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"I have three days off this week, then four days off next week. I'll be working a sixteen-hour shift for two days to get some extra hours in." Reiner brought a slice of pizza to his mouth and took a big bite. Bertholdt laughed at his husband when the cheese detached from the slice and came off all at once. Reiner put the cheese on his plate and decided to eat the toppings once he finished the saucy bread.
"You don't need to work yourself so hard, Reiner. You know that we have plenty of money, especially since we paid the house off. You know you don't need to keep working so hard, I make plenty of money." When they first adopted Gabi, Reiner worked himself ragged to support their small family. He deserved rest. Bertholdt reached a hand across the table and took Reiner's in his own.
Her daddy and papa were talking about mundane things again. Work, money, school... Gabi looked down at the plate in front of her. Every Thursday leading up to the weekend they would get takeout from somewhere as a special treat. This week they decided to have pizza. Extra extra cheese, because all three of them liked it that way. Pepperoni, too, much to Bear's delight. Their dog, Bear, was curled by her feet waiting for Gabi to drop a pepperoni down to him. When she was sure her dads weren't paying attention Gabi picked some pepperoni off her slices and slipped them to Bear.
Gabi frowned and looked at her daddy. He'd started wearing glasses recently. She looked at her papa. His black hair was neatly combed until daddy got home, then daddy ruffled his hair. They were so domestic, so normal. Standard boring parents talking about their jobs. Reiner laughed at something that Bertholdt said, and took a bite of his pizza. The sauce dribbled out and it got caught in Reiner's goatee. Reiner smiled and reached over for a napkin that Bertholdt grabbed first. Bertholdt gently wiped the sauce off of Reiner's face, earning a blush.
Frustration bubbled within Gabi's belly while she nibbled at her food. Why? Why did the other kids at school make fun of her because of her dads? She didn’t ask to have two dads. It wasn’t fair. She missed out on so much because she didn’t have her mom and dad. She adored her parents, but the thought of what could have been if her biological parents lived lingered in Gabi's mind.
Gabi didn't remember her mom and dad. She knew that daddy and papa adopted her when she was less than a month old. A drunk driver cost her parents their lives. Bertholdt and Reiner were only twenty-one and twenty-two whenever they adopted her. They hadn't even been married at the time; Bertholdt wasn't even legally her parent until she was six. In spite of all of that, her daddy and papa always kept family photos of her parents. Her mother and father were Reiner's aunt and uncle, so there were lots of family pictures.
It wasn't just the other kids at school, though. Even the teachers got weird about it. When the home-ec teacher learned that she lived with two men, the teacher acted like she didn't know how to do her own laundry, or how to wash dishes. The other students acted like her parents didn't know how to cook food, and one teacher went so far as to ask if she was being neglected at home because she didn't have a woman living at home with her. Gabi was old enough to recognize the sexism, but still she was uncomfortable and wanted left alone about it.
The teachers would be surprised at how fussy and overbearing her parents could be. Daddy wasn't quite a germaphobe, but he liked keeping the house organized and clean. He was a good cook, too. When she was a baby, it was papa who worked from home and changed her diapers. Papa would get frustrated if the plants he grew in the backyard got eaten by squirrels.
“So, Gabi, what do you think?” She blinked and looked at her daddy, who was looking back at her with a wide smile on his face. “Wouldn’t that be fun? Going with the Galliards to the beach for spring break? You and Marcel could try surfing like you said you wanted to. We can get together and stay in a big beach house with Porco and Pieck. Maybe even have a bonfire!”
“Yeah, sure, the beach. Great.” Reiner looked at Bertholdt in confusion, getting an equally confused look in return. Gabi was resting her cheek in her hand while she nibbled at her pizza. The silence was tense, because Reiner truly didn't know how to respond to his daughter's clipped words.
“How was school today, Gabi? Did you do good on that math test you said was coming up? ” Bert asked in an attempt to get Gabi to talk to him. She always came to him for help with her math homework, and he'd been helping her a lot in preparation for the test she had this week. Gabi chewed on her bottom lip; Bear started pawing at her leg in an attempt to get more food from her.
