Page 45 of September (New Orleans #9)
“I don’t mean it like that. And I didn’t hold it over you, Gwendolyn. You were a baby. I’m merely saying that I knew you’d be the obstinate kid from that moment. For a while, you tried to be like Annabelle, but that didn’t last long. You went your own way. Your father and I respected that.”
“You did? That’s news to me,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Gwen, it was hard. We… didn’t exactly plan on you, honey.
Your father and I thought we were done having kids, and when you came along, we had two active six-year-olds who, quite frankly, took a lot of our time and energy.
You’ve always seemed fine on your own, though, so we left you that way, for better or worse. ”
“But you had Grant after me.”
“Your father didn’t want to get a vasectomy, and for a few months there, I was sick, and the doctor advised me to go off birth control because it interacted with whatever they had me on.
Your brother wasn’t planned, either, and your father and I had a long talk after I found out I was pregnant again. ”
“I didn’t know that.”
“There are things you don’t tell your children until they are older, Gwen. And sometimes, not at all. Your brother was, for all intents and purposes, an accident, but he’s my child, and I regret nothing.”
“But Grant fell in line, and I never did?”
“I don’t care what line you fall into,” her mom replied.
“Or onto.” She sighed. “Gwen, the way you’re happy doesn’t make sense to your father and I, so we push you because we don’t understand it, but before you say anything, it’s not the gay thing.
I don’t care that you’re a lesbian. I want you to find love, and if that’s with a woman, great.
Our family, we’re born to great privilege, and we have opinions on what to do with that privilege. ”
“But I don’t want that,” she said. “I’m grateful for everything you and Dad gave me, and I know how lucky I was, but just because you want some things for me, doesn’t mean I want them for myself.”
“I know, honey. It’s just hard to think of your child out there with nothing when you have everything and can give that to them.”
Gwen laughed and replied, “But, Mom, I do have everything.” She sighed and noticed just how much that sounded like her mother’s sigh a minute earlier.
“Mom, I have an apartment that I like. It’s not a mansion, but it’s just for me, and it’s great.
I have a pet. He’s a little weird, and I’m not sure he likes me all that much, but he’s a lizard, so that’s normal.
I get to spend most of my days with animals.
I get to meet people all the time through my job, and I make new friends that way, but I have Elisa here now, and I’ve met so many new friends through her, too.
I spent time with one of them today, and she’s going to help me get my business up and running.
She’s doing the work for free just because we’re friends. ”
“Your business?”
“I bought a van so that I could open my own mobile grooming business. And, Mom, it’s going to work.
I have so many regular clients, and I’m really good at what I do.
You don’t see it, and it might sound silly to you, but I’m the top dog walker and pet sitter in this city.
I had enough money in my savings to start this thing without having to get investors or pull from my trust fund. ”
“The trust fund thing again?”
“No, I don’t mean it like that this time,” she replied. “I mean that I want to keep it.”
“You want it now?”
“I want it for the future. I don’t know exactly what I’ll use it for, but I know I want it for my family.”
“Family? Is there something that you’re not telling me? If you are pregnant and you didn’t even tell your mother, I–”
Gwen laughed wildly and said, “No, I’m not pregnant. God, Mom.”
“Well, you did just call your mother out of the blue, and you never do that.”
“I’m not pregnant, but I do have a girlfriend, and I am surprisingly already in love with her. I didn’t expect myself to be. She came out of nowhere, and I’m not usually the type to just fall for someone, but then, there’s her and these feelings that I don’t doubt, and–”
“So, I might get that wedding one day?”
“Mom, it’s new. Don’t go there yet.”
“What? Your father wants to walk his daughter down the aisle.”
“And you want to plan the wedding?”
“Well, I’d like to help.”
“Mom, you know there might not be a wedding, right? If I don’t want that or the woman I end up–”
“You’re trying really hard not to say the woman you’re dating now, aren’t you? Don’t want me to start thinking it’s going to happen between you two?”
“It might,” she replied. “I don’t know. We just kind of fit, even though we should still be in that phase where we’ll see where it goes.
I do know that I’m really happy, Mom. I have a new business that I’m about to start and a new, amazing relationship.
I’m good. I know I’m no doctor or lawyer or something else that you and Dad think means success, but I’m successful to me, and that should be all that matters. ”
“You’re right,” her mom said softly. “I’m sorry, honey.”
“You are?”
“I don’t want to lose you because I can’t accept who you are.
You’ve been pulling further and further away from us, and I don’t want that.
I know a big family Thanksgiving this year probably isn’t going to happen, with your brother and Elisa no longer together and the kids being with Elisa and you, but maybe we could have a family dinner sometime? ”
“You’re going to call Annabelle?”
“No, I meant you, me, your father, and this new girlfriend of yours. Just us.”
“You want to meet Juliet?”
“Beautiful name,” her mom noted.
“Beautiful woman,” Gwen replied.
“I’m sure she is. And yes, we’d love to meet her.”
“Will you promise me you won’t scare her off, Mom? I mean it. You’ll have to be on your best behavior. No judging me for anything and no judging her, either.”
“I won’t judge. And I’ll talk to your father.”
Gwen smiled and replied, “Then, I’ll talk to Juliet. But not anytime soon, Mom. Not tomorrow, next week, or next month. When we’re ready. She’s really busy with work, and we’re still really new, so I’ll let you know, okay?”
“Okay. And, honey?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you. You know that, right?”
Gwen’s eyes welled with tears, and she said, “I do now.”