SEVEN

Mark was just stepping out of the shower when he heard the pounding on the door. He quickly grabbed the towel from the floor and threw it around his waist before opening the door. Jinyoung had been the one knocking, a tense look on his face. “What's going on?” Mark asked urgently. “Is it Ginger? Or Lou?”

“Not Ginger,” Jinyoung said quickly. “Maybe Lou. And Allison. Nothing serious. But there was a very bad argument at the Wangs, and everyone over there is really upset and hysterical. They need someone to go over there are and...I don't know. Help calm everyone down?”

“What happened? Who was arguing?” Mark couldn't imagine Allison and Jackson fighting to the point of making the whole household hysterical, so it had to have been someone else.

“Sounds like it was started by Allison's parents.”

Mark in his breath. Allison had mentioned something about them visiting, but had tried to remain cautiously optimistic about it. Their relationship had been filled with ups and downs over the past few years. Regina's birth had forged a temporary truce, and they'd also been thrilled after Brendan's birth—Allison was their only child, so they were pleased to have the three grandchildren in their lives. But then, once again, little issues began to pile up. They accused Allison and Jackson, Jackson in particular given his energetic personality, of letting Regina run wild and become too much of a tomboy. They were furious that they'd shifted over more of Lou's custody to Mark and Jinyoung, and when they found out Allison had paved the way for Jinyoung and Mark to adopt 'an innocent little girl who deserves a mother in the house,' they were outright scandalized. Their complaints grew more and more frequent—“Lou should focus more on his studies than on silly things like cars,” “Regina shouldn't be encouraged to play sports with the boys,” “It isn't good for Brendan to be spending so much time at that household,”—until Allison had had enough. She'd switched over to having Christmas with Mark and Jinyoung or Jackson's family instead of with her own. She wouldn't let them be alone with her children in case they tried to tell them things without her supervision. She refused to let them go to events which Ginger would also be attending. “If you dare try and make that girl regret that she was adopted by two people who love her more than life itself, you will never see Lou or Regina or Brendan again,” she'd said.

Allison's threats had worked, just as they had when she'd threatened them after her wedding to Jackson several years ago. As much as they disliked the upbringing of their grandchildren, they were certainly stubborn about needing to be a part of their grandchildren's life. They were oddly possessive of Lou in particular, even though he was Mark's child and they still hated Mark far more than they disliked Jackson. It was possible they felt competition over his plethora of grandparents—if they were cut out of his life, he'd barely feel the loss since he also had the Wangs, Parks, and Tuans as beloved grandparents.

So Allison had thought they'd behave during this most recent visit, but apparently the opposite had happened. Mark had an idea of things they could have done or said, and it had to have been particularly terrible to set off the entire household.

Mark quickly threw on some clothes. “Should we take Ginger with us?” he asked.

“We can't just leave her here,” Jinyoung said. “She's only seven, and I don't know how long this will take.”

“I meant more along the lines of dropping her off at Domenicia's?”

“It's a little late. I think we have to take her.”

“I just don't want her to be upset by whatever's going on there.”

“I know,” Jinyoung took a deep breath. “But Brendan's already witnessed whatever it was, I think. She'll hear about. I think it would be better for her to comfort Regina and Brendan if she can. I hope it's not so bad that she'll start crying too.”

So they found Ginger where she was watching the Disney Channel in the TV room and asked her to get into her coat and shoes.

“Listen, sweetie,” Mark told her softly. “Your Aunt Allison, Uncle Jackson, your cousins, and older brother just had a very upsetting day. They might be a little sad when we visit, so let's cheer them up, OK?”

Ginger looked worried. “Even Aunt Allison and Uncle Jackson are sad? Why?”

“Your Papa and I aren't sure right now. But whatever the reason is, it's really important that we can make them happy again. So even if there are tears, let's try to be strong for them. Can you do that?”

She nodded. “I'll make them all better.”

They piled into the car. “Who called you in the first place?” Mark asked Jinyoung quietly. “Allison? Jackson?”

