Ezra smiled at Dimitri and Holly on his bed. Some time while he was in the shower, they had shifted together. Holly was half sprawled on his tall husband, one leg peaking out the side of the blanket and his curls a springy mass that obscured his entire face and half of Dimitri’s chest.

 

He dug clothes out of his drawers, choosing for comfort and ability to hide stains over looking good. He needed to dye his hair before his mom got here.

 

He pulled his hair into a ponytail as he walked out of the room. Malachi was strolling down the hallway in baggy sweats. He smiled at Ezra. “Hey. You’re mom’s coming out later today right? Do you want company?”

 

Ezra smiled at him as he followed him down the steps, surprised. “I- Yes, but it would probably be better if I went by myself. If no one minds me borrowing a car.”

 

“Of course not.”

 

At the base of the stairs, Malachi waved him forward. He picked up a set of keys off a hook by the door and handed them to Ezra. “For the minivan.”

 

Ezra pocketed them quickly. “Thank you.”

 

“No problem.” He led them towards the kitchen and quickly busied himself in the fridge. “Oatmeal?”

 

Ezra made a face that Malachi just barely caught when he turned. “I make a mean chocolate banana nut oatmeal. It’s like dessert except almost healthy.”

 

“I’ll try it.”

 

Malachi grinned and at him and turned back around. “So skeptical. Do you want coffee too?”

 

“I can make it.”

 

Malachi waved over his shoulder. “It’s fine old man. Just sit.”

 

Ezra scowled at his back. “Make it snappy, whippersnapper.”

 

Malachi was standing over the stove for nearly twenty minutes, humming happily. Ezra stared at his broad shoulders and very nice back muscles happily meanwhile, while sipping at the coffee Malachi brought him.

 

Malachi finally handed him a bowl and perched in the chair across from him with his own. He waited, looking anxious, for Ezra to take a bite. Ezra expected him to want the verdict so he took a large one, just so he could stall and hopefully annoy him. But as soon as his mouth was full, Malachi reached across the table and cupped Ezra’s hand in his. “I’m sorry I just dropped you off yesterday. I didn’t realize you didn’t have a key.”

 

Ezra hurried tried to chew through the bite but it was too big. Even if he wanted to open his mouth and talk around the lump, he didn’t think he could without it going all over the place.

 

“I made sure you got a key this morning and I want you to take this-“ He pressed his own cellphone into Ezra’s other hand, replacing the fork. “And keep it until we can get you your own.”

 

He swiped the lock screen. “I disabled the password and programmed your mom’s number into it as well as sixteen different law enforcement numbers, okay?”

 

He reached into his pocket again and drew out a small necklace. On the silver chain there was a rectangular prism of plastic, with a deeply indented red dot on the bottom. “Also, you don’t have to wear this but I figured it might help? Especially if you get a restraining order against Rick. Push the button-“ he tapped the red dot “-My fingers are too fat to do it, but you should be fine and this way you won’t accidently hit it- and it’ll alert the local police. Just keep hitting it, I heard they usually ignore just once because accidents happen. There’s a tracker in it so they can find you.”

 

Ezra finally swallowed his bite of oatmeal, already shaking his head. He pushed both of them back towards Malachi. “No, I can’t-“

 

Malachi gently pushed the cellphone and necklace back. “It was my fault you were out there alone yesterday,” he said softly. “Okay? We all knew Rick was probably going to be back and I got you stuck outside by yourself. You have more bruises and your hand is hurt and it’s my fault.”

 

Ezra shook his head in denial.

 

Malachi patted his hand. “It’s my fault I didn’t walk you in. Even if you had a key, it still would have been polite.”

 

“It’s not like I asked you to,” Ezra pointed out, in what he hoped was a reasonable way. He had never had anyone blame themselves for him getting attacked before. It was a strange feeling.

 

“Did you want me to though?”

 

Ezra shook his head hurriedly. “No. I- I wasn’t worried.”

 

“It still would have been polite,” Malachi groused.

 

“He would have just waited until I was alone.”

 

Malachi glanced up at him. “He’s done that before?”

 

Ezra nodded. “He startles me every time too. It’s creepy how good he is at it.”

 

Malachi pushed the necklace to him again. “The button turns it on. The GPS tracker doesn’t work until then. It’s supposed to be very reliable and very discreet.”

 

Ezra smiled slightly and finally took the necklace. He put it around his neck and drew the pendant under his shirt. He tucked the phone in his pocket. “I will keep this for exactly a week. And then I expect you to have found me a flip phone that won’t break if I throw it on the pavement a few times and was the cutting edge of technology about ten years ago that cost 50$ on e-bay.”

