My Family Doesn't Know

"Are you sure I can't go?" Ray whined, giving me those puppy dog eyes I couldn't resist. I looked away, so I wouldn't mess this up.
"Yeah, he just asked for a small family gathering, and I guess I got the luck of the draw or something. Gerard and I are leaving later today for Bellevile," I said, my hand resting on the back of my neck as I tried not to meet his gaze.
I heard a disappointed sound come from Ray as soon as I finished. "Fine then. Tell your folks that I say hi! Oh wait, we should give them our family picture! You know, the one with us and Sammy! Lemme go find a copy!" Ray got up from his spot on the couch and took off to our study area.
I collapsed on chair, giving a low sigh of relief. 'He believed me.' I heard my phone ring and I dug it out of my pocket, "Hello?"
"Oh hey Mikes, did ya tell Ray?"
"Oh hey, Gerard. Yeah, I did," I lowered my voice before he could ask his next question, "he believed me."
"Great! It'll be nice of you to join us this year! Although it won't be fun without Ray. Anyways, can I drop by in say a half hour? I wanna get there early this year, gonna get Dad back for pranking me last year..." I could tell that brought back Gerard bad memories. He and our father always were pranking each other, no matter at the occasion. Even at a funeral of a very distant relative, they were pranking each other. Too bad I didn't witness Dad's masterpiece last year, I heard it was hilarious.
I laughed into the phone, "Yeah, just let me pack some stuff up. See ya soon, Gee." I ended the call, dropped my phone on me, and just closed mye eyes. 'Can't believe I'm getting away with this.'
I finally got up, putting my phone back in my pocket. I walked past the study and I heard Ray scuffling around for pictures that he assumed I was giving my parents once I saw them, but they'd never get them. "Where are the fucking pictures?"
I started up the staircase, "Did you check in the bottom drawer by the computer?"
"No!"
"Check there, smart one!" I called, reaching our bedroom. I pulled a bag out of our closet, and started packing some shirts in before Ray came upstairs.
"Finally found the fucking pictures!" He said, smiling brightly, clearly proud of himself. "Here you go, tell your Mom sorry for not getting them to her sooner."
I took the pictures and set them beside my bag on the bed, smiling. "Okay." We both heard a cry come from a few rooms away, and we both jumped, apparently forgetting about Sammy - our adopted daughter.
"I'll get her." Ray said, leaving the room. I quickly finished packing, grabbing my bag and pictures heading into the baby room, finding Ray rocking Sammy in the corner of the room.
"Rock abye baby, on the tree top," Ray was singing to the two year old girl in his arms, "when the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, and down will come baby, cradle and all."
I smiled watching him rock her, singing quietly. I coughed, letting them know I was there. "That's such a morbid song," I said, walking into the room, kneeling down. "Why don't you sing one of your bands' songs?"
Ray laughed, "Our songs aren't morbid, but they're not exactly child appropiate, ya know, Mikey. Besides, Rock abye baby is what my parents sang to me, of course in Spanish, but still." He smiled, looking up at me.
I leaned forward to kiss Sammy, who was slowly falling back asleep, and then kissed Ray. "I'll have my phone all the time while I'm gone, promise." I got up, and headed back downstairs. I was planning on getting a snack, but that was cancelled when I saw Gerard in the driveway, just as my phone started to go off.
I answered it, walking out the door, still with my bag and pictures. "What?" The line went dead when Gerard saw me. I hopped in the front seat. "Hey, I like your hair, by the way."
Gerard smiled at me as he backed out of the drive way, I hadn't seen him since he died his hair electric red. "Thanks, Frankie said it was scary, but I love it."
"I did not say it was scary! I said it was horrifyingly different!" A new voice said from the backseat, laughing.
I turned to see a short, heavily tattooed man in the backseat. He was wearing a shirt I gave Gerard for his birthday two months ago. I narrowed my eyes, but I wasn't all too surprised. "I'm Frankie, you must be Mikey." He reached a hand forward, and smiled at me.
I took his hand, "Yeah...I'm completely lost here," I said, turning to Gerard, a confused expression on my face.
"What?" he shrugged, "you're not the only Way brother whose gay." He smiled, focusing on the road.
"Why are you bringing him with? You know Mom's a major homophobe, same with a majority of our family."
