(a/n just FYI, I went back through both books and aged Charlotte and Joey up a year so they're close to 18)
We all spent the next day helping Leif and Paramjeet move into their own house, five minutes from ours. The furniture they'd picked out at a local store was delivered on time, and by six we were leaving them to have their first dinner together alone.
It was bittersweet, but I didn't have time to get emo about it because as soon as we got home the teens wanted to move their things into the newly empty garage. Mostly this consisted of Char directing the boys.
Leif arrived back at our house as they were almost done. "We just got rid of you like half an hour ago," Halley teased him.
"Forgot my charger," he said, holding up the cord as evidence. He stepped aside as Nate and Joey brought the box spring for Nate's bed out and pushed it up against the double bed they'd already set up.
"You have room now, you guys don't have to cram together still," I said absently, looking up the date to put the Christmas tree out for collection.
Leif slung an arm around my shoulders. "You guys," he said, his voice full of mischief. "Should we tell her?"
I looked up, wondering what in the hell he was talking about, and saw them all grinning, even Halley. "What am I missing?" I asked, feeling dumb. Always the last to figure something out, even the year before when I had been falling in love.
"You're not the crunchiest cookie in the batch, but we love you anyway," Leif said fondly.
Halley shoved him. "Be nice," she scolded, replacing his arm with hers. "The things is, sweetie, they don't want their beds apart. They like being crammed together."
Char pointed at her like She's right, amused, and I finally got it. "Oh," I said stupidly. "Ohhh," I added as it all made sense. Duh, Mary. Just, duh.
"It's a poly thing," Nate said cheerfully, in case I was still clueless. My brother just nodded, self-conscious, busying himself with putting the drawers back in their blue dresser.
"Not to mention a compersion thing," Charlotte said, mostly to herself.
"TMI, gawd," Leif said, making a face.
"Hey, get your mind out of the gutter," she said. "That's not the only meaning."
He scoffed. "My mind lives in the gutter, sis; maybe you've met me? Okay, I'm outta here. Glad you finally caught up, Tug; it's been like half a year." He hugged Halley and me both, kissed my forehead, and messed up her hair before he darted off. "Byeeeee."
"I swear to God," Halley said, smoothing it back down.
"Wow, Joey, here," Char said, moving to help him place the drawer he was struggling with. She then looked up at me, an easy grin on her face. "We all love each other; it just happened that way. As things do." She shrugged. "We three? Are meant to be."
"Hey, love is love," I said, recalling a time when she said the same to me about my feelings for Halley. "Whatever makes you guys happy, but why am I always the last to know these things." Embarrassing. I hadn't thought anything of their affection for each other; Leif and I had often shared a bed to watch TV or even sleep, especially when Caleb had been away, and it hadn't been anything other than platonic. But in retrospect, duh again, Mary.
"Toldja she wouldn't care," my brother said to Nate.
"Boy, I know that now," he retorted, placing his beret on Joey's head. He looked at me. "I'll admit I had some worries at first, but that was before I knew you," he explained.
"We are really happy for you guys, and fully support you in all you do," I said, just to make it completely clear. Because of course we were, and of course we did.
"What she said," Halley agreed. Her phone dinged and she took it out, scrolling. "Damn, I almost forgot. How do you feel about going to a New Year's Eve party at Tashi's? Nothing huge, not like a party party or anything."
I felt like I'd rather not but that was just me being a petty bitch so I ignored myself. "Sounds good," I said, knowing I would probably have a good time. Sometimes you just have to get out of your own way, if you can.
"Yay!" She kissed my cheek and began her return message.
I got out my own phone to order them a California King bed.
Ruby asked me on Friday if I wanted to go to her weekly genderqueer support group, and I of course said yes. We had found the awesome place through her therapist about a year before, and took turns accompanying her if she wanted one or more of us to.
The non-profit group was for the LGBTQIA+ community, mostly run by volunteers, and anyone was welcome. They were staffed around the clock, a real person always there in case someone needed a safe place or someone to talk to.
The group was located in a two-story house downtown, and had a room full of clothing, shoes, accessories, makeup, binders, and anything else someone could need. This was to provide a safe place for youth especially to come and get ready to go out, if they weren't out at home or weren't allowed to appear as they identified.
We had donated a large amount to them in the spring, and Ruby had asked if we could stock the Be Yourself room, as they called it, with new clothes and everything else. Of course we'd agreed, and taken her and some of her friends on a mass shopping spree that took place over several days. The end result was that people came from other towns just to raid the Be Yourself room, and most of all, everyone had what they needed to be and feel themselves.
