"Mary, dear, I think you might need a break," Jared said after staring at his wife for a while.
"What?" Elena opened her eyes and frowned. "Don't you understand what I'm saying, Jedi?"
"Of course I understand, but you obviously don't care if you care," Jared said earnestly, spreading his hands, "You've been in a bad mood these few days, and occasionally you're in a daze. I know you're worried about Chris, the media We did go a little too far this time. But leave it to Chris, she's always done a good job at this."
"Jedie!" Elena stood up abruptly, glaring at her husband through gritted teeth, "Please be more serious!"
Jared frowned slightly, and a look of surprise and stunned flashed across his face. Usually, his wife would only say the word "please" to him when she was very annoyed and excited. He stood up and walked out from behind the desk, reaching out to reassure his wife: "Relax, dear, please stay calm no matter what."
"Calm? God, I've tried my best to stay calm, but you didn't listen to me!" Elena exclaimed excitedly, "You haven't reacted yet, Jedi?! Chris, ours Daughter, she's gay! She likes women and doesn't like men! She confessed it in front of me the morning before yesterday! What's even more terrifying is... She actually... She has three lovers by her side at the same time! God, how could this be!"
Elena walked back and forth in the study, covering her face and shaking her head constantly. Jared stopped moving, and once again showed the helpless look at the beginning: "You mean... Chris personally admitted to you that she is... gay?"
It took a few minutes before he rubbed his chin and said in a surprised tone, "It's incredible!"
"Is your reaction just incredible, Jedi?!" Elena glared at her husband.
"Then, should I ask someone to take Chris back and tell her not to do this again?" Jared smiled and spread his hands, then gently pressed his wife's shoulders: "Relax, Mary, things will work out. fixed."
"Will it work out? Hell, Jedi, do you want me to keep repeating it?" The wife clenched her fists and looked anxious, "The reports in the Los Angeles Times are true, and Chris has been on it since four years ago. Start dating Jessica...she's still in love with Kate and Natalie at the same time! What's that?!"
"No matter what, she will always be our daughter," Jared said calmly, raising his hands.
"Yes, of course, Chris is our daughter, she has always been so good, how could she be such a person," Elena murmured and suddenly became excited again, "It's them, it must be because of them! You should just stick with it and let Chris go to a private elementary school! That Kate Beckinsale, I always thought she was a nice girl, but I never thought she would be! And that Natalie Hess Legge... I hope to get through Daddy..."
"Mary!" Jared suddenly raised his voice and his face became more serious than ever, "Please! Keep calm!"
After her husband also used the word "please", Elena couldn't help but be startled, and finally recovered from her previous rambling chatter. Then Jared hugged her: "I know you're worried about Chris, otherwise you wouldn't have told me until now. But, remember what I said to you? As a parent, the first thing you need to do when your child has a problem is Stay calm. Stay calm to understand where the root of the problem is and fix it. Never pass the buck and impose your opinion on them.”
After a long while, Elena, who was holding her husband, sighed lightly: "You're right, Jedi, I'm too impulsive."
"It's okay, you've kept the words in your heart for a few days, and it's inevitable that you will be a little too excited when you burst out." Jared patted his wife's back lightly, then put his arms around her and sat down on the sofa: " Okay, now let's replay this matter and discuss it again calmly."
It took about ten minutes for Elena to fully tell what she knew. Jared would occasionally ask a question or two and listen attentively most of the time. After his wife finished speaking, after thinking for a long time, he finally said: "Well, first of all, Chris's sexual orientation can be confirmed. As you said, she has hardly dated men, The only boyfriend was a… wait, don't you think it's a coincidence, Mary?"
Elena thought for a while, nodded and admitted: "It's a coincidence, maybe Chris already knew about Jonathan's situation, so she used this method to cover herself and Jonathan. God, if... this relationship will be a big deal. joke!"
Looking at his wife's wry smile, Jared made a gesture of concern: "At least now, apart from Chris and her lover, only we know her sexual orientation. Oh, by the way, you said Annie..."
"I'm not very worried about Annie," Elena shook her head at this time. "Just like me and Ada, Frank and Lawrence, people who are close to you more or less know some little secrets, don't worry about them telling them."
