Summer With Em Chapter 37

By JulieDCole

Everything went silent and Frankie did a nervous cough to clear her throat.
‘As you know Kim here was on hand at the swimming pool and doctors told mum and I that her prompt action and life-saving skills no doubt saved my grand-fathers life. I have had a difficult time with him since I came out and he has been very anti-gay all his life. He felt I shamed the family and he shunned me. He disowned me and withdrew the funds he’d set up to support me through university. I showed him that I didn’t need his money or to go to university to achieve my goals in life. But even though I’ve been successful it hurt mum that granddad and I didn’t speak. I watched him do everything in his power to oppose the Gay Pride marches and opening of safe areas where people could mix freely and meet friends. I became angry and it was only through my friendship with Em and Bec’s that I stayed calm. I was really unhappy and I was struggling and mum was worried about me. Then Kim appeared from nowhere and in a few short weeks my life has changed. I have fallen in love with her and I know she is still quite young but she is beautiful and so kind, but she needs help like I needed help. I want to pledge my support and I hope that she will make all the right decisions that will make her mum proud of her like my mum has been proud of me. Anne I hope you will accept me for who I am. I love your daughter and I want to be with her for the rest of my life. We are who we are and we were destined to meet in my opinion and so I gave her a friendship ring to show my love for her. I want that ring to be worn on her left hand not her right hand and I’m asking her to do that this evening. With your permission I want to steal her from you and to love and protect her and to ask her to be my life partner. Kim can I move the ring? Will you show the world that you are committed to someone and that this someone is me?’

I looked around the table at smiling faces and I couldn’t speak. I just looked into Frankies eyes as she gently removed the ring and offered my left hand.

‘Kim will you marry me?’

‘But I can’t. Not like this. I am neither girl nor boy and I can’t give you children or make our mothers become grandmothers.’

‘Let me do the worrying and you focus on the next few months. I hope one day soon that you will marry me. I want you to be my wife and we will do so many things together so don’t worry, what will be will be.’

I nodded and we kissed without considering we had an audience around us who all then surrounded us and it was clear that this was a ring of approval.

Mum hugged me and pulled in Em to us whispering ‘I’m so sorry for neglecting you. Can you ever forgive me? Em, I was losing my son. Thanks so much for finding my daughter.’

There was a delay in leaving the restaurant because Bec’s had decided to order a bottle of sparkling wine and 6 glasses insisting on a toast. She said that she had been delighted to see our relationship develop and admired Frankie for the way she had come to terms with the loss of her friend Kim and moving on.

Em chipped in to lighten the mood and said we had to hurry up to set a date whilst she had the figure to fit a bridesmaid dress if she was in the frame. It was a weird experience, but I was enjoying all the fuss and I felt it necessary to say something in response. I wanted to thank all of them for the support I was receiving and that everything had happened so fast that it was hard to understand where it might end. I had never thought about meeting anybody and forming a relationship and felt destined to being a disappointment to mum, failing my exams and not being employable. I thanked Em for coaxing me to change my image and Bec’s for giving me the opportunity to experience life as a different person. Turning to Frankie I said that she gave me confidence in myself and was helping me to understand that I had nothing to hide from and that I should choose for myself the life that I wanted to lead and she would fully support me.

I hugged mum before we left and Bec’s said I should go with her to the railway station the following day and she would arrange cover. Then we left the restaurant and Frankie and I snuggled up in the back seat of the taxi with her mum taking the front seat. Frankie asked if I was happy and I just nodded. She seemed very happy and I just hoped we were making the right decision.

That night we chatted for ages once we had snuggled up in bed. After a while Frankie convinced me to make plans to visit dad in Italy since she thought she’d like to meet him and ask his permission. That earned her a thump on the arm. Since he ran a restaurant with his cousin and her family it was an opportunity to see where my paternal family came from and meet some of them. Frankie thought we should just focus on a one to one this trip and meet dad away from the restaurant that was less than an hour by train from Rome. She didn’t want me to have to deal with any prejudices and I agreed that we needed to ensure that dad was comfortable with how I was dressing and the decisions I needed to make in the near future. Mum had promised to contact him and gauge his reaction and hoped that he would give her chance to explain.

We fell asleep without any intimacy since it was Frankies time of the month that had started earlier in the evening during dinner. I was glad it wasn’t something I had to deal with yet Frankie hadn’t complained. I was happy just to be close to her and to comfort her as best I could. Fortunately she wasn’t in pain and she told me that her periods were light and that she didn’t suffer like most women.

Also I was conscious that her mum was in the spare room. Hopefully she was sound asleep but she was a light sleeper who deserved a good nights rest. If everything went to plan she’d be settled into her fathers apartment the next day and we’d have the freedom of Frankies apartment without risk of disturbing anybody. Plenty of time to be intimate together

Frankie was up early and I could hear her in the bathroom so I went to the kitchen to make tea. Her mum was already up and dressed and I felt a bit awkward since I’d left my dressing gown behind. She was chatty and said she was pleased to have met my mum and looked forward to seeing her again when she came back to Manchester. She also hoped that I’d persuade Frankie to be more accepting of her grandfathers old fashioned view of life and visit from time to time. Hopefully with me alongside so he could say thanks.

When Frankie appeared she looked a bit pale and she wasn’t her usual bright sparkly self. I was concerned but she said not to make a fuss since it was just cramps and she should have avoided alcohol but she had wanted to celebrate. Her warm shower had helped but she just needed some pain killers and plenty of water and her normal fresh fruit breakfast. It wasn’t something I knew about but her mum was on hand and sympathized. I never handled pain very well growing up and I’d seen a few girls at school struggle and take days off every few weeks. That seemed to be one advantage that boys have over girls not in dispute.