Nothing happened at school today. Except Kaya made a point to talk about all the fun things her and her sister did this weekend. But she couldn’t have a sister because she had two dads and they never adopted another child. The home-ec teacher was acting like she had no idea how to do things like the laundry because she had two dads, again. One of the assholes in class asked her what it’s like going home to two… well, she didn’t want to think about the word that he used. How a classmate could use a word so cruel to refer to her parents, Gabi still wasn't sure.
“I mean it was fine, I guess?” Gabi said. Part of her felt agitation building up inside of her. Thinking about school... it was pissing her off. She didn’t deserve to get bullied because of her parents. Was this all their fault? No, it was the assholes at school. But if it wasn’t for them, she wouldn’t get bullied in the first place. If her mother and father were here, nobody would say anything at all about her parents. She'd be treated just like everyone else.
“Are you sure? You can always talk to us, sweetie.” Reiner's words were spoken gently, him moving to put a hand on her shoulder. Gabi jerked away and frowned at the touch. Of course she can talk to them, but they aren’t the ones who can fix anything. Her entire problem was all their fault.
“Yeah, everything’s fine! Leave me alone and stop bothering me!” Gabi snapped. Reiner's expression was one of hurt. He withdrew his hand and looked down at his plate. Bertholdt frowned at his daughter and shook his head.
“Gabi, I don’t like this attitude of yours. You don't talk to your father like that.” Bert said lowly, him putting his food down. Reiner’s eyes kept darting back and forth between the two of them. As though he could sense the tension at the table, Bear walked away from the table and left the dining room. Gabi rolled her eyes at her papa. “Did you just roll your eyes at me, young lady?”
“So what if I did?” Gabi challenged. She stared at Bertholdt as though she were challenging him, then crossed her arms in defiance.
“Gabi, you’re going to stop it with this attitude. You don't need to disrespect me and Bertholdt, we haven't even done anything. We're just trying to talk to you.” Reiner interjected. Gabi turned to look at him. “Do you understand?”
“All I said was stop bothering me, do you understand that?” Well, now they were both mad at her, if Reiner's facial expression were any indication. Reiner breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly, then shook his head.
“Gabi,” Bert started, but was quickly cut off.
“Just shut up! Both of you! Shut up!” Gabi pushed her chair away from the table and grit her teeth.
"Enough of this!" Reiner's voice was raised, and his words were sharp enough to stop Gabi in her tracks. Even Bertholdt seemed surprised by Reiner's sudden command booming through the air. “Gabi, go to your room. Now.” Reiner said, Gabi turning to look at him. “Give me your phone.”
“What?” Gabi started to shy away, unused to Reiner speaking so forcefully.
“You heard me. Your room. Now. Give me your phone.” Gabi got up and slammed her chair back into the table, then tossed her phone carelessly onto the table while she made her leave. She went to her room and slammed the door shut, throwing herself onto her bed.
All she wanted was a normal family and a normal life. Why was that taken away from her? Just her, her mother, her father... maybe even a brother or sister when her parents decided it was time to expand the family.
After a few minutes, she could hear footsteps shuffling around outside of her doorway.
“Should we go in and talk to her?” That was her daddy. They probably thought she wouldn’t listen even though they were standing right outside of her door.
“…Let’s leave her be, Reiner. She didn’t want to talk about whatever’s bothering her at dinner. I doubt she will now. I don’t want to upset her any more than she already is.” Gabi clutched her pillow against her chest. She wanted to scream and yell and be upset with them about everything that had been going on lately. It was all their fault.
But at the same time, she wanted to feel the comfort of them holding her and telling her they love her and it’s all alright. Disappointment and a tear down her face were all she could muster when the shadows of feet shuffled away from her door. Daddy's voice sounded far away when he started talking to papa again.
Gabi’s eyes cracked open. What time was it? She groggily reached her hand out towards her nightstand. …Oh. She couldn’t check her phone, because daddy took it. It was raining out and it was black through the window, so obviously still the middle of the night. The distant sound of thunder was nice. Gabi groaned and rubbed at her eyes. Her throat was so dry. She eased herself up and opened her door, making her way to the kitchen.
Her phone sat there on the kitchen table in the same place she left it earlier. Gabi picked it up and checked the time. Two thirty in the morning. Daddy and papa were definitely asleep, unless one of them was up using the bathroom. Gabi took her phone and grabbed a cup of water, drinking it and blinking a couple of times.
