Venus rising boxset, p.109
Venus Rising Boxset, page 109
“Yeah, okay. I’ll go with you.”
Tendrils of anxiety crept back through Steve’s chest. He just hoped he wasn’t fucking this up too.
Chapter 12
Chris
What the hell am I doing?
Setting himself up for another parental rejection, the day before his wedding… so smart.
At least he had back up. One word to Justin, who had been planning on doing some more research for their honeymoon, and he’d immediately said that could wait. They were taking Jessica to an exclusive BDSM resort, in Ohio of all places, which looked like a real castle. Another Dom at Stronghold had recommended it; he’d met his wife there last year. Chris thought it looked like the perfect place to play out as many fantasies as they wanted.
So, now Chris was following Steve into the restaurant, with Justin a few steps behind him, in case things didn’t go well. Knowing Justin had his back was probably the only reason Chris didn’t turn and run the moment he saw his mom.
It had only been five years, but she looked so much older. Not physically exactly—she was as perfectly coiffed and put together as always—but there were lines that hadn’t been there before and a tiredness he didn’t remember. Her hair was the same dark brown he remembered although it had more highlights than it used to, and she was wearing her favorite grey Chanel jacket and matching skirt with her pink blouse and a pearl necklace. Steve had joked it was her ‘politician’s wife’ suit, but he wasn’t far from wrong.
“Mom?” Steve’s voice was higher than normal, strained as he approached the table where she was already sitting. “Look who I found.” He said it lightly like it was a happy accident he’d happened upon Chris and brought him along, instead of the incredibly awkward situation it was.
The expression on her face as her head swung up was one of gentle curiosity that turned into jaw-dropping shock when she looked over Steve’s shoulder and her eyes connected with Chris’. Pain lanced through him because part of him wanted to hug her and never let go, and part of him wanted to scream at her for letting him go.
Tears filled her dark eyes as she stared at him, mouth still hanging open.
“Hi, Mom,” he said, coming to a halt a few feet away from the table, shoving his hands into his pockets. He was very aware of Justin’s presence behind him and grateful for it. Next to the table, Steve was practically vibrating with tension.
“My baby,” she whispered, bursting into tears while managing to launch herself at him from her seat.
Comforting his crying family members was starting to become all too familiar, but Chris couldn’t stop himself, no matter how she’d hurt him in the past. She’d been the one to dry his tears often enough when he was younger. Besides, what else was he going to do after she threw herself at him?
So, he hugged his mom for the first time in five years and let his own tears flow.
The conversations around them started up again, a low murmur that seemed quieter than before, but Chris ignored that. He didn’t care what anyone thought.
“My baby, my baby,” his mom kept repeating. It was enough to break his heart.
Yeah, he still felt some resentment she hadn’t stood up to the senator, especially since she’d obviously missed him... but knowing he had been missed healed something that had broken in him years ago. Even more so than reconciling with his brother had.
“Hey, Mom,” Steve said gently, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Let’s sit down, okay?”
She clung to Chris for a moment longer, then released him, nodding. Well, mostly released him. Rather than hugging him, she now had a death grip on his hand. Which was fine. Chris wasn’t in a hurry to let go. Her hand felt thinner, frailer than he remembered, and a lump stuck in his throat at the knowledge.
The way she looked at him, like she was afraid he would disappear if she blinked... well, he couldn’t not be affected by that.
“Hi, Mrs. O’Neal,” Justin said quietly, sitting down on Chris’ right, leaving the seat across from Chris for Steve.
She cleared her throat, delicately dabbing away her tears with her napkin.
“Hello, Justin. I’m so sorry for my outburst. I must look a fright.”
Chris thought she would let go of his hand and reach into her purse for her compact, expected her to do, but instead, she just sat there, still holding onto him, still staring at him.
“That’s alright,” Justin said reassuringly. “I know we were unexpected.”
“Yes, well.” She cleared her throat again, blinking back more tears and pasting a smile onto her face. It was somewhere between the sincere smile Chris had always loved and the politician’s wife smile he’d always hated. Like she was happy enough to actually smile but also putting on a mask to keep her emotions under control. She glanced at Steve then back and forth between Justin and Chris, her brow furrowing, and Chris realized what she was wondering.
“The wedding with Jessica is still on for tomorrow,” he said quietly, half expecting she would snatch her hand away. She didn’t, but the furrow in her brow deepened.
“Oh,” she replied, sounding confused.
“They really love her, Mom,” Steve said quietly. “They aren’t gay. They just both love the same woman and don’t care it’s unconventional. They’re happy.”
“I don’t understand,” she said a little helplessly, but she still didn’t let go of Chris’ hand.
Chris and Justin glanced at each other. They’d been through this with Jessica’s and Justin’s families. He supposed it was his turn now.
At least he was getting the chance.
Steve
Listening to Justin and Chris tell their story again, he couldn’t tell it didn’t have quite the same impact as when Jessica had been present. It was hard to understand how their relationship worked with only two of the parties there to explain, and he could tell his mom was struggling, but she was trying—trying to withhold judgment, trying to understand why her son was in a relationship she had trouble comprehending.
