AN: I do not own anything recognizable.

Chapter 18

"That dress is way too fancy for this event!" Andi laughed, as Cece showed off her attire for the art show. Per Cece's request, Andi and Bex had gone to Cece's house early to help Cece get ready.

"Well sometimes, I just like to feel fancy," Cece replied.

All Andi could do was roll her eyes in a humorous manner. She was excited about the art show, too. She spent a lot of time playing it down so that others wouldn't get too pumped up and then disappointed when they saw that she only had one piece of art there. The truth was, though, it was a big deal to her that she was going to have her artwork hung up in a gallery.

The three of them met Bowie at the art show.

"Wow!" Cece said in bewilderment. "This is where you go to school?"

"Yeah, it's great isn't it?" Andi said cheerily.

The larger artwork was set up in the hallways like a gallery. Sculptures were placed in the halls as if it were a museum. A few of the walls had murals painted on them by students, and the most recent one was marked to distinguish it. Smaller craft projects, canvas paintings, drawings, and sketches were placed in surrounding classrooms.

"This is," Bex had to take a second to find the right word, "impressive."

"I love this!" Bowie exclaimed. "The art here is amazing!"

"Which one is yours?" Cece asked with anticipation.

"Well, you won't find it out here," Andi laughed, as they stood in the middle of sculptures, prototypes, and murals. "This way."

She led them to the classroom that was just about as far out of the way as anything at that show.

"This is one is mine," Andi said with a grin that was almost bigger than the piece of paper on which she had painted. "What do you think?"

Her three guests stared at it in awe. It was somewhat of a self-portrait, but a symbolic one at that. She had drawn her head, and inside it, in place of her brain, was an abstract, colorful, and detailed collage of images that made up her as a person. In the middle was an off-white wedding dress shaped like a guitar, symbolizing her parents' love for each other. Surrounding were some marks of her Chinese heritage, paying tribute to Cece. There was a pair of sneakers, similar to the one Buffy wore when she ran track. Scattered around the image were baby taters to symbolize the connection to her friends. The border around this make-shift brain was a representation of the bracelet that Andi had first given Jonah. Around the frame of Andi's head, she painted a representation of a color spectrum. She didn't need to explain it to anybody; they all got it.

"It's beautiful," Bex said on the verge of tears.

"You are truly gifted," remarked Bowie.

"Thanks," Andi blushed.

They looked over at Cece, who was on the verge of tears. "I'm not crying, you're crying!" Cece said to all of them.

"You've been very emotional lately, Mom," Bex poked, recalling the previous night.

Of course, this snapped Cece out of her tears. "Watch it!" she said warningly to Bex.

"What else do you guys want to see?" Andi asked. "I can show you around."

Bex and Bowie wanted to look at more of the art in the gallery, while Cece wanted a tour of the school. Andi began to give Cece a tour, while the other two wandered off on their own.

Andi showed her some more of the murals that had been painted on the walls. She showed Cece some of the art that had been awarded prizes in previous galleries that the school decided to keep up. Cece was amazed at the trophy cases full of artwork.

Once finished with the tour, they went back to the main gallery area which was more crowded than before because they were well into the show.

"I feel overdressed," Cece said with somewhat of a frown.

"I told you!" Andi laughed. "What do you want to do next?"

"I think we should enjoy the gallery," Cece responded.

"Alright, sure!"

They took their time looking around and admiring the different types of art and different perspectives that were displayed.

"You know," Cece started, "I'm glad that I got to have this day with my granddaughter so that we could bond."

"Me too," Andi agreed, and then paused. "Wait. Did you just call me your granddaughter?"

"Well, you are," Cece said, seeming curious as to why Andi was surprised by this.

"Well yeah, but you've never really wanted to acknowledge that."

"Well," Cece started, "I've learned that you can't change what is. And everything being the way it is is all probably for good reason."

Andi gave a soft smile. "I love you, Cece."

"I love you, too, and don't you forget it," Cece responded. She then switched gears entirely. "You know who I need to speak with?"

