Chapter Fifty-Three Charlotte
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
CHARLOTTE
It’s basically mainstream now
M Y DAD ’ S BIRTHDAY IS THE WEEK BEFORE GRADUATION, SO I TAKE A DAY off from the lab to drive out to Hamden for lunch. I’m always happy to see my family, but I can’t fight the nervous flutter in my chest. I have so much to tell them today. Like, a lot of shit to tell them.
And maybe Dad’s birthday isn’t the time to do it, but I’ve learned my lesson after the Harrison fiasco. I’m not keeping secrets from my family anymore.
“Hi, peanut!” Dad greets me at the door with his usual bear hug. “Glad you made it.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” I smile, hugging him back before stepping inside.
Mom is already in hostess mode, humming as she sets the dining room table. Ava is home from New York this weekend, and she’s prepping a salad in the kitchen when I walk in, while Dad goes to rejoin Oliver out on the back patio. Oliver’s wife is absent—he mentioned in our family group chat that Kat had to work this weekend.
Ava and I set the table. We’re eating in the dining room because it’s still too cold to sit on the patio. Oliver and Dad are grilling the steaks in the backyard, bundled up in hoodies and hats.
After lunch, Mom passes us plates of birthday cake, and the Kingston tradition of sharing our met goals and accomplishments promptly commences.
“Char, why don’t you kick us off?” Mom says. “Any news about grad school?”
There it is. The opening.
I set down my fork and say, “I was accepted into every grad school I applied to except for two.”
“Which two?” Dad asks immediately, and I know he’s praying inside that it wasn’t MIT.
“Copenhagen and Melbourne.”
Oliver grins. “Whoa, you weren’t kidding when you told me you applied to some ‘randoms.’” He air quotes me.
“Yeah, well…” I shrug. “I got into a few of the randoms too. And I’ve been strongly considering, um, Sydney.”
“Australia?” Dad raises his eyebrows. “That’s a long way from here.”
“I know. And I get it—the University of Sydney isn’t as elite as an Ivy, but the biomed program is strong, and…I think I might go.”
The table falls quiet.
Mom is frowning at me. “That’s wonderful that you got in, honey, but we didn’t even know you were applying overseas. Why did you keep that from us?”
“I wanted to wait for the acceptance letters before I decided anything.” I fiddle with my dessert fork, avoiding their eyes. “And, um, since we’re talking about things I’ve kept from you—”
Ava groans. “No. Don’t you dare tell us you have another biological sibling.”
“No, nothing like that.” I swallow, the pressure mounting. This is it. “It’s about my boyfriend. Will. And…uh…Beckett.”
“Beckett?” My mom tilts her head, confused. “Will’s roommate?”
I exhale in a rush. “I’m seeing Beckett too. I’m in love with both of them.”
The confession hangs over us like a mushroom cloud. For a split second, I regret everything. And I’m not even done yet.
“We’re all moving to Sydney together.”
More silence.
My parents are staring at me like I told them I just saw a unicorn in the backyard. Ava’s jaw is scraping the floor. And my brother…well, he has a strange look in his eye, which I can’t decipher, and before I can even try, Oliver blurts out the mother of all bombs.
“I’m getting a divorce.”
We all spin toward him. My mom’s fork clatters onto her dessert plate.
I blink. “Wait, what?”
He slumps back in his chair. “I wasn’t gonna say anything, but apparently today is let’s spill all our secrets day, so…yeah. Katherine and I are getting a divorce.”
“A divorce?” Mom echoes.
“Yes,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s been a long time coming—we’ve been having problems for a while. But we didn’t want to say anything during the holidays, and then the longer I kept it from you, the harder it’s been to say it. And, well…here we are.”
I gawk at him. “You’re seriously dropping this news now? At Dad’s birthday lunch?”
“Me? Really?” Oliver shoots back. “You literally just dropped an ‘I’ve got two boyfriends’ bomb. At Dad’s birthday lunch. So it just seemed like the time to—”
“I’m a lesbian,” Ava blurts out.
What is happening right now!
My gaze is bouncing around the table like a Ping-Pong ball. My parents look the same way they do when I’m trying to show them how to use a new app on their phones. Mystified and outraged. I don’t think they’re mad at the news we’re sharing but that it’s all coming out now. In Ava’s case, literally coming out.
“You’re a lesbian?” I exclaim. “Since when?” She’s only ever dated guys. Publicly anyway.
Now that all eyes are on her, Ava blushes, squirming in her seat. “I’m a late bloomer, it seems. To be honest, I thought I was asexual for a long time. I’ve never been attracted to any of the men I dated, but I also wasn’t drawn to women either. But, um, the boyfriend I’ve been telling you guys about? Ash? That’s my girlfriend. Her name’s Ashley.”
