"Welcome, Thomas. It's good to see you," Felicity smiled and shook Pastor Tom's hand as he entered the house.
I stood a few feet back, my hands in the pockets of my khakis. When Tom nodded at me in greeting, I gave him a small smile.
Dinner the night before had been awkward, with Felicity trying to force conversation forward while Dan and I kept our eyes on our plates.
Maybe tonight will be better.
"Thank you for having me," Tom told Felicity. "I can't remember if I told you, last time I was here, how beautiful your home is."
"Oh," Felicity smiled brightly. "Thank you for saying so."
Trying to tune out their small talk, I followed them into the sitting room. I couldn't stop my knee from bouncing nervously as Felicity and Tom kept talking about the house, the weather, and upcoming events at the church.
"I'm sorry I'm late," my shoulders tensed as Uncle Dan's voice swept over my head and into the rest of the room. "A meeting ran long. Let me change and I'll join you all shortly."
"Take your time," Pastor Tom nodded, turning back to my aunt to continue their conversation.
A few minutes later, Dan returned, in a different suit than he'd been wearing before.
What is the point in changing from one suit to another? A suit is a suit.
My uncle offered Pastor Tom some coffee before suggesting that the two of them talk in his office before dinner.
"All due respect, Mr. Schultz, I don't think that will be necessary."
My uncle's eyebrows shot up, and I held my breath. It was really strange hearing someone tell my Uncle 'no,' even if it was politely.
"Well, I imagine you want to discuss why you've invited me here," Tom explained, "But I'm fairly certain I already know the situation."
"Did my wife explain it to you?" My uncle asked coolly.
"Felicity did explain parts of it, yes. You were hoping that I could talk to Tristan about the suspension and about sexuality?"
"Yes," Dan's face turned red, though I wasn't sure if it was because of the mention of my sexuality, or because he was upset that Felicity had already talked to Tom.
"I'm more than happy to discuss this with all three of you," Tom smiled up at my uncle, who was still standing, "If you and I chat in your office, we'll just have to repeat ourselves when we all talk together, right?"
"I suppose," my uncle eventually said through gritted teeth. His control over the situation was faltering.
We'll see how you like not being the one in charge.
"Great. So, should we have the discussion now, or after we eat?" Tom asked, rising from the chair.
"Oh, let's eat first," Felicity suggested, "I've always felt that serious conversations flow better on a full stomach."
And none of us will have an appetite afterwards.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
After what felt like 2 hours, but couldn't have been more than 40 minutes, the four of us sat in silence at the table. I sat with my hands folded, resting on the table in front of me, waiting for one of the adults to start the conversation.
They'd done a great job of tiptoeing around it throughout dinner; talking about everything under the sun except for my suspension.
"Well, no use waiting around for this to get even more awkward," Tom clapped his hands together, "Are we going to have this chat here at the table, or somewhere else?"
Felicity and Daniel shared a look, and Felicity finally answered that seated at the table would be fine. She disappeared into the kitchen for a minute and came back out with coffee and tea.
"I'm hoping you can talk some sense into my nephew," Dan said, reaching for a mug of coffee. "He respects you, so maybe he'll listen to you."
"Well, sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself during youth group," Tom laughed, then turned to look at me, "Do you kids really listen to much of what I say?"
"Yes," I rolled my eyes and smiled. "I know we act like brats sometimes but we really do listen."
"I'm glad to hear it," Tom smiled, then turned back to my uncle. "So, what sense do you want me to talk into him?"
"Well," Dan looked surprised, as if Tom should have already known, "As my wife explained, he's suspended from school because.... A classmate saw him kiss a boy."
"And you'd like me to talk to him about public displays of affection?" Tom folded his arms in front of his chest, "Becky and Lucas were very openly affectionate with one another, I'm not surprised that-"
"Did you not hear me? The problem isn't that he was kissing someone. The problem is that it was a boy," Dan narrowed his eyes in frustration.