“Jackson,” Jinyoung said. “He was really upset too, so I didn't understand all of it. I think it might have had to do with Lou. Allison's parents found out about how he's planning on going to that pit training course at the racing academy in North Carolina instead of traditional college after high school, maybe. Or...” His frown tightened. “They may have found out about Kit. Or both.”

“God, I hope it's not that,” Mark groaned. “Not now. He's just a seventeen year old. He doesn't need to hear the kind of things they say about us said about him.”

“I know. I hope it's not that. I really do.”

Jackson opened the door when they rang. They could already hear several wails coming from the next room over as soon as they entered. Jackson himself had red eyes and damp cheeks.

“Before you go in, I'll sum up,” he said in a tight voice. “They were going in on Regina again. It was so stupid, but you know how she insisted on chopping most of her hair off because it was always tangled anyways? They were telling her it was unattractive on her and that she looked like a boy. Lou was just trying to help take the attention off his little sister. He told them about how Kit's doing really well as a racer in the local circuit, and is picking up a lot of press for his background since it's not really common for Asians to participate in American stock car racing. He's in talks with some early sponsors. Things like that. Unfortunately, that pissed off Allison's parents, because they think he should be focusing on school instead of working at mechanic shops and planning for a career in a pit crew. They told him he should be worrying about applying for college, and then he told them he wasn't going to go to college. They flipped. Accused him of ruining his life over some silly pipe dream that wasn't going to work out. Lou wasn't bothered, just told them that it was his decision to make. And then they started blaming your influence on him as the reason why he's making 'irresponsible decisions' and how Allison and I were terrible parents for letting him associate with you because of how you are and then Lou lost it and told them about Kit and if they had a problem with you, they also had a problem with him, and...you can imagine. Allison and I threw them out. Not literally threw, of course, since they're in their late sixties, but yeah...they're not welcome here any more. Cut out of the family. After all the things they said in front of our children about us and about you and about them... we can't. We can't subject them to those things.”

“I'm so sorry,” Jinyoung said in a choked voice. “You shouldn't have had to hear anything like that.”

Jackson shook his head. “I've never liked them. But they're lucky they didn't say one more thing about my wife and family, or else I don't even know what I would have done.” He took a deep breath. “Allison's in the shower so our kids don't see her crying, although it's a bit late for that. Lou is...I think he ran off to his room. Brendan and Regina are crying in there because they barely understand what just happened and don't know what to do about seeing half their family hollering at each other and crying. I need to get back in there with them. You...you should talk to Lou.”

Mark nodded. “We will.”

Jinyoung patted Ginger on the back. “Can you go in there and help your Uncle Jackson calm your cousins down, sweetie?”

Ginger was wide-eyed. Mark wasn't sure how much she'd understood from what Jackson had said, but any little bit of it that she had processed, and Regina and Brendan had processed as well, was heartbreaking to him. They would have to learn that these kinds of people were in the world at some point, but he wished they could hold on to that little bit of innocence for a little bit longer, that they wouldn't have to realize that those kinds of people would often be hiding in the people they loved and trusted.

Ginger went in to the sitting room with Jackson, and Mark and Jinyoung went upstairs to find Lou. He hadn't locked his door. He was on his bed, crying into his pillow. The sight of it physical pained Mark in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. Lou wasn't a crier. They always joked that he'd gotten it out of system as a two-year-old and had been level headed ever since. Mark and Jinyoung tended to cry far more than Lou ever did, and Mark couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen his son look like this, red eyed and out of breath with how much he was sobbing. His nails digging into palms so deeply they were leaving violent welts.

“Oh, Lou,” Mark said softly. Both he and Jinyoung went to the bed and sat on either side of him, rubbing his back in slow circles. He was too upset to speak for a long time, and neither of them wanted to push him. They just kept rubbing his back, waiting for him. Just like when he was a toddler, Mark remembered. It was so long ago, but the pain of seeing his child in pain was as raw as ever.

“I just couldn't take it,” Lou finally said in a shaky voice. “What they said about Regina. She's just ten years old, she doesn't get why her own grandparents would insult the way she is to her face. I knew they'd be upset about me not going to college, but I didn't know they'd say those things about all of you. Blaming Mom and Dad, then blaming you, and saying it's because...because I grew up in a gay household, like that ruined me. Ruined me, as if you both didn't give so much of your lives to making sure I was happy and safe.”

