started as a lie

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while walking inside, lots of my family members came up to me to greet me. i introduced them to leah and then we sat down in the living room.

all the younger cousins, nieces and nephews were upstairs in one of the rooms. the older cousins sat in the living room and the parents and grandparents were in the kitchen helping prepare food.

it's too late to call it a lunch but to early to call it dinner.

this is how it always is. every family event.

the house isn't even big enough. people are everywhere. there's no room to walk or sit.

we all talked to each other about random things. we were all close but had our own little groups within our cousins that were closest to.

ollie and jacob had become close since meeting. they're the same age and they have similar interests so they got on well. my mum and leah's mum are good friends as well. they mostly enjoy teasing me and leah. and our dads have become quite good friends. they have the same name and find it amusing.

i went to check on the little kids because i heard someone crying.

i saw my cousin, rosie sitting on her own crying.

"rosie baby, what happened?" i asked.

"everyone is being mean to me. they won't let me play their game with them." she said.

"awh darling, do you want to come and sit with us big people downstairs" i asked.

she nodded.

"you look like a princess with that dress on" i said to her.

i held her hand and looked out the window.

"shit" i whispered.

"mummy said that's a naughty word" rosie said.

"shh don't tell her" i said.

i quickly went downstairs to the older group.

"did anyone know uncle jay is coming?" i asked.

everyone shook their head. i begun to panic.

"fia, calm down. what's going on?" leah stood up and asked me quietly.

"my uncle jay is here and he's a huge homophobe." i said.

"hey, it's alright, everything will be fine" she said, pulling me into a hug.

"no you don't understand. when i came out to everyone, he said some messed up shit to me. my family basically kicked him out. i haven't seen him since that day. he's never been invited to any gatherings or parties. none of my family see him. i don't even know if anyone is still in contact with him" i panicked even more.

"it's okay darling. i'm here." she said.

"listen leah, if he makes you feel uncomfortable at any point, please tell me" i said.

she nodded and we sat down. i put rosie on my lap and we all got back to our conversations.

the door opened and there he was. jay with his wife and 2 kids.

i honestly felt bad for his kids, they ended up losing out on our family because of their dad.

i gritted my teeth as he walked in. i kept my head down and didn't look at him.

in all honesty, he scared me. ever since i was a kid, he was the scary uncle. he was big and very intimidating.

"hello love. nice to finally see you again" he said. he tipped my chin up to look at him.