Chapter 69
Mel thought the look on Alfie’s face could be termed chagrined. Maybe they’d gotten their point across with a few words. Then Rhys was there, throwing an arm around Mel’s shoulder and grinning at all of them.
Their chest shouldn’t warm at Rhys referring to them as one of his favorite people. Especially when they could tell it was a joke to cover… something. Some vulnerability that had come up during his appointment, maybe. They had quickly figured out that was something he did.
How did no one else ever notice it?
They glanced over at Alfie and saw his brows were pinched together.
Maybe they were wrong and someone else did notice.
Was he going to do anything about it, though?
Mel turned their attention to Rhys. It wasn't up to them to fix things between these two.
Even if they might have nudged them in the right direction. Hopefully.
“How did it go?” they asked, leaving it up to him to reveal as much as he wanted in front of the others.
“I’m unique,” he said.
“We knew that,” they said. “What did they actually say?”
“Oh, you know. My brain is different, just need to find a way to work with it. I’m not as hopeless a cause as I was led to believe. Like I said, unique.”
Mel knew he wanted them to laugh, but his words made their chest ache. That anyone ever made him feel that way. The same way their parents were making the twins feel about themselves. The same way they’d made Mel feel, just because they hadn’t fit in the perfect academic box.
“You’re definitely not a lost cause.” They didn’t trust themself to manage more right now.
“Campos, don’t forget to ice that wrist, so you’ll be able to start tomorrow.”
Rhys looked from the man who had spoken and back to Alfie. Mel might have felt invisible in that moment if Rhys’s arm hadn’t still been slung around their shoulders. “What happened to your wrist?” Rhys asked.
“He tried to catch a bounce above the glove,” the man said. “It’ll be fine if he takes care of it. You’ll see to that, won’t you, Molson? I don’t want both of you to have to sit out the beginning of this series.”
“Of course, Skip.” Mel was watching Rhys and he didn’t glance away from Alfie’s face. The skipper had already turned away.
“I have ice at my place,” Mel said. “We can all—” Their phone buzzed, and they pulled it out of their pocket.
Mom
Bring the girls home now.
That could not be good. Especially if their mother was home in the middle of the day. They looked at their siblings. “Mom has summoned us.” They looked back at Rhys. “You could still take him to my place. Hopefully this won’t take long.”
“Or we can go to my apartment,” Rhys said. “I do have ice there. You can come by when you’re done.”
That could work, too. “That would give the two of you a chance to talk.” Rhys’s brows furrowed at the emphasis they put on that last word, but Alfie’s face stayed neutral.
Maybe he got their point at least. “I’ll bring dinner by, or we could go out.
” Or if they had the twins with them, maybe both of them could come over.
Mel had a feeling once they talked there wouldn’t be any separating them. That might be the end of whatever they had been building with Rhys, but maybe…well, they weren’t going to jinx it by thinking too hard about it.
“Yeah,” Rhys said slowly, and Mel hoped they weren’t making a mistake.
They didn’t know if any of them could move forward until Rhys and Alfie figured their shit out.
They saw the way he looked at Alfie, and it was similar to what they’d seen in his eyes the night before when he’d looked at them.
They certainly wouldn’t make him choose. “Give me a call when you’re done.”
Mel leaned forward and ran their lips over his cheek. “I’ll do that,” they promised.
Mel’s mother waited by the door and tore into Mel as soon as they stepped into the kitchen. “I cannot believe you would do this.”
Denny stepped between them, but their mother barely looked at them. “Go to your room, both of you.”
Mel put a hand on Denny’s shoulder before they could argue. “It will be fine,” they told their siblings.
Their mother barely waited for Denny and Sonia to leave the room before she continued her tirade.
“I trusted you.” Mel hadn’t even said a word in their own defense yet.
Not that it would have done any good. Once their mother decided someone had wronged her, there was no turning her away from it.
“Your sisters should be focusing on their studies, not whatever whims they’ve come up with this time. ”
“It’s summer vacation,” Mel finally said. “They don’t have any studies right now.”
“Well, they should. Or Denise would not be getting these ridiculous ideas in her head. To think she’d actually be able to play baseball. Then to post all over social media about it.”
One post. Denny made one post about meeting the Ocelot players. “They prefer to be called Denny,” Mel reminded their mother.
“Don’t change the subject, Melanie.”
That felt very pointed. Mel tried to ignore it and stay on track. “Denny’s a lot more clear-headed than you give them credit for. They understand their chance of playing professionally is even lower than for others. They still love the sport. What does it hurt for them to have this for one day?”
“You would not understand. You aren’t a parent yet. I only want what’s best for her. What’s best for both of them.”
Yet she refused to respect the name or pronouns Denny used.
Mel knew if they could recite all the statistics for what it meant for queer teens to have an accepting home in a calm manner, it might get through to their mother.
Except, they’d never been able to debate without getting worked up.
Instead they latched on to one of their mother’s other comments.
“How would I not understand what being a parent is like, Mom? I’ve practically raised both of them from the time they were born. When I was barely even eleven. I’ve probably had more impact on their development than you or dad.”
“That’s the problem. They might be willing to follow our plans for them if you didn’t have so much influence.”
Mel wanted to throw their hands up in the air. There was no way to win with their mother. “What do you want me to do? You wanted me to watch over them like they’re still five. But, what? I’m not supposed to support their interests?”
“You’re supposed to help reinforce our teachings. They need to go to college to have a decent future. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want that for them.”
“I do want them to have a future, but they don’t want the one you’ve pictured for them. Why can’t you understand that?”
“You can’t speak to me like that in my own house. Get out. We don’t need your help any longer.”
“Is that all I’m good for, Mom? The help I can provide with the twins. Is that my only purpose in this family?”
“You’re overreacting, Melanie. I’m not discussing this with you when you’re so emotional.”
“Well, I’m sorry I can’t shut mine off the way you do.
” They stormed out of the house, feeling their keys shaking in their hand as they approached their car.
They shouldn’t let their mother get to them.
She had always been good at turning things around and making them Mel’s fault.
No matter how hard they tried to do what she wanted.
They weren’t trying to mold their siblings into people they could never be. Mel hoped she wouldn’t keep the twins away from Mel as a way to punish all of them.
Mel almost drove home and got themself a large bowl of ice cream to drown their feelings in. They'd told Rhys they’d come over. If he still wanted to see them.
If he wasn’t already buried in Alfie.
They tried to shake off that image, but it stuck its claws in them. It was making them feel some way. They just didn’t think it was all jealousy.