Chapter 4

The house was quiet except for the sounds of tools being shifted in Dad"s toolbox. Mama was off at a workshop for people starting their transitions which left Dad home alone. I didn"t feel like going to the club, but I also didn"t want to sit at home alone. It had been a few days and Trinity hadn"t replied to my texts I"d sent the morning she ran out of my place. I grabbed a beer from the fridge and then pushed the door to the garage all the way open.

"Hey, Dad."

He instantly opened his arms and I walked into them for a hug. Dad gave the best ones. My gestational mother hadn"t been the affectionate sort. Mama and Mother couldn"t have been more different. How they'd last long enough to reproduce shocked me.

"No club for you tonight?" He kissed the top of my head and then let me go.

I leaned back against his workbench as he worked on rebuilding his carburetor. "Not tonight; I need a break a few times a week. I"m getting too old."

He snorted at me and I cleared my throat, and looked around.

"Why are you moping around here? I"m the only one who mopes," he said.

"Mom is gone for six hours; she"s not going away for a year or anything." I tapped my beer bottle against my thigh.

"Don"t you dare curse me, Hank."

I rolled my eyes at the old nickname that only Dad called me. Bruiser Barrister had no social polish and my mama loved it. Charlotte had waited a long time to find someone to accept her. Said man just turned out to be the type people crossed the street to avoid. No one else would've adored my mama above all others as much as him.

"Better than the other name. What did you think the first time you saw Mama?" It had been almost two decades and I never remembered asking about what Dad thought about Mama. Yet she"d told me the story of her fear the night they"d met.

He turned to face me. "She had a nice ass."

I laughed as he winked at me but then he turned serious.

"I didn"t like that she was scared of me. That never bothered me before. I had and still do have a reputation for being a cold bastard. When she got close to my bike, I loved how tall and soft she was. I almost took side roads to keep her wrapped around me longer."

"Did Mama being Trans ever bother you? I know that was one of Mama"s concerns when she started falling for you."

I knew dad had lost some lifelong friends when they made it official. I didn"t have those worries, but I didn"t understand the instant attachment I had to Trinity. There"d never been a woman before who just made me crave her. And according to Dad, he"d been obsessed with Mama from the second he spotted her walking down a dark road.

"No, and if it bothered anyone around me, they learned really painfully from their mistakes." He cleared his throat. "I wanted to visit her earlier but kept putting it off. All the calls and messages. I lived for them and when I realized how much I wanted to hear her voice every night for the rest of my life, I got scared. I don"t know, she treated me as a friend nothing more. I really wanted to see her, though, even if it was just as friends."

"You were the first man Mama dated."

"I know. After my week-long visit was over, I decided to kiss her before I left. On one hand, it could"ve been our first and last, but on the other, maybe she was just as unsure as I was. Two weeks and nothing from her. No calls or texts, and I couldn"t live with the thought I scared her. I came back to apologize. She whispered she loved me, so terrified about how I"d react. I never want my baby to be scared of me." Bruiser studied me closely as he'd always done when trying to figure out what was going on. "Did you meet someone?"

"Yeah, maybe." I stroked my fingers through my hair. "It was the other night; she had a disappointing hookup at the club. She came to the bar for a drink. She looked sad and my only thought was a woman that beautiful should never wear a frown."

The sadness I sensed in her had almost physically hurt me because I wanted to take it away. What did I know about romance or keeping a person when my longest relationships lasted a few years each at most?

"I talked her into having dinner with me and brought her home. Later, she fell asleep while we were watching a movie. Next day, I woke up cuddling her and then she was gone. Her best friend didn"t know where she was and her phone was dead, so she had to rush out."

"She hasn"t called?"

"No, she"s straight. And I don"t think extremely handsome Nonbinary people are her type."

"There"s the arrogance I love and fostered." He patted my cheek. "Be serious though, honey."

"There"s something about her, I don"t know what it is. I spotted her earlier in the night. Saw her with one of the regulars who just comes in for several fucks. It's like a game to see how many he can get before last call. I enjoyed her company. Now don"t get me wrong, if she wants to end up in my bed, I won"t complain but sex isn"t the first thing I thought about."

