“Darling,” Gina said as they walked into the door. She hugged Micky much more ferociously than she would on any other given day. Perhaps to postpone a little while longer the moment where she would shake hands with her daughter’s lover and irreversibly make her acquaintance. Micky could speculate all she wanted, but she would never truly know what went on in her mother’s head.
“And you must be Robin.” Gina extended her hand.
“Very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Ferro,” Robin said, sounding very official.
“Please, call me Gina.” They shook hands, making this introduction seem more like the closing of a business deal.
Gina ushered them into the lounge and poured them coffee. She’d brought out the fancy china, which Micky took as a good sign. Then it dawned on Micky that, perhaps, Gina was as nervous about this as she and Robin were. After all, she’d only ever met one of Micky’s significant others, and that was twenty years ago. While making this change in her life, Micky had asked her loved ones to change as well. Yet, the guilt she’d carried around for years, first for not being able to just take the leap and admit it, then for seeing another woman behind her family’s back, had started to subside. The skin Micky found herself in these days fit her so much better, and no matter how awkward these first introductory conversations always were, Micky was a new and improved version of herself. Surely her mother could see that.
Besides, this was nothing compared to this coming weekend, when Olivia and Christopher would be home and Robin would come over for dinner.
“You’re certainly very pretty,” Gina said.
Micky had to giggle. Oh yes, her mother was very tense. But Micky was a mother herself, and even though she’d never been in a situation like this with one of her children—having to adjust to one aspect of your child’s life being so different than you’d always believed—she felt for her mother. She wished they could skip to the second meeting, when the initial awkwardness would be out of the way, and they could truly learn how to behave around each other.
Micky could almost see how Robin was turning on the charm. She curled her lips into that bright, dazzling smile and said, “And I can certainly see where Micky gets her good looks from.”
Gina was definitely a woman who prided herself on her looks, even more so as she progressed in age, but she wasn’t that shallow that just someone telling her she looked good would win her over. At least, Micky hoped, it would set the tone for the rest of the conversation, and they could take it from there.
“Micky tells me you lived in Hong Kong and Singapore. I visited Hong Kong with my husband years ago. He’d always wanted to go. What a crazy, crazy place.”
“It’s madness,” Robin replied, and just like that, they had found some common ground and the ice was broken.
“She’s really nice,” her mother said while Robin had excused herself to use the washroom. “So charming and well-spoken.” She made a low humming noise in her throat. “Which reminds me of someone.”
“Please don’t say Darren. On the surface, there might be some similarities, but they’re nothing alike, really.”
“I can certainly see where they differ, dear. I have eyes in my head,” Gina said smugly.
“Thanks for doing this, Mom. It means a lot to me.”
“You don’t need to thank me for meeting your new partner. I’m your mother. Of course it helps that my daughter’s been smiling from ear to ear since she walked into my house.” She put her hand over Micky’s. “I’m happy for you. I really am.”
Robin came back from the washroom, sat down at the table with them, and another, different kind of happiness washed over Micky. Perhaps she had Amber to thank for this as well, for leading by example and for showing Micky’s mother that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being gay. Dear, dear Amber. Micky made a mental note to push her to go out with Martha already.
✶ ✶ ✶
Of all the people Micky had to introduce Robin to, her children were the ones she was most worried about. She was turning her from a mere notion into a woman of flesh and blood. Olivia and Christopher had only ever seen Micky with Darren, their father and a man. To become someone else, to be forever changed, in her children’s eyes was the biggest challenge. By bringing Robin into their home, Micky wasn’t only admitting to being a lesbian, she was also boldly stating that she was a human being with sexual interests, a thought that might not align itself well with being their mother.
Thankfully, after having a casual chat with Liv and Chris at The Pink Bean over muffins and juice, Sheryl had given Micky some literature on sex-positive parenting, which Micky had pored over but hadn’t truly sunk in yet. What she’d taken away the most from the books Sheryl had pressed into her hands, was that Micky still had a lot left to learn herself.