Bryce
The following week flew by. Ben and I had been so busy. Him with his band and I with practice and studying. But we always managed to make time for each other. Even if it was just a quiet night at home.
Before we knew it, the weekend was upon us and we decided to go out on a date. I was so excited until Ben mentioned he had to swap cars with his brother due to a recall on the Benz and his family was going to take it in for a night or two.
"Would you relax," Ben said as we pulled into the driveway of his family's house, "Bart is going to take my car while we use his."
Ben's explanation did little to assure me. Although yes, I do acknowledge Ben as my boyfriend, I was still terrified to meet his family, especially Bart.
"You can relax," Ben said, "My brother is the only one here, and he wants to meet you."
"How can I relax?" I asked, "This is your house, and I don't want to be here."
"Why are you two standing there?"
We both look and Ben's brother Bart is waiting at the front door. He makes his way towards us and I start to become overly aware of everything. The way I look, what I'm wearing, and the fact I am over at my boyfriend's home empty handed.
"You can relax, bro," Bart said to me, "I don't bite."
"Nice to meet you, Bart."
"Likewise, Bryce," Bart replied, "Ben's shown me your pics, and Sam, well, he doesn't think too highly of you."
"The feeling is mutual," I answered, "Please tell me he's not here."
Bart laughed and said, "No, he's not. And neither are our parents. But…"
Before Bart could finish his sentence, a little girl came towards Ben, "Ben," screamed, "You came back!"
"Billie," Ben said as he picked her up in his arms, "I missed you so much." Ben looked at Bart with a WTF face.
"Yeah, sorry," said Bart, "I forgot to mention that Billie was here too."
"Oh, is this your friend?" she asked.
Normally, I would be upset being introduced as just Ben's friend, but in Billie's case, she's still a kid and she has this cute little girl act that could literally make it impossible to hate her.
I smiled at her and introduced myself, "Hello there little miss. I'm Bryce. Ben's told me so much about you."
"Likewise, kind sir." She said and extended her arm as if to shake my hand. The southern gentleman in me took her hand and kissed the back of it.
Before another word could be said, we all jumped when the sound of a car horn sounded and another car pulled into the driveway.
"Oh," Billie said, "I overheard brother Bart say you were coming and bringing a friend so I called mom and told her. She and dad want to meet him too."
Ben and Bart both had the deer in headlights look as Billie revealed that Ben and I were coming over. I however, angrily glared at Ben and Ben responded with his eyes, silently apologizing for the situation. Even though Billie was the one who blabbed, her cute little girl demeanor allowed her to escape free from blame.
Ben
I'm definitely going to hear about this later tonight. Bryce was clearly uncomfortable being here and now that my parents are here, we have no way out and nowhere to go but in.
"Mom, Dad," I said, "What a lovely surprise."
"We heard you were visiting home," Dad said, "So we came by to have dinner with you."
"Besides," Mom said, "It's not everyday you come home to visit and bring someone with you."
I glance over at Bryce, and he's shifting nervously. I put my hand on his shoulder to try and calm him. "I know you're mad."
"Oho," he whispers, "I'm beyond mad right now. I am fucking pissed off."
"I'm sorry," I pleaded with him, "I had no idea this was going to happen."
"I'm still mad."
"Well come on in," said Mom, "I'll get dinner started." Mom and the others went inside, leaving me alone with Bryce.
"Don't worry," I tell him, "And don't stress yourself out."
"And what if I do?"
"Because," I tell him, "If you stress out, I'll stress out more. If you worry, I'll worry more. You're not alone in this, and I will never make you walk this world alone, ever. I'm your boyfriend. I love you, and so will my family."
"Your parents are scary," he said, "What if they don't think I'm good enough for you."
"Is this about what Sam said," I answered, "Sam is biased towards me."
"And your parents aren't?"
"Not in the same way as Sam," I said, "Just be yourself. Let them see you as I see you."
Bryce
Even though Ben convinced me to go inside, I was still nervous as hell. Here I am, at my boyfriend's family home, meeting his family. One of many things I fear to face in this new life of mine.
We walk into the house and I am impressed. The main hall is spacious and palatial in design. Straight ahead was the dining area and to our right was the living room. Immediately I caught the smell of garlic and other spices as Ben's mom was cooking. The rest of the family was in the living room.
"Come on in guys," said Ben's dad, "Make yourselves at home."
I go to Ben's dad and introduce myself, "Good afternoon sir, I'm Bryce."
"Great to meet you, Bryce," he said, "Wow, handsome and polite. Don't see that nowadays."
"Well," I blushed, "My mama always taught me to be a gentleman as best I could."
"Please have a seat," he said, "Now how long have you two known each other."
And here are the dating vetting questions. I answered honestly, "Not too long. We met last semester."
"And you two were roommates at the dorm?" he asked, "Then moved off campus?"
I nodded in agreement, "Yessir. Actually, I was wanting to live off campus but my dad didn't allow it. That is until I told him that I was moving in with Ben."
"Do your parents know that you two are together?"
"Dad," Ben interjected, "What kind of question is that?"
"It's a valid question," Ben's dad said to him, he turned back to me and said, "You don't have to worry, Bryce. This is what you kids nowadays call a safe space."
"Thank you sir," I say to him, "And no, they don't know about us."
"I see," Ben's dad replies, "Not out yet huh? No problem. Not all parents are understanding with this matter. Ben was afraid to come out to us. We found out when Sam came over with a black eye and Bart was telling him to stay away. At first, we thought Bart and Sam had an argument that turned into a fight. But Bart let it slip about what happened with Ben and Sam and well we didn't know how to react."
"I see," I said, trying not to lose my cool with the mention of Sam's name, "And how did you come to accept it?"
"Well," Ben's mom came in with a tray of cut meats and cheeses, "Then we remembered how our parents were when we got married. My parents didn't like the fact that he wasn't Chinese, and his weren't too thrilled that I wasn't White or Hispanic. Plus, Sam confessed his feelings for Ben and even asked us permission to date him. We didn't want Ben to experience what our families put us through so we said yes and we went to groups like PFLAG and a few others to make sure that Ben knew he could come to us for anything."
"To be honest," I said, "I don't know how my parents would react."
"Well," Ben's mother said, "Where are your parents? Do they live here?"
"No ma'am," I answered, "They live in New Orleans."
"Oh, that's nice," she said, "I've always wanted to go there."
"Well," Ben said, "Bryce's family owns a hotel there. We can go there for our next family vacation and stay at his hotel."
I grabbed a piece of cheese and threw it at Ben, but Ben dodged and ended up hitting Bart.
"Hey!" Bart shouted.
"Ben," Ben's mom scolded, "Don't tease Bryce like that. We won't put them through any trouble."
"I was just saying," Ben defended, "We could get a discount there."
"Ha," I answered, "Don't bet on it. My mother would kill me if I sold a room at a discount without her approval." She actually would. My dad let a few of his friends stay for a couple nights and she let him have it.
Ben's mom points to me and looks at him, "Keep this one. I like him already."
Hearing her say that made my heart warm. I started to feel at ease.
The rest of the night we spent eating dinner, playing video games with Bart, and even having a tea party with Billie. I envied Ben because he had siblings. I was an only child and only had friends to talk to. When we left, I forgot why I was ever mad at Ben. Why did I stress too much about meeting the family?
Ben held my hand in the car and said, "See, I told you they would love you."
He was right. Ben's family welcomed me in, they accepted me. They even asked me to come back anytime. Looking back at how I was scared about this moment, I know now that I was worried over nothing and found something that made me more willing to come out. Acceptance.