Granted, the way she’d said that wasn’t exactly the kindest. The whole “finally, it was bad before” was probably the most annoying way you could say “I like these changes”, yet it was still, in some way, positive.

At least she wasn’t nagging me about them. I might show her the spear.

“Well, miss Bellum, Fio and I have been working together for a few years. Around three, I believe, give or take a few months.” He gave a polite smile. It didn’t reach his eyes.

“Just Agatha is fine,” my mom said.

“Sure thing, miss Bellum,” Matt replied gracefully.

I saw her look at me with a questioning gaze, but I just shrugged. I mean, if she called him by a different name than he preferred, this kind of seemed like the same treatment.

Butterfly giggled. “Hehe, see, mom? I aaaalways tell you to just use nicknames for people, or they’ll start calling you things you dislike.”

That flustered her, and my mom coughed into her fist. “Well, no, yes, you have, Bethany. Of course.” She paused, unsure how to continue.

Beth, herself, turned to Matt, and smiled. “Do you have a partner?” she asked.

Matt choked on his coffee, barely stopping himself from spitting the rest out, before coughing for a bit. By the end, he turned to Beth, his face slightly read and eyes teary. “Sorry, did I catch that right?”

She smiled, a bright, childlike, innocent smile. “I asked if you have a partner, mister Matt!”

“Mister?” he asked, already confused. “And I, uh, no. I don’t. Nor will I. Ever.”

Beth’s eyes went wide. “Never?”

He nodded resolutely, finally managing to get his posture straight again. He looked like a sage having found inner peace as he closed his eyes to nod. “Never,” he assured her.

My sister giggled at him. “Why is that?”

I got a quick questioning glance from Matt, a thinly veiled question whether he could explain it in front of my mom. I replied with the tiniest nod I could manage, and he gave me a faint smile of acknowledgement.

“Well, Beth, I’m aroace. That sounds like a fun manoeuvre for a plane to do, but essentially means that I don’t really find people attractive in the same way most people do. I don’t have an interest in relationships, and find stuff like kissing pretty gross. Though that’s different for different ace people, to be fair,” he explained.

After his explanation, Beth smiled. “I also think kissing is gross!” she agreed, giggling along and Matt gave her a smile. My mom’s eyes drifted back and forth between me and him. Wait.

“Mom. Did you think Matt and I were dating?”

I saw her freeze up, suddenly going stiff, and the same thing happened to Matt. He turned to me, a mixed look on his face. There was worry, confusion, and a huge dose of awkwardness in his features.

My mom, for her part, took a deep breath in through the nose, then sippeed her coffee again, swirling the dark liquid in her cup. “Perhaps,” she said, putting it down.

Once more, my gaze met Matt's, now filled with abject horror.

“Mom, I’ve been dating for over a year now. Another girl. I’m lesbian. You know this, I’ve told you this,” I said, bewilderment in my voice.

“I thought you might’ve broken up…” she murmured.

Somehow, so quickly, with one silly mistake, my mom’s regal facade was breaking apart. It was a weird assumption to make, and horribly uncomfortable. “And you thought I’d just start liking guys?”

She shrugged helplessly, her eyes desperately locked onto the cup of coffee.

Seconds ticked by, and eventually I couldn’t help but chuckle, then full on laugh about this. Just because of how ridiculous the situation was. Even Beth rolled her eyes at my mom, while Matt simply sat, entirely frozen still at the concept of someone thinking he was dating me.

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Beth was the first to regain her voice. “Mom. Even I could tell Fio would never date a guy. What are you thinking?”

The older woman finally deigned to meet my gaze again, her cheeks red in embarrassment. “I thought, well, I mean. I don’t know. I forgot. Fiona, you tell us so little about-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I said, raising my hands, still laughing. “Don’t you shift this on me! I don’t tell you everything, but I don’t think I’ve ever been unclear about who I’m attracted to.” I laughed. “I have a giant flag in my bedroom, for frick’s sake!”

My mom went even more stiff, shoulders slumping in defeat. “I’m just an idiot,” she muttered in between a sigh. “Just a silly old woman who forgot. I’m sorry Fiona. I’m glad you’re still together with your girlfriend. And I genuinely hope you could introduce her to us soon as well.”

