Dance With Me (Rich Kids, Book One)

Seventeen: A Tale of Gays and Riches

Randy

Walking into my house, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't even know if it would be my last time in my room.

"Randall, come in here please," my mom yelled.

I winced and made my way to the living room, my backpack and coat still on. "Hello."

"Take a seat, Randall," my father said, gesturing to the large armchair in the far corner of the room. Not good that Dad is home already.

I sat down. "I assume you know."

My parents exchanged looks, and Mom replied, "Yes, your Uncle Winston told us."

"I figured he did."

We sat in silence for a few seconds before Dad spoke up. "Your mother and I discussed...everything...before you got home."

Nodding slowly, I responded, "Ooookayyyyy."

"The only thing we want is for you to keep it under wraps until you're eighteen. At that age you have the choice to come to our parties, along with our friends'. We have friends that are very homophobic, and we don't want you to get hurt. Other than that, there's nothing we're going to do. We don't agree with parents who treat their children differently because of their sexual orientation. Your father has one concern though," Mom said, glancing at my Dad.

He sighed and straightened his back. "How will the line continue if you're with a man?"

I knew exactly what he was talking about. It is my duty as oldest son to have a son myself and name him Randall. He would be Randall Rockefeller VII, or the seventh. "Surrogacy or adoption. You would probably want surrogacy so that he could have the genetics, also."

Dad took on a surprised expression. "How much have you been thinking about this?"

"Around three years. I realized I was bisexual in middle school, and I began contemplating what would happen if I came out at about fourteen."

"Oh. That's quite a while."

Laughing, I answered with a bitter tone, "I know. I was scared. It's generally not a wise idea to be gay in one of the top families in Connecticut."

"I could imagine that. You're safe here, though. We just don't want you to get hurt." Mom pushed back her long blonde hair, sounding like she was holding tears back. "Is there anyone in your life that we should know about?" She was smiling this time, so I knew that I could probably give up my secret. Or, one of them.

"Um, yeah. I'm dating Li McCoy. They're gay and gender-nonconforming." I suspected my parents would have no idea what genderfluid meant, so I went with gender-nonconforming as a more likely guess. "They make me really happy. Oh, and they are out by the way."

Both Mom and Dad didn't seem happy with the news, but accepting of it. Mom appeared to be more okay with it than Dad. I wasn't shocked by that. Dad said, "Alright. Thank you for telling us."

"Thank you for accepting me. I appreciate it so much. I love you two a lot." Actually, I don't really love them too much. That was the nicest they had ever been to me. I am grateful for their efforts to take care of me, but usually that entails treating me like I'm a prop for the family. I'm the Perfect Son™. I never mess up. I always get good grades. I'm friendly and approachable. I'm practically a puppet, if I'm being honest. Like, a fucking marionette. Hell, even a Muppet, call me Elmo. The situation is that silly.

"We love you too, hun. And actually, we don't really care what you do as long as it's appropriate and doesn't ruin our status," Mom casually dropped, as if there wasn't multiple things wrong with that sentence.