Gerald, Arnold, Timberly, Robert and Liottie sat in their car quietly for a few long moments, not really knowing what to say after a confession like that. All of them thought how lucky they were to actually have parent's that actually cared enough to be there, to have said parents love them unconditionally. Very few kids got lucky enough to have someone take care of them, and willing to bend and change for them in the long run.
"How bout them redsox?" Gerald said awkwardly.
"Eh, still suck," Arnold replied with an awkward chuckle. The others in the car shared an awkward laugh, looking at each other nervously.
"So, everyone excited for the trip?" Liottie asked, trying to break the awkward tension in the car.
"Completely excited," Gerald responded, glad for the change of subject. Though after that little exchange of words, it became silent in the car again, though the tension wasn't as bad as it had been. As soon as the kids distracted themselves with various toys or books, Robert and Liottie shot each other a look, silently agreeing to talk to Rowan about this later, and possibly offer support. Other then the two little outbursts at the beginning of the trip, they trip was going increasingly well. They'd bee traveling for about four days by car before stopping at a cabin rented cabin at a beautiful lake. It was lake Davis in eastern Oregon, and was rather beautiful. Around noon, the two cars pulled over at a rest stop to stretch their legs and eat some of the food that Rowan had graciously made the night before.
"Wow, this is really good Cherry," TImberly said while munching on a cookie.
"Thank you sweety," Rowan replied happily. Jackson scowled deeply before looking down at his food.
"Your welcome. Hey, since you cook and dress in girls cloths, does that mean your Jamie-o's housewife?" Timberly asked innocently. Both Rowan and Jamie-o choked on their food.
"Yeah, Jamie-o, is Rowan your housewife?" Gerald asked teasingly.
"Not that I would actually mind being his housewife, but one, it's too early in our relationship to be considering marriage and two, even if we got that far, we wouldn't be aloud to marry," Rowan said after he cleared his throat, a small smile was on his full mouth as he explained this. Jamie-o, however, was surprised, like both his parents and his younger siblings.
"Why?" Timberly asked with a confused look. Her parents looked confused to.
"Because people are cruel and don't like the thought of change. And two guys being able to marry would be a big, big change," Rowan said with a tired grin. Jamie-o wrapped a thick arm around Rowan's waist in slight anger, cradling the smaller boys body closer to him.
"Isn't it the same as a normal marriage?" Arnold asked, completely baffled. Children were rather simple like that, it was right or wrong and everything was fair in their lives. Or as fair as a bunch of pre-teens can make it.
"No, it isn't Arnold. Again, it'd be two men or two women getting married instead of a man and women. Most people, especially most people from very religious back rounds, don't consider people of the LGTB are people. At the lightest, I've been called a sinner, several times, at worst I've been told that I shouldn't be aloud to live. My Makuahine, brought me to a priest several times, cause she found out first," Rowan said sleepily.
"One, what does LGTB stand for, and second makua-what now?" Gerald asked.
"LGTB stands for Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, and Bisexual. It's an organization that promotes peace and knowledge about the rainbow side of things. Makuahine means mother in native Hawaiian," Rowan replied happily.
"Oh, you know Hawaiian? That's really nice," Liottie said with a grin.
"Not a lot of Hawaiian, trust me. Mother is native Hawaiian so she taught me some, Father's Irish. She probably taught Sam and Jackson a little too, but I don't really know," Rowan said, cracking his back.
"Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention this earlier. There's this organization called PFLAG. It stands for Parents For Lesbians and Gays. Not tryin' to push or anything, but it might make you and your husband feel better in having support for Jamie's sudden bisexuality," Rowan said with a shrug. Both Liottie and Robert looked a little stunned.
"There's a support group?" Robert asked.
"Yes," Rowan replied. Jamie-o mean while, was currently glaring at Rowan's plate, like there was something wrong with it. There was of course, Rowan didn't put enough food on it.
"Jubes, you need to eat," Jamie-o said during a sudden lull in conversation of the group. The jock put some cold pad thai on Rowan's plate and had a scowl on his face. Rowan gave him a disbelieving look, still weirded out by the subject jumping Jamie-o would do on a regular basis.
"I know, I know, food good," Rowan replied sarcastically before nibbling on his noodles.
"You are way to thin," Jamie muttered as she put some baked goods on Rowan's plate.
