Valor on the Move

Rafa snagged her hand. “You’ll still have a family, Ash. We’re family forever.”

Swallowing hard, she nodded. “Shit, don’t make me cry again.” She swiped at her puffy eyes. “Does the White House stock Visine?”

“Go have a shower and I’ll ask Henry to dig some up.”

“Thanks, babe. And hey…when are you going to see him again? Harley?”

He shrugged. “I guess I have to be patient. I mean, it’s not like…we can’t.”

“One night’s better than nothing, right?” She smiled sadly.

Rafa tried to smile back. “I hope so.”

They met in the Yellow Oval Room on the second floor, which was decorated in—wait for it—various shades of yellow that probably had names like “buttercream,” “sunflower,” “lemon,” and “apricot.” Rafa settled on one of the couches with Ashleigh on one side of him and Adriana the other. His parents took the other couch across the pink marble coffee table, with Matthew, Chris, and Hadley in chairs.

Platters of finger sandwiches and cookies sat on the table, and the butler served them tea and coffee before quietly leaving the room. Everyone was showered and changed, but they were all clearly exhausted. When Rafa had looked in the mirror, his freckles had stood out even more on his paler skin. But he’d smiled and thought about Shane wanting to lick them. He’d left his hair curly and put on jeans and a Yankees tee. Fuck his chinos.

Rafa cleared his throat. “I just wanted to say how good it is to be back here with you all.” He felt like he was having a peace treaty with his own family. All that was missing was a line of photographers. “I’m sorry for taking off like that. If I hadn’t…”

“Don’t be sorry.” Ramon shook his head. “Your agents failed to keep you safe.”

“No!” Rafa could feel his blood pressure rise already, and the conversation had just started. “It wasn’t their fault. Alan could die, and Shane saved me. He—” Rafa cleared his throat. “They did everything they could.”

Ashleigh frowned. “How did the kidnappers even know you’d be there? No one could have foreseen you running off like that.”

The rest of the family shot each other glances and shifted uncomfortably. Camila sighed. “Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? A full investigation has already begun. But it seems someone in the service had to be involved, as difficult and painful as that is to believe.”

“An inside job,” Rafa said. They all looked at him. “That’s what Shane told me. He didn’t know who, though.”

“Yes, well, they’ll find out.” Ramon’s nostrils flared. “By God, they’ll find out.” He took a deep breath. “But let’s not focus on that today. We’re just thankful we have our Rafa back. And…” He paused. “And there are important things we need to discuss.”

“Are you sure you’re up for this, Raf?” Matthew asked, his brow furrowed. “Dude, I’d want to sleep for a week after that.”

“I’m sure. I don’t want to wait. So, as you know, I’m gay.” He motioned to Ashleigh. “We’re gay. And we realize now that you suspected, but you didn’t think we were going to come out. You thought we’d just live our lives in secret.”

Camila clasped her hands together tightly, the material of her pantsuit swishing as she crossed her legs. “You never breathed a word. We assumed things were as you wanted them.”

“Well, we tried, but they really weren’t.” Rafa rubbed his face. “I mean, it was our choice to pretend. It was. I’m not saying it’s all your fault. Or even any of your fault. Not really. But if this is the part where you try to convince us to stay together and have a ‘respectable’ marriage…”

“No, Rafael. Your choices will be your own.” His father tugged at his tie, a nervous gesture Rafa hadn’t seen in years. “But why? Why didn’t you talk to us?”

“You’re kind of busy, Dad.” Rafa shook his head. “Wait. No, it’s not fair to put it all on you. If I’d tried to talk to you guys, you would have listened. I don’t know how you would have reacted, but I can’t use your job as an excuse. I…” His feelings spun together in a tangle, and he struggled to find the right words. “I really wanted to tell you. I was going to.”

Ramon frowned. “When?”

Rafa blew out a long breath, and could feel everyone’s eyes on him. Ashleigh gave his hand a quick squeeze. “After the reelection. When I went to college, I realized it was time.”

“When did you first think you were…” Camila waved her hand.

“Gay, Mom.” Adriana rolled her eyes. “Gay. Not saying the word won’t make it less true. See, this? This is why he didn’t talk to you. This is why none of us talk to you. Not about anything that matters.”

Their mother flinched, picking up her coffee cup and stirring the contents with little rattles of her spoon.