Page 5 of Stranded
“I am not.” I grabbed the arms of the chair and glared straight at him. “I don’t have a problem with gay or trans people.”
“The weird thing is that it’s true,” Melodie said, her voice flat and hoarse from all her crying. “Outside of Aiden, he’s never once expressed any sentiment that shows he’s homophobic. I don’t know why he won’t accept our son. They got along fine until Aiden started exploring this side of himself. It’s not like I fully get it, but he’s old enough to make his own decisions. Why can’t Jackson feel the same?”
“He looks at me, and all he sees is what I wear,” Aiden said. “I love dressing up. What’s wrong with that? It makes me feel pretty.”
“What do you want to feel pretty for?” I propped my arms on my thighs and leaned forward. “You’re a man. You don’t need to be pretty.”
“Are you listening to yourself?”His plump lips pursed and his eyes narrowed to slits. “I wear skirts and dresses and thongs and bras too when I want to. Get over it already. Maybe you should stop being such a shitty stepdad.”
“I did all right by you. Don’t I take care of you and your mother?” I stood, towering over him. He’d come into my life when he was just twelve years old and I’d always provided a roof over his head, taken care of his schooling and his extracurriculars. He dared accuse me of being a shitty stepdad to him?
Aiden scrambled to his feet as if that would make a difference. He would always be the little one. I was six-foot-six, and he took after his mother with his five-foot-four frame.
Damn, but he was a feisty thing. A hint of admiration sparked inside of me. He never, ever backed down. He had more backbone than some men I’d dealt with in my time as a Marine. He was either stupid or brave.
“So we never needed anything physical.” He jutted out his chin. “But what about our other needs? What about hugs? Or just fucking being there?”
“Well, I am here. Aren’t I?”
“Oh, please. You never wanted to be home at all. You’re only here because you’re a washed-up Marine who can’t do the work anymore.”
“You little?—”
“Enough!” Melodie rushed between us, blocking us from getting in each other’s faces. Or… chest to face. “I can’t do this anymore. You’re both driving me crazy with all this fighting. You’re at the therapist’s and still doing it. I give up. Do whatever you want. Kill each other for all I care. I’m out of here.”
Melodie grabbed her bag from the couch and stormed out of the office, slamming the door shut. Silence filled the room after her departure.
“Now look what you did,” Aiden said.
“Me? You’re?—”
“That’s enough.” Eva pointed at the couches. “You two, sit. I don’t usually do this, but you two should be ashamed of yourselves. Do you know the amount of stress you’ve been placing on that poor woman? She’s trying to reconcile her family, but all you two can do is bicker.”
Aiden sat first. After that, I’d look too petty if I didn’t, so I took my seat as well.
“According to your wife, you both used to get along. All that stopped three years ago. Now there has to be a reason. What changed?”
“It was the summer I decided to be my authentic self,” Aiden said, crossing his arms. “I started experimenting with clothes and exploring my feminine side. He went off the deep end, not that he had far to go. He was always a bit on the unhinged side.”
I stared at Eva. Did she really not expect me to respond to that? He was provoking me. Right in front of her, and she just dismissed it as if I deserved it. Did everyone think I was the bad guy in this?
“You two have differences, but there’s no reason you should be at each other’s throats. I recommend that you two not live under the same roof.”
“He’s not ready to be on his own,” I blurted. “He still needs to learn about responsibility.”
“Who’s going to teach it to me? You?” Aiden scoffed under his breath. “I’m saving until I can move out. Problem is, whenever I mention it, he refuses to let me go.”
“Which shows you actually care about your stepson, Jackson,” Eva said. “You’ve said a lot. I’ve heard your words, but that one action tells me you hope to fix the relationship with him. Are you willing to do this, Aiden?”
“He’d never go for it. He hates me.”
“I don’t hate you,” I snapped. “You irritate me. You drive me to the fucking edge. But I don’t hate you.”
“This is progress,” Eva crowed. “But I don’t believe you can improve your relationship in your current state.”
“What do you mean?” Aiden asked.
“Melodie isn’t doing you any favors when she intervenes in your fights,” she said. “I can see from what just happened that she does this a lot. You two need to learn how to talk through what’s bothering you and how to apologize and still be there for each other. You can’t do that if Melodie always interrupts your arguments. See, fighting isn’t unhealthy, per se. It gets a lot off your chest and allows the other person to see how we feel about certain things.”