 

“You need one with a good camera.”

 

“Do not.”

 

“Do too. Rylan will never forgive me if he can’t get dick pics from you, like, hourly.”
 

“I-“ Ezra flushed. “Is that a thing?”

 

Malachi stared at him. “Sexting?”

 

Ezra stared at him blankly.

 

Malachi grinned suddenly. “That is the cutest thing I have ever heard. You’re just a cute little grandpa.”

 

He stood up and ambled around the table to drop down next to Ezra. He nudged the bowl of oatmeal closer to him. “No more ambushes. Eat while I introduce you to the sordid world of sexting.”

 

He took the phone back and tapped at it. “Ah, here we go. Urbandictionary says-“

 

“What’s urban dictionary?”

 

“This is going to take awhile.”

 

Ezra cut him off during an explanation about Wikipedia spirals. “This is fascinating- truly- no, I’m being super serious, I don’t think I’ve ever used the Internet for anything besides job searching or porn in my life. I have an email that I can’t remember the password for. Or the- the email address itself.”

 

Malachi snickered. As did Leo. He had joined them during the explanation on grindr.

 

“But seriously, I need to go buy hair dye.”

 

Leo scowled at him. Malachi’s expression was much more cautious. “For your mom?”

 

“Yeah.” He stood up, grabbing the empty dishes and heading to the sink. “Look, I know you all don’t seem to like the idea, but this is going to be hard enough without her having a fit about my hair. It’s a small enough concession. I’ll get the temporary kind. It’ll be gone in two weeks.”

 

“Your hair, your choice,” Malachi said evenly. Leo snorted.

 

Ezra shot a grin back at them. “I look cute with black hair.”

 

Leo grumbled but finally acquiesced. “You look cute all the time. Even in dumb sweats.”

 

“Hey.”

 

“Hey,” Malachi echoed. “One, sweats are awesome, shut up. And two, those are yoga pants. Look at his ass.”

 

Leo giggled and Ezra flushed, but a smile slipped over his face anyway.

 

“’Lachi,” Leo whined. “You can’t say that to him. He’s said he isn’t comfortable with stuff like that unless he’s slept with you.”

 

Ezra’s blush deepened. “I don’t mind,” he said to the dishes.

 

“Awesome. In that case, seriously, you’re ass in those pants. You should always wear yoga pants.”

Ezra twisted and tried to look at his butt. “Really? These are super comfortable.”

 

“Yoga pants man.”

 

“Huh.”

 

“It looks good.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Leo scowled. “Short shorts and mini skirts.”

 

“That too,” Malachi agreed, just as Ezra said, “No.”

 

Leo giggled. “So Malachi will go get you hair dye and I’ll-“

 

Ezra pulled the keys out of his pocket. “I can get myself hair dye, thank you.”

 

Leo pouted. “But if Malachi goes and gets your hairdye that’s twenty minutes where you don’t have anything to do.”

 

Ezra frowned at him. “So?”

 

Malachi snatched the keys out of his hands. “Black, right? Blue black?”

 

“Brown black, but-“

 

Leo hooked an arm around his waist.

 

“Have fun,” Malachi said with a grin before sauntering out of the room.

 

Ezra stared at his back and then at Leo. “What?”

 

Leo leaned forward and kissed him.

 

“Oh,” Ezra breathed into his mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

There was a knock on the door. Ezra stood with a groan, tugging the sheet out from under Leo. Leo rolled over and went right back to sleep.  He stumbled to the door, wrapping the sheet around his waist and opened it.

 

Malachi smirked at him and held up a box of hair dye. “To hide your roots.” He looked relaxed and casual and like something right out of a handy-man porno in a fitted white t-shirt and loose jeans with splatters of paint on one leg. There was even a ratty towel tossed over one shoulder.

 

Ezra forced an eye roll and snatched at the hair dye, licking at his suddenly dry lips. “Thanks.”

 

“Need help?”

 

“Nah, I’m fine.”

 

“Are you sure? I always hate bleaching my own hair- the back is impossible.”

 

Ezra hesitated before nodding. “I’d appreciate it. It’s been awhile.” He stepped away from the door and headed back to the bed, keeping the sheet held firmly round his waist. He was aware of how much skin he was baring. Both men’s eyes were on his back as he stooped down and grabbed his pants. The weight of the gazes were like brands, heating his skin. He straightened back up, clearing his throat and then chickened out of saying anything and retreated to the bathroom to change back into the sweats and shirt.