I smirked. “Oh? You want to meet her?”

“Fiona, I would like to meet any of your friends that you’re willing to introduce me to.”

“Really now?”

“Really.”

Somehow, the mix of embarrassment and laughter seemed to have made my mom a little more honest and less cold for the first time in half a decade.

“Why so suddenly?”

She looked at me, confused. “What? I’ve always wanted to meet your friends.”

I shook my head at her. “No. When I brought over friends as a kid, you usually sent them home. For being dressed poorly, for dragging dirt into our house, for being too rude to you. Once, you sent my best friend home in middle school, crying, because you called her dress “abhorrent”. That’s not behaviour that tells me you want to meet my friends.”

We held eye contact, and I saw her wavering, continuing to stare at her. She folded, eventually, looking back at her coffee after a long bit of quiet. “I did.”

“So why?”

“Because I was in no way fit to raise a child, Fiona. I was stressed beyond belief. I felt like I was hanging on by a thread every day, and the few loud noises you kids made sent me up a wall. Because I was taking my meds on and off, thinking things were better when they weren’t.”

I went to speak, but she held up a hand. “And I’m sorry. I know that’s no excuse. I know that you deserved better. I know I did some things wrong, a lot of them, even. It was the best I could do at the time, and for that I’m sorry.”

For a long time, I just stared at her, silently. Then over at Matt, who somehow seemed to have a strange talent when it came to interacting with my parents. Over at Beth who was looking back at me with… was that empathy? Probably. Then I looked back at my mom.

She looked so small, now.

I took in a deep breath through my nose, then let out a huge sigh. “Okay. Thank you for the apology. It means a lot. I can’t exactly say that it’s fine, ‘cause it isn’t. I had no friends growing up because of this. I’m also kinda mad you’d assume I was dating a guy. And I know you just forgot, but it’s still annoying.”

“I understand that,” she nodded.

“But. At the same time, I appreciate your apology, and I know it wasn’t always easy for you. I at least empathize with it. Doesn’t mean I forgive you.”

“I don’t expect you to.” My mom said so, but she was still sitting there, focus locked on the cup she held. Her jaw seemed clenched, just a bit.

“I appreciate that. It’s a start, for me. Please, try not to assume I’ll be dating any guys in the future.” I shot her a crooked smile at that.

She looked up from her cup, and gave me a very weak smile. “I won’t.”

There was a long break again.

“Would you like to see my bedroom?” I offered. “There’s also new decor there.”

Her smile solidified just a bit. “Y-”

“YES!!” Butterfly interrupted her, and jumped up. I chuckled, slowly getting up from the table as well, then grabbing her hand.

“Alright, let me show you.”

- - -

“You bought a spear?!!”

My mom’s reaction was, somehow, more strong than I anticipated, yet most likely valid. I understood, at least. That doesn’t mean I was gonna let her off easy.

I shrugged, raising my palms towards the sky in mock defeat, shaking my head and giving a sigh. “You know, when your mom’s a dragon… you can’t wait for a knight in shining armor.” She definitely noticed the nod I gave towards the flag at that. “Sometimes a girl’s gotta take matters into her own hands.”

Only then did it click with her, and her mouth dropped open. “I am not a dragon!” she complained.

“With all due respect, Agatha, I believe you may be,” Matt politely provided from the back.

“Mom’s clearly human,” Butterfly said, confused.

“Beth, calling someone a dragon means that they’re unpleasant to be around. They anger quickly, always nag about the way you look, the way you sit, the way you decorate your flat…”

Each word struck my mother like the blow of a hammer, but I wasn’t done.

“They use names for you that you dislike. They’re mean to your friends. Despite all of those things, they still demand you show them all the love and affection that they think they’re entitled to.”

“Ohhhhh,” Beth said, nodding along. Then she turned to mom, gave a bright smile, and yelled: “Dragon!” In case it was unclear who she meant, she even pointed at the older woman.

Her shoulders slumped and she gave a long sigh. “Perhaps,” she muttered under her breath, “I may need to work on shedding some scales.”