Chapter 28
Benson
After showing me their walls of paintings, Parker leads us out of their bedroom and back into the living room.
This house is so cool. I’ve never seen anything like it. Outside of the crystal collection, Liz has tapestries hanging from nearly every wall. All the furniture is low to the ground. To create a peaceful, calm environment, she’d said, a small grin tugging at her lips.
Parker looks so much like her. They have the same bright blue eyes and white-blond hair. The same slope to their noses, and even a similar bone structure. She’s adorable, and I love her to pieces already.
Plus, she’s already won major points with me by affirming Landon the way she did. “What’s your dad’s name?” I ask, glancing at Parker.
“Bob.”
Landon and I both burst into laughter. “Are you fucking with me?”
Parker shakes their head, a bemused grin on their lips. “No? Why would I fuck with you about that?”
I narrow my eyes. “You’ve gotta be lying. What kind of person is all woo-woo and the universe this and crystals that and is named Bob?”
Parker shrugs, a smile dancing on their gorgeous face. “My dad.”
Landon chuckles. “His name is really Bob?”
“Yes.” Parker laughs. “What’s so hard to believe about this?”
“Baby,” I say, trying to reason with them. “Bob. Bob. Bob is married to the hippie woman with a living room full of healing crystals?”
At this point, Parker is nearly doubled over. “Yes. I really don’t know what to tell you. Although, I will concede that he was largely normal until he met my mom. Worked a corporate suit-and-tie job even.”
“Seriously?” Landon asks, laughing.
“Seriously.” I nearly jump out of my skin, turning around and coming face-to-face with a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair and tanned skin. “The universe works in mysterious ways. You have to listen when She talks to you.”
“See!” Parker nearly shouts. “I told you. Did I not say almost those exact same words?”
“It’s nice to meet you. Yes, I am indeed Bob.” Parker’s dad holds his hand out, so I step forward to shake it.
“It’s nice to meet you too. I’m Ben.”
“And I’m Landon,” Lan says, stepping up beside me and shaking Bob’s hand when I’m done. “I’m sorry if we made you upset.”
Oh, my heart.
Bob laughs. “Not at all. It’s true. I was just a lonely man in a suit and tie until my Liz came storming into my life.”
“Your Liz could use some help in the kitchen,” she shouts out of sight, and Bob’s eyes light up.
“Love calls.”
He turns quickly, disappearing from sight.
“Love calls?” I question.
Parker groans. “Yeah, like duty calls, but love instead. He’d never say Mom was a duty. Never. So instead of ‘duty calls,’ he says, ‘love calls.’”
Landon’s smile grows. “That might be the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“They’re, like, in love, in love, aren’t they?” I ask, unable to fight my own smile.
“Grossly in love,” Parker confirms. “It used to be so embarrassing, but now…” A small grin graces their lips. “Now I really love it.”
I bet it was hard for them to have what they thought was love like that with Lincoln, only for it to turn out so wrong.
The fear makes sense to me, maybe in a way it hasn’t before.
Seeing a love like their parents’ and growing up in a house like this, with love and acceptance seeping into every square inch, must set the bar incredibly high.
And then to have it all ripped away? To be surrounded by love and acceptance and joy only to have the love and acceptance and joy you thought you’d found crumble around you? Devastating.
I stare at Parker’s profile, watching their sweet smile as they show Landon all the little knickknacks sitting throughout the living room, and my heart nearly swells to breaking point.
Stepping closer to the two of them, I interrupt their conversation by wrapping my arm around Parker’s stomach and tugging them back against my body. They let out a surprised noise. “What are you doing?”
“Hugging you.” I bury my face in their hair, inhaling their scent. “Your parents are amazing.”
Parker laughs. “Yeah, they are. I got really lucky.”
Landon’s face does something complicated, twisting up into a grimace before he has a chance to relax his features.
“You okay, Cutie?”
He nods. “I’m fine.”
He’s nervous. Nervous about talking to his mom, if I had to guess. “It can wait, you know. For as long as you need it to.”
Shaking his head, he sighs, and Parker reaches out to pull him into our hug.
With Parker between us, I cup the nape of Landon’s neck, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“I need to tell her. Putting it off won’t change anything.
She’ll react how she reacts. I’m not ashamed.
And I’m not wrong. And if she won’t accept that… ” He shrugs.
“If she doesn’t accept that, then she’s missing out,” Parker says.
“Exactly,” I agree.
