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Jesse jumps on Kelvin as soon as they exit. He throws his arms around his back, and it’s only Kelvin’s strength training that keeps him on his feet after the tackle. Jesse starts pinching and tickling, eliciting a slew of yelps from Kelvin as he tries to shuck his big brother off.
“What,” he grunts, while struggling, “are… you… doing!?”
Jesse laughs raucously, his weight resting on Kelvin’s back. “Congrats, baby bro!”
Judy scoffs, following behind them. “Don’t you baby him, Jesse,” she scolds. “He shouldn’t be getting accolades for finally inviting his boyfriend to lunch after being so chicken shit about it.”
“What!?” Kelvin yelps again, both from Jesse flicking him in the cheek and Judy’s words. “He isn’t—were not—!”
“The fuck you ain't, Kelvin,” Judy mumbles, opening a compact to check her lipstick.
“Yeah, baby bro!” Jesse says.
Kelvin has twisted himself in his arms and they wrestle, both trying to push the other to the grass. “Can… you… stop it!?” Kelvin hisses.
“You’re such a fun killer, Jesus,” Jesse says, pulling back. Kelvin nearly faceplants to the ground when he suddenly lets up.
“Yeah, Kelvin,” Judy chimes in. “You kill the fun out of everything.”
Kelvin adjusts his clothes and tries to take back the bits of dignity he can. “What are you two talking about?”
“You finally brought your boyfriend to family lunch!” Jesse says, throwing his arms out wide and spinning in a sort of aggrandizing circle. “We should celebrate.”
“Yeah,” Judy snorts, “I don’t know why anyone would wanna attach themselves to you, but lucky for you, Keefe seems desperate for you and your tiny boy dick.”
“Yeah, he wants you so bad,” Jesse nods, clearly teasing, “It’s fucking hilarious anyone would want you that way.”
“Shut up!” Kelvin says, pushing Jesse. “Christ, what the fuck?”
“What was that for!?” Jesse bitches, running a hand over his lapels. “This is Attolini!”
“Christ, Kelvin. We were just playing,” Judy hisses.
“Keefe and I aren’t dating,” Kelvin huffs.
“The hell you ain’t,” Jesse and Judy say together.
“He was at Sunday lunch!” Jesse adds, with the cadence of a “Gotcha!”
“I’m not gay,” Kelvin says, very seriously.
“Oh, that’s cool,” Jesse says, nodding. “Bi is cool. I have a bi son. I’m down with bi.”
Kelvin rubs his temples. “Gideon isn’t bi either, Jesse.”
“Hey!” Jesse shouts, getting back into Kelvin’s space. “Don’t go erasing my son! Me and Amber have been reading up on this! They’re trying to make bi folks invisible! Well, I won’t stand for it, just because my baby brother is a cooler, gayer sexuality.”
Judy sneers. “That’s your nephew, Kelvin.”
Kelvin sighs. “That’s—no, I’m not getting into that either.”
Judy crosses her arms. “I don’t know why you were so chicken shit about it in the first place. Our Church as a ton of the El-Gee-Bee-Tee, Kelvin.”
“Yeah, but—” Kelvin tries again.
“You know what our Church doesn’t have? Atheists. Do you know how hard it was for me to bring him to lunch? Daddy knows gays, Kelvin. I don’t think Daddy has talked to an atheist in twenty years,” Judy whines.
Kelvin huffs. “You two—you two are so out of your minds, I don’t even know what to say.”
“You’re supposed to say, when’s my party, asshole?” Jesse says, wapping him on the side of the head. “Amber and I have been looking into this. You’re supposed to get a coming out party, or some shit like that.”
“Why should he get a party?” Judy mumbles.
“You got a party when BJ was baptized!” Kelvin complains.
“See? He does want a party!” Jesse smirks. “Hah!”
“I don’t want a party!” Kelvin says. “No, that’s not the point—”
“If anything, I’m the one who should be bitching. Amber and I didn’t get no party when we got together, being a normal, boring, pure-Christian, straight couple.”
“What’s a wedding then, idiot?” Judy asks, kicking him in the shin.
Jesse jumps on one leg as his knee flies up so he can coddle it. “Damn, woman, what the fuck!? A wedding is a wedding! Not that you would know, having your stupid Thumbelina bullshit.”
“It was Prince Eric!” Judy screeches, smacking him in the chest, throwing him even more off balance.
“I appreciate your support, but that’s not—Keefe and I aren’t like that,” Kelvin says, a little bitterly.
Judy rolls her eyes, and Jesse frowns at him. “Then why are you keeping him on the hook? It’s none of my business, but not cool, Baby Brother. I get if you want to spread your baby gay wings and hook up with every Gay in the Church, coming out and trying and all, but you should let him swing too.”
