Page 30 of Our Big White Lie
“Victoria, that’s enough,” my mother said, practically pleading with me to shut up.
I didn’t. “How is that not ‘celebrating your failures and flaws’? And even if you weren’t a colossal hypocrite, you still have no right to judge me or my relationship. I love Ava. I’ve loved her for years, and I’m finally marrying her because I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I don’t care what you think about people like me. I don’t care, Aunt Elizabeth. I just don’t. And I’m not going to stand here and listen to youof all peopletell me I shouldn’t marry the woman I love.” My voice was suddenly shaky, but I barreled on. “She’s been my best friend since we were kids, and I’ve never loved another woman—anotherperson—like I love her.” I forced back in the lump in my throat. “You won’t have to watch me marry her because you’re notwelcomeat our wedding.”
With that, I stalked out of the living room and out onto the back deck. It felt a bit dramatic, and my face heated with embarrassment because I wasn’t usually one for theatrics, but I waspissed.
I had no idea if anyone was telling her off inside. Most likely, they were all pretending it hadn’t happened and were trying to revive the mood of the party. Anything to avoid confrontation, that was the Griffin family through and through.
The vast majority of my family was completely fine with me being gay, even if some of them had taken time to come around. They’d apologized for their issues in the beginning, and we weregood now. Most of them rolled their eyes at Aunt Elizabeth’s self-righteous antics, whether she was ranting about “people like Tori” or whoever else had landed on her sin radar. Sometimes I wondered why they still invited her to anything, since she always managed to find a soapbox and start flinging fire and brimstone.
Normally, I just gritted my teeth and ignored it as best I could. I’d even timidly let her say all her shit about me being a lesbian, especially when I was younger. My parents stood up for me in those situations, at least, and now that I was an adult, I’d push back a little. Mostly, the whole family had an unspoken agreement to just let her rant, smile and nod, and then change the subject. Nobody in this family liked confrontations, so it was just understood that we all knew she was a shitty person with obnoxious opinions, and it was best to gray-rock her until she ran out of steam.
Today, though…
Today, I couldn’t stay silent.
Not when she was acting like my marriage was wrong or that there was something dirty or bad about me marrying Ava. Who the fuck was Elizabeth to get on a high horse about anyone’s marriage? Like, I shouldn’t marry the woman I loved, but she could cheat her way through three marriages? Hell, she probably had a sidepiece right now, and we’d all be getting invites to her next wedding in a year or two. But I was the sinner.
Ugh. Fuck her and her bigoted bullshit.
The sliding glass door opened behind me. I cringed and turned, not sure who I was hoping for. I was relieved, though, to see that it was my dad.
“Hey, kiddo.” He approached slowly, as if trying to gauge my mood. “I heard things got a bit heated with your aunt.”
I laughed bitterly. “Just a bit.”
He came closer and rested his elbow on the deck railing. “Did you really disinvite Aunt Elizabeth?”
I met his gaze. “After she called me a sexual deviant, yes.”
His eyebrows shot up. “She called you that? To your face?”
“Are you actually surprised?”
He pursed his lips, then sighed. “Not really, no. What about Grandma?”
“I mean, I didn’t disinvite her, but Elizabeth told her my”—I made air quotes—“‘gay satanic priest’ will be officiating, so I doubt she’ll be coming.”
Dad snorted. “Yeah, that’ll do it.”
“Right?” I sighed as my humor died away. “I think I’m going to take off, though. I want to stay for the party, but… not if she’s here. Not ifthey’rehere.”
To my surprise, Dad nodded. “I get it.” He squeezed my arm. “I’m sorry they’re making you so miserable.”
“I know. I’m sorry I made things tense.”
“You didn’t. No one in this family likes conflict, but she brought it, not you.”
“Do you think people will be mad at me for saying what I did?”
“Nah. You were just saying what everyone else was thinking.” He smiled, some pride slipping into his expression. “It’s about time someone put her in her place.”
That made me laugh, and we shared a quick hug. Then I went inside and said goodbye to my mom and a few family members before I slipped out the front, got in my car, and left.
I was exhausted by the time I got home. It was only seven o’clock, but the whole day had been draining.
When I walked in, Ava was on the couch with Tucker. She’d been writing in the spiral notebook we used to track weddingexpenses, and there was a pile of binders on the coffee table. When she looked up, her concerned but warm smile brought me back to life. She was unreasonably cute, sitting there in sweatpants with her dark hair pulled up in a messy bun, her blue hoodie covered in floof from the cat leaning against her.
“Hey.” She closed the notebook and put that and her lap desk aside. “I didn’t think you’d be home for a while.”
