I come out to my parents

It is the day after my first date with Isabella and I can feel my heart beat pumping while standing in front of my full length mirror. I am examining my floral print dress while thinking about the reason why I am so nervous. I am not nervous about the fact that I am dating a woman for the first time of my life nor I am nervous about the brief instance when I felt that someone was watching me at the end of the date. I have reasoned that I was only nervous yesterday anyway. I am nervous because my parents are about to visit me.

I normally would be very happy for my parents to make the long trek over from my old home to come visit me. After all, I have a very good relationship with them. They always gave me all of the love and support that I needed so that I could become a loving and caring individual. The only time that I had a major disagreement with my parents was when I told them that I wanted to go away to college instead of getting on-the-job training like they wanted. I knew I had to leave because I had very big dreams. Sometimes you just have to be your own person.

The main reason that I am nervous about my parents coming over is because I am dating a woman for the first time in my life. I am a shy girl so I can count the boys that I dated in high school on one hand. I never gave anyone any inclination that I could go down the lesbian path. I am surprising myself because of my new dating habits. Then again, Isabella has gotten me to do a lot of things that I thought that I would never do in a million years. I just hope that my parents can accept the new path that I have taken. I have heard horror stories about what parents can do when one of their children goes down this road.

I look at my wristwatch and know that there are just a few minutes left before my parents are scheduled to show up at my dorm. I know that I cannot put it off any longer so I lock up my room and head down the stairs looking like someone who is about to face a firing squad or the electric chair. When I get down to the living room, I see that all of my roommates are waiting and dressed a little better than they usually are. I am at least glad that everyone wants to make a good impression on my parents. Unfortunately, the only thing that I can do is nervously amble around the room. It is not long when Isabella stops me by putting a hand on my shoulder.

"What's wrong, cutie?" Isabella asks me. "Don't you remember the pep talk that I gave you yesterday?"

"Yes, and I know that you are right, but I cannot help but be nervous now that zero hour is almost here," I explain while a frown distorts my face."

"I am sure that it will be okay. After all..." Sally starts to say to comfort me only to be cut off by a knock on the door which makes me jolt enough to make me jump off the floor.

I know who is at the door before I open it. I try to put a smile on my face before looking at my parents, but I know it to be nothing more than an act. It always makes me happy when people tell me that I look like my mother because I do. There are a few minor differences to be sure. Mom is a few inches taller than I am and a few pounds heavier. I have my father's brown eyes instead of my mother's green eyes. I look at my father whose black hair is slightly turning gray at the sides and notice his smile.

"Are you ready to eat lunch with us or would you like to introduce us to your friends first?" my father asks me.

I take a deep breath because I know that the moment of truth is here. I know that it is time for me to come out to my parents, but I also know that it is probably not a good idea for me to do that in front of all my friends. I especially do not want to come out to my parents in front of Isabella.

"I would love to introduce you to all of them, but I need to talk to you outside first," I respond with a frown on my face.

My heart is beating rapidly as I walk outside with my parents to face the music. I am about to find out how my parents feel about my new lifestyle.

"What's wrong?" Mom asks out of concern as soon as the door closes.

"I am dating someone," I say with so much worry showing in my eyes.

"That's great!" my father responds with joy. Let's just see if they are still happy when I tell them the rest.

"Are you dating one of your roommates?" Mom presses. "Can we meet him?"

"Well... I am dating one of my roommates..." I hesitate as my breath catches in my throat.

"You know that you can tell us anything, don't you?" my father asks as a look of concern appears on his face.

Let's just see if that's true. I look at my parents and I tell them the thing that I have been dreading to tell them for a few days now as my face turns bright red.

"Sigh! I am dating a girl."

I look at my parents and I really cannot read the reactions on their faces. They seem to be computers that have temporarily crashed. I can only hope that they don't start yelling at me as soon as they reboot.

"I know that you are probably upset with me, but please let me explain," I beg my parents.

I am very surprised when Mom lays a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"We aren't mad at you," Mom tells me to make my eyes pop open.

"We are just shocked," Dad adds. "You never once gave us any inclination that you would do something like this."

"I am surprised as well," I say with a wistful smile. "I didn't go looking for something like this to happen. It just did."

"Can we meet her?" Mom asks.

"Actually, you already have," I reply to hint at the girl's identity.

"Oh, Isabella," Dad speaks with a little bit of a frown.

"Is... is something wrong?" I ask nervously.

"Isabella is a nice woman, but she is a bit of a firecracker," Dad pointed out.

"That is one of the reasons why I like her so much," I respond while looking straight into my father's eyes.

"Do you think that you can keep up with her?" Mom wondered.

"I don't know, but I want to find out," I respond.

"Do you love her?" Mom continued.

"We have only been on one date so it is kind of early to say," I explain.

"Okay, if Isabella is what makes you happy, we won't stand in your way," Dad promised.

"Thank you," I said with glee while hugging each one of my parents.

"While we are surprised that you are dating a girl, we are not quite as surprised that it happened with Isabella," Mom said with a knowing smile.

"Why is that?" I had to know.

"We were wondering if something like this was going to happen because of the way the two of you were giggling that one night during Christmas break," Dad explained.

"We were just friends back then and we were just engaged in an innocent tickle war," I responded while trying to look innocent.

"If you say so..." Dad needled me.

"Let's go back inside so I can introduce you to everyone." I impatiently demanded to end the conversation.

"I remember a time when you tried to hide when we saw you with your friends at the mall," Dad joked with a wry grin.

"That was four years ago!" I scolded with an annoyed look on my face.

I felt that a humongous weight had been lifted from my shoulders when I went back inside to introduce my parents to all of my friends. My parents actually love me. Okay, I already knew that they love me, but it sure was nice to be reminded of that when they accepted my relationship with Isabella. I started with Dominic and went around to room to Isabella. I introduced her last since my parents had already met her. Each friend stood up to shake the hand of both my parents when it was their turn. I had a big smile on my face when I got to Isabella.

"Of course you already know Isabella," I introduced.

"We were wondering if you would like to come with us to eat lunch now," Mom offered.

"Sure, I don't have any plans at the moment," Isabella accepted with a warm smile.

I was very happy that my parents invited Isabella to lunch, but I was a little nervous as well. I knew that my parents would subject her to the standard parental grilling as soon as we were away from the rest of my friends. I found out that I was right when the door closed to seal us off from my new home.

"Anne has been telling us some interesting things about you, Isabella," Mom began with a searching gaze.

"I don't doubt that," Isabella replied.

"Anne is our only child so we would be very unhappy if someone hurt her," Dad practically threatened.

I was very proud of the way that Isabella responded to my father.

"No one hurts Anne on my watch especially not me!"