Page 34 of Schooling Little Sage

“Well, son, that ranch sounds like it’s full of surprises. Most places I worked fraternizing wasn’t allowed. Make sure you mind your P’s and Q’s and toe the line.”

“I will, Dad.” Now, to see who asks first. One, two, three…

“When are you bringing your fellow home to meet us?” Surprised to hear it was Dad.

“That’s what I’m calling about. Sage didn’t have it easy growing up, in fact, his parents literally dropped him off here with nothing more than a bag of clothes.”

“They did what?”

Mom’s angry screech rattled my brain.

“They did not.”

“Yes, they did. There’s more and maybe one day he’ll share it with you, but it’s not my story to tell. Just wanted to give you a bit of background into why he’s so shy. When I mentioned bringing him to meet you guys over a long weekend break, he clammed up and has barely said two words since. I was hoping a video chat with you, kind of a meet and greet, might calm him.”

“You just tell us when and we’ll be there, son.”

God, I loved my parents. “Thanks, Dad. Sage deserves all the love in the world though it’s gonna take a while to undo what they did to him. He doesn’t feel he’s worthy of being loved.”

Mom sniffled.

“I’ll talk to him at dinner and see if he’ll open up to me. You’ll both absolutely adore him. You can’t help falling for Sage when you meet him. If I had the world to give, it would all be his.”

“Being in love sounds good on you, son.”

“It feels good, Dad. I’ll let you guys know how it goes. For now, I gotta get back to work. Love you both.”

“We love you too,” they said before I ended the call. My parents truly were amazing. They didn’t take any shit from me, but they also didn’t overreact. I’d been nervous as hell the day I told them I was gay and I’ll never forget what my father said.

Warner, the good Lord made you and He intended for you to be you and that’s all we can ask.

Mom chimed in adding, all we ever wanted was for you kids to be healthy and happy. Family loves unconditionally.

Too bad Sage’s family had missed that memo.

It was hard to concentrate on work with this weighing heavily on my mind. There were times such as the whole moving in together where Sage was dead set on what he wanted and went for it. Then in ones such as this, meeting my family, he was terrified and it was my fault. There were more positive ways I could’ve handled it and this fallout was one-hundred percent on me.

Horses were exercised, fed and tucked away in their stalls for the night. Now for this Daddy to get his act together. With time to spare before I picked up Sage, I popped into the store and grabbed a surprise and called in a to-go order for dinner. Once home, I’d let him put on a movie. Maybe that would relax him enough so he’d feel safe to mention whatever it was that was bothering him. Pushing him at this point felt all kinds of wrong and risked pushing him further away. Something I would not let happen.

“Hey, sweetheart.” I opened my arms wide and he ran right into them. Off to a better start for sure. “How was school?”

“It was fun. I made a new fridge pic. It’s in my backpack.” Sage was so dang cute wearing the turtle backpack I got him. “What’s for dinner?”

“Your Daddy called in a mix of your favorites. Let’s pop in and pick it up.” He skipped along beside me, singing away. “Is that a new song you learned today?”

His curls bounced around as his head did. “Yup. Miss Price taught it to us. Daddy, can we get a bean bag chair? They’re squishy fun to sit in.”

“I’ll put in a call to Santa and see what he can do.”

“Silly Daddy.” He rolled his eyes.

“Silly boy.”

“What’s in the other bag?”

I’d wondered how long it’d take him to ask.

“A surprise for my nosy boy.” Those pretty blue eyes widened and a smile spread across his face. “There’s that smile I fell in love with.”