The Bright Side Of The Life - Stefanielle Love Story

Chapter 30

"Stop it now!" I almost scream, standing up from my chair with my hands wildly fidgeting in the air.

"Oh, you mean me?" my dad says in between laugher as he sees that my eyes got caught at him.

As if I was in a trance, I shut down all the other people around me and don't bother about the uprising that I am making.
I don't even pay attention when Stefania tries to talk to me quietly to convince me to sit down again and calm down.
Anger is the master of myself just now. Whatever I am about to say, has to be said now.

"Kid, sit down. Please don't make such a fuss today. For once not."

"I'm making a fuss? You should hear the fuck yourself talking."

"Language young lady"

"You wish. You don't get to tell me anything, understood?"

"I would stop right there if I were you," he says, his voice now rising as well.

"Oh, you want me to stop? How about you stop, in the first place, talking badly about my girlfriend?"

"So it's true, you little fagot?"

"Listen, I don't fucking care what you think of me or how you talk about me. But, I swear to God, if you'll ever talk shit about the woman I love and the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with because she makes me the happiest, then I don't know if you're safe from me anymore"

"Now your threatening me? What do you want to do with your weak little arms? Wanna get your girlfriend to save you?"

"I don't get it, why you just can't be like a normal father who would be happy for his daughter for finding their person? And why the fuck does it matter what gender the person has, as long as you're happy with them?"
I pause before continuing more calmy.
"It wasn't easy for me to admit my feelings and it took a while to even accept myself. I get that you don't understand how one can love a person of the same gender but you could at least try understanding that love isn't defined by just man and woman. There are many varieties of love and they are all valid. Also if you don't agree with that."

He doesn't respond and I eventually get torn back into reality, realizing all the eyes on me. I silently sit back down and start crying but I immediately wipe away the tears so that nobody notices.
The room has gone silent as well. Nobody dares to speak a word, not even my dad. Eventually, my mom stands up from her chair which gains my attention. She comes over to my, pulls my hands in order for me to stand up and pulls me in a hug.

That's when I start crying unconditionally, the urge of holding back the tears and avoiding seeming vulnerable gone.

"I love you. No matter what" my mom whispers into my ear which makes me hug her back even tighter.

One by one, my family makes their way to me and also gives me a hug. Except for my dad, who's still sitting there as if he was petrified.

My mom eventually also makes Stefania stand up who has just watched all of this without saying anything.
She hugs her and let's go after a moment, just to put her arm around her waist say "Welcome in the family"

I grin from ear to ear, seeing my now official girlfriend in between my family.

As the situation gets a little bit more settled and everybody starts to go back to their chairs, I speak up one last time. "So, please excuse the drama on this special day. I hope we can now continue to celebrate grandma without any distractions. Sorry again."

I sit back down and eventually dare to face my girlfriend, who's smiling brightly. "I'm so proud of you, Bambina"

I give her a quick kiss, without having any doubts or worries anymore.

POV Stefania
Later that evening, everyone gathers outside in the garden, standing around a specially built fireplace. One by one, all of us fold their paper and eventually steps forward to put it in the fireplace. Danielle pulls me with her as she is about to put hers in and we put both of our sheets of paper in there together. On the way back to the place we have been standing before, we are holding hands which is causing an annoyed expression on her dad's face. Everyone else is smiling encouraging at us, though.

After everybody has taken their moment, Kathie steps a little forward and says "May those words from your loving family reach you, mom."
She lights a match, holds it up to the fireplace and soon it starts to burn. A great flame is lit. The wood and papers are being on fire, the burning wood cracks.

I hug Danielle from behind whereupon she puts her head back against my neck, resting it on it. She interlocks our fingers once more, looking at the burning mess in front of us. I place a small kiss onto her left cheek, trying to give her as much comfort as possible. She's crying silently, but smiling all the way through.

Sitting in bed, Danielle's head is rested on my lap while I'm playing with her hair between my fingers. She's on her phone, scrolling through Twitter well as Instagram.

"I wrote about a conversation I had with your grandmother." I eventually say out of the blue.
"She wanted to tell me, how proud she was. And that she always was. That all she wanted was for you to be happy. She told me how you inspired her to never give up and that you showed her how to keep going even in difficult times. Your grandma really looked up to you. She was very thankful for the time you spent with her and that you always insisted to talk to her, although your busy everyday living. She really appreciated it because she knew how hard it is to get everything together."

She looks up at me from my lap as I finish, a shy smile creeping on her face.
"Just wanted you to know that" I eventually add after she got up to kiss me.

"Thank you. For everything, my girlfriend"

POV Danielle
The funeral has been sad and beautiful at the same time.

We were in the church in the forenoon and it was a very emotional ceremony. I'm sure my grandmother would have loved it, though. She was a pretty traditional person in need of peace. And, to my surprise, the funeral was actually pretty peaceful, everyone seemed to get along very well. I mostly avoided my dad but that was not a big deal. Everyone else was super welcoming after yesterday and they treated me as if nothing has changed. It probably seemed to be a bigger deal to me than it actually was. Stefania also found her way around well. My mom seems to even like and appreciate her more since yesterday.

After church we went to a little restaurant which my mom figured was good for the aftermath. We had a certain area of the restaurant just for ourselves which was very pleasant. We actually just sat there, ate and talked for most of the evening before everyone eventually made their way back home. Stefania and I decided to stay at my parents' house for another day though, because driving home late isn't really nice.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" my mom stops me as I am putting our baggage back into the car. Stefania nods her head to my mother and says "Go to your mother, I'll finish up here"
I kiss her before I go back to the house, where my mom is already waiting for me.

"Is everything okay. Am I in trouble?" I hesitantly ask, not knowing where this conversation will lead us.
"No, no. Why would you be in trouble?"
"Well-"
"Don't, you know I love her. And I actually just wanted to invite you two for dinner someday. You know, so I can get to know my daughter-in-law better."
"Actually, I'd love that. But I'd prefer if you would come visit us so that dad won't be able to ruin anything for us. You can ask Stephanie to come as well."

"I will most certainly do that. And, Danielle-" she starts as she takes both of my hands in hers.
"I am really, really sorry for how your father reacted. You know that he's very stubborn sometimes, so just give him time to adjust to the situation. He'll get used to you bringing home women at some point."
"A woman, mom. I want to bring her home, and only her."
"Of course, sweetheart, I'm sorry."
"Don't worry but to come back to it, I don't think dad will ever react differently."
"I just hope he will. But now, go to your lady and drive home safely."

I smile brightly and eventually hug my mother goodbye.

"Is everything alright?" Stefania asks me as I come back to the car.
"Everything is perfect" I say, placing a soft kiss onto her lips.
"Ready to go home?"
"Hell yeah"