“We know that's how you feel, Lou,” Mark said gently. “We really don't give a what your Staley grandparents think of us. We never did.”

“I know. But I couldn't sit back and let them say those things. Not in front of Regina and Brendan. Not to Mom, who keeps getting hurt by them over and over again. And not about you, not hateful things about your relationship when I'm the same as you, and if they hated you, that meant they hated me too. And I hated them so much in that moment, I wanted them to hate me. More than they hated you or Dad or even Mom, so they would stop saying bad things about you. So I told them about Kit, and...” He in his breath. “I thought I was ready for whatever they would say. But I wasn't...I wasn't...that they would tell me to my face that I wasn't their grandchild anymore...the same people that held me when I was little and bought me Christmas presents and took me swimming...that all it would take was for me to be honest about myself, and all that would be gone. I...” He started sobbing heavily again.

Jinyoung cradled his head, pressing it against his chest. “Lou, you're worth so much more than that. To all of us. People who turn their backs on family for things like love or finding happiness aren't family. That's not what family does.”

Lou simply cried into Jinyoung's shirt. Mark could feel the tears leaking out of his own eyes. That someone would make his son feel like this was unforgivable. There was nothing the Staleys could do to redeem themselves from this, to him. They were already dead to him.

After a long time, Lou raised his head, tightening his shoulders. “You're right,” he said. “I have three sets of grandparents now. And that's still more than most guys. And I'd rather have two great fathers and an awesome boyfriend who's going to kick the pants off stock car racing than a pair of ty grandparents.” He took a deep breath. “Just...this won't be the last time this happens, will it?”

Mark knew what he was asking—if other people would walk out of his life or shower him in words of hate if they found out he was gay. He hated the answer he had to give, but he felt like he had to be honest. “Probably yes. But never us, Lou. Never me or Jinyoung or your mom and dad or your brother or your sister. And not Kit or Kit's family. And aren't those the people who matter?”

Lou nodded. “Yes. Everyone who matters.” He took a deep breath. “Still. I can't believe it. That's probably going to be the last time I ever see them.”

“I don't know about that,” Jinyoung said. “Just watch. After you and Kit earn a few millions, they'll have a magical change of heart.”

Lou snorted. “I'll pay for their plane ticket to get the away from us, but that's it.”

“Language,” Mark said automatically.

“You said earlier, and didn't make me apologize for saying ty after that. I'm allowed.”

Just as Lou was slowly beginning to calm down, they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. It was Kit—Lou had apparently texted him after the fight.

Kit had appeared in the doorframe looking incredibly pissed, ready to go on a tear. Mark felt a little anxious for a moment because that anger wasn't exactly what Lou needed right now, at least not in comparison to how badly he needed to be reminded of how much and how preciously he was loved. But Kit seemed to realize that too, his anger shifting into something more careful and tender when he saw the evidence of Lou's sadness on his face. “Come here, you,” he said, opening up his arms. “No one gets to hurt you while I'm here, so don't think about anything those ers said to you. That doesn't matter anymore, OK? I'll love you enough to make up for anyone who tries to take their love away. Times a thousand.”

Lou went into Kit's arms, which Jinyoung and Mark took as a sign their work here was done. As they passed, both Lou and Kit mouthed 'thank you' to them. But Mark felt like the thankful one, knowing that his son knew he had those loving arms waiting for him and that that love was far more important to hold on to than anyone's hate.

Allison was in the sitting room when they went down, her hair dripping wet. Both Jackson and Ginger were hugging her tightly on the couch. Brendan and Regina didn't seem to be around.

She lifted her head when Mark and Jinyoung came in. It looked like she'd stopped crying.

“Well,” she said in a hoarse voice. “I should have seen this one coming from all that we had to put up with from them when we got married, Mark. And it's finally over.”

“You'll be better off, Allie. You never needed any of that in your life.”

