Page 24 of You're Ours

“No, you don’t need to apologize. I’m actually calling because I met up with an old friend of mine…”

Sky went on to explain the gist of his conversation with Samson, and he shared a few tidbits he’d gleaned from his research. Tyler listened intently the whole time, only making the occasional quiet gasp or affirmative grunt.

“I…fuck, Sky. I…that’s a lot.”

Sky fidgeted with the sleeve of Tyler’s sweatshirt, rubbing a loose thread between his thumb and middle finger. “I know, and I’m by no means asking you to come out as aspec on the phone with me tonight. I’m not asking you toevercome out, if you don’t want to. I just wanted to share my thoughts and a few observations in case it's relevant. Do you…want to take some time to think about everything? Jackson and I were thinking of going away for the week, a little R&R, and maybe we can all meet up again next weekend?”

Tyler’s breathing was heavy on the other end of the phone. Sky counted the seconds until finally, on 87, Tyler said, “Yeah…yeah, I think maybe I’ll spend some time with Clara and Stephanie. Maybe see Bobby again. They’ve all known me for so long…maybe I could talk to them about all this.”

Sky’s heart broke that Tyler wasn’t able to discuss it with them, but he imagined it might be hard discussing his romantic leaning with his two partners when it so directly affected their relationship.

“Okay, baby, I think that sounds good.”

Tyler’s breath hitched, and he let out a quiet sob.

“Tyler–”

“I really care about you, Sky. And Jackson. I don’t…god, I don’t want to lose you.”

Sky clutched his phone in one hand and pinched his thigh with the other. He could fall apart the second they hung up, but right now, Tyler needed him. “Baby, I know. We don’t want to lose you either. Whatever you decide—or discover, or uncover, or whatever about yourself…oh, my love–” Sky cringed at his slip up but kept going, the words tumbling out of his mouth. “None of it changes how we feel about you, okay? We absolutely can’t wait to see you so we can figure this all out together.”

Sky had been so focused on his monologue, he startled when Jackson’s familiar hand touched his shoulder. Sky glanced up at him and then quickly switched the phone to speaker.

“Darling?” Jackson said, letting out a soft grunt as he kneeled down in front of Sky.

Tyler gasped and then choked, his voice catching and breaking as he cried, “Jacks?”

“Everything’s going to be okay,” Jackson said, gripping Sky’s calves through the sweatshirt. “No matter what happens, I know without a doubt that we’re going to get through this and come out stronger–whether as friends, lovers, or something else.”

Sky’s breath punched out of him in a huff. Part of him wanted to rail against Jackson, to kick and scream and say he wanted Tyler to be more than a friend. The bigger part–the part that had without a doubt fallen in love with these two amazing men–knew that Jackson was right. The three of them had formed an unbreakable bond that would weather whatever came next; it was just the form and function that might need to change.

Tyler gave an extra loud sniff and then said in a wobbly voice, “Thank you for saying that. I…I think I needed to hear that. I can’t wait to see you. I want to hold you both so badly, and–and I’m so sorry this happened.”

“It’s really, truly okay, Tyler,” Sky said. “Please don’t beat yourself up. I think this week will be healing for all of us, and hopefully we come back together even stronger.”

“That’s all we want,” Jackson added. “To move forward, together.”

“The–the three of us?” Tyler asked.

“The three of us, baby,” Sky said.

Sky and Jackson did exactly as they’d promised. They didn’t want to go to work that week in case Tyler needed it as an escape, and they had a lot of PTO saved up. They went to visit Sky’s parents, who welcomed them with open, tie-dye clad arms.

Sky’s parents had always been into free-love and self-expression. When Sky came out as trans at three years old, his parents had immediately pivoted and raised him as a boy. Unfortunately, their hippy lifestyle had meant they didn’t know much about puberty blockers, which had made Sky’s teenage and young adult years challenging. Despite this, he truly loved his parents and all they’d done for him, including giving him his androgynous birth name that he kept even after he physically transitioned.

They were well aware of Sky and Jackson’s polyam lifestyle. When Sky told them a little about the situation, his mom asked if they’d considered a sexual QPR—a queer platonic relationship. It was a term Samson had used as well, but Sky wasn’t terribly familiar with it.

He and Jackson curled up on Sky’s massive bean bag chair and did some more research together. Sky downloaded a few books from the library, and Jackson listened to him read them aloud for the next several days.

Sometimes his mom and dad would listen in, sharing stories of relationships they’d had when they lived in a hippie community in the 70s that they now admitted would probably classify as QPRs. Sky jokingly covered his ears when his mom said she was in a sexual QPR right out of college. He uncovered his ears and asked a few follow-up questions to both of them when his dad mentioned the QPR he’d been in with a man for several years, up through and for several years after he began dating Sky’s mom.

Jackson listened with rapt attention and a somewhat shocked expression. This was a rather common occurrence when they came to visit Sky’s parents. Jackson’s parents were accepting and supportive of his queer marriage, and even accepting of his polyamorous relationships, they just preferred to hear as little detail as possible, and provided equally sparse information about their own marriage. Jackson seemed to prefer it that way.

Even though Sky joked around–at one point singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” quite loudly to interrupt a recounting of one the festivals his mom and dad had attended–he actually savored learning more about his parents' dalliances in love and relationships. Ultimately, though, there were only so many wiki pages and articles they could read and so many parental tales they could listen to. By the end of the week, Sky was practically crawling out of his skin, desperate to see Tyler again and talk things out.

In an unexpected departure from their relationship thus far, Tyler called them Saturday morning and invited them to his place.

Sky probably could have powered their car with how hard he was vibrating on the way out of the city. Jackson had to place an all-too-knowing hand on his thigh to keep him from jumping out of the car before they’d come to a complete stop in Tyler’s parking lot. Finally, they arrived at his doorstep, outfitted with a doormat that read, “Go away, unless you’re the pizza guy.”

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