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.Have a nice day." My arms stuck straight out in front of me, waiting for the casserole to be placed on them.If she thinks I'm going to stand here while she insults me, she has another think coming.Derrick chose a real winner in this one.She smiles a fake, I'm the popular girl and I'm going to ruin your life, kind of smile as she said, "Tell Derrick I had a great time on our date and that I hope to see him again very soon." She placed the casserole on my arms finally."That's a real appropriate message to leave for a man who just lost his father."Lanie realized her faux pas and began to retract her message when I slammed the door in her face.Sure it wasn't mature, but I'm pregnant and my hormones control me at the moment.When I slammed the casserole down on the kitchen table, I realized I wasn’t alone in the house.There was a noise coming from the downstairs rec room.Nervously, I crept to the door to listen to what was happening downstairs.The loud crash below scared me causing me to stumble backwards a step.I squeaked out a scream of fright at the noise and it was answered by a male voice, "Hello? Who's up there?"Footsteps grew louder as someone bounded up the stairs.I turned to run to the front door when I heard a familiar voice, "Mary Jane?"Turning around I grab at my chest and breathe a sigh of relief."Gavin, you scared me half to death.I thought Tristan and I were the only ones here and he's outside.""I'm so sorry MJ; I thought I was alone here too." Gavin stepped forward to embrace me.He bends down to kiss my belly and say, "I hope I didn’t rattle my sweet girl too much.""She's fine.I think she's as relieved to hear her daddy's voice as I am." His face was streaked with tears and I lifted his hand noticing several new scratches across his knuckles."What happened?"Gavin's face screwed up as the emotional turmoil brewed inside him."I've been trying to be strong, for Ashton and Derrick, but it's so hard.I know he wasn’t my biological dad, but he was better to me than my parents ever were.""Sweetie." It occurred to me what was happening.Gavin came out to his family in high school and they kicked him out.The Collins' family took him into their home and accepted them as part of the family.He lost his father as much as Derrick and Ashton and I had let that fact slip my mind."Would you like to talk about it?"We sat on the couch; he lifted my feet up into his lap and dropped my shoes to the floor."You look exhausted Mary Jane so let me do this for you as I talk.""No arguments from me.Talk to me, Gav.""When I told my parents that I was gay, they spouted every bible verse they could think of in my face.They told me I was an abomination, damned to hell, an embarrassment to them, you name the insult they used it.They told me I might as well screw animals, that living my life this way was no better than being a pedophile or a rapist."My heart ached for him, for Cameron, for anyone who'd suffered through the pain of simply being themselves.He continued, "He even started to hit me, tried to kill me by saying he needed to rid the world of 'my kind.' Ashton pushed him off of me and got in his face defending me.It was amazing of him.I'd known he was good for Addison, my sister, but I didn’t know what a truly amazing person he was until that day." Addison was Gavin's sister; she was also Ashton's first love who was killed in a convenience store robbery several years ago."Ashton told me I could stay with him but I told him that I had to tell them the truth so they knew the kind of person I am.Ashton tried to argue of course telling me there was nothing wrong with me, but I was set on what I wanted.I was ready for his family to berate me as well.Instead, he explains to his parents that I came out to mine and that they kicked me out.You know what his father said?"I shook my head no and he continued, "He said, Welcome to the family, son.Let's take you upstairs and show you your room.Never once did he say anything negative to me.Every holiday, every birthday I had from that moment on, I received the exact same treatment as Derrick and Ashton.We were brothers, blood be damned.You know I went to him to ask his opinion on proposing to Cameron.His eyes filled with tears as he told me how proud he was that I wanted to take such a huge step in my life.He said he thought Cameron and I made an amazing couple and that we'd be lifers [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]