Finding Yourself: Book Three

Chapter Nineteen: Togetherness

There was a knock on the door, and Nick quickly answered it, knowing who it was. 

"Oh thank God you're here," Nick sighed happily when he saw Elian standing there with a bag of decorations and a gift bag. Nick noticed the bags instantly and then said, "Elian! You didn't have to buy anything!"

Elian chuckled and shook his head. He replied, "Nick, I was invited to help with a birthday party for the kids of my new date. I'm not going to just buy nothing. Who do you take me for?"

Nick was going to protest, but the items had already been bought; and Nick was a mess. He had better things to worry about.

"You look stressed," Elian added as Nick moved out of the way to let him through the door. 

"I am. There's so much to do," Nick rushed over to the kitchen, where his make-shift party favors were sitting. They were just cheap plastic toys in little plastic bags that were bound to end up in the trashcan after a few weeks. But Nick wanted to make Jason and Jordan's friends feel welcome. "I mean, look at the living room floor-" it was littered with toys- "And I baked a cake for like fifty people because I don't know how many kids from their class is coming. And there's twelve of us, including my granddaughter and all the boyfriends. God, every time- Every time I say granddaughter, I feel twenty years older-"

Elian grabbed onto Nick's shoulders to calm him and started softly massaging.

"It's a good thing I'm here to help, huh? So, just tell me what I need to do, and I'll do it," Elian smiled softly, trying to calm his anxious partner down. 

"You're here because I need to learn how to talk to regular humans," Nick admitted, "Because I honestly don't know how."

"...What do you mean? You're talking to me right now perfectly fine," Elian pointed out, pointing to himself as if to demonstrate that he was human.

"I'm talking to a multi-millionaire with the sweetest heart," Nick deadpanned, "You're not a regular human, but neither am I, frankly."

"And what do you define as a regular human?" Elian questioned, a singular eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Elian, I grew up on the streets and then married an abusive millionaire. My only human interaction hinged on those two events. I have no f**king clue how to talk to sane, middle-class people whose worst human encounter is having their child talk back to them or dealing with a Karen as a food service employee. I mean, there's this guy named Johnathan at my work, but he loves listening to my drama," Nick reasoned, "I don't know these kids or their parents. What if they are stuck-up white women who think that a gay man can't parent correctly? What if they ask how I met you, and I have to say 'Oh yeah I pick-pocketed him when I was younger because he had money, and I was a poor little suicidal street urchin'?"

"Nick!" Elian gasped.

"Elian, what if they are homophobic?" Nick asked with wide eyes, "My son's trans boyfriend is coming over. What if they are transphobic? What are they going to think when they hear that my adopted son knocked up a girl when he was eighteen, and I have a granddaughter at thirty years old?!"

"Nick, calm down," Elian demanded, his eyes wide, "First of all, if they are homophobes or transphobes, you simply just kick them out. As for the other stuff, you don't have to tell anybody anything. You can simply just say, 'It's complicated' or 'That's none of your business' if they ask invasive questions. And if they judge you? Then you don't ever have to talk to them again, if you don't want to."

That made Nick take a deep breath in. "You're right," he agreed.

"And, don't forget, Vincent and I will be there with you the whole time," Elian reminded, "So, if anyone gets particularly p*ssy, we will deal with them. Vincent will definitely deal with them, you know he would."