Three Weeks Later
"Ty, I'm so glad that you could join us for Thanksgiving," Eli's mom says smiling at him.
"Yes, I was glad I could make it," he says formally.
"I wasn't sure if you guys were just sharing a car ride home or if you would be spending some time with us over the holidays," Eli's father asks.
"I was hoping to be able to stay with you over the weekend, Sir," Ty says, his hands breaking out in sweat, and they aren't even to the crux of the argument yet.
"Aren't your folks doing Thanksgiving this year?" Eli's father asks.
"Robert! You sound so rude. We really are glad to have you here, Ty, Eli doesn't bring many of his friends around," Eli's mom says nervously.
"I didn't mean it to be rude, June," Robert says, neglecting to apologize to the person he was actually rude to.
"My family is doing Thanksgiving, but I chose to come here instead," Ty says with sudden bravery.
June's lips twitch, she's confused by this, but she smiles and says, "Well, aren't we just lucky that you made that choice!"
"Let's get your things up to my room," Eli says, smiling at Ty.
-0-
"So, when do you want me to tell them?" Ty asks as he puts his bag on the floor.
"I don't know. I was kind of picturing it as being during dinner tomorrow, but that might ruin the whole holiday."
"I think whenever we do it, it's kind of going to ruin the holiday," Ty says. He then looks at the single bed, "I forgot what the bed situation is in your house. We are going to get all cozy tonight!" Ty exclaims.
"You can't be serious, right?" Eli asks.
"What are you talking about?" Ty asks.
"We can't sleep in the same bed in my parent's house! We'd so get caught!"
"So? They are still going to think that you are straight."
"Crawling into bed with a gay man isn't exactly going to help prove that point," Eli says, and Ty notices he's sweating. He remembers that this is hard for his husband, and that if it wasn't for him, this might just be something that his husband never did.
"Ok, I think we should tell them sooner rather than later so we can all stop sweating bullets," Ty says.
"Hear, hear," Eli says, and the two of them head downstairs.
-0-
Ty wants to hold on to Eli's hand a bit after the family says grace together; after all, he is going to need a little bit extra strength for what he is about to do. Eli's drops his hand like it was made of fire. Eli's hand is drenched in sweat, and Ty knows it's time to get this over with.
"I actually had something I wanted to share with you," Ty blurts before any mundane discussion can get started. "I'm gay."
Robert and June blink at the boy before him, and don't say anything for a long time. No-one is eating, and finally Ty breaks the silence by bringing a forkful of peas to his mouth. He isn't really hungry, but it's better than the silence.
"Did you know about this?" Robert asks, looking at his son.
"Yes, Ty came out to me in high school. Some bullies were beating me up, and calling me gay on the day that we met. He told me he actually was…" Eli begins.
"And you told him you weren't?" June asks in a frantic voice that breaks his heart.
"Yes, anyway. I've known for a while, and by now Ty is out to just about everyone, and he didn't want to keep lying to you guys," Eli says.
"Son, do you know what the Bible says about homosexuality?" Robert says, and for a while Ty is pretty sure that he's taking to Eli. Then he realizes that 'son' is meant for him.
"Yes, sir, Eli and I have studied those passages. The danger of living with a seminary student," Ty says, giving a glace to his husband, which contains only the smallest hint of the love he feels for him.
"Then you know that you're going to hell," Robert says frankly.
"Dad!" Eli says, trying to get between them.
"No, sir, I don't believe in hell," Ty says evenly, not letting his eyes leave the older mans.
"You're not a Christian, then?" Robert asks.
"Sir, there are a lot of Christians who don't believe in hell, and even if I did believe in it, I don't think that God would send me there for being the way He made me."
"The Bible says He will," Robert says.
"Where in the Bible do the words 'homosexuals will go to hell' appear, sir?" Ty says.
"This is not appropriate talk for the dinner table," June says, and both Ty and Robert fall silent under her power.
For a second. "You can't keep living there," Robert says to his son.
"What?" Eli says, devastated by this unforeseen complication.
"You can't live with a homosexual atheist," Robert says.
"He never said he was an atheist," Eli objects.