Shooting me a small smile, Landon steps out of our embrace. “Let’s go see what smells so good. I didn’t come here for dinner to think about my mom the whole time.”
I’m still worried about him, but if he wants to move on from the topic, there isn’t much I can do.
Parker steps away from me but takes my hand and then Landon’s before leading us into the kitchen.
I can’t help but smile as I take in the scene. Liz is by the stove, pulling the turkey out of the oven, and Bob is leaning against the counter, heart eyes out in full force. My parents are happy, and they love each other, but it’s nothing like this.
“Dinner’s just about done,” Liz says, carefully placing the turkey on the stovetop. “Once my honey gets the turkey carved, we’ll be ready to eat.”
Bob turns to us with a grin. “I’m not allowed to touch the turkey until it’s time to carve it. It’s a crime, really.”
Parker scoffs. “And why’s that? Don’t leave out the why.”
Liz laughs, the same light, musical laugh as Parker.
“I messed it up one year,” Bob says solemnly.
Parker drops our hands, turning to face us. “By ‘messed it up one year,’ he means he poked a hole in the bottom of the pan while Mom had mac and cheese baking underneath it. The juice spilled into the mac.” Scrunching their nose up, they shudder. “It was disgusting.”
“Oh, dear, it wasn’t that bad,” Liz says.
“Of course not, Mom,” they say, glancing over their shoulder before turning back to Lan and me. “Yes, it was that bad. Anyway, now Dad isn’t allowed to touch the turkey.”
“I’m sure the turkey flavor was really good. Maybe like a smoked flavor or something,” Lan says, shrugging.
“No.” Parker shakes their head resolutely. “It was not good. It did not taste smoked. It tasted like an abomination against Thanksgiving.”
I bite my lip hard to keep from laughing. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Liz dries her freshly washed hands before turning to me with a smile. “How sweet. You can help me set the table. Parker can show you where everything is.”
The three of us work together to get the table set. It’s fun.
“My mom would never have all this mismatched stuff,” Landon says, placing a plate on the fall-themed tablecloth. “She’s got a set she only pulls out for Thanksgiving. I like this. It feels… homey.”
Liz hums. “That’s the point, darling. Life is a mismatch of things.
And we’re a melting pot of all the people who have touched our lives.
This is like that.” She gestures to the plate Landon just set out.
It’s ceramic, with what looks like a hand-painted fall scene.
“I got this from a flea market. It was the only one they had left. I don’t know its story.
Or how it came to be all alone, but when I saw it, something told me I needed to bring it home with me, so I did. ”
She moves around the table, placing dish after dish in the center.
“And now, it gets to be at the same table as all of us, bringing us closer together. Proof that even things that seem like they shouldn’t fit sometimes do. Just maybe not in the way you thought they would.”
Touching the edge of the plate, she smiles. “It’s just a silly plate, but it’s been through many family dinners. Darcy uses it every time he’s here. He loves it.”
Parker playfully rolls their eyes. “See what I mean.”
Liz laughs. “Oh, hush, kid. Let me do my thing.” She looks around the table. “Well, dinner is served. Everyone, take a seat.”
Landon glances around before sitting down in the chair in front of the plate he just set out. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face if I tried.
After dinner, we all pile into the living room.
“The low-to-the-ground couches are kind of everything,” I say, leaning back and stretching my arms around Parker and Landon.
“Aren’t they?” Liz says. “I got them after hearing that they create a feeling of unity and closeness.”
Well, they’re definitely doing that. Though, I don’t need couches for that with Park and Lan. Parker sighs, drawing their knees up and sinking into my side.
“I’m so full,” they complain, their voice more whiny than I’ve ever heard it. “I ate way too much. Haven’t had a good meal like that in a while.”
“What do you survive on at school?” Bob asks, sitting down beside Liz, who almost instantly curls up against his side.
Parker waves a hand in the air. “You don’t wanna know. Junk. Too much junk.”
Landon’s a little stiff beside me, his posture almost perfectly straight. “You alright, Cutie?” I whisper, leaning close to him so no one overhears.
“I’m alright.”
“Relax a bit. Come here.” I tighten my arm around his shoulders, happy when he almost instantly relaxes into my side. Fuck. This is perfection. I love having the two of them in my arms. Nothing in the world is better.
“So, what are you boys majoring in?” Liz asks.
Landon clears his throat. “General Studies. Haven’t quite figured out what I want to do with my life.”
“Nothing wrong with that. Sometimes you have to let the universe guide you. She knows what you need, as long as you listen.”