Chapter 5
Inviting Them Along
Sharon and Paul arrived at Rainier Clinic fifteen minutes before Alex’s weekly therapy session was due to end. Joshua met them in the waiting area and gestured toward the hallway.
“Thanks for coming in early,” he said. “We wanted a chance to talk with you for a bit before Alex finishes up with Ryan.”
Sharon’s brows lifted slightly, but she nodded. “OK.”
Joshua led them down the hallway to his office. Colin was already there, jacket off, sleeves rolled up, sitting in one of the chairs across from Joshua’s desk. He stood when they entered.
“Hey,” he said. “Thanks for coming.”
“Of course,” Sharon said, though her voice carried a thread of wariness. “You said on the phone you wanted to discuss some details about the tour?”
Joshua gestured to the small couch against the wall. “Have a seat. We wanted to follow up in person about what we mentioned when we called earlier this week.”
Sharon and Paul settled on the couch and scooted closer to each other. The body language of parents who’d been through hard conversations and were bracing for another.
Colin pulled his chair a little nearer, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “So, you know we’re doing an outreach tour,” he said. “What we didn’t get into on the phone was... we’d like Alex to be part of it.”
Paul blinked. “Part of it how?”
“As a peer counselor,” Joshua said. “Last summer at Camp Pride, he asked if he could help out this year. He was really good with the younger kids. Patient. Real. They trusted him in a way they didn’t always trust the adults.”
Colin nodded. “He’s got something we can’t manufacture,” he said. “He knows what it’s like to feel alone. To be scared. To wonder if anyone’s going to show up.” His voice softened. “When he tells a kid, ‘I get it,’ they believe him. Because he does.”
Sharon’s hand found Paul’s. “And you want him to come with you,” she said slowly. “For two weeks?”
“No. Not for the whole tour,” Joshua said quickly.
He handed Paul a list of the cities they would be visiting.
“We wouldn’t ask that, and we wouldn’t want it.
Some of the towns we’re going to...” He glanced at Colin.
“Some of them are going to be harder than others.” He indicated the paper in Paul’s hand.
“You’ll note that one of them is crossed out. ”
“Riskier,” Colin added bluntly. “There are stops where we wouldn’t take him under any circumstances.” He leaned toward the parents. “You know how I feel about safety. You know it’s my top priority. Alex won’t be anywhere I haven’t cleared as 100 percent safe.”
Paul’s jaw tightened, while Sharon, who was leaning against his arm, nodded. “Understood.”
“But the first stop,” Joshua went on, “Farmville—that one’s solid. The school counselor there, Kyle Mendoza, he’s organized, committed, and the environment is completely safe. We thought...” He paused, meeting Sharon’s eyes. “We thought maybe Alex could come for that one. And maybe you could too.”
Sharon’s eyebrows lifted. “Us?”
Colin nodded. “Come with us to Farmville. See how it all works—meet Kyle, watch the sessions. And if you’re willing, talk with parents who need support.”
Joshua added, “Most of these families have no one who understands. Hearing from another parent who’s walked that road can mean a lot.”
Paul asked, “You want us to… run a session?”
Joshua shook his head. “No. Just be there. Maybe share what’s helped, answer questions. Sometimes, what a scared parent needs most is someone who’s been there, saying, ‘It’s hard, but you’re not alone.’”
Sharon nodded. “We could do that.”
“We’d like you to,” Colin said. “Because you’ve got something we can’t offer.
We can talk about psychology, safety, and legal protections.
But we can’t say, ‘I’m a parent who was scared and uncertain, and here’s how we figured it out together.
’” He met Sharon’s eyes. “That’s your story. It’s important. It’s worth telling.”
Joshua leaned toward them. “This is new territory for all of us. Having you there for the first stop would...” He glanced at Colin. “It would matter. To Alex and to us.”
Sharon was quiet for a moment, fingers laced with Paul’s. “And after Farmville?” she asked.