"No I'm not, I'm at the perfect weight," Rowan said, still nibbling on his food and looking down at his plate, his long, uncombed hair fell over his face, covering it adorably. Jamie grunted at the smaller male before raking one of his hands through the tangled silken strains.
"No you're not, or else it wouldn't have felt like sleeping next a skeleton when we first started sharin' a bed," Jamie-o groused out.
"Bit me you dumb jock," Rowan groused back.
"Not in public," Jamie-o shot back as he finished finger combing Rowan's hair. Gerald, Arnold, and Sam were old enough to get the implications in Jamie-o's sentence and were promptly grossed out. Robert and Liottie also looked slightly disturbed by it, but didn't comment.
"Oh geeze, you really do argue like a married couple. And never make those implications again," Gerald said, his tone both teasing and disgusted. Jamie-o scowled at his brother before he through a stray peanut at him. The nut hit dead on and Gerald promptly through something back. Robert spent five minutes trying to calm the little food fight down before the conversation started anew.
"Rowan?" Jackson asked, voice soft. Rowan looked at his brother, startled, not used to Jackson asking him anything.
"Yes?" Rowan asked, still wary from their earlier fights.
"How did you get Mother to talk to you?" Jackson asked, fidgeting in his seat.
"I didn't get her to do anything Jackson, she's always talked to me, even when she discovered my sexuality. Well, it was more like it was at me then too me," Rowan replied while rolling his eyes heaven words. He hated talking about his parents with almost anyone, including his siblings. Jamie-o was the only person he even talked to about that with, and that was only in snippets or when he was feeling overly emotional and needed to curl up and bawl his eyes out.
"Mummy's never talked to either of us brother. Shoot, I didn't even know we were half Hawaiian until a few minutes ago. I don't even think Jackson knew that," Sam said before taking another bite of a brownie.
"Of course she never talked to you two, and of course Mother and Father didn't tell you. Goddamn stuck up bitch. Yeah, I know, I know, no swearing in front of the kids, sorry for that. Please excuse me for a moment, I need to do something real quick," Rowan grunted out as politely as he could before getting and going towards the bathroom as he pulled out his pack of cigarettes. Both Liottie and Robert saw them and frowned. Jamie-o caught their looks and gave a sigh.
"He smokes?" Liottie asks, voice quiet.
"Yeah, it helps calm him down, it has since his parents first kicked him out. He's gotten better at not smoking as much since we started goin' together, but it smokes like a chimney when he's emotionally upset or stressed. Jubes only gets super stressed when talkin' about his parents, or his lack of insurance or money," Jamie-o responded, equally quiet. Worry gnawed at his gut as he watched his lover get closer to the bathrooms while pulling out a lighter and lighting the cig' he had in his mouth. Jamie-o had smoked a few cigarettes in a fit of teen rebellion at college and in high-school, but cared to much for his health to really get into them. Rowan never really had much else, and had to basically use as a relief from how bad his life had been.
"He's really messed up, huh?" Jackson asked, looking up at Jamie-o. Jamie-o looked at the shit that had caused his lover so much stress for the past month.
"You don't know how good you got it kid. He took a third job just to help you and even went as far as to talk to a social worker about keepin' you. Jubes finally managed to get you and Sam as foster kids three weeks ago, and had to talk about taken' you outta state. Geeze kid, he's goin' to school full time, work full time and then come home to you two. He's tryin' Jackson, never forget that, so you need to give him some breathin' room, he ain't your parents, but he's tryin'," Jamie-o said calmly.
Jackson looked down in shame, guilt festering like an open wound in his heart. Jackson knew that both his brother and 'sister' were trying everything they could to help him and each other out. Even Sam had a job as a paper boy to help pay for groceries and to buy some things that physical girls needed. Jackson supposed that it didn't help that he pretty much demanded expensive items whenever they went out shopping, especially if it concerned cloths and shoes. He'd gotten so used to having a big bank account and getting super nice things from really expensive boutiques from upper class New York. Jackson's light green eyes watered slightly as he remembered that he called his brother a monster. Out of all of the adults in his life, Rowan had been the closest to an actual parent that he had, or at least as the most affectionate one he ever had. Their parents weren't much on affection for anyone. Jackson got to thinking, and a thinking Jackson was never good. He would have to think on this awhile before jumping to anything else