Gabi washed out her glass and put it back. She didn’t feel like going back to sleep. In truth, she couldn't be sure she could fall back asleep if she crawled back into bed. All she wanted was to feel better. Maybe her daddy and papa could make her feel better?
...No. She was way past the age of crawling into bed with them to feel better. And she wasn't sure going into their bedroom and waking either of them was a good idea. They'd probably just get frustrated being woken in the middle of the night.
Her legs carried her up to the study that her parents kept upstairs. Bookshelves lined the room, along with matching chairs in the middle. The green one was her daddy's, and the blue one was her papa's. One could tell who a bookshelf belonged to by looking at the books on them. Close examination of them both revealed some curious preferences: Bertholdt’s had a few books suggesting an interest in cryptids, while Reiner’s shelf teased an interest in ancient Marleyan history.
Another shelf not “belonging” to either of them kept other books and knick-knacks. There was The Gabi Book, a work in progress she had never actually witnessed either of them working on but curiously always seemed to have recent entries in. It was a special scrapbook of her life, started by her mother when she was born. A couple of scrapbooks that Grandma Karina made in her spare time. Gabi’s hand stretched out at her mother’s pregnancy journal, found in a box her grandma had forgotten about.
She wanted her mother so badly. And her father. Gabi moved to sit on Reiner’s chair; it was a little bit softer than Bertholdt's. Gabi took after her daddy in preferring softer furniture than papa. The chairs were close together. Did her parents ever sit up here and read together? She couldn’t remember actually witnessing them doing so…
Gabi opened up the pregnancy journal and looked at the ultrasound of her. Eight weeks. Gabi could remember her papa talking about how that was the first picture of her. Gabi had only said she was more photogenic now. Her mother's handwriting filled the pages of the journal.
I first thought I could be pregnant when Reiner brought over his boyfriend, Bertholdt, for dinner. They had made some food to bring over and I just couldn’t stand the sight of it, which was weird because normally their food is good. Especially Reiner's!
The first person I told was Oskar, obviously. We couldn’t be happier, we’ve been trying to get pregnant and it happened so quickly. We are truly blessed. But we won’t be telling Reiner, Bertholdt and Karina until after I'm twelve weeks along. I don’t want to miscarry after telling them I was pregnant... so I'll wait. It's so hard to keep my baby a secret, though!
We’re so excited to meet our baby. Oskar wants a little girl, but as long as the baby is healthy I'm fine. Part of me has been damning all of these pregnancy symptoms, though. We always planned on having two or three babies. I love my baby, but the thought of doing this again is a lot!
This baby is messing with me. All I want is to eat nachos and SO much cheese. Oskar bought me a bag of shredded cheese last night. They say when you’re pregnant you want pickles, but I haven't wanted any. The other day I was ready to kick down the door to Reiner’s apartment and DEMAND some of that macaroni Bertholdt makes sometimes. I don't think he would've been thrilled if I did that, though.
The baby is kicking a lot today. They’re going to be feisty, I know it. I can only hope they’re not a complete firecracker. Reiner was a mellow child, I remember him being quiet and keeping to himself, even though he opened up more when he got older. But I remember my sister being a rebellious teenager...
I’m SO excited to meet my little angel. They’ve been moving around so much lately and my due date feels like it's right around the corner. I love them so much already and I haven’t even met them. Oskar is the same. He keeps hanging around in the nursery with this goofy, giddy look on his face. I’m so excited to meet them. My sweet, sweet little blessing. I like the names Henry and Gabi... I can't wait to meet them.
Gabi looked at the little album of pictures in the back. It was made to have a picture taken every week and put in. Her mom wasn’t a big woman, so the bump became noticeable quickly. Gabi was the spitting image of her mother, but curiously enough it seemed like she got her thick eyebrows from her father.
Why was her mom gone? Why did she have to die? And her dad, too. All she wanted was a normal family. She kept flipping through the pages of the scrapbooks and wondering what her life would be like if only her parents weren't taken away.
