Page 23 of Love Legacy

Naomi

I ’m woken up from my sleep by knocking at my apartment door. I groan, turning over and reaching for my pillow to pull over my head when my arm hits something warm and soft.

“Oof.”

I open my eyes, looking over to see Sage laying next to me, sleeping on her back. Our legs are entwined under the covers, our bodies pressed close to each other. In reaching over for my pillow, I had draped my arm across Sage’s throat. “Oh, sorry,” I say, pulling my arm back.

She opens a single eye, grinning when she sees me. “Morning, Church Girl.”

I return her smile, propping myself up on my elbow to press my lips to hers. “Morning, Tarragon.”

“Gabby’s got you doing the nicknames too? I like it better when you call me Sage,” she says with a slight whine to her voice.

I laugh, running my fingers through her hair. “I’m just messing with you.”

Sage reaches out, grabbing my hip and pulling me close so I’m straddling her. “There’s just something so sexy about hearing my name come out of your mouth,” she murmurs, her hands stroking up and down my exposed thighs.

“Yeah?” I ask, bending down and pressing soft kisses to her exposed collar bones and neck.

Sage just lets out a breathy moan in response, her hands migrating to grab my butt, grinding my center into her.

There’s another knock at the door, this one more urgent, and my phone rings simultaneously. I groan in annoyance, sitting back up to reach over and check my phone that was sitting on the side table. Why is my father calling me?

Our communication has been fairly limited since I moved to Pinebrook, sticking to short text exchanges.

So for him to be calling me this early in the morning, for the first time in a couple months, was out of character.

I send the call to voice mail, not in the mood to talk to him right now.

I was about to turn my phone off when I saw an unread text message from my mother.

Mama

Hi baby, we were traveling for a conference and decided to stop by and visit before heading back to Georgia. We’ll stop by your apartment after your father’s live stream service.

We’re here sweetheart. Are you asleep? I’m disappointed that you weren’t watching the service.

Naomi, open the door honey. We want to see you before we get on the road.

My eyes go wide, reading through my text messages. I scramble off of Sage, looking around my room for my pants. I grab my sweatpants, pulling them on before collecting Sage’s clothes off the floor and throwing them at her.

“What’s wrong, Naomi?”

“My parents are here!” I hiss. She jumps out of bed, stumbling a little bit as she tries to put on her shirt and pants.

I go look in the mirror and see I have a few faint hickeys scattered across my neck and collarbone, courtesy of Sage. I grab a hoodie, throwing it on and taking my bonnet off, shaking my hair out. Hopefully, between the curls and my hoodie, they’re all covered.

Sage grabs her phone and pulls on her sneakers, heading into the living room. I follow her, heading to the door. “Mama, Daddy, hi. This was… unexpected.” I let them into my apartment.

Mama does a quick scan of the room, her eyes settling on Sage. She gives her a once over, her lip curling ever so slightly. I can only begin to imagine all the rude and judgmental things she is saying in her head. “And you are…?”

Sage looks at me, hesitating slightly, before holding out her hand to my mother. “I’m Sage, one of Naomi’s roommates. Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

Mama just looks at her hand, giving her a tight-lipped smile before turning to me. “Sweetheart, why weren’t you watching the service?”

Sage drops her hand to her side, letting out a small sigh. “I’m going to go on my run. I’ll see you later, Georgia,” she says softly, winking at me before heading out.

“Why did she call you Georgia? Are you having problems with your roommate?” my father asks, worry in his voice.

“Daddy, it’s okay. It’s just an inside joke.

Things are fine with my roommates,” I say, taking a seat on the couch, curling up in the far corner.

I can already feel a headache coming on from this visit and my parents just got here.

The way my mother was just so dismissive of Sage, likely because of her tattoos and piercings, has my blood boiling just a little bit.

“Sweetheart, we just worry about you since you moved all this way away from us,” my mother says, taking a seat on the couch near me. I roll my eyes at how dramatic she’s being.

“Naomi, don’t be rude and roll your eyes at your mother. Have you already lost your manners?” my father scolds, taking a seat next to her.

I sigh, holding my head in my hands. “No, Daddy. My move up here had nothing to do with y’all, and you know it. This was the only school that would let me transfer so late in my degree, and still offer me scholarship money.”

“Well, you could always return to High Valley University and pick up right where you left off,” my mother counters.