"I know, Frankie and I have it all planned out. He's a friend from work who doesn't have a family who invites him to reunions and other family events, so I took it upon myself to invite him so he wouldn't be lonely."
I furrowed my brow, but didn't say anything. "Oh hey, whose that?" Frank asked, leaning forward and taking the pictures from my hands.
"Oh, um, my husband Ray and our daughter Samantha, aka Sammy. I'm supposed to give them to my parents, but they don't even know Ray or Sammy exist, so..." I shrugged, focusing on the road in front of us.
In the picture Ray and I were holding Sammy between the two of us, on a kiddie ride at the carnival. Ray and I had goofy grins on our faces, Sammy smiling herself, although probably confused on what was going on. We had some random stranger take the picture
"How long have you two been married?"
"Five years. They met at one of my gigs, Mikey begging to meet him once. They've been together ever since," Gerard answered, driving faster than the speed limit. Of course, since they got married, Ray quit the band to take care of Sammy..." Gerard looked at me in a gaze full of fake hate.
"Ah, no wonder he looked familiar. Quite a family. Your parents don't know about them?"
"Nah, like I said, they're homophobes. If I told them, they'd disown me without a second thought. Ray doesn't know though...I told him we were going to a funeral.." I looked down and the car went silent for a moment before Gerard decided to have a sing a long. Frank joined in with him, but I just sat against the window, scrolling through picutures on my phone.
We reached Bellevile a while later, me almost falling asleep. It was only about noon, the sun was up high in the sky when we reached the park our family was designated to. Gerard parked the car and he and Frank were first to get out. I noticed hardly anyone was hear yet, just some second cousins I didn't bother remembering the names of.
I called Ray, after I took my wedding ring off and placing it carefully in my pocket, getting out of the car and walking towards a bikepath.
"Hey Mikes," Ray said happily, I could hear a movie playing in the background.
"Hey Ray, how's it going?"
"It's been only about two hours since you left, already homesick?" Ray teased, laughing and pausing the movie. "It's good, Sammy wanted to watch Transformers with me. We're having a Transformers marathon."
"Are you sure she wanted to watch with you? Or did you want to watch and not have to run upstairs to get her when she cried?" I laughed, stopping under a tree, leaning against the rough bark.
Ray laughed too, "You're more right than me, but she's enjoying herself. What's going on?"
"Oh, you know, usual funeral stuff. People viewing the body, swapping stories. No idea who the hell he is, so I took it upon myself to inspect the food they had downstairs. Nothing good, if you were wondering." I saw my parents' car pull up, and Gerard and Frank running far away from the shelter they were currently under - probably already pulling their first prank of the day. "Oh, gotta go, I'll talk to you later. Bye sweetie," I said, hanging up and walking towards the shelter.
"Michael!" my mom called, "is that you? Is that my baby boy?" She walked over and hugged me.
I wrapped my arms back around her, "Yeah, hey mom. Long time no see, eh?"
"It's been at least six years! Tell me, what's going on with you?"
I pulled my arms away from her, putting my hands in my pocket, feeling my wedding ring in there. "Oh, I've been good. Finally got an actual house a few years back. Got a promotion, too!"
Mom laughed, "That's all fine and dandy, Michael, but what about relationships? You got yourself a girlfriend yet?" She lead us to a table under the shelter where we could continue our talk out of the sun.
My heart broke slightly, still feeling my wedding ring in my pocket, holding it tightly. I gulped, "Nah," I said simply, hoping that would suffice.
It didn't.
"Why not? I need grand children sometime, and I know I won't be getting them from Gerard anytime soon," I gave her a questioning look, "he still believe he'll make it as a musician, but he hasn't made any money off of his band. He couldn't afford children, while you have taken good care of yourself, I see. Do I need to set you up with one of my friends' daughters?"
I shook my head, looking around. I tried to get Gerard's attention, but I saw he was busy running from my Dad who was covered in potato salad or something. Frank was walking over to us, though, clearly not targeted by my father.
"Hey Mikes," Frank said, reaching us. He looked at my mom, "Hi, I'm Frank, Gerard's friend." He offered his tattooed hand to my mother, who took it questioningly. "I think your brother needs you, he's being chased by your old man," he chuckled, "He set a trip wire that would drop potato salad on him or something."
I got up from the bench, glad of an excuse to leave. "Talk to you later, Mom."