5. Family surprise

Gemma

It was Sunday when I arrived at my parents for a family lunch that had been overdue since last month. Mom greets me the second I stepped onto their porch. "There you are, Gemma," Mom hugs and kisses my cheeks as she lets me into the house. The place where I grew up. I take a deep breath, grinning when I smell Mom's cooking. Ah...the comfort food of all, the spaghetti meatballs that she makes from scratch.

Dad walks towards me the second he sees me walking in with Mom, but there were two more people that I don't recognize and I gave my parents a questioning look before Dad says, "Come, we've been wanting you to meet them for a while now."

The man on my dad's side is tall and fit. He's almost as tall as Dad, the difference is that Dad wore his Sunday khaki shorts and dressed more laid back, while the other man dressed casually smart. He's holding a glass of water but then setting it aside when Dad introduces us. There was an easy air about them. I assume that he's one of Dad's co-workers. Though I still don't understand why he's here, attending our family-only lunch.

"Hi Gemma, I'm Edwin. Edwin Parsons." He smiles offering his hand and I take it, while my mind was still figuring out what's the occasion behind our family lunch.

Mom is not far behind when she introduces the one other stranger left in the room. "Gemma, this is Harland Falkner."

Again, I greet the other man, with another smile. Harland is a kind-looking man, with a beer belly that makes him look less intimidating because he was the tallest of the men in the room right now.

"Okay, so...is there a celebration behind our family lunch today? did you get a promotion, Dad?" I give him my teasing smile knowing that he's practically his boss in his workshop that caters to the best furniture shops in the city and neighboring areas.

"Um... I think it is best that we all sit down for this."

Another questioning looks plastered on my face. "Okay, now you're making me nervous, Dad."

Mom and Dad sit at my sides while the two men sit on the one seat to each side of my parents. Okay, now I'm getting warry.

"This is when you drop the bomb, isn't it? Okay, are you going to tell me that we're moving away? Are Edwin and Harland my long-lost uncles?"

There was a paused, deafening silence just before the big news. Then... "Gemma, your Mom and I are getting a divorce," Dad says calmly, and just like that I laugh.

"Seriously Dad, that's a nice one. Now, give me the truth." I look at Dad and the man keeps his eyes on me. Just like he did when he's telling me that my pet rabbit decided to flee. Back then the news devastated me, he knew that I love that ball of fluff.

"This is Fluffy all over again, isn't it? You're telling me the truth?" I look at my mom and she nods.

"But...why? You guys are happy and... these guys?" Then that's when it hits me. The way that Harland leaned just a bit too close to Mom and how Edwin gazes at Dad. No...no...no...

"Harland is my fiance, we're getting married once the divorce is final." Mom put her hand on mine, her eyes filled with worry when she nudges me to turn to Dad.

"And Edwin is my partner, he'll be moving in with me once your mom moves in with Harland."

"This...is really happening?" Suddenly I feel like I was blindsided. I never knew that my dad was gay or bi...or whatever... I never knew that their marriage was in trouble. They looked happy. Was it something I did?

"It's happening. We love you. You have to know that." Mom caresses my cheek.

"You have been unhappy? Secretly unhappy?" Was I too oblivious to the crack in their marriage? Could I save their marriage instead of moving out for college and then not coming home because Ella needed a roommate for her apartment even after college?

"Honey, please...I know you." Dad interjected my thoughts. "This is not your fault. We were happy for the longest time. And I'm bisexual, I never thought it was a fact that I need to share with you because I was happy with our family. But things..."

"Just change, and we're sorry that we decided to hide it from you. But until we know for sure we don't want to..." Mom continues. But what I hear is that they've been talking about this. A lot. Behind my back.

"Oh...I need to," I get up and take one step after another until I reach the front door.

"Gemma, please," Mom catches up to me, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"Mom... you and Dad are getting a divorce. It's not about me, I get it." Dad's eyes bear guilt and I'm selfish enough to let them know how I truly felt. This is huge, they decided on all of these without even letting me know.

"I need to cool off. You can have your family lunch since I'm not family enough to be notified until everything until it's final." My eyes are watery, but I just can't stay. Everything is so messed up, Mom is leaving my childhood home, Dad is moving in with a guy and apparently, I'm not important enough to be in the know.

There's so much I wanted to say, but with all of these emotions, I don't want to say things in the heat of the moment. I hug Mom and then Dad before walking to my car. The drive doesn't take long 'cause I decide to pull over and call my boss. Yeah, my fingers just tapped his contact details. Maybe my head started working properly, maybe the news jumpstarted some kind of muscle memory. But then when Larry picks up his phone, I don't know where to start.

"Uh...Gemma, you called?"

"Um yeah,"

"So your family lunch got canceled and you want to have lunch with me?" There was a playful tone in his voice, but I'm also hearing that he was giving me an out.

"Yeah sure, we'll go with that. I'll be there in about an hour." I reply, looking at the sparse traffic in front of me.

I picked up our pizza and a pint of ice cream before calling him again, telling him that I'm on my way to his place. He didn't say anything about wanting to take me out to lunch and honestly, I'm not in the mood for people watching. What I need is pizza and ice cream, and apparently, my boss. Well, maybe not in that particular order. Because the second he opens the door to his apartment looking deliciously hot in his low-rise jeans after his shower, my eyes are glued to his still-damp chest with a towel hanging around his shoulder. Suddenly, my lips find his. Yep, I don't even care about the big box of pizza and ice cream between us. He lets me press my lips to his and I can feel his smile as he takes the box of pizza and ice cream from my hand.

"Well then, I always like a woman who brings their meals and dessert."

"And you're definitely the appetizer." I'm back to nibbling on the said appetizer, the moment he puts the pizza on the counter and the ice cream in the fridge.

We finally break from the kiss when my stomach growls and he chuckles. "Go, take a seat, make yourself at home. I'll get us a couple of plates. I hope you bought the pineapple ones."

"Larry, your palates need a fine-tuning and I will make sure that you won't be needing pineapple on your pizza in the future. I need you to let go of your strange fascination and one day when you introduced me to the one who ruined pizza for you, maybe I won't blame them."

He laughs as he slumps to my side and we share the meat and cheesy pizza. It only takes me finishing off a slice of pizza before Larry demands some answers from me. "Another slice then I want you to tell me what happened at your parents earlier."

"Ugh, you're too good at reading people. Maybe I should just sulk in my corner, back in the comfort of my apartment."

"You know I won't let you. I see you bringing vanilla ice cream...this is a pity party and I intend to find out what I'm getting myself into before I bring out the Baileys."

My eyes shine a bit too brightly when he mentions the sweet liquor and that makes him laugh.