Reiner and Bertholdt could only sigh when they found her curled up on Reiner's reading chair with a pile of scrapbooks in Bertholdt's seat. Reality truly was what it was, and their sweet girl would never ever get to see her mom and dad because one person decided they hadn’t had too much to drink and decided to drive home.
Gabi kept her paper to herself while she mindlessly doodled in class. She’d felt so withdrawn lately, and part of her just felt like she didn't belong. She was different from everyone else. She couldn’t help but look around the classroom while the teacher talked about something about how squares always have so many degrees in their angles… bleh. She wasn't naturally talented in math the way her papa was.
Zofia was here in math class with her. Udo and Falco should be in biology right about now.
Gabi swallowed and kept her eyes on Zofia. Her hair was so pretty... straight, and a bright blonde. Like actual sunshine. It was pulled up into a ponytail with bangs that framed her face. Zofia had blue eyes like the sky. Gabi's cheeks burned while she looked back down at the paper she was mindlessly scribbling on. She drew a little heart and put G+Z inside of it.
Her mind wandered for a second, someone else crossing her mind. She drew another little heart and put G+F in it.
Was it Zofia or Falco?? Zofia was beautiful, but Falco was her best friend and he was cute too!
She was supposed to like boys, wasn’t she? Everyone acted like her parents were a damn sideshow because they were the same gender. And she was a girl and Falco was a boy and that was supposed to be it, right? Falco was such a genuinely nice and caring person, and cute to boot. Especially if he kept looking more and more like his older brother, who was probably the most handsome person she’d ever seen.
But Zofia was a girl and she was so pretty and charming... with an amazing sense of humor and a quick wit. But Zofia was a girl just like she was. Was that okay?
Did her parents do this? Did they make her this way?
…No. Of course not. They never even crossed her mind when she thought about people she liked. Why would they? A bunch of people kept asking her if they were turning her gay. She wasn’t gay was she? She liked Falco and he was a boy! But… she liked Zofia and that was… pretty gay.
Gabi shook her head in her hands. This was too much. Whatever the teacher was saying certainly wasn't going to stick. She'd have to ask papa for help with her homework later. The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Gabi quickly packed her stuff up and got out of class as quickly as she could.
“I never thought that it would turn out that she was gay,” Gabi’s heart skipped a beat when she overheard Udo and Zofia chatting in the hallway a few minutes later. Oh. They were talking about some celebrity.
“I know! I don’t like girls, but if I did, she’d be my dream girl. She’s probably the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen. Her brown eyes are so enchanting…” Zofia sighed dreamily and blushed. "She's definitely my celebrity crush."
“That sounds a little gay…” Udo stuttered for a second when Zofia raised an eyebrow. "N-not that there's anything wrong with that!" Zofia rolled her eyes when Udo finally shut his mouth after rambling about how it was okay to be gay and that he would be fine if Zofia wasn't straight.
“Hey! I can think another girl is pretty without being gay. Girls talk about other girls being pretty all the time. You boys have the weirdest hangups. There's nothing wrong with appreciating people the same gender as you.”
Gabi bit her lip. She wasn’t even in this conversation. Of course Zofia wouldn’t be gay. Maybe it was stupid of her to even think someone like her would have even had a snowflake’s chance in hell with a girl like her anyways. At least she could have her heart broken now instead of being embarrassed by talking to Zofia about it.
Zofia parted ways with Udo, spotting Gabi when she turned around. A warm smile crossed her beautiful face. Like sunshine. It suited her. “Hey, Gabi, what’s up?”
God, Gabi couldn’t deal with this right now. “Nothing. I… I gotta go…” She turned and walked away as fast as possible. Zofia was confused when her friend quickly disappeared into the crowd of students. Gabi grit her teeth and tried to ignore her eyes burning.
She wanted to go home. It was just too much to be at school right now.
She wanted a normal family. And if she were being honest with herself, Gabi knew that she was lucky. Sometimes she overheard other students talking about their dads walking out and leaving them behind. She didn't have a grandpa through her daddy because his dad did just that. Gabi had two parents that loved her because they didn't walk away. Even when they weren't ready, they took her in and raised her like she was their own.