She nodded. “They'll be the ones suffering for it. No daughter anymore. No grandchildren. Maybe they'll think it's a relief now since apparently Regina and Lou and me and Jackson aren't good enough for the likes of them, but they'll realize in a few years. And they'll suffer. Maybe it's terrible for me to wish that on them as someone who unfortunately shares their blood, but I hope they suffer five times over what they just made us suffer.”

“Where are the kids?” Jinyoung asked.

“In bed. Cried themselves out, poor things. They're just ten and seven. What are they supposed to think when they hear their grandparents insulting everyone they care about?” Allison Ginger's hair. “You were a little angel for helping them, sweetheart. Your sweetness makes all tears go away.”

“You're feeling better too, auntie?” Ginger asked, her forehead wrinkling.

“So much better. Because all the people I love are still here. And that's all I need to be happy.” She looked back at Mark. “You should really get her home. I'm sorry for all the mess here, but...thank you. Whatever you might have said to ease Lou's mind...thank you. He deserves the world...I don't know if I can forgive myself for my parents trying to take that away from him, but I'll try. I'll try.”

Mark and Jinyoung helped Ginger into her coat and got her back into the car. She was quiet for most of the ride back, but spoke up after awhile. “Adults don't really know everything, do they?” she asked at length.

“No, Ginger, we certainly don't,” Mark responded.

“OK. Because I don't think the Super Moms are nice and I don't think the people who hurt my family today were nice, and I think the things they think and say are very, very wrong, but adults never want children to think adults are wrong.”

“That's because your hearts are better than ours, and you see things with clearer eyes. It makes some of us ashamed. But you're right, Ginger. Sometimes the things adults do are very, very wrong.”

She nodded from the backseat, glad to be right. Glad to hear that all things she'd seen weren't things that should have happened.

“I'm glad I have two daddies,” she said from the backseat. “It's not weird to me at all, even though people try to tell me it's weird. And I'm happy that Lou and Kit are in love, because they're so cool and happy all the time and I want my big brother to be the happiest person in the world. And my aunt and uncle Jackson and Allison are the best. And Regina is fun to play with and it's okay if she gets dirty sometimes. And Brendan won't end up bad like his brother and sister because Lou and Regina are perfect, and Brendan is going to be perfect.”

“You're right again, Ginger,” Jinyoung said, his voice thick with emotion. “You're more right than most adults.”

“I'll be good, too,” Ginger said firmly. “Even if people say bad things, I'll always be good.”

EIGHT

Ginger was in an unusually good mood when Mark picked her up from dance. Not only was she grinning ear-to-ear, but she was also giggling at random intervals, then shyly playing with the edges of her sari (Mei Hui kept sending them every year, and also some Chinese cheongsams. Ginger had decided she didn't believe in Santa anymore, but never asked where the clothes came from).

“OK, what is it?” Mark asked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes. “Did something happen today?”

Ginger played shy for a little longer, then out of nowhere declared “I've fallen in love, Daddy!”

Mark almost choked. “You what?”

“Fell in love. There's this guy in my dance class who is soooooo dreamy.”

No, no, no. Mark was not ready for this. Sometimes, he still had trouble processing that his eldest kid was in a very serious relationship which he could no longer supervise since both boys were now living in North Carolina for their racing academy. He wasn't ready for his baby girl to think about love, even if the relationship was juvenile. He wanted her to stay a daddy's (and papa's) girl through and through.

“Who is this guy?” Mark asked protectively.

“His name is Ishan. He's so handsome Dad, like, you don't even know. Just like a Bollywood actor.”

Mark was having a hard time imaging a boy in the 7-12 age range looking like a Bollywood actor. He was about to say so, but bit his tongue. As a parent, he couldn't be rude about this. Jinyoung's parenting magazines would advise him to be supportive of her discussing her emotions while not exactly encouraging her to act on them, since she was still so young.

He didn't want to say anything positive about whoever this Ishan guy was, so he managed a vague, “Well, isn't that exciting?” Ginger didn't need much encouragement to talk about it anyways—as soon as the words were out of Mark's mouth, she was off like a rocket, listing all of Ishan's virtues. He was talented. A good dancer. Had smoky eyelashes (whatever that meant). Had pretty teeth. His eyes could look into your soul (now Mark was slowly being convinced that Ginger, Domenicia, or both had gotten their hands on a flowery teen romance).

