A few days had passed by and Heather had been providing me with updates about the situation with her father over text. The meal that we had together had been excellent, actually. It gave Mr Violets an opportunity to ask any questions that he had about Heather. Of course, he remained respectful when asking those questions. He seemed happy that she had found someone that she was happy with, too, even if that person had ended up being a girl. This was all new to me too, of course, and I knew that it was probably about time for me to tell my own parents about my feelings.

It had been difficult to get the time to tell them, though, given that the both of them were so frequently busy with their work lives. Nevertheless, I knew that I wanted to tell them. I didn't ever want to hide anything from my parents. They were far too important to me for me to ever do that and my family didn't tend to keep our secrets, either. So, once we had sat down for lunch on Christmas Eve, I decided that it was about time to tell them. It had been a while since I had realised that I was bisexual but I was ultimately completely comfortable with that fact. Heather had been a great help, when it came to that, too. She had allowed me to see that it was alright for me to be myself.

Once the sun had begun to set on a short day and the four of us had sat down at the table, I took a sip of my champagne and then tried to steady my breathing.

"Alright, I need to talk to you all about something," I said.

"Of course, honey. What's going on, Zoe?" my mother asked me.

"This isn't exactly the easiest of things for me to talk about, either, so I might need you to just bear with me," I stated.

"Alright," my father said, as worry flickered in his eyes.

"Are you alright, Zoe? Nobody has upset you, have they?" my mother asked.

I gave a slight shake of my head in response to that. Well, apart from Drew. That was an entirely separate issue, though.

I knew intuitively that my parents were going to be okay with this, but that didn't change the fact that it was still incredibly nerve-wracking to come out, no matter your situation. I hoped that, one day, people wouldn't even need to come out.

"Nobody's upset me but there is something I need to tell you. I have a girlfriend now," I said. It still felt so incredible to say that. I was so happy about it, too, even if I had never expected that I would fall for a girl before. It felt light and comfortable.

"You have a girlfriend now?" my mother asked.

My brother took a sip of his drink before he replied to her.

"Yeah, she does. Heather," he said.

My mother raised an eyebrow at that.

My dad released a soft laugh.

"Wow! Good job, kid!" he told me.

"You're cool with it? You're all good with me being bi?" I asked.

"You're just trying to get bi!" my dad said.

I rolled my eyes at him.

"You wouldn't want to struggle through this bi yourself," he added.

I just smirked in my amusement.

Riley released a gentle chuckle.

"Thanks, dad," I said.

I then turned my attention back to my mother.

"Well, I have to say I am surprised, Zoe. I thought that you liked Drew this whole time. That being said, I am very happy for you," my mother said.

After I had told them everything, I felt a little brighter and the sky seemed to brighten up a little outside, too. Of course, that was caused by the sun setting on the horizon. I already knew that before long it would be pitch dark again as we entered the evening. It felt far too early but I supposed as much could be expected from winter.

I had always wanted to experience a snowy Christmas but snow was incredibly rare in the state of Florida. Perhaps one day Heather and I could travel somewhere and experience the snowy weather together.

"You'll have to bring Heather over one day. We would love to talk to her," my mother suggested.

I gave a nod of my head.

My phone then buzzed, coincidentally, with a text from Heather.

Hey, do you want to come to my house for Boxing Day? It could be fun.

Sure! I told my parents by the way. They were so cool with it.

Yay!

"Zoe, you know our rules about phones at the dinner table," my mother said.

I gave a slightly apologetic expression to her, as I swiftly placed my phone away in my pocket.

"I know. I'm going to Heather's on Boxing Day, she just invited me. Is that okay?" I asked.

"Of course, it is! We were almost worried you were never going to get out of the house," my dad teased.

I felt the corner of my lips twitch up a little in response to that statement.

"I'm excited for you, honey, and happy for you, too," my mom said, as a genuine smile appeared on her face.

I was just so glad that they were okay with all of this. I hadn't had many doubts, of course, but it was a relief that my coming out had gone so well.

We continued to eat our Christmas Eve lunch and then once we were done, we made our way into the living room to watch some Christmas shows. It was great to see my parents bonding over something that wasn't work related for once. I was glad they seemed happier because I had been worried about them but...I believed that they had sorted out any of the issues that the two of them had been facing.

Riley met my gaze from across the room and smiled. I smiled back.

It had definitely been one Christmas Eve to remember.