“Then we talk again,” Joshua said. “If you feel good about how it went, and if Alex wants to continue, we’d propose bringing him to one or two other stops. Probably Onancock—that’s another solid one. Maybe the last stop, Smithfield, so he could finish the tour with us.”
“But not Wise?” Paul asked, indicating the paper in his hand.
“Absolutely not Wise,” Colin confirmed. “Not any town where I get a bad feeling. If I walk into a place and my gut says ‘no,’ we don’t bring him. Period. That’s nonnegotiable.”
Sharon’s eyes went bright. “He’d love this,” she whispered. “Being able to help.”
“He would,” Joshua agreed. “We talked to Ryan about it, and he thinks it could be really good for Alex. Not just the kids he’d be helping, but for Alex himself. He’s spent a lot of his life feeling powerless. This would give him a chance to be the person who shows up for someone else.”
Colin leaned forward. “But we’re not asking you to say yes today. We’re asking you to think about it. Talk to Alex. If you have concerns—any concerns—we want to hear them.”
Paul asked, “What would Alex actually do?”
Colin handed over a rough schedule. “Mornings are setup and prep. Afternoons and evenings, we run listening circles, workshops, journaling with Nate, and safety talks.”
Joshua said, “Alex would mostly just be present—helping, joining the circles, being there if a kid needs a friendly face. Nothing heavy. And he’s never alone; one of us, or Nate, or Trent is always there.”
“All of us will be watching him,” Colin assured them. “Nate will be there. Trent’s driving the bus and staying with us the whole time. David’s going to try to meet us for a few days when UVA lets him off the hook.” He met Sharon’s gaze. “Alex won’t be alone. Ever.”
Sharon reached out and touched his hand. “Colin, I never would have questioned that.”
Paul studied the schedule, then looked up. “You said Farmville is the first stop. When?”
“Mid-June,” Joshua said. “We’re aiming for June 15th and 16th.”
Sharon drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “And if we come with him to Farmville and decide no, this isn’t right for him. Or for us. You’d be OK with that?”
“Absolutely,” Joshua said. “No guilt, no pressure. This is an invitation, not an expectation.”
Colin’s voice dropped. “Look,” he said. “You know we love him. But he’s your son. From day one in our relationship with him, the unbreakable rule has always been: your parents have the final say. Period. He knows that.”
Joshua glanced at his watch. “Alex should be finishing up with Ryan any minute now. Ready to tell him?”
Sharon nodded, and Paul squeezed her hand.
Joshua stood. “I’ll go get him.”
He walked down the hallway and knocked lightly on Ryan’s office door before opening it. Alex looked up from where he was sitting, backpack already slung over one shoulder.
“Hey, Josh,” Ryan said, standing. “We just wrapped up. Good timing.”
“Alex,” Joshua said, “your folks are here, and we’d like to talk to you about something. Can you come to my office for a few minutes?”
Alex’s gaze sharpened as he looked between Joshua and Ryan. “OK,” he said slowly. “Am I in trouble?”
Ryan smiled. “You’re not in trouble. I’ll see you next week, OK?”
Alex nodded and followed Joshua down the hallway. When they entered Joshua’s office, Alex saw his parents sitting on the couch, with Colin standing nearby, and his eyes slightly widened.
“What’s going on?” he asked, trying for nonchalant and failing. “Why are Mom and Dad here?”
Paul patted the couch beside him. “Come sit, son. We’ve got something to run by you.”
Alex crossed the room slowly and dropped onto the couch between his parents. “Seriously, if I’m in trouble, just tell me.”
“No,” Sharon said immediately, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “Not even close.”
Joshua settled back into his chair and leaned forward, hands clasped. “Alex, do you remember last summer when you asked about being a peer counselor at the next Camp Pride?”
“Yeah! Are we going back to Verdun?”
“Nope. We’re doing an outreach bus tour this summer,” Joshua said.