Mark was feeling little by little more anxious. No matter how you looked at it, Ginger was pretty. She'd always been a beautiful kid, but now that she was growing up, it was more pronounced. Of course, most the guys her age were too young to care, but what if? What if when she grew up, boys were drawn to her like bees to a flower? Mark was not ready. Definitely not.

0
 

But all the talk about Ishan didn't go away. Whenever Domenicia was over, the two girls would giggle about it nonstop. Ginger told her friend every tiny detail about their interactions, although Mark had to assume she was exaggerating for flair. Ishan apparently corrected her kindly whenever she made a mistake (who was some brat to be correcting his talented daughter?) and laughed at a story she'd told him and complimented her sari. He said Ginger moved fluidly, like a leaping flame (what kind of brat used the word 'fluidly' and compared a girl to a flame? She had to be getting this from a romance novel).

Jinyoung, who'd had his share of childhood crushes himself, wasn't worried. “It's a natural part of growing up,” he reminded Mark. “People have puppy crushes. It's cute. It doesn't have to be anything more than cute. She's only eight.”

“But I remember there were some people in my class who dated when I was in middle school,” Mark fretted. “What if Ishan actually tried to date her?”

“And what happened to all of those middle school kids you're remembering?”

Mark thought for a moment. “Well...I don't think most of them ever went out on a date. Or kissed. They mostly just said they were dating, and that was it. And then they broke up.”

“So do you think Ginger is actually at much risk here?”

“I guess not?” Mark paused. “But if some brat breaks up with her, I'll-”

“OK, Mark! No violence against eight year olds!” Jinyoung smiled at him. “We can handle this. Trust me. Puppy love has a way of sorting itself out.”

0
 

A few weeks later, Ginger came out of dance class in tears.

“What's wrong, sweetie?” Mark asked, the protective instincts kicking in within seconds.

“It's Ishan,” she wailed. “He already has a girlfriend, and she's prettier than me.”

“That can't be right, sweetheart, you're the prettiest girl I know.” Mark hugged her tightly, her hair. He couldn't tell whether he should be relieved the Ishan thing wouldn't be happening, or pissed that the brat had broken his daughter's heart.

“But she is!” Ginger sniffled. “She has red hair and is a high school cheerleader and wears make up.”

“That's doesn't make her-” Mark paused. “Wait. High school cheerleader?”

“Yes, she's so perfect and I'm jealous because he won't notice me at all if he's dating her.”

“Um, Ginge,” Mark said, trying to sound tactful. “How old is Ishan?”

She thought about it. “Seventeen? He's one of the teacher assistants.”

Well, that explains that. “Don't worry,” Mark said soothingly. “One day you're going to meet a guy who is handsomer and, um, smokier than Ishan, and he's going to have eyes only for you. And I hope when you find that guy, he's around the same age you are, okay?”

Ginger bit her lip. “Is Dev Patel around my age, Daddy?”

“Sweetie, no.”

“Because I would marry him. If I can't marry Ishan.” She wiped her eyes. “And isn't it fine if I do? Your birthday cake said 43 this year, Daddy, and Papa's said 36.”

Mark winced. “It's different when you're a grown up.”

Ginger looked incredibly skeptical at that. “Dev Patel is more handsome than the boys my age. Papa was probably more handsome, too.”

Jinyoung almost wet himself laughing when Mark told him. “See, I knew it would work itself out,” he said, holding his stomach. “It sounded like something like that. But she actually said she thought you picked me because I was handsomer than the guys your age?”

“Pretty much.”

“I like that. Mark rejecting all the 28 year old studs because 21 year-old Jinyoung was just so much hotter.”

“Well, if we're getting technical, you were,” Mark said. “Since I don't seem to remember any of those 28 year-olds.”

Jinyoung smiled at Mark. “You know we're going to have to let her go one day,” he said gently. “You should steel yourself for when that day comes.”

“I know,” Mark admitted. “But let's hope it's far off in the future. She can stay just ours for now.”