Page 58 of Side Out

Standing from her chair, she stomps over to me, and I prepare to take, at minimum, a slap from her, but all she does is stick her hand out.

Wait, is she trying to shake my hand.

Slowly, I reach out to take her hand in mine. It lasts only a mere moment, and before I know it, she’s heading into the master bedroom to pack up her stuff, which, thankfully, isn’t a lot due to traveling and never really fully unpacking. We can hear her talking, but I think it’s just her best friend. I’m sure the next person she’ll call will be her parents, so I do the same.

I hit the video call option under my mom’s contact information, and she picks up after a few rings. I smile at her sipping her wine on the couch with her book. “Theo! What a treat! I never get video calls from you. Oh baby, you look so happy, what’s happened? Is it Bri?—”

“I got married, Mom.” I let that sink in a moment before I add, “To Jax. Jackson Baker.” I raise our linked left hands up into the view of the camera and smile.

Jax awkwardly waves with his free hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Young.”

“Hi… Wait, Theo… Is this some kind of prank? You know I’m too old to be pulling tricks on.”

“It’s not a prank, Mom. I really am married.”

“Wh-what about Bridget? Theo, I didn’t even get to see my baby get married.” Her eyes start to well with tears. But as much as I hate to be the cause of her sadness, I realize my lack of speaking up has been the cause of my own sadness for years.

“You know as much as I do that what Bridget and I had wasn’t a marriage made to last, Mom. There was nothing there… I couldn’t do it anymore.”

Unexpectedly, my dad’s voice breaks through the speakers. “Why didn’t you tell us? We could have put a stop to this, Son.” The sadness in his voice almost makes me crack.

Looking anywhere but at the camera, I murmur, “I-I didn’t want to disappoint you and Mom.”

My dad’s voice cracks with emotion, which just about breaks my facade. “I hate thinking that you’ve been so miserable for years only because you thought we would be disappointed in you. I’m more disappointed in myself that I didn’t see the signs. And even more so, that you didn’t feel comfortable enough to come to us.”

“Don’t blame yourselves. I’m an adult and should have said something.” And that’s the truth. Ultimately, this is no one’s fault but my own. Jax is the first person who has put my happiness first, and I hope I can do the same for him.

As hesitant and confused as she looks, Mom reassures me, “Well, you definitely are an adult. Which means you can make your own decisions, so”—she looks at Dad then back at me—“if you’re happy, we’re happy, for the both of you.” My dad nods in agreement, and she shifts her focus to Jax. Her face softens as she looks at him. “Jax, we can’t wait to meet you, honey.”

“I can’t wait to meet you either, Mrs. Young.”

“Oh, call me Carol, no more of the ‘Mrs. Young.’ We are family now.”

He talks back and forth with my mom and dad like he’s known them his whole life, and I truly envy him for his ease with conversations. Before I know it, my mom is saying bye to both of us, and Jax has his phone out and is calling who I’m assuming are his parents

We might as well get the most important people out of the way first, right?

The phone literally barely rings before his mom picks up and Jax is yelling, “Surprise! I’m married!”

Jax pans the video to our linked hands with our rings and then over to my face.

“WHAT!” Jax’s mom screeches through the phone. “Oh my god, is that Theo?!” She’s fully jumping up and down, and I can hear his dad yelling, asking if she’s okay. “I knew it! Is he why you were all mopey over the summer? I knew it was over a special someone, I just knew it!”

“What’s going on?” a deep voice booms.

“Jackson is married!” His mom yells loud enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole of Montana heard.

“Jackson got married?” he asks his wife before popping his face into the screen. “Son, you got married? Weren’t you just in Vegas?”

His mom smacks Jax’s dad’s chest and whines, “Dawson, I wanted to get married by Elvis!”

“Yeah, Dad. Didn’t you know Mom wanted to get married by Elvis?” Jax jokes, and my heart warms at the happiness his family so easily pours out onto one another.

“Now where the hell was I supposed to find an Elvis that could marry us in the middle of Montana?”

“Okay!” She waves her hands in the air. “We’re way off track here. Jackson? Theo? Are you two happy?”

Jax and I answer at the same time, “Yes.” They look at one another and smile. The resounding “aww” coming through the speaker has all of us laughing.

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