 

He dunked his head under the sink quickly and ran his hands through his hair, making sure all of it was damp. He stepped back out. Leo was happily lounging on his stomach on top of the comforter, legs bent at the knee, feet kicking aimlessly in the air. Malachi was facing him, mirroring the pose exactly, chin propped on his hands.

 

He turned and grinned at Ezra. “Ready?”

 

At Ezra’s nod, he slid off the bed and onto his feet, tugging at his shirt to cover back up the sliver of stomach that it had exposed when it had ridden up.

 

“You definitely need to lose the shirt. Leo likes it on you.”

 

Ezra glanced suspiciously at the phookah who smiled widely. “It’s cute!” He glanced down at the plain, slightly oversized dark t-shirt. “Uh-huh.” He suspected a plot. He pulled it over his head anyway. He neatly folded it, still facing the bed, enjoying the way Leo was eyeing his nipple piercings again. He just had tiny silver studs in, both in his nipples and his belly button, but Leo seemed to enjoy them immensely nonetheless.

 

Malachi was eyeing his chest as well. “You should break out that piercing set you had on when we went dancing again,” he said, lifting up his eyes to meet Ezra’s.

 

He flushed, heat pooling low in his belly. “Yeah?” He lifted his chin and met Malachi’s eyes with what he hoped was a challenge and not the shy embarrassment he was mostly feeling.

 

It must have worked because Malachi’s eyes widened. But he smiled easily instead of giving more of a reaction and stood, tugging his shirt straight. “Come on,  there are rubber gloves in the bathroom.”

 

“Why?”

 

Malachi smirked at him. “Leo and Rylan have a lot of kinks.”

 

“What do rubber gloves have to do with kinks? Is it like…” Ezra trailed off and his eyes widened.

 

Malachi snickered.

 

Leo giggled, rolling over on his back. “I think you’d look cute with a fist up your-“

 

“Shut up,” Ezra said quickly, cheeks darkening. “Shut up, shutup, shutup.” He had tried out a lot of kinks. That wasn’t one of them.

 

-

 

Ezra fidgeted nervously at the gate where he was meeting his mom, twirling the keys in his hand. Malachi was behind him, a veritable wall of support. He had finally convinced him that he should definitely come; Ezra could use the company for support, but also in case Rick was awake and angry.

 

They had both dressed up, Ezra in a collared dress shirt and the loosest slacks he had and Malachi in a full suit. It had obviously been tailored for him and made him look very tall and very strong, and a tiny bit like a thug in a high budget movie. Ezra was really into the look on him.

 

The train doors opened and passengers streamed out of the doors, almost all human. Most of the non-human residents of Border Town didn’t visit the human realm and a lot of the humans visited Border Town.

 

Ezra searched the faces of the passengers, looking for his mom, even though he knew it was probably pointless. She was tiny. Finally, when the stream of passengers from the doors has thinned to a trickle, his mom appeared, walking with small shuffling steps and holding a huge duffel bag and oversized purse pulling a large rolling suitcase behind her. Ezra hurried forward, Malachi a step behind him.

 

She beamed at him and instead of letting him take her bag, she dropped it and pulled Ezra into a tight hug.

 

The top of his mom’s head only reached his chin and her arms were soft and warm around him. She smelled like green tea and caramel candies.

 

Ezra pressed a kiss to her cheek and pulled away, smiling for real. “Hi mom.”

 

“Hi, honey.” She smiled at him, before it faded. She picked up his bandaged hand in hers. “What happened?”

“Rick,” he muttered.

 

Concern flooded her face and she clucked at him. “This was taken care of properly?”

 

He nodded.

 

“What about those new husbands of yours? Can’t they keep you safe?”

 

“Mom!” Ezra saw Malachi shift uncomfortably out of the corner of his eyes. Even if he hadn’t, he knew the men had been doing their best. “They can’t be everywhere,” he defended. He tugged the pendant out of his shirt. “I- They got me this. It’s like LifeAlert but it alerts the police directly.”

 

She sighed and let it go, the reluctance obvious in her face. “You didn’t need to come pick me up, pumpkin. You look pale.”

 

“I wanted to mom.”

 

“Did you drive?” she asked suspiciously. “You know you really don’t seem like-“

 

“Mom!” Ezra took a step back and gestured at Malachi. “He drove.”

 

She looked up at him suspiciously. “Those men are rich enough to have a driver? That’s just-“

“Mom!” Ezra flushed to the roots of his hair. “This is Malachi. One of my husbands.”

