Page 96 of Becoming His Perfect Daddy
“Fuck. You have no idea.” I sniffed again, steeling myself to explain. “They basically told me I would never be their son, only their daughter—that God made me a woman, so that’s who I am. Deadnamed me multiple times, probably on purpose. They actually said, and I quote, ‘until you’re ready to go back to being our daughter, don’t visit.’ Who the fuck says that to their kid? They also said that God doesn’t approve of my ‘choice’”—I spat the word out—“so they don’t either. My dad even told me not to call anymore.”
“Fuck.” Cameron scrubbed his hand down his beautiful face. His expression was pinched as if he was feeling my pain—and I knew that was precisely what was happening. Our connection had only gotten stronger the longer we were together, and ourhearts were linked. He loved me back; I was certain of it, though he hadn’t said it yet.
That was okay. I could give him all the time he needed to let me in completely.
“Sam?”
I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands then blinked over at him, eyes blurry. “Yes, baby?”
Cameron opened his mouth to answer, but my phone rang just then, cutting him off. I reached for it where it sat on the coffee table as I offered him an apologetic wince. “Hold that thought.”
Adorably, he grabbed at the air next to his temple and closed his fist around it tightly with a scrunched nose and mischievous grin.
I smiled genuinely at his cuteness before lifting the phone off the table. As soon as I saw who it was, I quickly tapped to answer the call. “Seth? Hey, what’s up?”
“Sam? Are you okay, man?”
I blinked at the blatant anger in his voice. “Yeah, I’m . . . well, I’ll be okay.” I glanced over at Cameron, whose brow was furrowed as he listened in, his hands now in his lap. “What’s going on?”
“What the hell did Mom and Dad say to you?”
My back shot ramrod straight at that—my brother never cursed. He must be livid. “How did you find out about it?”
He scoffed, and if I wasn’t mistaken, I heard something go tumbling in the background. Almost like he’d knocked over a chair or a small table. I’d never heard him so angry. “Dad called, apparently as soon as he finished talking to you. He asked if I knew . . . well, I won’t repeat his transphobic bullshit. But the things he was saying, Sam . . . I can’t even imagine how much worse you got it. I’m so sorry.”
I sniffed, tears threatening again. “Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”
“He had the nerve to tell us to cut you off. Said it was the only way you’d learn your lesson. Fuck that.”
I blinked again at the expletive but managed to find my voice. “What did you tell him?”
He huffed into the phone. “I told him he could shove his bigoted transphobia where the sun don’t shine.”
I snickered—I couldn’t help it. But my chuckle served to break the tension, and I could almost hear Seth relax, just a little.
“Look, man, I just wanted to make sure you were okay after all that. You don’t deserve any of his crap, Sam, you hear me? You arenotthe problem; he is. And Mom for not standing up to him. Just . . . ugh. Listen, Brother—Anna, the kids, and I are all here to support you, okay? Whatever you need. If Dad’s going to pull this crap, we’re cutting him off, too.”
I gasped. “You don’t have to do that for me, man.”
“Of course we do, and we’re happy to do it. If he can’t accept who you are and is going to be spouting all that horrific theology and rhetoric, then I certainly don’t want him around my kids, say nothing of Anna or myself. He either grows up, or he loses all of us.”
I sighed happily. “I could hug you right now.”
I heard a smile in Seth’s voice. “Wish we could, dude. Hey, you want to come up for Christmas? Our plans have unexpectedly changed, so we’ll just be hanging around here.”
“Seriously, man, you don’t have to do that. I wouldn’t want you to disappoint your kids because of me. And we already have plans, anyway.”
“We?” A cacophony of voices sounded in the background before I could answer him. “In here, babe!” he called before addressing me again. “Hey, do you have time to video chat with the family for a bit?”
I glanced over at Cameron, who quickly nodded. I wasn’t surprised he could hear everything. “Sure, we’d love to.”
Cameron eyed me, probably wondering if he should leave again. I grabbed his hand, pulling him closer to me as I tapped on the video chat function and stared at myself on the screen. Seconds later, my image slid to the bottom right corner and Seth and his family appeared. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my still tear-reddened face.
“Hey, family! Happy Holidays!”
The entire foursome waved at me, shouting their greetings and Merry Christmases. Cameron laughed with me, sitting just off-camera.
When they quieted down, I pointedly glanced at Cameron, silently asking if he wanted to meet my family, and when he nodded, I turned back to my phone and asked, “Would you like to meet someone?”