I took my tea to the bedroom to cool down whilst I showered and then I drank it whilst getting dressed for work. It gave them chance to talk and when I returned Frankie had some colour back in her cheeks. Hopefully she would soon recover and she insisted she was fine. She was eating a bowl of fresh fruit that looked tempting but since her mum had prepared some toast and marmalade that was adequate for me. We sat together for 10 minutes chatting about the procedure for discharge of Frankies grandfather that seemed to coincide with the time of mums train to London. Frankie decided to take me to work and then she would return to take me to the station picking up mum on the way. It all seemed to fit so I called mum to let her know.

On the way to work I told her what her mum had said to me but she said she would be polite but she wasn’t ready to forgive her grandfather until he showed a change in attitude and showed some humility. Based on her visits to see him he hadn’t changed.

Once at work Bec’s confirmed she would arrange cover for 2 hours and I agreed to sacrifice my lunch break and stay late. Frankie was on time and so was mum so we arrived at the railway station in good time. Mum had messaged dad and they’d talked a little. He confirmed that he wanted to see me but she hadn’t said that I was living and dressing as a girl only that I was due to have some medical treatment that might need his permission. It was not easy for mum to be civil to him but she had done her best.

I told mum I intended to visit him with Frankie and to try to understand why he’d never been in contact over the years since he went back to his home town and to find out for myself what kept him in Italy. Mum said it was my decision but to be careful since he was selfish and influenced by the woman he’d run off with who had worked in the restaurant and was poison as far as she was concerned. She told me that they lived in a place called Terni that was north of Rome and she gave me his address and telephone number as she hugged me and boarded the train wiping tears from her eyes as Frankie stored her bag,

The rest of the day went ok and I finished work at 6pm and took a bus back to Frankies place. She had been with her mum and grandfather until early afternoon so she had stopped by her office to deal with a few things that needed her attention. I decided to prepare a nice salad dinner since it was a nice evening and I thought we could sit on the balcony to eat until the sun went down. I bought all the ingredients at a small store close to the apartment including some sliced chicken breast and blue cheese sauce that was my favorite. I hoped Frankie had similar taste buds. We certainly liked the taste of each other. The store still had fresh bread so I spoiled us with a ciabatta with olives. I thought I ought to stock up on fresh fruit that she said helped her period pains and selected blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. I was tempted to buy ice cream but opted for crème fraiche instead that I hoped was healthier.

Half way through preparing the salad I got a call to my i-phone and I saw it was the number mum had given me for dad.

‘Hi son, do you know who this is?’

‘Hi. It’s dad isn’t it. I can tell by the Italian accent.’
‘Well I thought I’d got an English accent since I was born and raised in the UK.’

‘Well you sound Italian.’

‘I guess it’s because I’ve been over here so long and mostly we speak in Italian apart from when we are serving customers of course.’

‘Why are you calling? Has mum asked you to contact me?’

‘Yes she called earlier and I just took a break to call you. Long time no hear.’

‘Well you left us and you never got in touch or gave me your number and you hurt mum so much I never felt like talking to you.’

‘I understand son but your mum was pretty angry with me and she didn’t like me contacting you. We were in dispute over the business and we went through a very difficult period. Whatever I said or tried to do she rejected it.’

‘Well you ran away with another woman dad and it was a friend of hers.’

‘I’m sorry son but mum and I had a lot of pressure and I was going crazy. We were falling out every day at work and then when we came home. It was like 24 hour a day crap.’

‘But mum had to deal with the mess and look after me. It wasn’t fair.’

‘Look Kim that’s not quite right we dealt with the business closure and settlement together through lawyers and your mum didn’t want you to visit or for me to pay for airfares for you to spend vacation here with me.’
‘Son there is a lot that you don’t know and mum suggested you want to meet and talk. She says you have something important to discuss with me. Is everything OK are you ill?’

‘No but I do want to talk to you because I need to understand what happened when I was young and why I’m different to other boys.’

‘What do you mean different? Is that because you are half Italian?’

‘No it’s not that. It would be better if we met rather than talk over the phone.’

‘Son why are you talking like that you don’t sound right.’

‘I just prefer to see you rather than talk over the phone.’

‘That’s not what I meant your voice is quite high pitched. Have you got a throat or chest problem?’

‘Sort of but that’s just part of it.’

‘Look I’ll try to arrange something and come over to the UK as soon as I can.’

‘Dad I would like to come to Terni to meet you and I’ll come with a girlfriend and stay over a weekend or something. Are you far from Rome?’

‘No it’s only 40 minutes on the train but I’ll pick you up. So you have a girlfriend? Is it serious?’

‘Sort of.’
‘Well by all means come over I can arrange for you to stay in a friends place attached to our restaurant. When just give me an idea please and I’ll get some cover.’

‘I need to sort things first. I will go get my passport and things from mum. I’m up in Manchester now and I was staying with Em until recently.’

‘Oh so you have your own place. Great.’

‘No I’m staying with Frankie.’

‘Is he your mate then?’

‘No Frankie is a girl. That’s who is coming with me to Italy.’

‘Oh a fast mover. Look do you mind if I go since the restaurant is busy. Can we talk later or sometime tomorrow.’

‘OK I’ll call you if you send me a message. Are you on WhatsApp?’

‘Yes or you can Skype.’

‘OK I’ll be in touch. Bye.’

.Bye son. It was great to chat at long last. I’m sorry we lost contact. Let me know the cost of the flights I’m happy to pay.’

‘Night dad. I just hope I don’t disappoint you.’
I heard the line disconnect as the words left my mouth.