She hadn’t spoken Chris’ name since he’d left, and Steve had always assumed that was because she backed the senator completely. Watching her now, he realized it must be so much more complicated. Unlike the senator, she loved unconditionally, and while she might be worried about Chris’ happiness, as long as he was happy, she seemed to be too.
Which was borne out by her final verdict when Chris firmly told her, he and Justin were both marrying Jessica tomorrow. Or, well, as close as they could get to that, anyway.
“If this is what you really want,” she said, squeezing Chris’ hand tightly.
If Steve was Chris, he would have taken it and buried everything else, but Chris had never been afraid of confrontation like Steve was. He just came out and asked.
“If that’s how you feel, why did you cut me off five years ago?” Chris asked quietly, his voice full of pain. Next to him, Justin shifted although he didn’t interrupt. Other than when Chris had looked to him for help during the conversation, he’d stayed out of it.
Their mom blinked back a second set of tears that welled in her eyes, her head dropping down.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t want to, but... your father...” Her shame-filled voice trailed off, realizing how weak that was.
“You don’t have to let him dictate your relationship with me,” Chris said gently.
“Plus, he’s cheating on you,” Steve muttered under his breath. Someone kicked him. It might have been Chris, it might have been Justin, the only person he was sure it wasn’t was his mom.
“I don’t care that he’s cheating on me,” she said simply, shaking her head. Lifting her gaze, she looked sorrowfully at Steve then Chris. “But yes, I do have to let him dictate things. At least right now. He... I don’t...” She took a deep breath, color appearing high in her cheeks, and Steve suddenly realized she was embarrassed. “I don’t have my own money. Five years ago, I opened my own account, which he doesn’t know about, and I’ve been putting what I can into it from my allowance, but I can’t do much without him noticing, and I don’t have enough in it to leave him yet. And until I do, I have to maintain appearances. I don’t know what he’d do if he knew...”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Steve asked, shocked by the revelation. He’d told her about the cheating, and she hadn’t said a word about any of this. Hearing the senator was controlling all the purse strings didn’t surprise him when he took a moment to think about it.
Their mom had been a homemaker his whole life, her days revolving around what the senator wanted her to do. Although she’d had a job before she’d married his dad, the senator hadn’t wanted her to work. He’d always assumed she was happy as a homemaker, and maybe she had been, but hearing her refer to the money she had as her allowance made him want to punch his dad in the face. But if she’d told him he could have... well, he could have done something. “I have money, I have savings—”
“You’re my son,” she said tearfully, cutting him off. “I’m supposed to provide for you, not take money from you. And well.” She hesitated for just a moment, but then forged ahead. “I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about me leaving your father.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Part of him couldn’t believe she’d think that, but at the same time, he’d believed the same about her—she wasn’t going to leave the senator, and she was going to turn a blind eye to the cheating.
He’d never told her he’d be there for her. Like her, he’d always done what the senator quietly wanted. They’d never talked about it.
Grabbing the hand Chris wasn’t holding, he squeezed it. “I stuck around for you, Mom. Dad can go to hell. You can come stay with me until we figure it out.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Justin and Chris exchange a look, which must have carried a complete conversation because Chris immediately spoke up. “Or you can come stay with us. Or go back and forth between Georgia and here.”
“Hell, if Mom’s out, I’m happy to move up here,” Steve said. “It’ll probably be easier for me to get a job here.” The senator would likely make it very difficult for Steve to get one in Georgia after he quit.
Their mom looked like she was about to start crying again. “I can’t do that, you’re supposed to be living your own lives, not taking care of me—”
“This is exactly what we’re supposed to be doing,” Chris said firmly. “Besides, Dad’s going to owe you alimony. You won’t be without any income at all.”
“That’s only if I can find a good divorce lawyer,” she said gently. “And I can’t afford one yet, any more than I can afford to move out.”
“Leave that to me, Mrs. O’Neal,” Justin said, standing up and getting his phone out of his pocket. Mom blinked at him in surprise like she’d forgotten he was there. “I’ll be right back.” He strode away from the table, a man on a mission, and Steve couldn’t help but grin.
One thing he’d learned in the past week—when Justin decided on something, he got it done.
There was still one more hurdle for Steve, though. Taking a deep breath, he squeezed his mom’s hand.
“Mom, there’s something I need to tell you.” Across the table, he could feel Chris’ compassionate gaze focus on him, feel his brother’s unspoken support. It made it much easier to just say the words. “I’m gay.”
His mom didn’t even blink, just smiled and squeezed his hand back. “Thank you for telling me, sweetheart.”
“You knew?” he asked, confused by her lack of reaction before realizing what it meant.
“I suspected,” she admitted.
“Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“Because you didn’t seem ready to talk about it. And well, with the way your father is, I thought maybe it was better we didn’t yet.” Remorse filled her eyes. “I’m sorry if that was the wrong choice. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately.”
“I think we all feel that way,” Chris said, looking back and forth between them. “And none of us have been very good about communicating with each other. I think it’s time we started working on that and stop letting dad speak for all of us. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Steve said immediately.