“We’re not swingers!” Kelvin squeaks. “I’m not—I’m not cheating on Keefe!”
Judy picks at her cuticles, already bored. She doesn’t even lift her head up to add, “He’s gonna leave your ass so hard,” she adds with a snicker.
“I think Keefe is too dick-whipped for that,” Jesse tells her. “Which is why baby bro should treat him better,” he adds pointedly.
“Keefe—” Kelvin says.
“Spends way too much time with the WAGs to be a fuckbuddy,” Jesse cuts him off. “Lord, you know I love Amber, but that group gets bitchy.”
Judy sniffs. “Well, I wouldn’t know, because BJ fits right in. But I hear Martin’s wife can be so catty.”
“She and Amber compete every year to see who can raise money. The competition might be too much for Keefe, but that doesn’t mean he and BJ can’t form a little gayboy corner for themselves," Jesse says.
“BJ is bi, Jesse,” Judy hisses, “See? Even you're invisiblizing him. I’m gonna tell Gideon.”
Jesse yelps. “Don’t fucking do that! Christ, woman, I misspoke! Don’t go starting problems in other people’s families, focus on your own!”
Judy grins sharply. “I am, Jesse. BJ and I are talking about fostering.”
Jesse scoffs, “Ain’t no way you two are getting a baby from the state.”
“Ew, Jesse,” Judy says with a fake wretch. “I don’t want a fucking baby. They are so nasty. We’re thinking of getting one of them troubled teens.”
“Wait, really?” Kelvin asks.
“Yeah,” she says defensively. “You work with teens all the time. It can’t be harder than taking care of Aunt Tiffany. They’re, like, almost people at that age.”
“No, I mean—” Kelvin says, but stops himself. “And working with teens is not easy!”
“Uh, duh, bro, I know that. That’s why I thought you started your stupid macho bro club, because it got too hard,” Judy hisses.
“I quit working with teens so you could take me seriously!” Kelvin protests.
“I’m taking you to be seriously stupid, little bro,” Jesse says, slapping his hand on Kelvin’s shoulder. “None of us our stepping into Daddy’s shoes if there’s no congregation to shepherd. You taking in new sheep and guiding them to our flock fleeces out the numbers as all of Daddy’s generation dies out.”
“Do you guys,” Kelvin gulps down the knot forming in his throat, “Do you seriously think my youth ministry is worth pursuing?”
Judy shrugs. “Well, I’m not gonna do it. It’s hard enough with the one or two me and BJ might want.”
“Besides,” Jesse says, shrugging as well, “I thought Keefe loved it, too.”
Kelvin sighs. He looks around the parking lot. Families walk from their cars to the restaurant. Daddy answers questions with a small group in the leafy shade of a large tree, patient with them now that he’s had his stomach filled. BJ and Amber make awkward small talk as Amber pets through Gideon’s hair, probably telling him how long it’s getting.
He catches eye contact with Keefe, standing away from them all, waiting at the driver’s door of the car they came in. Keefe perks up and waves frantically. He lights up completely. And Kelvin does love him. He does. He has for so long. Maybe even from the first, when he had spotted Keefe dancing violently in leather and dark black make up. When Kelvin had seen a soul in pain, and not the one shouting hatred to the world. And Kelvin had reached out his hand. And Kelvin had learned that he could love others into healing. And Kelvin had felt seen.
He presses his fingers over the hem of his jacket. “You don’t think I made him wait to long?” he asks, small and quiet and so scared that they’re gonna laugh or cast him out or run to tell Daddy or tell him yes. He’s fucked it all up. He waited too long.
Jesse puffs his chest, excited. “Oh, this is great! I knew you were together—you two just haven’t DTF!”
“What does down-to-fuck have to do with that, Jesse?” Judy mocks, “We already said Keefe’s panting for it.”
Jesse whirls on her, smug. “Define the relationship, dummy,” he sings.
She flinches back, embarrassed to have mistaken the two slang terms. “Uh, shut up. You should have just said that.”
“It’s not my fault you aren't hip with the kids like I am,” he sings again.
“No, you aren’t!” Judy says, though her voice wobbles. “Stupid.”
“Baby bro, you two are already dating. If you DTF, you just gotta say you are,” Jesse says, smugly, also wagging his finger at Judy.
Kelvin would think he’s more obnoxious if it didn’t make him so goddamn hopeful. He turns to Keefe again. Keefe gives him another excited wave. Kelvin can imagine a pair of perked up dog ears and a giant wagging tail behind him. The feeling in his chest is so big and it almost hurts. And he thinks, I would love to work with him for the rest of my life. And he thinks, I’ve never been happier than working a youth ministry with him. And he thinks, Oh. I’ve been a real idiot about this, haven’t I?