10. Jamie

I can do this. It's like Mina said before lunch, my parents are allies. They raised me to be one. They're going to be nothing but supportive about me being bisexual. I know this. I shouldn't be nervous. Whenever I let myself vaguely think about coming out to them, I always imagined it going well. I wasn't worried. Except this is not exactly the coming out I would have planned. And now, as I sit in my office staring down my mom's contact on my phone, I have a sudden, uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Maybe eating something as heavy as a burger for lunch wasn't the best idea.

I have half a mind to call Mina back in here to sit with me. She'd offered to, as moral support. But this is something I need to do on my own.

Taking a deep breath, I press call and hold the phone to my ear.

It rings for what seems like an eternity but is probably only a second before my mom's voice comes through the speaker. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mom." I swallow past the frog in my throat.

"Sweetheart, hi," she says, the relief plain in her voice. "How're you doing?"

A pang of guilt for delaying this call hits me instantly, but I push past it. "I'm okay," I say, although I know it's not at all convincing. "Um, can you give me a second? I'm going to patch Dad in."

"Of course."

With a slightly shaky hand, I tap my screen a few times to pull my dad into the call, hoping he's still on his lunch break and not teaching a class.

Thankfully, after a few rings, he answers. "Jamie?"

"Hey, Dad. I've got Mom on the line, too."

"Hi, honey," Mom says.

"It's good to hear from you, kiddo," Dad says.

"Sorry I didn't pick up last night. I was with my staff all day yesterday and didn't really have time to…" I trail off.

"Don't worry about it," Mom says immediately. "We just wanted to check in on you."

"Yeah, we understand," Dad adds.

I bite the inside of my cheek. "I'm guessing you saw the article."

There's a moment of silence before my dad answers. "Yeah, we did."

I close my eyes for a moment as I take a deep breath and hold it for a moment. Then I open them and exhale in a rush, ready to just rip off the bandaid. "Okay, I don't really know how to do this, so I think I'm just going to say it."

"It's okay, baby. You can take your time. You don't have to tell us anything until you're ready," Mom says, her voice so warm and comforting it makes me a little homesick.

"Thanks, Mom. But I kind of do because I want to tell y'all this myself instead of you reading it on my Instagram in a few hours." I pause briefly to swallow down the acid rising up my throat. "I'm bi."

The handful of seconds of silence that follow my statement are somehow the loudest thing I've ever heard in my life.

Then, my dad's soft exhale breaks it. "That's great, kiddo."

I can't help letting out a breathy laugh of relief. "It is?"

"Of course, it is," Mom says.

"So you're really okay with it?" I ask, needing the confirmation.

"Jamie, we love you unconditionally for who you are. If who you are is someone who is attracted to women and men, then we love you for it," Mom says firmly.

"The important question is whether you're okay with it," Dad says.

"I am," I say, without hesitation. "I mean, I'm not really thrilled with how this is coming out, and I'm a little—okay, I'm a lot worried about how this is going to affect my chances in the election because Mitchell—"

"Oh, fuck Mitchell," Mom grumbles.

"Mom!" I try to scold, but my surprised laugh betrays me.

"What? That man is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine and anyone with a brain cell knows it."

I smile as the tension starts to leave my shoulders. "But anyway, setting the circumstances aside, I feel… good. It feels good finally acknowledging this part of myself."

"Then we're happy for you," Mom says.

"And we're proud of you," Dad continues.

My chest warms and tears threaten to fill my eyes. "Thanks, Dad."

"So, are you seeing someone?" Mom asks carefully after a beat.

And even though I knew the question would be coming, it still stops me in my tracks. I still haven't decided which way I want to play this—going with the truth, or the lie. But ultimately, the barely hidden hopefulness in my mom's voice decides for me. Thankfully, Adrian and I discussed the basics of our cover story at lunch, so I'm prepared. "Yeah, I am. I'm not sure how closely you looked at the photos, but the person I'm with, he's my boyfriend."

"Oh, that's great," Mom exclaims. "What's his name? Is it new?"

"His name is Adrian. He's a vet, and yeah, it's new. It's only been about two months. I was kind of waiting to see where it was going before telling you about it," I lie.

"So is it serious, then?"

A loud bell on my dad's end of the line cuts me off before I can answer. Thank God.

"Oh, that's the bell. I have to get going," Dad says.

"That's okay, I do too," I reply.

"Okay, well, we'll talk later, okay?" Mom says. "I want to hear all about this veterinarian."

"I'll call when I can," I promise. "I love you both. And thank you for… well, you know."

"We love you, too, kiddo," Dad says.

"Bye, my sweethearts," Mom says.

"Bye," I say. I disconnect the call, drop my phone to my desk, then slump back in my chair with a long sigh.

Now that it's over, I feel a little silly for being so nervous. It went well. Of course it went well—at least, it mostly did. Lying to them about Adrian doesn't quite sit right, but it's probably for the best. The less people that know the truth, the better. And honestly, even if my parents did know the truth, I probably wouldn't feel much better about the lie. It feels a little ironic to be coming out of the closet to live as "my authentic self" only to immediately follow it up with a lie. However, the possible consequences of going with the real story would be worse, so I'm just going to have to keep reminding myself of that. And at least I don't have to lie to everyone important to me. Mina knows, so I can be real around her. And Adrian, even though I barely know him. Yet. I'm going to have plenty of time to get to know him between now and November (assuming this scandal doesn't lose me the Democratic nomination).

And speaking of Adrian, I should probably text him. He went back to work after lunch, just like I did, so he's probably with patients and won't answer. But at lunch, I'd mentioned needing to come out to my parents before the post goes live, and he made me promise to tell him how it went. Well, it was more that he said he'd be there if I needed to talk about how it went, but he was so sincere about it that I found myself promising to do just that. So I sit up again, grab my phone, and navigate to my text thread with him.

Adrian Wilks

Jan 31, 1:03 PM

Well I did it. I came out to my parents

It went well

I hit send and am surprised when the three dancing dots appear almost immediately.

I'm glad. How do you feel?

Good. I think

I ended up telling them our cover story instead of the real story so I don't feel great about that but other than that…

I understand that. But you were put into an impossible situation and you're handling it the best way you know how to so I wouldn't be too hard on yourself

I guess I just pictured this whole coming out thing to be a lot less… messy

Which is probably naive of me given that I'm a public figure

If it helps, coming out is messy no matter the circumstances. My coming out was messy and I was just a random teenager

That's a fair point

I've got another patient so I have to go, but I'm glad telling your parents went well

Thanks

Have a good rest of your shift darlin'