"Who?" Andi asked, intrigued.

"I need to speak with your friends in Cyrus and TJ."

Andi was suddenly taken aback by the strange request. She was hesitant because she knew how Cece had felt about her friends being in a same-sex relationship. She just didn't want to deal with Cece's homophobia at this moment.

"Can you get them to come over and talk with me?" Cece asked.

"Why?" Andi asked apprehensively. "You've bothered them enough about-"

"Andi," Cece interrupted, stunning Andi into silence. "I owe them an apology."

Andi did not expect that. "You do? I mean, yes, you do. But where is this coming from?"

"Let's just say that little moments sometimes get you to come around when you don't expect them."

Andi smiled a smile that she didn't expect. "Yeah, I'll make sure you can talk to them soon."

The art show wrapped up, and it was a pleasant day for the whole family.

Later that day, when Andi estimated that Buffy's basketball game would be over, she texted Cyrus and invited him and TJ over the next day. She thought that that was a better option than saying that Cece needed to talk to them; she knew that if she said that, Cyrus wouldn't want anything to do with it. Instead, she planned on inviting them over to Bex and Bowie's place with Cece there. She told Cece about the plan, and while Cece was a bit upset that she had caused that much damage, she understood.

On Monday, Cyrus and TJ showed up to Andi's place after school.

"Where is everyone else?" Cyrus asked. "Are Buffy and Jonah coming over later?"

"Actually, they're not coming at all," Andi said cautiously.

"What do you mean?" Cyrus asked, puzzled.

Cece emerged from the kitchen, surprising TJ and Cyrus.

"What's going on?" TJ asked, confused.

"I wanted to speak with the two of you," Cece already began her apologetic tone.

"Okay?" said Cyrus with apprehension, while he and TJ took a seat.

"I…" Cece was never great at apologizing. It was sometimes hard for her to swallow her own pride, and she knew that. In this situation, she also just had a hard time coming up with the right words to say that she knew would be enough. "I'm sorry," she finally said after long hesitation caused the other three in the room to exchange anticipatory looks.

TJ and Cyrus did not expect the apology, so they were caught off guard quite a bit. "For what?" Cyrus said, not quite knowing what she was apologizing for, even though he knew what she needed to apologize for.

"For everything," Cece said as she sat down across from the two. "I haven't treated you two and your relationship with the respect it deserves. I know that you're just two people who have more than platonic feelings for each other who just want to be able to live. So even though I may not fully understand it, I accept it."

TJ and Cyrus once again exchanged looks at each other, but this time, it was a more positive exchange. "Actually, by the way you just described it, I think you understand it pretty well," Cyrus clarified. That's all there was to it. They were two people who had strong feelings for each other and wanted to explore that without anyone getting in their way.

"Well, I hope you can accept my apology."

Cyrus glanced at TJ, then at Andi, and then Andi and TJ shared a look. They were all looks of encouragement that confirmed what they were all thinking.

"We accept," TJ said with a smile.

"And thank you for taking the time to say that to us," Cyrus added. "It means a lot."

"Yeah, well, it's worth it for a young love like yours," Cece chuckled, as Cyrus and TJ both blushed at the mention of the word 'love'. "Anyway," she switched gears, "I wanted to make it up to you by doing more than just saying sorry. So, I got coupons for a spa day! I was thinking I could go with you boys, and we'll have a great time!"

The feeling in the room shifted back to one of discomfort. Andi had started to smile at the exchange until she heard that. She cringed and looked over at Cyrus, and sure enough, he looked back at her with an unsettled expression. Cyrus and TJ shared a similar glance. The ever present thought in their head was that just because they were gay didn't mean they wanted to go to the spa or were super into more traditionally feminine things. They were made a little uncomfortable by Cece's assumptions about their interests.

TJ started, "That's very nice, but just because-"

Before he could finish, he was nudged by Cyrus, who also gave him a half smile. He changed the course of his words.

"We'd love to have a spa day with you, Mrs. Mack," he said with a smile.

