Everything

Chapter 5

"It's wonderful to finally meet you, ma'am. Stefon has told me so much about you and we've both been really excited for this." The autumn afternoon air was crisp. Four people sat on each corner of a blanket to stop the wind from picking it up and carrying it away with their food. It was the perfect day for a picnic in the park and if all went well, it would be followed by a fire in the evening. Seth shivered slightly in the breeze. Stefon had his long sleeves rolled up, a rare sight, but presumably because the air felt nice on his fevered body.

Across from them sat David, Stefon's brother, and their mother. This meeting was long overdue. When he gave Seth the news that he was able to set up another meeting time with her, Stefon was ecstatic. It had been a very long time since he'd had a visit with her mother due to their schedules constantly interfering with one another's, and now he was surrounded by two of the most important people in his life with her. He had been waiting to introduce his mom to Seth for a couple of years and had hoped to before they started dating but he had stopped wanting to wait.

Ms. Stefon, as Stefon called her, looked at Seth curiously. "It's really nice to meet you, Seth. David has really talked you up, says you're really good for his brother." She glanced quickly at Stefon. "You're a lot more...normal than I expected."

"Thank you?" Seth's eyes darted to Stefon, but he didn't seem phased.

"It was a compliment," his partner stated. "She's met my other friends." He almost seemed amused by his mother's 'compliment'. Strange. I said the same thing to Shy about his job and he seemed offended.

"Yes, that was a compliment. Stefon has a lot of very eccentric friends. That's not a bad thing," she added quickly, "It's just a nice change of pace to be able to sit down with someone who isn't super colorful...or short." Stefon snickered.

"Right." Seth took a bite of his sandwich. He seemed to be struggling to find words, so Stefon jumped in.

"Seth is a reporter." His mother raised her eyebrows, as if to say really? He nodded and bit his lip. "Smart, handsome, funny. I got the whole package." His hand squeezed Seth's forearm.

"Seems like it! I think that's really awesome, Seth. So how did you two meet? It seems almost like a freak thing that you guys would end up in the same spot at the same time, no? I know for a fact my son didn't find you at a club."

"Wow, okay," Stefon muttered, taken aback. He started pulling his sandwich—that he only took a couple bites of—apart and started pulling apart the bread to toss to the birds as they spoke.

"Um, actually we met right outside of my workplace. He's our city correspondent and it's his job to check out fun places and touristy stuff." Seth worded the clearly upset young man's defense as an explanation so he didn't come off disrespectful, but the sentiment was clear. "He tends to stick more towards the fun stuff, but the people of New York love him. We wouldn't trade him for the world. He loves his job and his job loves him and I think that's what matters."

She nodded thoughtfully, then spoke as if Seth hadn't just delivered the sweetest defense for his partner. "So how old are you Seth?"

"Old enough," Stefon quickly jumped in. He and David exchanged a glance. Their mother's eyebrows raised again. She looked at Seth. Everything was suddenly awkward.

"How old is old enough?"

"With all due respect, mom," David spoke up through clenched teeth, "I don't really think his age is our business. Stefon's an adult and you can't be worried about these things anymore." While he was thankful his brother said something, he knew it was useless. His mother was just one of those people who thought you shouldn't be together beyond a certain age gap and she was going to hound both of them until she found out they went beyond that by a decade and things would only get worse from there.