emotion and obvious joy at seeing his firstborn returned.
"So, what, how...I don't even know where to start," Mr. Glenison said as they pulled apart. “Eleanor told me you’d been kidnapped by the Taliban and ransomed by Eric…it sounded fantastical but I gather that’s what really happened.”
“I know it’s not exactly USA policy, but I was…in a delicate position.”
“To hell with official policy, son. Your brother did good,” the Senator retorted gruffly, with a glance at his second son standing by the window. “Tell me, I heard you were undercover. Special forces. Is that what you’ve been doing all these years? I know you'd joined the Marines but I thought you'd quit much earlier?"
Owen inclined his head in acknowledgement.
"I changed my name after that, I didn't actually quit. But it suited me, and the Corps, to give that impression at the time."
"I see," Glenison said, his lip twitching. "I suppose that explains why you were impossible to track down. So — what did you do during all these years? Did you get married? Do you have any children?"
"Not exactly, no. But since you mention marriage and family," Owen, said, taking his cue, "I should probably introduce you to my boyfriend, Reynaldo Flores."
The Senator took in the rest of the audience in the room with a puzzled frown. His eyes rested first on his wife’s, then he took in Emmy — to her surprise, he seemed to recognize her — and finally Reynaldo, who stood up from the couch.
“Rey,” Owen said, “this is Senator Charlie Glenison, my father."
If the atmosphere had been awkward a second ago, it now turned glacial.
"Pardon? Is this some kind of joke, Owen?"
"Charlie," Eleanor said, with a warning in her tone.
"It's not a joke, Dad, but it might help you understand why this moment has taken so long to happen."
The look of incredulity on Glenison's face was swiftly turning to anger, the blood rising in a dull flush in the old man's neck.
"You left home to run away to the military and you turned gay? This doesn't make any sense."
"Dad, please, " Eric said though gritted teeth. He flashed a look towards Emmy, a mixture of anger, despair and I knew this was coming.
"No Dad," Owen said calmly. "I ran away from you and your physical abuse. The military gave me a way out. And I was always gay, it just took me a while to realize it."
Eleanor visibly flinched when Owen mentioned the abuse, and Emmy was torn between pity and a touch of anger — she was their mother, couldn't she have intervened? It was clear from the look on her face that she'd known something was happening.
Glenison was looking shell-shocked, his eyes darting around the room and his family, searching for reassurance no-one was able — or willing — to provide. Clearly, he hadn't expected any devastating revelations, let alone with an audience. This was not a man used to airing his dirty laundry in the public eye.
"That's not...how can you say that? You were a headstrong boy — you needed discipline," he blustered.
"No," Owen said, grim. "Discipline was what I got in the Marines. You were a control freak, Dad. And when we failed to play according to your script you unleashed your righteous anger without any restraint."
"And your fists," Eric added under his breath.
"Eleanor," Glenison hissed, turning to his wife, but to Emmy's surprise, she shook her head and looked away, and it was Eric's cue to intervene.
"Don't try to put this on Mum. This isn't about her. God, if it wasn't for you, Owen wouldn't have stayed away all those years."
"I wouldn't have left," Owen said, bitter.
Emmy noticed that Rey was standing by him, in a silent gesture of support.
"How dare you! I haven't come here to be insulted in front of an audience," Glenison growled. "I thought you boys had better manners than to bring strangers to a family gathering. And I don't know what happened to you, Owen, but you weren't a homosexual when you were a boy — I don't know who fed that into your brain, but I don't believe it. Eric, now, he always had a deviant streak, but you..."
"How kind of you to make time to insult me in the middle of this touching reunion," Eric said with a cold smile, but his knuckles were white around his tumbler, and if this went on much longer Emmy could imagine the glass exploding in his grip. Maybe it was time she too showed her allegiance, she thought.