Some of the older students talked about their parents kicking them out the second they turned eighteen. Her daddy and papa would never do that to her, and Gabi knew that. Sometimes she felt embarrassed when her parents talked about how they didn't want her to leave in a couple of years. She would have a warm, loving home for as long as she needed, and she would be welcome no matter what.
Hell, there were students that made it seem like their parents hated one another. Gabi couldn't even begin to imagine what that must be like. Even after being together for forever, her daddy and papa were obviously in love. Daddy had come in tonight with a big bouquet of flowers and had started giving kisses to papa as soon as he came in through the door. “Just because I love you,” he had said.
Bleh.
Gabi was picking at her food again. Zofia would never like her like that. No matter how much Gabi liked to think about her and Zofia being girlfriends, it would never ever happen.
Her daddy and papa were married and were her parents even though they were both men. Why did the other kids and some of the teachers make her life more difficult for that? She didn't ask for them to be her parents no more than her classmates asked for their parents.
If she and Zofia got married because Zofia maybe did like her, would their kids get the same treatment? But it wasn’t their fault… or would it be for being selfish and not marrying a man to keep the kids from being picked on? Would it be selfish to marry a woman when she knew it could make her kids' lives harder? God, she’d never been so wound up and confused in her life...
“Gabi...” She glanced up from her plate and looked at her papa. Tonight they were having papa's macaroni. He always made it when she was feeling down. “You’ve barely touched your food, sweetie…”
“We’re worried about you, Gabi.” Her daddy reached over the table and tried to hold her hand. Gabi jerked her hand away, and her daddy's expression was clearly hurt. “Something is bothering you, Gabi. Do you feel like we’ll get mad at you?” Her parents were speaking softly to her.
“We promise we won’t be mad. But we can’t help you if we don’t know what’s wrong.” Papa added. Neither he nor her daddy had eaten much. Bear had scarfed down all of the food in his food dish and was now curled up next to her daddy's feet.
“You’re gay.” Gabi mumbled. Bertholdt and Reiner both raised their brows when their daughter spoke. Well, yeah. That was obvious enough. “That’s the problem.”
Bertholdt closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose while Reiner shook his head and closed his eyes in disappointment at his daughter's words. Did she understand the gravity of what she was saying?
“Gabi, I don’t know if you read some verses out of one of Karina's books, but Reiner and I being gay isn’t some sort world-ending thing.” Bertholdt said plainly. Gabi frowned. Reiner was looking seriously at her.
“No! Everyone at school makes fun of me because of you!” Gabi started, unsure of why she felt the need to raise her voice. Maybe so they’ll listen to her? Not that they didn't listen to her... but this was different, damn it! “If I had normal parents things would be different!”
“We are normal parents, Gabi. We’re just like everyone else, we just so happen to both be men is all. There's nothing wrong with us.” Reiner said firmly. “Stop raising your voice like this, let’s just talk it out.”
“You say that, but I’m the one that gets to deal with everything! The teachers are mean to me since you and papa keep going to the school when my teachers say things to me! Just leave it alone and they'll stop!” Gabi grit her teeth and crossed her arms. “Mom and dad wouldn’t have had to deal with this.”
Bertholdt closed his eyes in frustration. “I’m sorry, but your mom and dad aren’t here, so it’s up to me and Reiner to take care of you. I'm sorry, Gabi. I’m so sorry. I can't imagine how much it must hurt. I wish they were here too, but they aren’t.” Bertholdt said, making sure to keep his voice level.
“Oh, you wish they were here too? Is that so you wouldn’t have had to raise me? You two aren’t even the ones who really wanted me!” Thoughts about how excited her mother and father were filled her mind. They hadn't ever said so to her, but Gabi knew deep down that her daddy and papa couldn't have been excited to have her. That young and suddenly getting a baby?
“Gabi, enough of this. We love you so much. So, so much. Don’t go saying things like we don’t want you, because you know that’s not true.” Reiner's words were vulnerable. The fact that she was challenging his love for her shattered his heart.
“Well I don’t want you! I don’t want two dads for parents!” Gabi barked, shoving herself away from the table. Bear got up and left the room again, because he knew his humans were getting upset again. “You two are ruining my life!”
“Gabi Marie Braun!” Both of her parents stood after her daddy said her name. Gabi was intimidated by their imposing heights, but stood her ground. “What the hell has gotten into you?! This isn't like you!"