TJ knew what that nudge meant. It was a "one-step-at-a-time" nudge. Cece had just come around to their relationship. They figured that as long as she was trying to be warm to them, they met as well let her. She was just trying to be kind. Debunking the stereotype was a conversation for another time. Besides, they had never been to the spa. They didn't know if they would like it or not.

Cece jumped for joy when she heard them accept her offer, which is how they knew that she was being genuine. "Great! Let's plan for it now!"

Although they didn't anticipate Cece's eagerness, they were happy to humor her. They planned for a spa day that upcoming Saturday.

When Saturday came, TJ and Cyrus met with each other before meeting Cece at the spa.

"Are we really doing this?" Cyrus asked TJ with a laugh.

"You convinced me it was a good idea," TJ said sarcastically.

Cyrus just rolled his eyes, playfully punched TJ, and went in.

"Ow, hey, you won't at least wait for your boyfriend?" he joked as he chased after Cyrus.

They met Cece at the spa, and the thing they least expected happened – they had a great time. Cece set up all of their activities, and both boys were perfectly fine with admitting that it was the best day that they'd had in a while. It was nice to be able to get away from everything and have all their worries melt away.

Cece had planned to end their spa day by unwinding in the Jacuzzi. "You both brought your swimsuits, right?"

"Yep!" A little while in a Jacuzzi sounded great to TJ.

"I did," Cyrus said nervously, "but I don't know if I'm really feeling the Jacuzzi right now. You guys can go on ahead without me."

"Are you sure?" Cece asked.

Cyrus nodded.

"Alright then, your loss."

"It would be really great if you could join us," TJ said to Cyrus after Cece had gone to put on her swimsuit.

"I know, but…" Cyrus trailed off. He had a hard time coming up with an excuse.

TJ reached into his bag and pulled out an old swim shirt, handed it to Cyrus, and gave Cyrus a smug look. He knew his boyfriend. As soon as Cece mentioned swimsuits, TJ knew that Cyrus wouldn't feel comfortable taking off his shirt in public. He was self-conscious. The other areas of the spa were private and the three gave each other privacy while they put on their robes. There was no way that TJ would let that get in the way of Cyrus's good time.

Cyrus smiled because of how well his boyfriend knew him. It was little things like that that made him and TJ such a great pair. They paid attention to detail.

"Go put on your swimsuit, and this shirt, and join us in the Jacuzzi. Deal?" TJ said softly.

"Deal," Cyrus said with a blush and laughter, playfully snatching the shirt out of TJ's hands. "Are you going to put on your swimsuit?" he asked when he noticed that TJ didn't follow him to the changing area.

"Already wearing it," TJ said, gesturing to the shorts he had been wearing all day.

Cyrus went to change into his swimsuit and swim shirt, and then came back.

"You look cute," TJ teased.

"Shut up," Cyrus laughed playfully.

When Cece came back, they got ready to go into the Jacuzzi. Cyrus was hopeful that no one could see how red his cheeks turned when he saw TJ take his shirt off.

When they sat in the Jacuzzi, they were all quiet for the most part, and felt great.

"Gender stereotypes be damned," TJ said at one point, "this is relaxing."

"Watch your language," Cece said calmly and nonchalantly as she closed her eyes and rested her head back.

TJ and Cyrus just looked at each other and laughed. They had a great time, and they connected with each other that day more than they expected they would. They would later thank Cece for the experience.

On Cyrus's way home, all he could think about was how happy he had been that day and how the simple gesture of TJ bringing him a pool shirt had made him feel so appreciated and cared for.

Cyrus walked through his front door feeling happy as could be. Without warning, he heard the voice of his angry dad from the other room, "Don't take one more step! We need to talk!"

Cyrus wondered what in the world it could be. He hadn't done anything! How could he be in trouble? A scared Cyrus awaited his father's potential wrath that he had not seen before.

His dad came in from around the corner, looking rather frustrated and flustered.

"What's wrong?" Cyrus asked, concerned.

"We need to talk about you and TJ."

Chapter 19 Coming Soon!