“I should probably tell Darren about this… us.”
“You tell him when you’re ready. How long was he seeing Lisa before he told you?”
“A few weeks. But that’s different.”
“Why is it different?”
“Because… Darren isn’t seeing another man all of a sudden. If it had been the case, and he was bringing a guy into the house where my children spend half of their time, I’d want to know as quickly as possible.”
“Why is it so different?”
“Because their father would suddenly be gay and I imagine we would need to have a conversation about how to tell the kids.”
“Why would you need to be involved in telling your kids their father is gay? And why are we talking about this as though your ex is the one who’s gay? It’s got nothing to do with him.”
“They’re his children, too.”
“Yes, of course they are, but you’re the one who’s dating a woman. I agree that, once you’re ready, you should inform him about your decision to tell the kids, just as he did you the same courtesy, but that’s where it ends. His further opinion doesn’t matter, because it’s your life.”
Micky swallowed a big gulp of wine. “How old were you when you came out?” She made a mental note to get in touch with Martha. Not only because she could have been more upfront with her and she should, perhaps, apologize for not telling her about her lingering feelings for Robin, but because collecting coming-out stories suddenly seemed like a necessity before she could do her own.
“I was twenty-five when I told my parents.” Robin fell silent.
Micky had expected her to have much more to say about the subject. “And?”
Robin sighed. “I’d like to think they’ve fully accepted it by now, but a part of me thinks they never will. Not that they would ever tell me so, but it’s just a feeling I get. I can try to explain to them that it’s nobody’s fault and so on and so forth until the cows come home, but I know that no rational explanation will ever change how they feel deep inside. The sort of life I lead…” Robin shook her head. “It’s so far removed from how they’ve been brought up and lived theirs. Not just my choice in partners, but being an expat. Everything. They’re good people, but the distance between us just seems to get bigger and bigger, and I don’t just mean the physical distance.”
“I wasn’t expecting that,” Micky said.
“Because I travel around coaxing people out of the closet and pushing them to stand up for their rights?” Robin started playing with her unused fork. “Which is a gross oversimplification of what I do, by the way. Discrimination toward minorities is so terribly ingrained in every culture and society I’ve ever come across. Even my own parents, you know? They’re hardly hillbillies, not by a long shot, yet I’ve always gotten the impression that, despite really doing their best, they just can’t fully grasp the difference between us. But that’s just the thing: why would I be different from them? I’m not. Not really. I’m as much their child as my brother is, except that I haven’t followed the path they’d dreamed up for me since the moment they knew they were pregnant with me. Instead I veered so off course, I’m just a dot in the distance to them now, I sometimes think.” Robin’s gaze drifted to somewhere behind Micky.
“Is that why you do what you do?” Micky asked.
“I do what I do because I can’t stand it when people get treated differently just for being who they are. It makes my blood boil.” Robin expelled a sigh again. “I’m sorry, Micky. I didn’t mean to get all heavy on you. In general, I am accepted, even respected for what I do and who I am. I’m one of the lucky ones, really.” A forced smile appeared on her face. “And I think you will be too. If anything, you have Amber, whom I would love to get to know better, for the record. You have your job at The Pink Bean. You have children who were raised open-mindedly in this day and age. As daunting as the road ahead seems, I have a sneaking suspicion you will be all right.”
“Do you give a lot of inspirational speeches?” Micky wanted to lighten the tone.
“I’ve given a few in my day.” The subsequent smile on Robin’s face seemed more spontaneous.
“I can tell.” Micky responded to Robin’s smile in kind. “I would very much like for you and Amber to get to know each other better.” Micky proceeded to tell Robin about her and Amber’s near-life-long friendship, then said, “Maybe we’ll be double-dating with her and Martha soon.”