Page 41 of Not Moving Out
‘But I feel responsible.’
‘You weren’t the one who lied to their wife about seeing a therapist, and thank you for what you said. It might have got lost in all the drama, but I appreciated it.’
‘You’re welcome, and I’m sorry about you and Freya. If you need to talk, you know where to find me. Right, ready?’ he said, turning to Juliette. ‘It’s a long drive back to Colchester, and with the rain, the traffic on the M25 will be an absolute nightmare.’
‘Oui, ready,’ said Juliette, and I said how nice it was to meet her, and I apologised for all the drama, and the rain. ‘The only thing worse than the English food, is the weather,’ said Juliette, which I thought was stunningly accurate.
‘You’ve got a good one there, Dad.’
‘Definitely a keeper,’ he replied with a smile, before they left and then one by one Freya and I said goodbye to everyone else. Freya’s mum and Marmalade were some of the last to leave, and despite everything Marmalade insisted I give him the name of the sausages, which I duly did, much to Freya’s mum’s annoyance. I heard her muttering something to him about appropriate behaviour on the way out of the front door, before they dashed for their car.
Stuart and Barney both said a rather sheepish goodbye, and I said we should get a drink in the week, which was met with polite nods. Lucy wasn’t so polite and gave me the cold shoulder, which was fair enough. Eventually everyone was gone except me, Freya, Dolly and Maya. We were in the kitchen, tidying up the last of the mess, when Dolly stopped, turned to us, and said, ‘Mum, Dad, there’s something I have to talk to you about.’
I was putting plates in the dishwasher, and Freya was emptying the bin. We both stopped what we were doing.
‘I know, love,’ said Freya. ‘I’m sorry. I promised today would be fine and it wasn’t fine.’
‘It isn’t that, Mum.’
‘It’s me, isn’t it?’ I said. ‘I really messed up, Dolls, and I’m so sorry—’
‘Dad, it isn’t about you guys at all,’ said Dolly, a frustration caught in her voice.
‘Oh, right,’ I said.
‘Okay,’ said Freya uncertainly.
Dolly was standing next to Maya, and then slowly Dolly reached down and held Maya’s hand.
‘I’m gay,’ said Dolly. ‘And Maya is my girlfriend.’
I honestly didn’t know what to say. It had already been such an emotionally charged day and now this on top of everything else, and it felt like someone had reached into my chest and was squeezing my heart until it felt like it was going to burst. Something had to give, and that something was me, and quite unexpectedly, standing there in the middle of the kitchen, I started to cry.
Chapter Twenty
Freya
Joe and I were in the living room, waiting for Dolly, who was saying goodbye to Maya at the front door, and we didn’t know what to say to each other. At least, I didn’t know what to say to him and he was being strangely quiet. I think the thing was, the afternoon had been so much about my argument with Joe, but at that moment, it was only about Dolly. She was all I could and wanted to think about. I had to admit I had been completely shocked when she announced she was gay and that Maya was her girlfriend. For so many years, I had thought her lack of interest in boys was down to her diligent work ethic and that she was still quite young. It hadn’t occurred to me that she might not be straight. After the initial tears – and so many from Joe that it was almost as shocking as Dolly’s news – we talked and we said it was okay, we were just shocked but happy. Joe was at pains to explain to Dolly that he didn’t know why he was crying so much, and that he was so proud of her, loved her, and then Dolly cried, too, and then struck with the emotion of the occasion, I cried, then Maya joined in, and we all ended up in a slightly damp, snotty hug.
‘Joe?’ I whispered across the room. I was on the long sofa and he was on the short one. He looked across at me. ‘Did you have any inkling Dolly was gay?’
‘No, you?’ whispered Joe back.
‘No, none. I feel bad, like I should have known or at least suspected.’
‘Me too.’
‘Are we terrible parents?’
‘I don’t think so, although—’
‘Okay, Maya is gone,’ said Dolly at normal volume, walking into the room and sitting down next to me. ‘I suppose we should probably talk.’
I moved myself a little nearer to Dolly, placing a hand on her leg for support.
‘I was just going to say,’ said Joe. ‘That I love you, support you, and that, as far as I’m concerned, nothing is different.’
‘It’s what, business as usual?’ replied Dolly, and Joe and I were momentarily caught between laughing and responding, and so we did neither. Dolly’s joke was met with silence. ‘Sorry, bad joke.’