"Anyway, it's better to limit the knowledge to a few people for a long time." Jared didn't bother much about this topic, and after thinking about it, he opened his mouth: "Obviously, Chris feels that Running to Frank when we couldn't face us, instead of avoiding reporters as she said? Frankly, that's not her style."
"You also said that Chris often does unexpected things." Elena smiled wryly and spread her hands.
"...No warning...I mean there aren't enough causes for her...in that case it's a possible, undetermined genetic problem...Damn!" Jared rubbed his temples and picked it up. Phone: "Well, Mary, let me talk to Chris first. Just father and daughter talk, no one else."
"Okay, if... I mean if..." Elena sighed and wanted to say something, and Jared raised his finger and made a silent gesture: "Hi, honey, it's me. What, plan on Frank Uncle's not coming back... Is it? Lying is not a good boy... Well, Chrissy, your mother has talked to me... Don't worry, why don't you come back first, how about we have a good talk at night, just The two of us... great, I'll wait for you."
Taking a deep breath, Jared turned off the phone for a moment before looking at his wife: "Mary, I know what you're thinking, but we still have to consider Chris's thoughts, don't we? Let's talk about it after this conversation is over. ."
After a moment of silence, the wife finally nodded with a little helplessness.
Not long after the phone call, Angela returned home from Frank with her younger brother and sister. Although she looked the same as usual, she seldom looked at her parents, and after saying hello, she hurried back to her room. . He didn't come down until dinner time, and he didn't say a word during the meal. Whether it was his parents, Willie, and Ike asked her, they all perfunctory with the words "uh", "not bad" and "okay".
Jared took all these into consideration, he just smiled inwardly and didn't say much, until the father and daughter came to the study one after the other after dinner.
"Chris, I have to say you startled me." Jared said to his daughter leaning on the desk with his arms folded after the servant who delivered the tea left. His eyes quickly fell on Angela's clasped hands, and his two thumbs were rubbing rhythmically.
As Angela's father, Jared is very familiar with this action. Since she was a child, whenever she did something indescribable to face her parents, she would involuntarily rub her thumbs.
This shows that she is restless at the moment, and at the same time... it's still that Chris. Jared smiled inwardly, and took a sip from the teacup to make himself feel more relaxed: "What's the matter? Don't you want me to perform a one-man show?"
"Dad, don't do this..." Angela raised her head and whispered, then lowered her head again.
"Hey, what's going on, it's not like the Chriss I know." The father sat down beside his daughter and tilted his head to think, "You know, honey, I still remember—God, almost It's been almost ten years—still in Blenkert's cottage, and you've agreed to Nancy Meyers' invitation and I've disagreed, so you offered to play a game of quizzes. Back then, your self-confidence The full appearance is really impressive.”
After a pause, he continued: "I still remember that when you wanted to invest in Pixar, I objected, and you swore that I would regret it. After I gave you a chance, even if you are not good at it, you still press me hard. Wanted to prove it was a worthwhile investment. Things like buying the North American rights to show Titanic, etc.”
Saying that, Jared looked at his daughter seriously: "Don't say anything else, when you asked me to help you sell Cisco stock last year, weren't you just as confident and courageous? Then, what makes you so uneasy and afraid now? , even running to Frank? If I guessed right, if Frank showed even the slightest chance of knowing in front of you, you'd run away immediately."
"Does uncle know?" Angela raised her head and asked nervously.
Jared shook his head dumbfoundedly: "No, he doesn't know, only me and your mother in the family know."
Having said this, he couldn't help sighing: "You know, Chris, according to the habits you have shown, I thought that if we really knew that your sexual orientation was deviated, you should stand with your hands on your hips. In front of us, we said confidently: what's the matter, everyone has the right to choose a partner. But what you are doing now is really unexpected."
"It's not the same..." Angela muttered.
"Oh?" Jared raised his eyebrows, "What's the difference?"
"You... The things you mentioned are all things that I know will be successful, but this time is different..." Angela gestured randomly with a wry smile, "I don't know how you guys will react, I'm afraid you will. Hating me and thinking I'm not normal is a shame in the family...it makes me sad and upset."
