Faith
Page 10
Though he knows she never would have done the same for him, he thinks about what he would have wanted her to do. He would have wanted to be able to see his children. It would have destroyed him to lose them for good, and it would have destroyed the girls to never see him until they were all grown up. Taking a deep breath, he prays to God for strength and heads over to Jenna.
“Jenna,” he says. She looks up, her eyes wide and wet. She looks like a wounded animal caught in the sights of a hunter’s gun, like at any second he was going to deliver the killing blow. “Look, I am so incredibly furious with you. If it were only me that this affected, you would never see the girls again.” She lowers her eyes and tears start trickling down her face. Owen sighs. “But it’s not about me. It’s about what’s best for the girls, and I don’t think keeping them from their mother is best for them. You heard them. None of them wanted to be with only one of us. So, I have full custody, but I’d like to keep our old arrangement of who gets the girls when. A few days a week for each of us, switching off weekends. Keeping open communication if we need to swap days. If you’re okay with that.”
Jenna lifts her eyes slowly, a cautious hope dawning on her face. She nods furiously, reaching out and clutching Owen’s hand. “Yes, yes, thank you,” she sobs. “I’m so, so sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Owen pulls his hand out from her grasp. “I’m not finished. You need to be more open-minded, Jenna. Despite what happened here, I think you’re a great mother. Aside from the distinct and unhidden homophobia. Your girls sensed it, and two of them were angry at you for it. They weren’t angry at me for seeing a man, they were angry at you for being so hateful about it.”
Jenna dips her head down, biting her lip.
“I can’t ask you to change overnight. I know that isn’t possible, and I know how deeply ingrained this prejudice is. But I need you to try. I need you to keep your thoughts to yourself about this and keep a happy, strong face up for the girls. Can you do that?”
Jenna hiccups and glances up at Owen. “Yes,” she whispers. “I can do that.”
“Good,” Owen says. “You can see them for a couple of hours tonight, but then I have them until Tuesday.” Owen nods at her and turns away. Though he’d done what he needed to for his daughters, he doesn’t need to talk to her any more than is absolutely necessary, and listening to her blubber on about how “sorry” she is isn’t necessary. He heads back over to Mason, who smiles at him and reaches for his hand. Mason kisses him on the temple.
“You did the right thing,” he murmurs.
Owen rubs the back of his neck. “I know. Is it bad that I wanted to sock her in the face the whole time I was doing the right thing, though?”
Mason laughs, taking his arm and wrapping it around Owen’s shoulder. Owen leans in, grinning. “Nah, I don’t think that’s bad. In fact, I’d be worried about you if you hadn’t.”
They head to the car, and they pause for a while before Mason starts the car. They just sit in silence, holding each other’s hands and basking in the realization that, despite all of Owen’s worst fears, everything had worked out. He has custody of his daughters. He had gotten Jenna to agree to stifle her homophobic feelings. He’s sitting, hand-in-hand, with the man he loves and feeling no qualms about it in any way—not for himself, not for what his family will think, not for what it may do to his relationship with God. Contrary to what he’d been terrified of when he first started seeing Mason, he feels closer to God than he ever had before. He sends a quick thank you up to Him, eyes filling with happy tears.
“Do you want to meet my daughters tonight?” Owen asks abruptly.
Mason grins, his eyes lighting up. “Really? I mean, are we serious enough for that? It’s a big step.” He nudges Owen with his elbow.
Owen rolls his eyes and smiles. “Shut up and drive,” he says. Mason winks at him, planting a solid kiss on Owen’s mouth before starting the car and heading home.