“I hate you! I hate both of you.” Gabi balled her hands into fists, both of them shaking. He wasn't her daddy, Reiner was just her cousin. Bertholdt wasn't even her family! “I wish you two died instead of mom and dad! Who’d miss some gay cousin and his boyfriend? Then I’d still have my parents! I’d have siblings! I wish you were dead, Reiner! I wish you died instead of my parents! And you too, Bertholdt! Just... go away! Go away forever!”
It was like all the energy was sucked out of the room in an instant, and Gabi regretted what she said the instant the words left her mouth. Reiner and Bertholdt both closed their mouths in shock. It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. It only took a second for Reiner to breathe in deeply and to choke out a pained sound. Tears immediately flowed down his face while he started to sob.
“Reiner…” Bertholdt started, but Reiner immediately turned around and went to the bedroom. Bertholdt turned back to Gabi and looked down at her. All the anger he'd felt moments before was replaced with immense sorrow. “Go… go to your room, Gabi…”
“Papa…” Gabi was ready to apologize and say she didn’t mean it. She didn't mean any of it. But instead, her papa shook his head and pointed at the door to her bedroom. He turned to make his leave. and Gabi noticed the tears starting to drip down his face. She could tell he was holding his breath while he was in front of her. He was trying to not break down in front of her.
Fuck. Fuck!
Gabi went to her room, Bear following behind her. She softly closed her door and went to sit on her bed. Bear curled up with her, and Gabi let herself sob while she clung to her dog. Gabi closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall once she finished crying and calmed down somewhat.
Her daddy was sobbing in his bedroom, she could hear him. Papa was too. Hearing her parents crying and knowing she was the cause of it… it was probably one of the absolute worst things she’d ever felt. The guilt for saying such terribly cruel things to her parents was crushing her She felt her lip trembling, then cried again until she couldn't anymore.
Gabi didn’t even notice she had fallen asleep until she woke up with a start, finding herself tucked into her bed with her stuffed pig Pock next to her. She didn’t get under the covers. Bert and Reiner must have come in and tucked her in while she was asleep.
Gabi felt terrible for everything she had said to her daddy and papa. They cared about her and she damn well knew it. Her parents loved showering her in kisses. She was always coming home to thoughtful gifts. They were dorks, but they were always willing to do fun things with her. Even a couple of days ago, her daddy and papa were talking about what sort of vacation they could all go on together.
It was still dark outside. When Gabi glanced down at her phone, she saw that it had only been about an hour and a half since her blowup. She rubbed at her eyes and started to move, wanting to stay tucked in and warm but needing to go pee. The bathroom seemed so far away. There was light coming from underneath the door to her parent's bedroom. Gabi frowned and went to the bathroom, then walked back to the door.
They were still sniffling. It’d been a while now. Gabi leaned close and pressed her ear to the door.
“She’s not a kid that doesn’t understand… she’s fifteen, Bertl…”
“I know, Reiner, I know… Did, did we do something wrong, Reiner? I thought we did a good job avoiding the mistakes our parents made… I've done everything I could for our girl.” Bertholdt sniffled and made a whine. “I love her so much and she doesn’t… she doesn’t…”
Gabi swallowed and knocked on the door. Both the voices behind the door suddenly stopped. She could hear surprised gasps when her hand knocked on the door.
“Daddy? Papa?” Gabi swallowed and leaned her forehead against the door. She breathed it deeply, then exhaled shakily. Her eyes burned, and she knew she was going to cry soon.
“Do you need something?” No sweetie from papa. Her papa loved calling her sweetie. His voice sounded gravelly. Gabi sighed against the door.
“Can I come in?” Stony silence from the other side of the door. They must be doing that married people thing where they talk to each other without actually saying anything. “…Please?”
She heard footsteps, then the lock on the door unclicking. Daddy was standing there in his sweatshirt and sweatpants, his face troubled and his eyes rimmed red.
Gabi looked down and felt a sense of shame. She caused this mess and she knew it.
Reiner walked back to his bed, sitting back down on the end of it with Bertholdt. Both of them looked at her with tired eyes. They were exhausted from crying.
