Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 5

four hours from home with no notice on a weeknight.
    "I just needed to talk to you about something important. Is Father home?"
    "No, he's at a late strategy meeting." She glanced at the ornate clock standing in the front entry hall and then back at me. "He shouldn't be more than a half hour. Would you like a drink in the study while we wait?"
    This is how it always was with my family. We hid behind our manners. No warmth, no hugs, no smiles. I listened to Mother prattle on about local gossip, and my siblings for about twenty minutes before her favorite subject came up.
    "Darling, next time you come give me some warning so I can have dinner for you." Translation: Let me invite all the ladies of marriageable age over for dinner so you can pick one and give me grandkids already.
    I sighed. Loudly.
    She noticed.
    "Shawn, I just want you to fall in love and be happy."
    I wondered what she would think if I told her I was already in love. God, I missed Andrew. I looked around the room as Mother continued to expound on the merits of various local young women. I stared at her in dawning realization that she didn't know me at all. She only cared to know me as much as it served her purposes of appearing to be the perfect small town Texas family.
    I let her speak for another five minutes or so before I came to a decision. "Mother, stop." I held out a hand as if that would help sever the flow of words coming from her mouth. Then I said the words that I hoped would be the first step to getting back my real family. "I'm in love already."
    For a split second she was struck dumb, and then, almost without pause, she regained her voice. It still held the same polite tones but I could tell by the slight strain, she was not pleased with my announcement. "With who, darling? Not one of those hippy Austin girls. God save us from the hippies. You only think you're in love. At your age, you couldn't possibly know for sure."
    I almost snorted. At my age. I was 32 years old. "I am in love." I repeated. And now for the bombshell. "His name is Andrew."
    It was the first time I had ever seen my Mother completely shocked into silence. Unfortunately, my Father's booming voice from the doorway made up for her silence. Apparently he had returned in time to hear my earth shattering declaration.
    He walked calmly over to me and slapped me with all the force he could muster. Righteous, angry fire burned in his eyes, and any affection he had ever shown me was devoured by the flame of his rage. His voice was like ice, in contrast to the heat in his eyes. "Leave. You are not my son any longer."
    I touched the back of my hand to my bleeding lip, surprised by how much it hurt, my lip and my heart. I thought I had held little love for these people, my parents, but there must have been some left because hearing it shattered felt like getting my chest hollowed out for the second time in one day.
    I walked out of their house in calm autopilot and drove until I reached the nearest roadside motel. When I was safely ensconced behind a closed, locked door, I cried like I had never cried before; each tear a knife fighting its way from my eyes, trailing lightning down my cheeks and stabbing ice into my heart as I lay, curled in a ball on the floor at the Motel 6.
    ****
    Present Day
    "They don't know you're sick?" were the first words out of Andrew's mouth. It was an obvious and hopefully rhetorical question, so I merely nodded slightly and stayed silent while he continued to process what I had just said. I waited for it to click and I prayed to any God that would listen that he still loved me.
    I saw a look of dawning shock crossed Andrew's features and I knew he had processed enough to finally comprehend. "Oh my God. You came out to your parents."
    It might seem odd that coming out would trump a brain tumor in the hierarchy of emotional reactions for the evening but I realized he'd had awhile to get used to the idea of the cancer, while this was something that we had fought over and what had split us up. It felt as though the world had been tipped on its head.
    "Yeah, I did." I whispered, because it still seemed too big to mention out loud. He reached a shaking hand out towards me and cupped my cheek. The tremors calmed but didn't stop when his fingers came in contact with my face. In what seemed to be slow motion, he leaned towards me and pressed his lips against mine.
    Neither of us closed our eyes, and after tender touching of our lips, Andrew, his voice shaking as