Tackling The World

I text Dani to see if she wants to come to breakfast with Mum and I which she says that she will because she was coming to the airport with Isabella to see me off. I make sure that everything is packed other than the clothes that I am going to wear tomorrow and then I hit the bed and go to sleep.

The next morning, I wake up and look out the hotel window for the last time reflecting on everything that happened while I have been here and everything that could happen today. I go and have a shower and just take a bit of time in there washing my body, self-massaging everything trying to relieve the tension in my muscles. I get out of the shower after about 15 minutes and get dressed as I take my bags down to my rental car that I will drop off back at the airport when I leave.

I head to the café where we agreed to have breakfast and I get a coffee before everyone else gets there, I don’t know whether Dad will come along but I hope that he is there. In the end, Dad doesn’t turn up but Mum does and tells me that Dad is playing Bowls this morning which he couldn’t get out of at short notice. It’s disappointing that he didn’t come but at the same time I know that it wasn’t that he didn’t want to come which makes me happy.

Having all the girls of my family together makes me so happy and it feels like old times when I used to take Dani and Mum out for lunch or dinner for our catch-ups and then with Isabella coming along it meant that we would have the three generations together. I can see a change in Mum who is treating me like she always would before I came out and left makes me feel important and loved completely again. “Thank you for coming Mum, I only have to apologise for it happening on my last day here,” I say looking at the three girls in my life all happy and smiling widely.

“No need to apologise, Joshua, you didn’t do anything wrong in your life, we were the ones who treated you awfully and I know now that you are everything that we wanted you to ever be,” she says with a mix of tears from her eyes and a smile on her face with me smiling. I stand up and hug her tightly taking in how special this moment truly is for us all.

Sadly, the morning has to come to an end as I have to head to the airport “Would you mind if I came as well?” Mum says to Dani and I as we stand up “Of course you can come with us I’ll take you Mary” Dani says as she drags Isabella away from her colouring book. “Actually, if Mum doesn’t mind, I wouldn’t mind driving her with me and then you can drop her home Dani, if that’s alright”. Both Mum and Dani smile and think it is a good idea and we head off.

In the car on the way to the airport, Mum starts asking all the awkward questions that I thought I was able to avoid “So… is there anybody special in your life at the moment?” she asks putting me on the spot with me scrambling to try and find the answer. “Well… um… it’s…” I stammer trying to think of what I have to say but Mum stops me “It’s alright Joshua, I know that whoever it is would be somebody good for you and I want you to at least tell me if something does good happens for you,” she says patting my arm and smiling. I’m blushing a lot after Mum put me on the spot because honestly, how the hell do I have that conversation with her about my love life and then if anything else comes up.

“Do you have a close group of friends over there at least that you can rely on?” she asks taking a genuine interest in my life to which I nod “I sure do, I’ve got some really good friends and I spend a bit of time with my mate Ben and his fiancé and Dad who are caring about me too because Ben lost his Mum not that long ago and needed someone to talk to” I say smiling thinking about how good things could be on either side of the world for me. Mum smiles “You always knew how to make people feel better and was always a good friend to everyone and I’ve always been proud of you with everything in your life,” Mum says which takes me aback a little bit because I don’t know whether she meant everything or was just ignoring the whole coming out thing.

I never thought that Mum would be a reason that I never wanted this trip to come to an end but it was one of the most enjoyable conversations I’ve had for such a long time. I park the car and do all the steps of returning it to the hire company. I walk into the airport and find somewhere to sit for a while and when I get there, I see a whole group of people that are there to surprise me that I wasn’t expecting.

Standing there with a bon voyage sign I see Dani and Isabella together with my brother Alex and his kids with Laura obviously not there, I see Scott with them and most surprising of all is Dad, standing there with a big smile on his face. I’m stunned beyond belief that Dad turned up to the airport I wander over there almost crying about how many people are here for me, Dad walks up to me and hugs me “Sorry I couldn’t come to breakfast this morning but I didn’t want you to go without saying goodbye” he says wiping away the tears from his eyes, a genuine sense of anguish over his usual gruff emotionless exterior. He pulls me to the side and apologises for everything which I take as being genuine because I know that he doesn’t show emotion very often so I can tell he does mean it.

Heading back to the group, we wander and find a spot to all sit down together and just spend some last moments together. I smile and enjoy the company after I check my bags in and go and sit back down with my family for a while just talking about everything. We all agree that we need to talk to each other more and agree to organise weekend Video chats with each other so that we can see each other and keep each other updated. Scott comes and sits next to me and puts his arm around me while my parents go for a walk with Isabella to buy me a present. “Things are going really well aren’t they,” he says to me with a big smile on his face “Yeah they are, I didn’t think that I would have a farewell party here for me but it’s been really good” Scott cuddles into my shoulder as we sit together.

My parents come back as Scott quickly pulls away from me before Mum smiles “You two can have your moment together” she says as I look surprised at her and before I can react by saying anything she smiles “You don’t need to hide anything from us anymore remember” I smile and blush a bit but we don’t hug in front of Isabella just yet because we don’t want Dani having to explain anything just yet about Daddy and Uncle Scott as she calls him.

Not long before it’s time to head to the gate and leave, Isabella gives me the biggest hug that she ever has and gives me a bag with a present that she picked out for me. It’s a Kangaroo toy that she wants me to have with me all the time and tells me that she’s already named it Joey for me. I start crying as she gives it to me and I say my last farewells to everyone.

I take a few moments to spend with Scott on my own and we go somewhere private for a moment, “I didn’t expect for us to hang out so much during my trip or for anything like this to happen but I just don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have you here” I say wiping my face as Scott smiles and nods “I know, I mean who knew we would get back up to our old fun and then create something special and new” he says smiling “You came here not knowing what would happen with your family and in the end, you’re leaving with the love of your family and a damn hot boyfriend even if I do say so myself” Scott says with a cheeky grin.

“You actually mean that last part?” I say looking at Scott who gives me a kiss “Of course I do babe, you don’t think I was joking about falling for you did you Joshua because if you did, I would have to beat you up here and now in the airport” I laugh at Scott’s comment “You could never beat me up bro, couldn’t even land a punch on my at sparring training we both laugh before kissing again. We break away from the kiss “I love you Josh” he says as we kiss again before I reply “I love you too Scott” we have to break away because it’s time for me to go and I head back to my family at the gate and we take our final moments together with someone being kind enough to take a photo of us altogether.

I hug everyone and go through the gate towards the departure area and out to the plane where I smile to myself thinking about how everything actually worked itself out in the end as I leave and get on the plane reflecting on how special everything ended up being.

This is the final chapter of this part of Josh's story but it's not the end of Josh's story because there will be plenty more to tell soon; I have a new story project that I am working on and will be up next week.