“Very spring forward,” I let them know.
“Thank you.”
I then cleared my throat. “My pronouns are he/him. May I ask yours?”
“Yes,” they replied, beaming at me. “I use they/them.”
“Thank you for sharing.”
“Thank you for asking,” Tierney said with a sigh, glancing at Kola.
“I’m Kola, and I use he/him like my father.”
Tierney smiled at him.
“I also think the suit looks good on you, but I would not be caught dead in it.”
“Amen,” Mr. Sloan seconded my son as Tierney’s brother, Eddie, nodded.
“What?” Tierney sounded horrified. “This is couture.”
“It’s baby blue,” Kola pointed out. “Which is not in my color wheel.”
Mrs. Sloan thought that was hysterical. So did everyone else.
When we reached the front and rang the bell, a maid was there to open the door and greet all of us. Once we were inside the vestibule, our hostess and her oldest daughter walked over.
“Edward, Maura,” Sandy said, her focus there first, as it should have been. You were supposed to be allowed to ignore your family. “Thank you for coming. I haven’t seen Eddie and Willow in such a long––”
“It’s Tierney now,” they told Sandy, offering her their hand. “It’s so nice to see you again.”
“Oh I… Tierney?”
“Yes,” Maura answered, smiling. “It’s actually Tierney Tate, borrowing from their grandmother, who also had a non-binary name, and we have big news because they just––”
“All the changes as they navigate who they’re going to be at any given moment,” Sandy offered, giving Maura a pat on the arm. “It’s Tierney now until it changes to something else, am I right? My kids were the exact same way.”
As responses went, not the worst it could have been, but far from the best. I was in no way an expert, but one hundred percent allyship was the only way to go. As a result of that, things happened quickly.
Tierney caught their breath.
Maura’s mouth dropped open, and her face went white.
Edward, her husband, looked at Tierney, then over at his other kid, Eddie—firstborn, so he got stuck being a junior—and asked, “Who wants burgers?”
Without missing a beat, Kola raised his hand. “Me,” he chimed in.
All eyes on him. The Sloans, Sandy and Thea, and mine.
Kola’s slow grin then. “I mean, I could eat.”
It was like everyone deflated at once, and we all laughed except Sandy and Thea.
“C’mon,” Maura told him with a calming exhale of breath, gesturing for my son. “Let’s go, you’re invited.”
Tierney grinned at me. “You can come too, Mr. Harcourt-Kage,” they said, hyphenating for me, being mindful of how I’d introduced myself.
“Thank you,” I replied, then passed Maura my phone. “Put your number in there.”
“Oh yes, please,” she said, and tears started rolling down her cheeks as she passed me hers. “That would be wonderful.”
And because she was crying, I started again.
“Oh, Mr. Harcourt-Kage, what happened?”
“Just Jory, please,” I corrected her. “And my son told me something horrible on the way over here.”
Instantly she went into caring comfort mode, she was a woman after all, and I told her everything about Melton Prep. She grabbed my hands as I explained what could have happened. Being a parent, she understood the ramifications more than my kids did and cried right along with me.
Sandy was utterly overwhelmed, but was smart enough to immediately rush over to Tierney and beg forgiveness for being an idiot. That part was good. She had forgotten herself for a moment and knew what she should have said versus what came out of her mouth. She pleaded with Tierney to give her another chance, and then promptly burst into tears.