Page 29 of Bi-Partisan

I can do this. It’s like Mina said before lunch, my parents are allies. They raised me to be one. They’re going to be nothing but supportive about me being bisexual. I know this. I shouldn’t be nervous. Whenever I let myself vaguely think about coming out to them, I always imagined it going well. I wasn’t worried. Except this is not exactly the coming out I would have planned. And now, as I sit in my office staring down my mom’s contact on my phone, I have a sudden, uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Maybe eating something as heavy as a burger for lunch wasn’t the best idea.

I have half a mind to call Mina back in here to sit with me. She’d offered to, as moral support. But this is something I need to do on my own.

Taking a deep breath, I press call and hold the phone to my ear.

It rings for what seems like an eternity but is probably only a second before my mom’s voice comes through the speaker. “Hello?”

“Hey, Mom.” I swallow past the frog in my throat.

“Sweetheart, hi,” she says, the relief plain in her voice. “How’re you doing?”

A pang of guilt for delaying this call hits me instantly, but I push past it. “I’m okay,” I say, although I know it’s not at all convincing. “Um, can you give me a second? I’m going to patch Dad in.”

“Of course.”

With a slightly shaky hand, I tap my screen a few times to pull my dad into the call, hoping he’s still on his lunch break and not teaching a class.

Thankfully, after a few rings, he answers. “Jamie?”

“Hey, Dad. I’ve got Mom on the line, too.”

“Hi, honey,” Mom says.

“It’s good to hear from you, kiddo,” Dad says.

“Sorry I didn’t pick up last night. I was with my staff all day yesterday and didn’t really have time to…” I trail off.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mom says immediately. “We just wanted to check in on you.”

“Yeah, we understand,” Dad adds.

I bite the inside of my cheek. “I’m guessing you saw the article.”

There’s a moment of silence before my dad answers. “Yeah, we did.”

I close my eyes for a moment as I take a deep breath and hold it for a moment. Then I open them and exhale in a rush, ready to just rip off the bandaid. “Okay, I don’t really know how to do this, so I think I’m just going to say it.”

“It’s okay, baby. You can take your time. You don’t have to tell us anything until you’re ready,” Mom says, her voice so warm and comforting it makes me a little homesick.

“Thanks, Mom. But I kind of do because I want to tell y’all this myself instead of you reading it on my Instagram in a few hours.” I pause briefly to swallow down the acid rising up my throat. “I’m bi.”

The handful of seconds of silence that follow my statement are somehow the loudest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.

Then, my dad’s soft exhale breaks it. “That’s great, kiddo.”

I can’t help letting out a breathy laugh of relief. “It is?”

“Of course, it is,” Mom says.

“So you’re really okay with it?” I ask, needing the confirmation.

“Jamie, we love you unconditionally for who you are. If who you are is someone who is attracted to women and men, then we love you for it,” Mom says firmly.

“The important question is whether you’re okay with it,” Dad says.

“I am,” I say, without hesitation. “I mean, I’m not really thrilled with how this is coming out, and I’m a little—okay, I’m a lot worried about how this is going to affect my chances in the election because Mitchell—”

“Oh, fuck Mitchell,” Mom grumbles.

---