"He also didn't say that he weren't, which is a good as saying that he is," Robert declares.
"Boy that sentence was full of logical fallacies, and bad grammar; did everyone get a bun?" June asks holding up a basket of buns that made the rounds minutes before the discussion begin.
"Eli isn't moving," Ty says firmly.
"Then you are," Robert says.
"No, we're adults, and we're not doing anything wrong," Ty says.
"It's not appropriate," Robert says with his eyes raised, "To have two guys living together, when one of them is gay! It would be like you living with a girl before you're married. Now, maybe you didn't see anything wrong with it before, but that's what you have parents for, to show you the error in your ways."
"Actually a parent's job is to love and support their kids," Ty points out.
"You're not my kid. My priority is protecting my kid from bad morals," Robert points out.
"So it would be different if it were me?" Eli asks softly, and Ty's heart breaks under the hope in the question.
"If you thought you were gay, we'd make sure to get you the help you needed," Robert says.
"The help? You're talking about accountability groups, then?" Ty asks, gritting his teeth.
"They have proven to be very helpful in helping people deal with…" June says softly.
Ty doesn't wait for whatever harmful characterization is about to come out of her mouth, "Why do I need to be changed? God made me this way."
"A serial killer could argue the same thing…" Robert begins.
"Dad, let's not do the homosexual theology, please. Trust that Ty and I have talked about all of these things," Eli breaks in.
"Look, I don't care what you do, I just care what my son is being exposed to," Robert says.
"I would never hurt Eli," Ty says.
"I know," June says, bowing her head, "Does anyone need more meat?" she asks eagerly, passing around a tray.
-0-
Ty isn't at all surprised when he hears quiet crying before he gets up to Eli's room. He is supposed to be spending the night on the couch, but he knew that it would be a rough night for his partner, and couldn't resist checking on him.
"Ty, you're going to get caught."
"I honestly don't think they could be any angrier than they are," he says, sitting on the floor next to the bed and running a hand through Eli's hair in a way that he knows sooths him.
"Yeah, that did go pretty badly."
"I can't believe they expect me to move out," Ty says.
"I know, maybe we'll find you a place closer to your office. You have a pretty long commute right now."
"Are you talking about buying some place just to fool your parents with? That's a pretty expensive lie, honey."
Eli looks at Ty, confused, "Didn't you hear the part where they said we couldn't live together anymore?"
Ty scoots away from his husband as if he as if he was made of fire, "You're not serious, right? What, do you think they're listening? You don't really expect me to move out!?"
"Ty, it's just temporary…" Eli begins.
"No, we're married. I was ok with you going all slow and letting them know things bit by bit, but I didn't think our relationship was going to be going backward."
"Not our relationship, just our living arrangements."
"Eli, we're married. When married people start to live apart, unless there is some temporary business-related travel involved, it pretty much means their marriage is over. Do you want our marriage to be over?"
"Of course not," Eli says, reaching for Ty's hand.
"Ok, then we keep living together. If you want to hide it from your parents, we'll do that, but I think it's a bad plan. I think we should just tell them the whole truth, let them fume for a while, and then get married and have babies."
"Is that all you can think about? Your biological clock is really ticking Ty, you won't even give me a couple minutes to deal with my family issues before you threaten me that we have to have kids."
"It's not a threat!" Ty says in something closer to a normal voice than a whisper. Eli's alarmed eyes makes him cover his mouth, and they listen for a second before they are assured that no-one heard them.
"It feels like one," Eli tells him.
"Well, I'm sorry about that. I don't need to move forward, but I won't move backward. If you kick me out…"
"Say your threat," Eli challenges.
"It's not a threat, it's a fact. If you don't want to be married anymore, than we're not. I don't have to tell you what you good book says about divorce, but that's your choice. At least you were too cowardly to ever do it legally, so there is no paperwork," Ty says standing.
"Ty," Eli begs.
Ty sits down next to him, "Is that you telling me that we're going to go home together when this weekend is over?"
Eli shakes his head.
Ty bends down, and gives him a long slow kiss.
"Did we just kiss and make up?" Eli asks, confused, when it's over.
"That's goodbye, love," Ty says, walking out of the door.