Golden Heart - 4. Chapter 4 - Sharing

Elizabeth retreated to her room, and left Max and Marie together to talk. She was of course happy to know that Rose had a sister, but she understood that this was important for Max. She had been his only family, and she knew that she had failed him for years. This was Max’s chance to experience something new, and maybe help him grow. She cried silently, happy for her nephew, but sad and worried that she might lose him.

At first Max was still overwhelmed by his emotions, they swirled inside him (though not violently like they used to), and he had this lump in his throat that would not go away. Marie, maybe sensing his nervousness, or maybe fighting her own, talked for the both of them. Her voice reminded Max so much of memories he thought he had lost, buried under the years and the pain. Happy moments he had shared with his parents resurfaced. He caught a glimpse of his tiny little self on Dad’s shoulders, and he saw Mom playing with him and his toys.

Marie told him of her life, of her husband, of her parents, and of course of her own child, her son who was Max’s age. At first Max thought he hadn’t heard right, could it be he had a cousin? Hope surged in him as he realized that he might have more family than he thought. For someone that had been deprived of one for so many years, it felt so exciting to finally have one of his own.

“My son looks like you a lot, which I can understand… He was so excited to learn he had a cousin! For most of his life he had no other family than his father, his grandparents and me. When I told him he was jumping around like a little boy, and he kept pestering me with questions. ‘What’s his name?’ or ‘how old is he?’ Now those I could answer, but some were pretty funny. He once asked me what your favorite color was, as if I could know!”

Max smiled at the thought, though his mind was only half listening to Marie now. His thoughts wandered, and they kept coming back to this cousin.

“What’s his name?” he asked shyly.

“William, though most people call him Will, but don’t call him Bill or he will murder you!” Marie joked.

Max chuckled, as he remembered how he had hated being called Max before, when he was still bitter and cold Maximilian.

“People used to call me Max all the time before, but I would correct them. Now though, my friends call me Max, Maximilian is a little long to say after a while…” he said.

“May I call you Max?”

“Of course!”

“So Max, can you tell me about yourself?” she asked him gently.

The question took him by surprise, and while at first it was hard, he started talking. He had kept things to himself, even from Aaron and his therapist, but Marie felt different. He felt as if he was talking to Mom, and not some stranger. He trusted her as he would trust his mother, and once he got going there was no stopping the torrent of words.

Never before had he had this urge to empty himself like this, but now, with Marie, he let go. He told her of his pain, his sadness, his few joys, his need to drown himself in books, his passion for cooking (which Marie also had). He explained how he shielded himself from the outside world by withdrawing inside himself and putting up barriers of ice to fend off any outside intrusion. Little by little he advanced in his life. He cried a few times, and so did Marie. She only interrupted him a few times to ask a question. Finally he got to the last few months. He told her about his battle with himself, the two sides of him that had fought. One to keep him locked in the past, the others willing to endure pain to move forward. Aaron was not left out, and Max explained how he had been the pivot point for all of the changes that happened inside and out. Without even thinking about what her thoughts on the subjects might be, he told her how little by little he had fallen in love and how Aaron and he were dating now. When he was finished he took a deep breath, and realized how long he had been talking. Night had fallen outside, and Max felt guilty to have kept her here this long. Before he could apologize Marie spoke:

“Thank you Max, that was beautiful. You can be proud of who you are, and I am so thrilled for you and Aaron. Whatever others may think, know that I do not care whom you love, that is up to you and you alone. Oh and just so you know, William came out to us as bisexual.”

“He did?” Max asked amazed.

“Well he wasn’t very happy about it but yes.”

“Why not?” Max asked confused.

“Well, one time we caught him making out with a girl from school, we thought nothing of it at first he was 15 after all. But a year later we saw him making out with a boy this time. Both he and his father had a chat, and William told us that he liked both boys and girls. His father was proud of him for being honest.”

Max let it sink in, first he learned he had a cousin, and second he learned that said cousin was a bit like him. He really wanted to meet him now… Not that he was interested in him, no his heart belonged to Aaron, but to have someone else to talk to about it was a comforting thought.

Unfortunately all good things have an end, and Marie had to return to her husband and William. She took both Max’s and Elizabeth’s numbers, and she promised to contact them soon. She wanted to keep getting to know her nephew and Elizabeth. She thanked them both for welcoming her, and hugged Max one last time before getting in her car and driving off.

It was a very awkward evening for Max and his aunt, neither knew what to say really, though they both smiled a lot. After dinner, Max kissed her goodnight and went to his room. He checked his phone. He had a few messages from his friends, and a lot from Aaron.

Most were because he hadn’t answered the previous ones.

“Babe please call me! I’m worried :(”

Max quickly dialed Aaron’s number and waited for maybe a fraction of a second before Aaron took the call.

“Max what’s wrong?” Aaron asked, obviously worried.

“Sorry my love, it’s just… I had an…intense afternoon and I didn’t look at my phone.”

“Oh… sorry I got worried, you had said we would talk and…”

“No, I’m sorry, it was inconsiderate of me.”

“Don’t go using big words on me mister! I said I was sorry and that’s that!” Aaron joked.

Max chuckled.

“Anyways, what happened though?”

“Well…” Max hesitated, but what the hell this was Aaron. “I just found out my mom had a twin sister called Marie that has a bisexual son and is very nice” he added very quickly.

“Uh what?”

Max sighed and told him again but slower.

“Oh… wait WHAT??? OH my GOD Max that’s awesome!! I’m so happy for you!”

“Really you are? I mean, it’s not such a big deal…”

“You’re kidding me right? Max you have more family than you thought, this is amazing!”

“Why is it so amazing?”

“You don’t see it do you?”

“See what?”

Aaron sighed.

“I love you Max, and I always will, but you need something more in your life. I want to help you be happy, but I can’t do it alone. Alice, Mara, Chris they are all helping, we all want you to be happy. But when one of them talks of their family, I can see the longing in yours eyes. Hell when Chris calls me his cousin I can see it!”

“Really?” Max asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“Yes and I want you to grab on to this chance and not let go for anything. Promise me you will give them a chance!”

“They sound really nice…”

“Good! Now promise me that when the time comes you will make them part of your life, even this bisexual cousin of yours.”

“His name’s William,” Max laughed.

“Whatever, as long as he doesn’t take you away from me I’m good with him!”

“No one is ever going to take me away from you, I love you Aaron.”

“I love you too Max.”