“And there’s the real reason for your visit,” I say exasperatedly, sitting back. “I already told you guys multiple times, I’m not going back there. I don’t agree with a lot of their policies or why I was kicked out.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Naomi, they are just preparing you to follow in your path with Christ.”

I scoff. “Christ isn’t going to turn his back on me just because I wore shorts.”

“No, but leading Godly men to temptation is a sin.”

“Oh my God, are you even capable of realizing how ridiculous that sounds?”

“Naomi, language!” my mother scolds. “You know better than to take the Lord’s name in vain.”

I sit back, crossing my arms across my chest. “Fine. Sorry,” I grumble.

“So tell me about this Sage girl,” my mother starts, “she’s… interesting looking.”

“She’s a degenerate, that’s what she is. Did you see all those tattoos?” my father asks, his voice dripping with disdain.

My mom shakes her head in disapproval. “I don’t understand how anyone can desecrate their bodies like that. It’s not just the tattoos, it’s the piercings, and the colored hair—so many signs of the devil’s influence.”

“I’ll be sure to include her in the opening prayer of the next service. In fact, I’ll include the whole younger generation. So many of them need saving.”

I mentally tune out my parents. This is exactly why I left Georgia, why I wanted to get away from them.

They constantly cast judgment on everyone.

Everything is a sign of the devil’s influence to them.

Frankly, I was sick and tired of it. So when I had to move far away to finish my undergraduate degree, I was grateful to be able to put distance between me and them.

It was a blessing in disguise, honestly.

“Naomi! Are you even listening to us?”

The shouting of my name catches my attention, bringing me back into the current conversation.

“I’m sorry, Mama, I didn’t quite catch that,” I say softly, trying not to get any more on her bad side.

I was hoping I could get through this conversation relatively unscathed without my parents noticing the new addition I’d made to my face.

“I asked you if that Sage girl was one of them.”

“One of who, Mama?”

“The GLBTQI agenda, Naomi. The queers and the transsexuals,” my father states.

I wince at his blatant bigotry. “Daddy, you can’t say that. It’s the LGBTQ community, and it’s gay and transgender. Not queer and transsexual.”

“Whatever they call themselves, they’re sinners, every last one of them.”

“They’re just normal people that found love, just like you and Mama.

Just because they found it with someone of the same gender doesn’t mean that they’re bad people.

Sage is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met.

I mean, she could give some of the parish leaders a run for their money.

The way she’s able to form a community and make everyone feel welcome? It’s pretty remarkable.”

“So she is one of them!” my mother confirms.

I groan. There was just no getting through to my parents. “Yes. Sage is a lesbian. She’s also one of my best friends and the best person I’ve met here.”

My father grins proudly. “That’s my girl, leading the sinners to the Lord. That is our mission, after all.”

“Daddy, that's not what this is. I’m not proselytizing Sage, we are just friends. I can have friends that aren’t religious.”

“Blasphemous!”

I jump up from the couch. “I can’t take this anymore, I have a headache,” I mutter, going into the kitchen to grab some Advil. I grab a water bottle from the fridge, taking a sip and knocking back the pills.

I close my eyes and rest my arms on the counter, resting my head on top of them, taking deep, calming breaths. When I open my eyes, I notice a bra tucked under the cabinets—Sage’s bra. I start laughing to myself, first softly and then louder.

The hilarity of the situation wasn’t lost on me. My crazy religious parents were sitting not more than twenty feet from me, and here I was, staring right at my lesbian lover’s bra.

“Is everything okay over there, Naomi?” my mother asks, coming into the kitchen, gently rubbing my back. I stand upright, tucking Sage’s bra further under the cabinets with my foot.

“Everything’s fine,” I say, turning toward my mother and giving her a small smile.

Her smile quickly turns to a frown as she scans my face. Oh crap. She grips my jaw, tilting my head. “Naomi! Don’t tell me that’s real,” she scolds, looking at my new nose piercing.

I move out of her grip, taking a step back. “It’s real, alright. Got it done yesterday.”

“Jackson, come look at what your daughter’s done to herself.”

My father gets up from the couch, coming to join us in the kitchen. “What is it, Adora?”

“Naomi went and got her nose pierced! Yesterday!” she says incredulously.

I can already see the smoke billowing out of my father’s ears. “You did what? I didn’t give permission for this!”

“You didn’t have to. I’m an adult, Daddy, I can make decisions for myself.”