19. Xander

Xander

The phone call came unexpectedly, disrupting the quiet of our evening together. I glanced at the caller ID, my stomach twisting with unease as I recognized the number. It was my parents.

I knew it was only a matter of time before Ronald and Judy would contact me concerning whatever they'd heard about what was happening in my life. It only took them 24 hours after the news broke. I hoped they'd react positively, finally see me for who I was, but deep down, I knew they'd probably stick to their old-fashioned ideas about what was proper and what people thought.

Beside me sat my rock in human form – my partner, ready to weather the storm with me.

"It's the parentals."

His brows furrowed and his eyes were worried. "Need me to handle them for you?"

The phone rang a second time.

"I'll do it; but I'm grateful that you wanted to."

Drawing a deep breath, I answered the phone on the third ring, steeling myself for whatever was to come. "Hello?"

Ry drew himself closer to me, our thighs touching on the couch, his arm around me. It was enough to ground me.

"Xander, darling," came Mom"s voice – sickeningly sweet on the surface but tinged with an undercurrent of disapproval. "We need to talk."

Ice formed in my veins. This wasn"t going to be pleasant.

"About what?" I guarded my words, bracing for the onslaught.

"We returned from Australia and we heard these… these... rumors." Dad"s frosty tone sliced through the phone line like a scalpel.

Rumors. Their euphemism for my relationship with Ry, as though it were a dirty secret.

"What rumors?" I demanded, my patience wearing thin.

"You know exactly what we"re talking about," Mom retorted, her irritation seeping through every syllable. "This... relationship of yours. It"s tarnishing our family"s reputation."

My anger surged. "Tarnishing your reputation?" I scoffed, incredulous. "This is about my happiness, Mom. Happiness with someone who cares about me."

"Don"t be ridiculous, Xander," Dad interjected dismissively. "This... phase of yours needs to end. You"re young, you"ll grow out of it."

Grow out of it? As if my feelings for Ry were something fickle that would fade with time.

"I"m not going to apologize for who I am," I declared resolutely, struggling to keep an even tone amidst the internal chaos. "And I"m certainly not going to apologize for loving him."

"You"re throwing your future away," Mom spat out venomously. "And for what? A washed-up hockey player who"s never going to make it in the NAPH?"

That was it; the straw that broke the camel's back. They had always dismissed my dreams of playing in the NAPH, never believed in me. And now, they used Ry"s career as a weapon against me, belittling him as if he was worthless.

"Ry is more than just a hockey player," I retorted, my voice rising with righteous anger. "And he"s a better human being than either of you could ever be."

Silence hung heavy on the line, the weight of my words sinking in.

"You're making a mistake, Xander," Dad finally said, resignation in his tone. "But it"s your life."

"Have you ever thought about how your actions might have affected my life?" I said, the words tumbling out, fueled by years of hurt. "How many babysitters did you hire to raise me? How many times have you forgotten to come to parent-student conferences? Let me answer that for you: Every. Single. Time. Did you come to my high school and college graduations? No. Do you know how many hockey games you've seen me play? Two. Can you believe it? One. Two. How do you think I felt when my friends boasted about the good times they had with their families? How do you think I felt when their moms and dads were there at conferences and games and graduations? But I loved you anyway. So don't pretend to be perfect because you're not."

With that, the line went dead, leaving me trembling with fury and pain. I didn't even notice that tears were carving tracks down my cheeks until Ry thumbed them away. I crumbled in his arms and he held me close, offering silent solace while I released the pent-up emotions that had been festering within me for years.

It was the official severing of ties with the people who brought me into the world, but in that moment of raw vulnerability, I realized I didn"t need them. I had Ry, and he was more than enough.