“Visiting towns that don’t have the resources we had at Verdun.
We’re going to run listening circles, workshops, one-on-one sessions, the usual gamey stuff—basically a traveling version of Camp Pride for kids who have no one available to talk to or help them. ”
“And we wondered,” Colin added, “if you’d want to be part of it. Not the whole tour—but maybe the first stop, in Farmville. And a couple others, if it goes well.”
Alex stared at them, eyes wide. “Wait—really? You want me to come?”
“That’s the idea,” Colin said.
Clearly excited, Alex turned to Sharon and Paul, eyes searching their faces. “Are you—you’re gonna let me, aren’t you?”
“We’re thinking about it,” Paul said carefully. “Colin and Josh invited us to come along for the first stop. See what it’s like. Make sure we’re comfortable before we decide anything.”
“You’d come too?” Alex asked.
Sharon nodded. “Just for the first stop. Josh suggested we might help out by talking with some of the parents while you talk with their kids.”
Alex’s mouth curved into a smile. “So, I’d get to... help? Actually help kids who are going through stuff?”
“That’s the idea,” Colin said. “You’d be there during the sessions, the talk circles. Talk to kids if they want to talk to you. Be a face that says, ‘Hey, I’ve been where you are. You’re not alone.’”
Alex looked down at his hands. “When would this happen?”
“Mid-June,” Joshua said. “Farmville first, two days.”
“And you really think I could do this?” Alex asked quietly. “Like, that I’d be good at it?”
Colin’s expression softened. “Kid, I watched you with the campers. You’ve got a gift for making scared kids feel safe.” His voice roughened slightly. “Yeah. I think you’d be good at it.”
Alex looked at his parents. “Please tell me you’re going to say ‘yes.’”
“We’re going to talk about it at home,” Sharon said, squeezing his shoulder. “Then we’ll decide.”
Paul stood and offered his hand to Colin. “Thanks for asking us,” he said. “Tell you the truth, I’m a bit nervous about it. Not sure I’m all that qualified.”
“You’re a father who loves his gay son,” Colin told him, shaking Paul’s hand. “That’s the only qualification you need.”
As Sharon, Paul, and Alex headed for the door, Alex paused and looked back at Joshua and Colin. “Hey,” he said. “Thanks, guys. For... asking me.”
Joshua smiled. “Always, kiddo.”
The door clicked shut behind them.
Colin dropped back into his chair and let out a long breath. “Well,” he said. “That went pretty damned well.”
“They’re not saying yes yet,” Joshua said.
“No,” Colin agreed. “But that’s how Sharon and Paul operate. When it comes to their kids, they think things through. But they’re not saying no either.”
Joshua nodded slowly. “Ryan thinks this could be one of the most important experiences of Alex’s life.
If he goes. He also said we need to be prepared for the possibility that it triggers old stuff.
Being in new places, around strangers, even with us there—his nervous system might not handle it as well as his brain wants it to. ”
“We’ll watch him,” Colin said. “Closely.”
“I know,” Joshua said quietly. “And we’ll make sure he knows that if he needs to stop, that’s OK. That’s not failure. That’s him using his voice.”
Colin reached over and squeezed Joshua’s shoulder. “He looked excited when we told him.”
“He did,” Joshua agreed.
Colin stood and grabbed his jacket. “They love him as much as we do. They’ll want him to have this.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Sweetheart,” Colin said, grinning as he held the door open. “C’mon! I’m always right!”
Joshua snorted. “Sorry. Lost my head for a second.”
They were both smiling as they stepped out into the late afternoon sun. Joshua nudged Colin’s arm and tilted his head toward the employee parking lot. The yellow bus sat there waiting, its bright paint gleaming in the late-afternoon sun like a promise they hadn’t quite made yet.
“God, it looks good,” Colin said, chuckling.
“I’m getting really excited about this,” Joshua said, his eyes still fixed on the bus.
“You made it happen, baby.”
“We made it happen.”