“Oh, look. Our littlest brother found someone who will put up with him.” Brad grabbed me and tried to put me in a headlock, rubbing his fist on my head to mess my hair up.
“Fuck off.” I shoved him away, and he laughed. At least he was being a dick to me. That meant he wasn’t being a judgmental asshole. I took Jameson’s hand again.
“Be nice to your brother,” Chloe said.
“Thanks.” I smiled at her.
“Giving you shit, baby bro.” He looked at Jameson. “What’s up?” Then turned away and headed for the house. “I wonder what Mom’s making for dinner tonight.” That was the extent of it. No nice to meet you. No happy birthday for me.
“Happy birthday, Will.” Chloe hugged me before rubbing her belly.
“I…don’t know what to say,” Jameson said softly, when she followed Brad into the house.
“I know. You don’t have to say anything. Let’s get this over with. The faster we get in there, the faster we can leave.”
Nolan was sitting on the couch when we walked in. “’Sup?” he said without looking at us. His girlfriend was probably working again.
Mom came around the corner from the kitchen. “Hi! Oh, my hands are wet. Let me dry them.” She did on her apron.
“Jameson, this is Silvia. Mom, this is my boyfriend, Jameson.”
“It’s so nice to meet you!” Mom had a huge smile plastered on her face. She looked like the Joker. She was trying to make a good impression but was going a bit too far in the we’re-a-happy-family-with-no-issues direction, and it just looked comical.
“It’s nice to meet you too. Will’s told me so much about you—and his brothers too. Thanks for having me. It’s great to meet you. Wait, I said that already. This is a beautiful home. Will grew up here. I can’t believe Will grew up here. I mean, not that there’s something wrong with here, but that I’m in it, here, I mean, or his house. Where he grew up.”
The room went quiet. Nolan pulled his attention away from the TV. Mom, Chloe, and Brad were looking at him too, and I could feel Jameson shrinking away.
“That was a mouthful,” Nolan said.
“Fuck you,” I told him.
“Will!” Mom shrieked.
“No, it’s fine,” Jameson said. “I ramble when I’m nervous. Go me.”
I thought what he said was the cutest thing in the world, but it was clear they weren’t sure what to make of him.
Mom recovered first. “Oh! Happy birthday, William.”
“Shit, I forgot it’s his happy oops day,” Brad said.
“Do you always have to be such a dick?” I asked him.
“Do you have to whine about it? You were always going to Mom as a kid. It’s called a joke. We all tease each other, but you’re the only one who gets butthurt about it.” He rolled his eyes, the meaning obvious. Because I was queer.
“Brad!” Chloe said sharply.
“Jesus. Why did I think this was a good idea? Let’s go.” I turned for the door, but Mom stopped me.
“Don’t go. Please.” She looked at Brad and Nolan. “You guys behave. We’re a family. We need to start acting like it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the three of us said at once.
“Please, sit down.”
We did as Mom said. The living room was quiet except for the television in the background. Jameson and I sat on the couch, his hand tight in mine. At first I thought I was holding on for his sake, but it wasn’t; it was for mine.
“So…how did the two of you meet?” Mom asked.
“I, um…” Jameson started, and I continued. “Through a friend.”
“And what do you do?” Mom asked next.
“I’m in school. I got my bachelor’s in sociology in June. I start my doctorate this fall.”
I knew what both Nolan and Brad were thinking—that Jameson was spoiled, that he had it easy because all he did was go to school—but thankfully they didn’t say anything.
Mom kept the conversation going. “What do you plan to do with your degree?”
“I’m leaning toward being a professor. I love research and teaching. I’m not great with people, obviously, but it’s different when I’m talking about sociology and the effects of different aspects on society as a whole. It’s really interesting if you take the time to look into how gender, sexuality, race, and economics affect our everyday lives—the patterns that keep repeating.”
I listened as Jameson continued talking to Mom. It was different from when he rambled. You could tell he wasn’t nervous, that he truly enjoyed talking about these things. That was how he would be in a lecture, I knew it. I’d wondered at first how Jameson planned to be a professor, but I hadn’t for a while now.
We sat around and chatted, mostly Mom, me, and Jameson, but my brothers did comment once in a while. The later it got, the more surprised I was that Jonathan hadn’t shown up by then.