They held several meetings a day, and Ruby had found some friends she liked there. Some of their groups were for genderqueer people only, though many were open for family and friends to join. The Friday night group was for all ages, and I enjoyed going.
We stopped at our favorite bakery to get cupcakes to bring and were a few minutes late, slinking in with apologetic smiles as Emma, the leader of Friday's group, was giving the introduction. She was in her sixties and had only begun her own transitioning two years before, which she shared along with the message that it's never too late to discover your identity, to be your true self.
She gestured for us to sit and we did. I tucked my purse under my folding chair and looked around at the others already seated, most of whom we knew.
"So that's it for the announcements; does anyone have a topic, or an urgent need to share?" Emma asked. Her shoulder length hair was pure white, her face gentle. She was head of the entire program and had founded it right after she'd started her own transitioning, due to the high need she saw in the community. It had obviously flourished, and she was proud of her project, though humble.
The youngest person there, someone we didn't recognize, raised their hand. Emma nodded to them. "Hi, I'm Sam? I'm, um, transitioning, male to female? We just asked them to start calling me by my right pronouns at school, she/her. We live in Garneville, so it's been, you know, fine." She named a town half an hour away that was notorious for its queer residents. "My school is small, and a lot of the parents are gay or trans or non-binary. But--" She looked at the adult with her for help.
"Hi, I'm Sam's mom. I divorced Sam's father just after Thanksgiving, and while I have the majority of custody, he does get visitation every other weekend and some holidays. He . . . is not a very nice man sometimes. Verbally abusive." She sighed, tucking her light brown hair behind her ears. Threads of bright white stood out at her temples.
"You were strong to leave him," Emma gently praised her, and we all nodded.
"I hate that Sam has to go there, though the judge feels he deserves a chance to mess up. So Sam went for Christmas. Carlos refused to use her pronouns, which he's always done, but Carlos had his parents there too, and they spent most of the day telling Sam she is, forgive me--" she said in advance, glancing around at us all before continuing. "That she's a boy, and that she had to stop acting like an f-word, and other hateful things." She squeezed her daughter's hand.
The poor kid had tears rolling down her cheeks and Ruby jumped to grab the tissues and give them to her. She wasn't much older than Sam, but her hormone treatments were definitely giving her the body that she wanted, much to her delight. "Hey," she said to Sam, kneeling in front of her. "You're not alone, okay? My dad was awful to me. He, um, passed away last year. But when he was alive he was so mean, he said all that kind of stuff to me. And he was wrong, just like your dad is."
This earned her a small smile and she returned to her seat.
"Yeah, don't ever listen to that shit," Emery put in, waving their hand around for emphasis. Their best friend Veronica sat behind them on the counter, rebraiding some of the tiny braids they wore their hair in. "My granddad? Mmm, he was a transphobe, I lived with him and my grandmama until we had too many fights and they let me move into the home." They and Veronica lived in one of the local group homes for lgbtq+ teens, of which there were three in our town.
There was need for ten times that amount, and Halley and I were helping fund part of a fourth one. There was no point having money if you didn't use it for good, something both of us felt strongly about.
Veronica nudged Emery with her knee. "You can't say shit with a kid here," she reminded her friend.
"Oops, yeah; I meant don't ever listen to that crap, honey," they ammended, looking at Emma. "It's okay if I say crap, right?"
Emma nodded indulgently. "Thank you, Emery. And Sam's mom, I have some information for you if you'd like to stick around after the meeting. We have some excellent family law attorneys who do pro bono work for us, and I would love for you to speak with one of them about your situation. We have helped other children be protected from such parents."
Sam's mother looked like she was the one about to cry now. "Thank you so much, her therapist said to come here and you would be able to help. I didn't think anyone would be able to help us," she admitted, dabbing at her eyes and squeezing Sam's hand.
"Yeah, thanks," Sam added, looking relieved. The little orange bow in her short hair reminded me of when Ruby had began transitioning and growing out her hair. I wish we'd had this place then, especially to help us with The General.
"You should come here more, too," Ruby prompted. "We have dances and activity days, all kinds of fun things. There are even some kids your age."
The way these words lit up Sam's face made my heart happy. This was what is was all about; making sure everyone felt loved, and important, and valid. Because they were.
a/n heyyyy, it's an update! More on the way! Hope you are all doing okay and you had a great Pride month even in quarantine <3