"Then give her a little more time. If she calls, then great, if not you enjoyed a night with her."

"Yeah. What are your plans for the night?"

"Being extremely sad and lonely until my baby gets home."

"You"re pitiful. It"s been nineteen years, shouldn"t you be a bitter, old married couple by now?"

"Charlotte is the only woman who"s ever made me happy, so no, and she gave me a great kid. All I"d ever wanted was a family and she gifted me everything in a beautiful package. I won"t say that I didn"t wonder in the early months. I"d never been around the Queer community before. I had a bit of a crisis, but it didn"t last long. She was perfect for me and extremely patient while I worked through some bullshit in my head. I"m not proud of that, but I"m honest about it."

I was about to say something when I heard the front door open. Dad was instantly on the move. I chuckled as I followed, and found him with Mama already in his arms. All I could do was shake my head. I"d gotten over the discomfort of my very affectionate parents long ago. They made a striking couple; Mama wasn"t much shorter than my dad"s six-three, and she was a beautiful plus-sized woman. Her platinum locks were a startling contrast to his black, silver-streaked hair, she was pale where his skin had a darker tan.

If anyone saw them at that moment, they"d think my parents had been separated for weeks instead of hours. I may give them shit about it, but they"d raised the bar on what I wanted in a relationship. With the thought of being in a couple, Trinity again formed in my head.

Dad picked Mama up and started carrying her toward the steps, and I cleared my throat. "Child in the room."

"Hi, Rogue, didn"t see you there." Mama"s words muffled against Dad"s lips.

"Shocking."

Dad buried his face in the curve of mama"s neck, growling and making her giggle. "Daddy, let me say hi to our kid." Mama didn"t fight too hard for Dad to release her.

I groaned at my dad grabbing my mama"s ass the second she called him Daddy. There was some shit I didn"t need to know about their parents—even in my thirties.

"It"s a wonder I didn"t need more therapy." I winked at my mama as she pulled away from Dad, but he never took his eyes off his wife.

"My poor traumatized child." She hugged me and I wrapped one of my arms around her waist. "You been behaving? Breaking any ladies" hearts lately?"

"You have such a high opinion of your one and only."

She grabbed my cheeks and pressed a loud kiss to my forehead. "You know I love you. I"d just like to meet a girlfriend at some point."

"I"ll do my best to give you a daughter-in-law to torture."

"That"s all I ask. Taking a night off from the loud music and adoring femmes?"

"It"s a rough life, but I suffer through."

"You spent too much time with your dad in your impressionable years."

"Hey!" Dad and I yelled in unisodn.

She stepped back, and as always ad couldn"t resist pulling her back to him. "So sensitive." She shook her head.

"Hank said they met someone."

I glared at Dad as he threw me under the bus.

"Dad, I told you she didn"t seem interested."

"Who wouldn"t love you?" Mama asked.

"I"m sure there"s plenty. You"re just biased. I"m going to take my beer and go home, let you two enjoy your private time."

"Dinner Sunday?" she asked.

"Of course." I closed the distance between us and hugged her and Dad, then headed for the back door.

I stepped into the enclosed atrium that was an oasis in the middle of the city. Flowers and plants, a few scattered pools filled with koi. Dad had created the space for him and Mama to have a sanctuary. The frosted-glass ceiling allowed in light but gave them privacy from the other homes and yards. Twinkle lights ran the perimeter of the ceiling, and then I exited on the other side. I entered my yard which was boring in comparison.

I opened my back door and stepped into my dark kitchen. On the way to the living room, I picked up my phone where I"d left it on the kitchen counter. Taking a sip of my beer, I checked my notifications but saw none that didn"t pertain to work or friends inviting me to a dozen different parties.

Yeah, it hurt the old ego a bit, but no matter what my mama thought not everyone found me irresistible. I flopped onto my couch, set my phone on the coffee table and grabbed the remote. Another exciting night in the life of Rogue Barrister, but I couldn"t complain—it was the life I chose. I"d just have to wait a little longer for someone to share it with.