Their mom slowly nodded. “What now?”
“Now, we eat lunch and figure out what to do next,” Chris said firmly. He grinned at their mom. “So. Want to come to a wedding tomorrow?”
Squeezing both of her sons’ hands, her laughter was joyous.
Jessica
Holy crap, she was going to meet Chris’ mom.
Justin had been texting her updates throughout the day, ever since they’d left to go meet Chris’ mom for lunch. Which, of course, meant she’d been keeping her friends updated, and they’d been doing their best to keep her distracted so she didn’t turn into a ball of pure anxiety.
“You told her she can come stay with us, right?” she asked, pressing the phone to her ear. Her friends were doing their best to be quiet, but like her, they were full of questions, and even though they were whispering, it was like having a bunch of white noise while she was trying to hear what Justin was saying.
He chuckled. “Yes, Chris and I didn’t think you would mind.”
“Of course, I don’t! Anything to get her away from that—” She cut herself off before she called Chris’ dad something truly heinous. He was still Chris’ dad after all.
If one family member remained estranged, she wouldn’t be unhappy, but in case Chris did ever want to reconcile with his father, she was trying to be good. After all, she’d had some unkind thoughts about his mom and brother, which she now felt a little guilty about.
Justin didn’t come out and say Chris’ mom had been abused, but that’s what it sounded like to her. She had a freaking allowance, no income of her own, totally under her husband’s thumb. And he was cheating on her and had been for years, while she had to maintain the image of a loving wife with a happy family. Maybe he’d never hit her, but that wasn’t the only way to abuse someone.
“That’s how Chris and I felt,” he said. “I’ve already talked to Freddy, and we’ve got things rolling.”
“Wait, why did you talk to Freddy?” she asked, confused.
There was a pause.
“Honey, Freddy works for one of the most highly regarded divorce lawyers in the area.”
“He does?” Wow, now Jessica felt like a bad friend. When she talked to Freddy, it all tended to be about Stronghold or sexy stuff. He never talked about work unless he was talking about running the front desk at Stronghold.
“Yes, and he’s not badly regarded either, even though he’s not as scary as she is,” Justin said, sounding amused. “You can ask him about it tonight if you want.”
Right. He’d be at the rehearsal and dinner. He was a good enough friend, she’d asked him to a do a reading, but she was a bad friend who hadn’t ever asked about his day job. Who hadn’t even known he was a lawyer.
“Jess?” Hilary came up next to her, looking apologetic. “We’ve gotta get going if we’re going to get changed and get your hair and makeup done before the rehearsal.”
“Right, sorry.” She turned her attention back to the phone. “Did you hear that?”
“Yes. I’ll see you in a bit. Love you, sweetheart.”
“Love you too. Tell Chris I love him too. Um. Do you think his mom will like me?”
“She’s going to love you. Don’t worry about it, okay? I’ll see you soon. Bye.”
“Bye.” Jessica hung up the phone and turned to look at Hilary, panic starting to trickle in.
“Chris’ mom is coming to the rehearsal. She’s totally going to hate me, right?”
The trepidation on Hilary’s face was not reassuring.
Chapter 13
Chris
“Do you think she’s going to hate me?” his mom asked nervously as he escorted her into the galleria where he’d be getting married tomorrow.
They’d spent the entire afternoon together, Chris, Mom, and Steve, taking over a table at a local coffee shop where they could sit and talk and catch up. Mostly Chris had talked about Justin and Jessica; the former had gone back home to finish up their honeymoon arrangements. Chris and Steve had brought their mom to Chris’ house, so they could change into their suits for the evening, giving her time to look around his house and see all the pictures there.
It seemed to have reassured her he was doing exactly what he wanted to be doing, and he was happy with his choices. On the other hand, it had also made her very nervous.
“Of course not,” he said. “You’re my mom.”
“I haven’t been a very good mom,” she fretted. Chris didn’t really know what to say. In some ways, she hadn’t been, but on the other hand, she’d been trying to take care of herself, and he couldn’t blame her for that.
While he wished she’d been willing to leave the senator sooner, willing to talk to him and Steve and ask for help, he understood why she hadn’t. Even now, he could tell how guilty she felt over accepting their freely offered money and help, but he wasn’t going to let that get in the way of helping her.
“Jessica doesn’t hate anyone,” he replied, avoiding addressing his mom’s statement. It was true, after all. She’d even tried to be nice to Jared’s ex while they were still together, and Marissa was one of the few people in the world he’d be willing to apply the C-word to.
Turning slightly, Justin smiled at them over his shoulder. “I told her you were coming, Mrs. O’Neal. I’ve kept her updated on everything that’s happened today. Do you know what the first thing she asked was?” He didn’t wait for Chris’ mom to guess, not that she would have, anyway. Chris could practically feel her tension vibrating down his arm. “She wanted to make sure I’d offered you a place with us.”
“Oh...” Chris’ mom said softly, her free hand coming up to her lips. “Oh... that’s very kind.”
“She’s great, Mom,” Steve said from behind them. “You’re going to love her.”