 

She looked up at him suspiciously. “You look like a thug,” she informed him in no uncertain terms.

 

“Mom!” Ezra repeated, as Malachi went tense.

 

But Malachi sighed and slumped. “Sorry ma’am,” he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m an MMA fighter,” he said, sticking out his hand. “Looking like a thug comes with the territory.”

 

She looked at him suspiciously, ignoring his hand. “A fighter? That’s… violent.”

 

He nodded, leaving his hand out, undeterred. “Yes ma’am. But I’ll tell you the same thing I told your son when we first met; hitting people professionally means hitting anyone who’s not a professional makes me feel like a bully. Besides, I grew up in Queens, not here, so I’ve always been the biggest and the toughest; I don’t have anything to prove.”

 

She smiled at him and finally took his hand, shaking it firmly. “Forward, aren’t you?”

 

He shrugged. “You’re worried about your son. It’s understandable, especially because we haven’t met. By the way, it’s very nice to finally meet you Mrs. Fidel.”

 

“You can call me Esperanza, dear,” she said beaming.

 

Ezra breathed out a sigh of relief and finally relaxed.

 

 

 

The relief was short lived. His mother insisted that she didn’t want lunch and wanted to see where he lived. She was very impressed by the outside of the house, but Dimitri met them in the entryway.

 

His mom, relaxed after a very pleasant and casual drive to the house, instantly tensed, staring up and up and up.

 

Dimitri smiled anxiously. “You must be Mrs. Fidel,” he said. They stared at each other for a moment before he stuck out his hand quickly, expression becoming even more anxious. “I’m sorry, the fae…” he trailed off, as if remembering he shouldn’t say that, but it wasn’t like he could hide what he was. Rylan might, and Holly could pass himself as a very exotic human if he had to and the person wasn’t familiar with the fae, but Dimitri didn’t look even a little human.

 

He cleared his throat. “The fae don’t usually shake hands,” he said softly after another few moments of silence.

 

Esperanza took his hand and shook it gingerly, once, dropping it as quickly as she could. Dimitri’s handshake looked just as limp.

 

They stared at each other some more. Ezra winced and linked one of his mother’s stiff arms through his uninjured one. “This is Dimitri, Mom. I actually met him before any of the others.”

 

“Really.” It wasn’t a question. But she forced a shaky smile up at him. “It’s… nice to meet you.”

 

“And I, you,” he said softly, looking down.

 

Ezra sighed internally, but kept his smile bright and happy. “Come in, I’ll show you around.”

 

He towed her through the ground floor, trying to get Dimitri to talk. He got him to mumble something about a painting, but that was it.

 

He tugged her up the stairs, trying to convince himself that maybe that would help things, but Rylan was lurking at the top of the stairs and Dimitri excused himself hurriedly, citing needing to make lunch. Considering that Ezra was fairly sure he couldn’t cook, it was a poor excuse, made poorer when Dimitri stumbled over what he was going to cook and ended on ‘something.’

 

As soon as he was gone, Rylan stepped forward with a slight smile and his hand extended. “Hi, I’m Rylan.”

 

She smiled tentatively up at him.

 

Rylan was everything Dimitri hadn’t been- charming, cheerful, confident. He managed to keep the conversation going almost effortlessly, switching between asking questions, listening intently, and talking about Border Town attractions. Very mundane and harmless.

 

Ezra dared to start thinking this might actually go well, but they ran into Giovanni, hurrying down the hall and looking stressed. He froze when he saw all of them and Ezra had a panicked moment, trying to remember if he had told him about his mother visiting, but the seer smiled tremulously.

 

“Y-You must be Es- Mrs. Fidel. It’s very n- nice to meet you,” he stuttered. Malachi and Rylan moved towards him at the same time and stopped short, staring at each other. Rylan was the one to finally move forward and take the shaky seer’s arm.

 

“I’m very sorry Mrs. Fidel,” Rylan said smoothly. “This is Giovanni. He’s a seer and I’m afraid our… current situation is… making him stressed. If you’ll excuse me.”

 

He took Giovanni’s arm and guided him into Leo’s room, one of the few doors they hadn’t gone into yet. Ezra let out a hushed sigh of relief. Malachi and Rylan had shown his mother their rooms and Dimitri’s, but Leo’s room wasn’t exactly parent appropriate and Ezra hadn’t been sure how to avoid it without raising questions.