"Oh," Tom widened his eyes, feigning surprise, "You want me to tell him that kissing boys is not okay."
"Of course! Seems he won't listen to me. I think if he hears it from you, maybe he'll actually understand."
"Tristan," Tom turned to me, a serious look on his face, "You can't go around kissing boys."
My uncle smiled, as if he'd just won a victory.
"Unless you're in a committed relationship," Tom continued. "Is he your boyfriend?"
My face turned bright pink as I nodded slowly.
"I don't see the harm, then. It's unfortunate that your school has rules against same-sex relationships," he took a sip of coffee, giving Dan time to interject.
"What kind of pastor are you?" Dan asked angrily. "Aren't you supposed to take care of your flock? Don't you care that some boy has him confused?"
"Tristan isn't confused, Mr. Schultz. He's known for years that he's gay. Several members of my congregation are aware of it, and we support him. I do concern myself with 'my flock,' as you put it, but the only worry I have regarding Tristan is the capability of his guardians."
"I don't know if that's fair," Felicity finally said, "We're doing our best, Thomas."
"I believe that you're doing your best," Tom nodded, "But I worry that your best may still not be what Tristan needs."
"I can't believe the two of you," Dan looked between Pastor Tom and Felicity, "You would just let him choose this path, knowing where it leads?"
"Darling, it;s not something he's choosing," Felicity said, quietly but sternly.
"I assume you're trying to say that homosexuality leads to Hell," Tom looked at Dan, "But I hope that when Tristan finds the man he's meant to be with, it only leads him to love and happiness. If you'd like to have a chat about homosexuality in the Bible, we can have that conversation, Mr. Schultz."
Normally, I would have butted in, telling them to stop talking about me like I wasn't there. But I felt protected, by both Felicity and Pastor Tom, and didn't feel like Dan would listen to a word that came out of my mouth anyway.
"Clearly, you're not the man of God I thought you were," Dan rose from his seat at the head of the table. "We'll be finding a new church for Tristan to attend. I think it's best if you leave now."
"I'm not switching churches!" I blurted out.
Dan blinked at me in surprise.
I looked him in the eye and continued, "Mom and Dad wouldn't want you to take that away from me. They loved the church. Pastor Tom knows me better than you do. You just want to put me in a church that's going to make me feel bad about myself, when all I am is what God made me."
"Becky and Luke talked about the two of you a lot," Pastor Tom explained. "I spoke with Tristan before he moved in with you, because I knew you two were a more traditional couple. When he told me that you two didn't know that he was gay, I worried that something like this would happen."
"Well, since you're not his guardian, and he won't be a member of your congregation any longer, you don't need to concern yourself anymore," Dan glared down at Pastor Tom.
"Daniel, stop this," Felicity swiftly rose from her seat, though she was still dwarfed in comparison to her husband, "Don't be ridiculous. How would taking Tristan away from his church and trying to change him honor your sister's memory? She and Lucas were fine with Tristan's sexuality. He's not our son. He's theirs. They already raised him. We're just taking care of him for the next year before he goes off on his own."
My uncle stared at my aunt, dumbfounded.
Pastor Tom seemed satisfied with her words, however, and decided he could now leave.
"Walk me to the door, Tristan?"
I looked to my aunt for permission to leave the table, but she and Dan still had their eyes locked on one another. I quietly got up and led Pastor Tom to the front door, finding his coat from the closet and handing it to him.
"Do you still have my number?" Tom asked as he shrugged on his coat.
"I do."
"I wish you would've called me sooner, before all of this," he gestured toward the dining room, where silence still hung in the air, "It sounds like your aunt has you covered, but if he tries to send you to some other school, tries to make you go to any type of conversion therapy, you call me. I'll have you out of here so fast, they won't know what happened."
Before I knew what I was doing, I'd wrapped him in a tight hug. I felt a lot better knowing that he'd be there for me. I had someone in my corner, no matter what.