Page 16 of You Are Cordially Invited

I was too afraid to even look at his expression, keeping my eyes fixed on the two women sitting on the couch opposite—my mother and her much older sister, Colleen.

“And your daughter, sorry, Stella is seventeen?” Reuben asked softly, his hand sneaking into mine. I pulled it onto my lap and held on for all I was worth.

Colleen’s gaze followed the movement with a smile. “Yes, that’s right. Two months back. Martin and I married late in life.” She winced, her cheeks flushing red, and I felt for her. This couldn’t be easy.

My mum rested her hand on her sister’s arm. “She’s a great girl, Colly.”

Colleen smiled and put her hand over top. “She is, thank you.”

“It’s a lot to think about,” Reuben commented.

I tried to wring every nuance of meaning out of his words and tone of voice but got nowhere. Also, talk about understatement of the fucking year.

“We realise that,” Colleen answered. “Which is why we didn’t bring her today, even though this was her idea.” She sighed with the combined weight of generations of parents faced with similar circumstances. “It’s the first time we’ve seen Stella smile in a week, and I didn’t want to get her hopes up or for you to feel pressured.”

Good luck with that. I squeezed Reuben’s hand and got a white-knuckled one in response.What did that mean?Was he thinking yes? No?I stole a glance to find his expression thoughtful, his brow lightly furrowed, and his eyes carefully... neutral.Fuck it.He could be deciding on damn curtains for all the information that gave me.

“And you said she’s fifteen weeks?” Those furrows sank just a bit deeper, and I wanted to iron them flat with my hand.

I didn’t.

“Yes, that’s right.” Colleen glanced at her sister. “She, ah, she had no idea she was pregnant. Her cycle is irregular, and it wasn’t until she missed her third period that she did a home test and our GP confirmed it last week. It was Stella’s decision to have the baby and then have someone within the family adopt if possible, in case you’re wondering.”

“You don’t want to look after her baby yourselves?” I asked the obvious question that I knew would be top in Reuben’s mind as well.

Colleen’s eyes shone with tears. “We will if we have to, of course. But Martin is seventy and I’m sixty-five. We’re not really up to coping with a newborn again, and Stella has years of education ahead of her if she wants to fulfil her dream of being a vet. There are a few others we can approach, and we’re almost positive one of those couples will be keen, so please don’t feel pressured, but Stella wanted to ask you first. She loves you, Cam, and admires you, Reuben.” She took a breath as if steeling herself. “She also came out as bi to us this year—” She hesitated, and my brow arched.

This was news to me. I shot a glance to Mum who appeared unusually flustered.

“Stella was planning to talk to you before... well, before this happened. I’m ashamed to say it took us a minute, but we fully support her. However, you know how close-minded some of our church people can be, Cam, even family.”

Did I ever. More than a few ‘family’ had disappeared from our lives after I’d come out, and only later did I learn that my mother was responsible. You didn’t look sideways at any of Margaret Wano’s children and expect an invitation to her house ever again. Did I mention how much I loved my mother?

“It’s changing, but it’s slow,” Colleen continued. “But Stella doesn’t want to take a chance if she can avoid it.”

The room fell silent. So no pressure then.

“It would need to be a completely open adoption,” Colleen stated firmly. “The baby would have to know Stella as their birth mother, us as their grandparents, and their place in the wider family;everyonewould need to know. That’s how these things go in our culture.” She spoke those words directly to Reuben. “And Stella would want to keep contact and be in the baby’s life in some way, once you were all settled. May as well be upfront about all that before we start.”

So, not complicated at all, then.My eyes fired around my skull like a pinball machine.

“What about the father?” Reuben asked.

Colleen exchanged looks with my mother who nodded. “He’s twenty-three and engaged to someone else. Stella didn’t know that at the time. Anyway, he’s been very clear that he’s not interested in being more than a paper dad and is happy to sign whatever is needed and fulfil any legal or financial obligation. Of course, that might change, but it’s all we have to work with now.”

“Has he told his fiancé?” I asked, hoping she dropped him like a stone for the arsehole that he was.

She shrugged. “Who knows? That’s up to him, I guess.”

The room fell quiet once again, and I wanted nothing more than to drag Reuben outside to find what was bubbling under that infuriating neutral expression he still wore.

Thiswasexactlywhy I’d wanted to wait. You can’t prepare for this.No oneexpects this kind of opportunity, especially not when you’re a gay couple two weeks shy of getting married, parents to a high-needs child already, and under an eye-watering media spotlight for the next ten years, give or take.

Hardly ideal, and I could practically see Reuben’s mental synapses flashing like Sydney Harbour at midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Yes, we wanted more children. But we’d always said we’d wait until Reuben retired from professional sport and Cory was older. But we might also never get this opportunity again. It wasn’t like surrogacy was straightforward in New Zealand, especially for a gay couple. We couldn’t offer any financial recompense, and the adoption process after the birth, was still convoluted.

But this type of intra-family adoption wasn’t easy either. A newborn within a family? Lots of nosy people, lots of well-meaning interference, lots of gossip, and potentially lots of pressure. Plus, a very close relationship with the birth mother. It invited complicated family dynamics, to say the least, Reuben’s adoption of Cory being a shining example.

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