 

Leo wiggled out of the room and smiled brightly at his mom. “Hi!” he said cheerfully. He was louder than the others, naturally and because he wasn’t trying to be soft spoken and polite.

 

He bounced forward and stuck his hand out. “I’m Leo.”

 

His mom shook it, staring at Leo. No, not at Leo, at his ears.

 

“Are those real?” she blurted out.

 

Leo smiled at her and ducked his head. “Yep, you can touch them too.”

 

She reached out and gingerly stroked an ear. “Can you- Do you hear through them?”

 

Leo nodded with a grin. He pushed back his hair, revealing his human ears. “I have these but they’re essentially deaf. The balance stuff is here, the hearing is in the rabbit ears.”

 

“Why do…” she trailed off, embarrassed and unsure, but Leo beamed at her.

 

“Why do I have them?” he guessed. At her nod, he said, “I’m a phooka- well partly. There’s not a lot of real, full blooded phooka’s anymore. They’re shape shifting spirits from the fae realm and are more spirit than corporal except on the equinoxes and solstices. They’re tricksters, but harmless ones, and are associated with agriculture. I’m a few generations from pure blooded so I can’t shape shift into most of the phooka forms, but I can change into a bunny on the solstices and equinoxes when there’s more magic in the air. Very cute and very useless.”

 

“Aw,” his mom cooed. It was definitely involuntary.

 

Ezra and Malachi snickered, surprised. “I wanna see,” Ezra whispered.

 

Leo flashed both of them a smile. “Other than that, I’m just a little faster and longer lived than most humans. Maybe a little stronger, but that doesn’t make a lot of difference when I don’t have the arm length to back it up.” He took a step so he could stand between them. He was exactly between their heights, a couple inches shorter than Ezra and a couple inches taller than his mom.

 

She smiled up at him. “Leo. And the young man…” she glanced at Leo’s bedroom door. “That was Giovanni?”

 

Leo nodded, smile fading a little.

 

“Is he alright?”

 

Malachi forced a smile. “We’re…. It’s a stressful time and it’s making him worse, but he’s always been anxious. He’s a very powerful seer.”

 

Esperanza nodded in understanding. “Stressful? Because of Rick?”

 

Malachi looked down and Leo’s eyes widened.

 

Ezra sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “The HFRC- the human fae relations committee- they… They investigate marriages that meet certain guidelines. They- We,” he corrected. “Have been under investigation for a few weeks.”

 

“Investigation? What does that mean?”

 

Ezra glanced at the two men and then down. “I’ll tell you about it later, but they ask a lot of questions to make sure no one’s being abused and there isn’t some kind of scam happening,” he said softly. “You still need to meet Holly though.”

 

She nodded and let it go. She let Ezra lead her downstairs. As expected, Dimitri and Holly were standing close together in front of the counter, Holly doing something on the stove and Dimitri chopping vegetables.

 

Holly glanced over his shoulder and his eyes widened. He turned back to his cooking and there was a brief flurry of movement before he turned again, wiping his hands on a dishtowel and moving towards them. Dimitri’s shoulders hunched and he concentrated on chopping.

 

Holly tossed the dishtowel behind him and offered his hand to Ezra’s mom.

 

Ezra resisted the urge to giggle. Clearly, someone had told them all to do this. His money was on Malachi.

 

Esperanza took the hand. “You must be Holly.”

 

He smiled brightly at her and tucked a curly strand of hair behind his ear. “Yep,” he agreed. “Nice to meet you Mrs. Fidel. Are you a vegan like Ezra? I forgot to ask ahead of time.”

 

“Pescetarian,” she said with a nod. “But you don’t need to worry about me-“

 

“It’s no problem,” he assured her quickly. “We’ve been trying to fatten Ezra up.” He poked Ezra’s side, finger digging into his bone. “Can’t do that if he has to pick around meat or only eat sides.”

 

She smiled cautiously at him. “He has gotten very skinny.”

 

Ezra rolled his eyes. “You two are going to be besties,” he said, cautiously allowing himself to hope. “What are you making?”

 

Holly whirled around, back to his cooking, like he had forgotten about it for a second. “Stir fry. A billion kind of mushrooms, other vegetables, rice, vermicelli, and chicken for the meat eaters. Do you like scallops?”

 

It took Esperanza a moment to catch up; when she did, she nodded. “But please don’t go through any trouble for me.”

 

Holly shook his head. “Scallops are fast and ‘Lachi loves them too.”

 

“I do,” Malachi confirmed. “And Holly never goes out of his way just for me.” He leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss against the back of Holly’s head.