For a beat, nobody moves. Dad sits with his fork halfway to his mouth, frozen.
Then, all at once, the tension breaks.
I laugh, the absurdity of the situation hitting me. I glance at my parents. “Swear to God, if you two tell us you’re swingers or something…”
Dad finally puts his fork down, shaking his head with a grin. “Absolutely not.”
Mom, meanwhile, wears an uncertain expression as she looks around the table. “Just so I’m clear—were you all keeping these significant life changes from us because you thought we would disapprove?”
Oliver is first to answer. “No. I was just embarrassed,” he admits. “Never saw myself as being a divorcé.”
A sheepish Ava goes next. “I didn’t think that either. I was still coming to terms with it myself. I guess I needed the time to work through it.” She glances at me. “That’s why I never said a word about the Harrison thing, Char. It was frustrating seeing you keep it from everyone, but I was doing the same thing, so I stopped pushing the issue.”
I nod. It makes sense now. I was always so surprised she didn’t tell my parents about Harrison.
“Charlotte?” Mom prompts.
I lick my suddenly dry lips. “I thought you might disapprove,” I confess. “Dating two guys isn’t exactly normal.”
“Nah, poly’s all the rage,” my sister argues. “It’s basically mainstream now.”
I shrug. “I have two boyfriends. That’s fucking weird, okay?”
Oliver snorts.
Mom speaks up again, her tone brooking no arguments. “Guys, here’s the thing: we love you. All of you. For who you are. It doesn’t matter if you have two boyfriends or no boyfriends or you’re getting divorced or dating a girl. We love you, and nothing will ever change that.”
Dad nods, his usual laid-back demeanor settling back into place. “Yeah. As long as you’re happy, we’re happy.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I expected awkwardness, maybe even disappointment, but instead, they’re just…accepting. Like it isn’t a big deal.
Mom notices my expression and offers a gentle smile. “If you love this second boy, sweetheart, then we want to meet him too. Invite him and Will over. It’ll take some getting used to, sure, but if they make you happy, that’s what matters.”
I blink back tears, overwhelmed by how simple she makes it sound. I’d spent so long worrying about how they’d react, about keeping everything a secret, and here they are, telling me it’s okay. That I’m okay.
For the first time in a long time, I feel truly secure—both in my choices and in my family’s unwavering love.
“And if you really want to attend grad school in Sydney, we’ll support it,” she adds. “We don’t care about whether you attend an elite school, Char. We care about you following your heart. But gosh, we’ll miss you so fucking much.”
I grin in amazement. “You just cursed.” Mom never curses.
“That’s how much I’ll fucking miss you,” she says, and everyone bursts out laughing.
Later, I’m clearing the table with Ava, listening to her tell me about Ashley—who sounds both really cool and really strange—when the message I’ve been waiting for lights up my phone.
HARRISON:
Be there in 5.
I bite my lip as I study the screen. Nerves gather in my stomach.
Ava nudges me with her shoulder. “Is that him?”
I nod. “He’ll be here soon.”
This is the part of the day I’ve been stressing about the most. Harrison is in town again this weekend. Because I invited him. I saw him last night, and we sat in Will and Beck’s kitchen, talking for hours.
It took me a while to respond to the long letter he sent me on the app. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue a relationship with him. If it was worth it. The heartache, the pain, the guilt. But I was wrong when I told my parents that with Tiger gone, so were all links to my past.
I still have a link. Harrison. And if he’s willing to start fresh and try to build something that’s free of guilt and resentment, then so am I.
When I open the front door, I find a terrified Harrison on the porch. He’s dressed in perfectly pressed khakis, a white button-down shirt, and loafers rather than his trademark sneakers. In his hand, he holds a bouquet of pink peonies. My mom’s favorite flower.
“Hi,” he says nervously.
Tears sting my eyes. “You brought my mom flowers?”
He nods. “Is that bad?”
“No. She’ll love it.”
“Do I look okay?” he asks, shifting his feet.
A smile tickles my lips. “You look…like you’re applying for a job.”
“Shit.”
“No, it’s fine. By the way, you showed up on the weirdest day ever. Everyone just unloaded their deepest, darkest secrets over chocolate birthday cake with blue sprinkles.”
“I’m intrigued. Is one of them a serial killer with a torture dungeon?” he cracks, and I love this lighter, sarcastic side of him. It’s like he’s truly lowered his walls since we agreed to that clean slate.
“No. But I did find out my sister’s new girlfriend is a mortician.” I pull him inside. “C’mon. Let me introduce you to my family.”