Three Means Coffee

79

Monika frowned, she knew it would be a difficult conversation. She resented her aunt and uncle and at the same time felt angry at herself that she could have done more to help Basia overcome certain prejudices that were fed to her at home.

"Błażej is completely normal," the woman replied, kneeling in front of her cousin.

"Why was he kissing this man, it's not normal," insisted Baśka, to which Monika tried to hide a quiet sigh.

"Don't you love uncle?" Tymek asked suddenly. "I have no brother or sister, but if I did, I would love them very much."

Both looked at the child in surprise, as if they had forgotten about his presence for a moment. Monika was often surprised because she had the impression that her son understood some things all too well, which she had not explained to him yet, but she tried to gradually sneak into conversations with him.

Basia took a long time to gather herself to answer at all, but she could not utter a word, because for a moment she doubted her own feelings about her brother. Tymek decided that if he was to hear a positive answer, it would be given right away.

"Mom always says that if you love someone, you want them to be happy. Don't you want uncle to be happy?" the boy asked again.

"I always say that," confirmed Monika. "When you love someone, you want to care for them and help them. You are happy when you see that person's smile."

"I am very happy when my mother, uncle, you, and grandparents smile," announced Tymek. "Because I love everyone so much."

"I also want Błażej to be happy," Basia was furious because the boy's words suggested that she did not love her older brother at all. "But it should be a girl, not a boy!"

Monika was startled when her cousin raised her voice and nervously looked around to make sure her words didn't reach the bench where the rest of their group sat. Unfortunately, yes, she saw it after Błażej hung his head while letting go of Makary's hand, which had been giving him support until now.

"You're stupid Basia!" Tymek finally burst out and jumped off the swing. "You can't tell anyone how to be happy! You're stupid if you didn't see that uncle was very happy today and you ruined his birthday!"

The boy left furious, he was tired and he couldn't understand why his older relative couldn't see certain things. He also didn't like Makary for a long time, but since both uncle Krystian and mum kept saying that uncle Błażej was happy in his presence, he started to believe it. He also watched the two of them more and more and slowly understood what the adults meant.

"I didn't want to ruin this day," Basia said sadly, fighting with more tears that came to her eyes.

"Basia, Błażej certainly doesn't think you ruined his birthday," Monika handed her another handkerchief. "He's just a little sorry you ran out of the house without a word, and he was very worried about you."

"I didn't want to upset him on his birthday."

"I know, but you need to understand something, maybe not right away, but try to think about it when you've calmed down. You see, you've probably always heard that only women and men can be together. That's not true. There are men who can only love another man, just as there are women who can only love another woman. There are also people who can love someone regardless of gender or those who do not feel romantic feelings towards anyone at all," said Monika, hoping that she made her young cousin rethink at least a little.

"Is Błażej one of these people?" Basia asked in consternation.

"Yes," the woman replied with a smile. "And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Don't you think that despite everything, your brother has the right to love someone and be loved with all his heart?"

The girl could not answer this question right away, she needed time to get used to the new dose of information. However, it started with a cold, so Monika suggested that they return home. She took the girl's hand and led her to the others, approaching the men Monika felt Basia's hand tighten more and more on her own.

"I'm sorry," she said, unable to meet her brother's eyes.

"You have nothing to apologize for." Błażej stroked her head. "The important thing is that you're okay, but don't do that again."

"It's cold, let's go back to the apartment," Krystian announced, correcting Tymek in his arms, who had fallen asleep in the meantime on his lap.