 

Ezra glanced at his mom to gauge her reaction. Her eyes were a little wide, but she seemed to be handling it all right. Better than when Ezra had first introduced her to Rick. All he had done was put a hand on his hip and she had freaked out. Of course, they weren’t touching him.

 

Dinner was not nearly as quiet and awkward as it could have been. The men were good at talking to her and Giovanni was a quiet distraction that any of them could focus on for awhile if things were too awkward.

 

They were almost all good with her. Giovanni was quiet, but she seemed to understand. Dimitri was going to be a problem. Ezra didn’t blame him- he was shy and his mom certainly wasn’t making things easier for him. But it didn’t change the fact that he was silent and stiff and making his mom as nervous as she was making him.

 

After dinner, he disappeared into his mom’s room under the excuse of getting her settled.

 

He filled the silence with quiet chatter about nothing. Finally, he ran out of things to say and fell quiet.

 

"I don't like them."

 

"Mom!"

 

"What? They're fairies. There's obviously a reason you didn't tell me about them before this."

 

Ezra scowled and looked at the floor. He didn’t want to have this conversation. "Yeah,” he said flatly. Taking a deep breath, he quickly forged on before he lost his nerve. He loved his mom and didn’t want to lose her, but this had gone on long enough. “I knew you'd disapprove. Because they're fairies and they're men and they don't fit in your vision of me with a wife behind a white picket fence with two children. But I don't like women and I can't stand kids and I'm half fairie! Okay?!”

 

He realized he was shouting and stopped suddenly. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself. His mom opened her mouth and he cut her off, knowing if she got in a word edgewise, he would fold. “Half of me is what you hate so much and it sucks. And yeah, I didn't tell you about them because you liked Rick! You knew he hit me and you told me to stay with him. Because he was 'good for me.' He always wanted me to dye my hair and pretend to be a pure human but this isn't my natural hair color, mom!"

 

Esperanza stared at him with wide eyes. "Baby..."

 

"No! I- I know that’s a stupid thing to be hung up on, but it’s- it’s symbolic.” He dropped down on the edge of the bed, leaning on his elbows and putting his head in his hands. He groaned at how dumb he sounded, but kept going anyway. If he sounded like a teenager… Well, they should have had this conversation when he was.

 

“I'm always going to be half fairie. I can't do anything about it and I'm sick of pretending. And if you hate me for it then fine! I can't do anything about it!" Ezra's voice broke on the last word. His chest rose and fell with his heavy breaths and tears gathering in his eyes.

 

"I don't know if this is going to work out," he said softly. "I don't. If it does, I don't want you constantly criticizing everything. And if it doesn't, and you want to be there for me, I need to know you aren't going to say I told you so. That's why I didn't tell you about Rick. I- you're part of the reason I stayed so long with him- why I kept going back even after the hospital visits." He wiped at his eyes and stared at the floor, unable to meet his mother's eyes anymore. "You always said you wanted me to be happy and in- in a committed relationship. And you thought I couldn't do that with a man so I wanted to prove you wrong. I- I can't do that with a woman, mom."

 

The tears started falling for real and his shoulders started shaking, decades of disapproval weighing on his shoulders.

 

Small hands grasped his shoulders firmly and pulled him to lean against a warm soft shoulder.

 

“Ezra,” she said gently, "I love you. No matter what. No matter who you're with. You're my baby though and I need you to be happy. You- I want you to make the best decisions for you to be happy."

 

Ezra sighed into her shoulder. "I know mom," he said halfheartedly.

 

"But you're an adult. You're almost forty. I guess I can't make decisions for you forever."

 

"No you can't," Ezra agreed, his voice muffled by her shoulder.

 

"Look, I'm not going to be happy with you marrying faeries. They aren't like humans. They don't do well. But- But I do want to be there. If something happens. Or if something doesn't."

 

Ezra pulled away and looked up at her.

 

"I'll be quiet," she said gently. "Okay? I just want to be in your life no matter who you're married to."

 

Ezra smiled at her tremulously. "Yeah?"

 

"Yesm honey."

 

Ezra sniffed and pulled back. 'Thank you." He didn’t think it would be this easy. He certainly didn’t expect it to be.

 

Esperanza smiled and kissed his forehead before pulling back entirely and tugging his shirt straight. "So," she said briskly. "Tell me about them. They were all very polite today and very insincere."

 

Ezra laughed softly and started talking. Slowly at first, but picking up speed. This wasn't perfect but if she could at least be polite, things would be better.