“I’m sorry, daddy. I’m sorry, papa.” Gabi swallowed thickly and sniffled. She brought her hands up and wiped at her eyes when the tears came. “I don’t want you to die… I don’t know why I said something so awful. I know you both love me. I love you a lot...”
“Gabi. We would do anything for you. I would die for you in an instant if I had to. Don’t you ever, ever think we only have you because your mom and dad aren’t here. We didn’t think about taking you in. Reiner and I knew we were going to take you in immediately. We loved you before you were our daughter.” Bert said, running his hand through his hair. Bert and Reiner both stood up and walked over to her, sitting on their knees on the floor.
They really were a lot taller than her. Gabi sniffled and wiped at her eyes while they looked at her seriously.
“I know you want me to be happy... but I’m so confused. I’m getting bullied at school for having two dads…” Reiner put his hand on Gabi’s shoulder. “There are some other students that call me a queer and a dyke, they say the faggots at home ruined me…” Gabi cried and hugged her daddy. "You don't deserve that... you're a good dad and people say such mean things about you..."
“Gabi. We can’t be here for you if you don’t tell us what’s wrong. We want to be here for you. That’s part of being a dad.” Reiner inhaled deeply and hugged her tight, running his hand along her back. “I’m so, so sorry that people are being so cruel to you. You're an amazing young lady, sweetie.”
Gabi pulled away and looked at her parents. She ground her teeth and thought back to her day of school. “I like another girl… but I’m afraid if I admitted it everyone would say even more stuff about me and you guys,” Gabi choked out a sob while her heart hurt in her chest. “But it doesn’t even matter anyways because she doesn’t like girls.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry...” Bert said, bringing a hand to her cheek and wiping away the tears with his thumb. “I can’t imagine how much it must hurt. Please know it isn’t your fault and you deserve to be loved. You don't need to worry about people saying things about me or Reiner. We're supposed to be the ones worrying about you, sweetie.”
“It doesn’t matter to us if you like boys or girls. Or both. Or neither. Or someone in between. The people who matter and care about you won’t care about things like that.” Reiner put his hand on her shoulder. “Me and Bertl. Pieck and Pock and Marcel. Annie. Grandma Karina. Even Falco and Udo and Zofia.”
“How can you be sure?” Gabi sniffled, Reiner and Bertholdt glancing at one another. They both closed their eyes and looked at the ground, but then they pulled her close into a hug.
“We lost people when we came out. Friends abandoned us and teachers looked at us like we were awful. It was a different time then than it is now. We didn’t think we’d ever be able to even get married. But the ones that really, really love you will stick around. I promise. Pieck, Porco and Annie always stood by our side. And Udo, Zofia and Falco will for you.” Bertholdt kissed Gabi’s cheek.
“I just want to be normal, papa…” Gabi choked out a sob and started to break down. Reiner and Bertholdt pulled her close while she cried. They gently reminded her they loved her while she sobbed into her daddy's chest. She wasn’t even sure which of them was the one running their hand on her back.
“It’s going to be okay, Gabi,” Reiner said, breathing against her. He kissed her cheek, then squeezed her shoulder. “Even if it hurts now, I promise everything is going to be okay.”
“I don’t hate you guys… I love you...”
“We know, sweetie. We love you too. More than you could ever know.” Papa pulled away from her. “We just wish you would’ve talked to us. It hurts to see you hurting. I would do anything for you, you know that? Reiner would too. No matter what.”
“I know.” Gabi breathed in heavily and tried to steady herself when she exhaled. Her eyes were sore from crying so much and so hard. “I’m sorry, I'm sorry...”
“We love you. You need rest, my dear.” Reiner stood, and Bertholdt followed suit. They led Gabi back to her room, pulling back the covers and stroking her hair. “Rest. We’ll let you sleep in as long as you want to, okay?”
“I don’t wish you were dead. I’m sorry again.” Gabi sniffled, but Bert picked up Pock and handed him to her. Bear climbed onto the bed and laid with her. “I’m glad you’re my dads…”
“You’ve been having a really hard time lately. Tomorrow Reiner and I will take you out and do something special for you, okay? Think about what you want to do. We’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay. I… I love you.”
“We know, dear. We love you too.”