on how to respond renders me silent.
“What Mother is trying to say-”
“I said what I was trying to say.”
Mom takes a deep breath and a beat before proceeding, “The point that you’re choosing to put on shades to is that there is a difference between needing a moment to sort your thoughts and hiding yourself from being hurt by the topic. If you have a problem in a relationship, Brooky, you have to talk it out. You have to discuss it. You have to cut the pineapple open, even if there’s a risk that the skin may hurt you. If you can’t do that…or you’re not willing to try to do that…then you don’t need to be in a relationship and damn sure not a marriage.”
The corner of my bottom lip wedges itself between my teeth.
“Ax told us what…was said and what was inferred last night-”
“They sound like they need to meet my spoons,” Grandmother grumbles under her breath while wiggling around on the couch.
“-and as harsh as this is going to sound Brooky-”
Because she hasn’t been harsh enough?!
“-that’s the reality of dating someone different. And, by different I do not just mean someone outside of your tax bracket. I mean someone who was raised different than you. Who comes from a different background. Who looks more like a politician on a long holiday instead of-”
“Taye Diggs,” Grandmother inserts on a smirk and a wink.
This time her interruption successfully receives a snicker.
“You and Ax both need to ask yourselves, and be completely honest, if moments like last night are ones you can and are willing to endure for the long haul.” Mom’s expression grows sympathetic. “That’s not to say everyone you cross will think the way his father clearly thought-”
“He’s like that duck from that cartoon you watched as a little seed. The one mad about money.”
Scrooge McDuck.
Though, I’m pretty sure he had redeeming qualities while Edmund had none.
“Mother,” Mom hisses her scolding, which shuts my grandmother’s lips. Once she’s certain she can continue uninterrupted, she does. “Relationships are not easy without that added stress of an outside world judging you constantly for all the wrong reasons. You two need to decide if this is really a war you’re willing to soldier on through for a lifetime.”
The phrase stirs the uncalm feeling sailing my nerves.
“I told him the same thing at the end of our conversation last night.”
Urges to ask what he said, how he reacted, and what was his decision all whirl around my mouth, yet I know she won’t give me the answers.
I know I need to hear them from him.
“I also reminded him as I’m reminding you…you don’t get to pick the family from which you came from…” Her eyes cut a teasing glance to my grandmother who is now picking something out of her teeth. “But you do get to pick the family you build a future with going forward.”
Comfort sprinkles down on me causing me to slightly smile.
“We’ll accept Ax and love him something fierce if that’s who you choose to be with, and we’ll miss him but respect your decision if you don’t.”
There’s a faint knock on my bedroom door that warrants a glance.
“Get the feeling that’s him.” An all-knowing grin crosses her face prior to her stating, “You two talk. I’m going to go feed the Granddog and take Mother to get a muffin.”
“Doughnut,” Grandmother instantly corrects. “We agreed on doughnuts if I went with you to see the dog.”
“The sugar-”
“Is the best part!”
“I love you both,” I chime in, getting acknowledged by the same sentiments shortly after.
The instant I end the video chat, I call out, “Come in.”
Ax’s worn out face peers around the edge of the door cautiously and curiously. “You um…done on the phone?”
“I am.”
“Can I come in?”
“Of course.”
He uses the tip of his foot to grant him complete access since his hands are occupied by a pair of plates. “Brought you breakfast.” The announcement is given during his stroll over to the bed. “While the bacon, spinach, and goat cheese quiches we snacked on were…fucking delicious they weren’t exactly filling.” He sits down on the edge of the mattress and offers me one of the dishes. “You didn’t eat dinner, and unless you’ve mastered the yet to be invented science of making yourself invisible to go grab something from the lobby store, you didn’t have a midnight snack, either.”
I sheepishly shake my head.
“Eat, babe,” Ax sweetly encourages with a nod the direction of my food. “I hate the idea