NSFW Author

I had known Julie’s parents for years because from time to time, they were my parents in law.

Julie kept explaining how close minded and controlling they were, especially with her boyfriends, but I had never been able to see it in the past.

They seemed to appreciate me just as much as Anna’s parent or well, anyone else for that matter.

I now had a new theory based on the crazy notion that I might actually have powers to charm anyone and make them like or even love me at will.

Based on that, as I sat in their living room making chit-chat with them, I could being to see under the surface. Random judging comments thrown Julie’s way such as to sit more properly or stop eating as many chips since he would make her even fatter despite never having seen Julie with any excess weight.

Even the wrinkle lines around her mom’s mouth could tell me that she was an excessive frowner always complaining despite the fact that each time we made eye contact, she was smiling at me.

Her father, I now realized, liked to retire a little further away from the conversations but I couldn’t figure if it was because his wife, Paula, took too much space or if he simply never saw anything positive to do with his daughter.

Julie had of course confided several times on her lack of a relationship with her father but his presence in my life had usually been good with him sharing quite a few bears and comments on my latest sport victories.

But that was when I was boy. Perhaps being married to such an awful judging woman made him reject all women, including his daughter and her friends.

He did comment that I looked a lot like my cousin, in other words, like me as a boy, but even through the effects of my powers I could detect a tone of disinterest behind his words.

We sat at the table and we all had to suffer through Paula’s cooking. I never managed to decide if I was turned off by the cooking by itself, which was both bland and unappetizing, or if it was Paula’s constant self-congratulating questions about it.

“Isn’t my roast absolutely tender today, don’t you think so, dear Samantha ?” she asked as I was regretting my manly muscles to be able to cut a piece of meat small enough to swallow.

“Julie, don’t you love how my sauce turned out today?”, she asked her daughter to had to look to me to avoid spilling out that because the bottom of the pan had burned, the whole batch of sauce tasked like burnt caramel.

But we survived, we always do, and no one dared to speak the truth to Paula out of fear of retaliation and months of anger.

When Paula finally gave us our desserts, Julie tensed up and I understood why instantly.

“Mom, Dad, I have something important to tell you”

“You’re pregnant.”, immediately replied Paula. “I told you to use protection, but no, you had to be a little slut and sleep with everyone”

“Mom, you will shut up. I don’t sleep with everyone and no, I am not pregnant. I didn’t even have sex with a boy in over a year. I am not a slut, regardless of what you think”

“Oh my God, you are dropping out of school, is that it? I knew you were lazy, but dropping out isn’t a solution.”

“Will you shut up mom. Stop trying to guess each time someone has something to say will you? I am not dropping out. I am gay. That’s the news.”

“What?” replied both of her parents at the same time.

“I have known for years. I went out with Samuel because I tried to convince myself that I was straight, but I am not. I like girls. I always have. Ever since I was little.”

Paula continued to yell while her husband stayed silent.

“See what you’ve you Georges. You never took care of her and now she has no father figure. No offense Samantha, but that Samuel was never a boy good enough for her.”

I decided to help Julie a little.

“Madam, with all due respect, being gay has nothing to do with the way you are raised. My parents were very supportive all my life and my father very present and I still discovered I was gay roughly at the same age as your daughter. However, the difference is that I was lucky enough to grow up in New Zealand where homosexuality is more accepted. I didn’t have to go out with boys to try and fit in school. My parents and even the other kids accepted me for who I was”

“So, you’re gay too. How am I not surprised. You’re the one who brainwashed my daughter, isn’t it?”

“Actually, my cousin knew of both my orientation and your daugther’s orientation and had confided in me before we decided to do the exchange program. I knew your daughter was gay before I even set foot in your country. Samuel has known for over a year. Julie’s closest friends too. If you had been more accepting and less judgemental, you would have known earlier and it would not have taken me to help her get the courage to come out to her parents.”

Paula looked at me and I could almost see my magic working on her. Slowly, as our eye contact was maintained, her demeanour changed from anger to happiness.

I kept repeating that the fact that Julie finally opened to them was a sign she trusted them and minute by minute, both of her parents began to warm up and eventually, each of them hugged her to show their support.

To both Julie and I, it was clear that without my powers, things would have turned out very differently and I felt that even if Julie’s love for me had been fake, today would have sealed our couple.

By the time I left Julie’s house, both of her parents had welcomed me into the family and fully accepted me as their daughter’s girlfriend.

As I laid alone in my bed, starring at my ceiling, three thoughts hovered in my mind: should I be scared of my powers? How would my first day of school tomorrow go and finally, what would I wear?