"Simply put, when you do those things, God tells you the result, so you do it without any scruples and no pressure; but when your sexual orientation is revealed, God doesn't tell you the result, so you are afraid She flinched and tried to escape. Is that so?" Jared asked, shaking his head slightly.
However, Angela nodded sadly: "Yes, that's right. Only those things that can be determined and fully assured, I will go all out to do. But in the face of uncertainty, there are too many things. Unknown factors, I just want to escape."
The father raised his brows and rubbed his chin for a while, then put his arms around his daughter's shoulder and patted gently: "This is normal, my dear, women are usually more sensitive than men, so they are more likely to feel insecure than men. And anyone who is unsure of something will back away immediately, and you can be forgiven for running away."
"No, Dad, you don't understand..." Angela shook her head, a trace of sadness and self-mockery flashing in her eyes.
But my father didn't see it: "Listen to me Angie, no matter what we do, we can't be 100% sure, just like when you want to sell Cisco stock, you know you might not be able to convince me, but you still call me, no So we always try to find a way to try. Since you admitted to your mother that your sexuality is different, why can't you admit it to me, why don't you dare to face us?"
Jared held his daughter's shoulders, looked at her green eyes and said seriously: "No matter what, we are your parents; and if you have any faults, you are also our daughter. Even if the world is destroyed, this cannot be changed. Fact, we love you!"
After staring at her father's face for a long time, Angela suddenly hugged her father tightly, buried her head in his arms and cried out sadly: "I'm sorry, Dad, I'm sorry, I'm just afraid... just afraid... "
"I can understand, dear, after all..." Jared patted his daughter's back and didn't continue speaking. An old figure appeared in his heart, smiled bitterly, and shook his head slightly.
"So... how do you and mom think about my problem?" Angela asked tentatively after calming down.
"From my point of view, it's your choice, and I have no right to interfere. While I wish you had a... normal life, I would prefer you to be happy—if you really love them." Jerry De Ai Lian stroked her daughter's head.
"Of course I love them!" Angela interrupted hastily.
"Really? Everyone?" The father asked jokingly, Angela's face immediately turned red, and she was so angry that she couldn't speak.
"However, your mother may not be able to accept it for a while. Although I know she doesn't hate homosexuality, it is different when it comes to her daughter." Jared continued.
"Oh, no." Angela immediately hugged her head.
"Don't worry, dear, can you give your mother time?" Father said comfortingly, and then changed the conversation: "It would be better if you could give a reason, and I'm also curious, why do you... like women? Of course. , if you don't think it's appropriate, you don't have to answer."
The daughter shook her head, bit her lip and looked at the bookshelf for a while before opening her mouth: "I don't know, Dad, all I know is that if a malevolent man comes into contact with my skin, I'll get goosebumps, and then go further. Disgusted. I can't remember when it started, but it's very sensitive. By the way, do you remember Jonathan?"
"Of course," Jared nodded, "I also knew he was gay."
"You already know?" Angela looked surprised, then turned her head a little embarrassedly: "He was the first man outside my family to shake hands with me without giving me goosebumps. I was curious at the time. After dating him and finding out he was gay, I knew my sexuality was innate and couldn't be changed."
Having said this, she looked at her father and asked embarrassedly, "Mom should be very angry, right? Jonathan and I would pretend to be dating, just because I thought my mother might have found something, so I wanted to cover it up... Jonathan didn't know that I was gay too."
"She did get a little pissed off, but that's not the main issue," Jared shrugged. "You were dating Jessica by then?"
"Yes... yes," Angela said with some embarrassment, "you know, she often stays overnight."
"That's true," my father thought for a moment, "but you went to Kate's house as often back then, and you and Natalie used to spend the night at each other's house every year when you were in New York for the holidays. God, you were already there. Date all three of them at the same time? Haven't they ever expressed their dissatisfaction or anything?"
"Actually... they... don't know that the other two are my... lovers... they just think the other two are my ordinary friends..." These words were almost squeezed out of between her teeth, and Angela's face flushed red flushed.
"You mean you're dating three people at the same time, and they don't know each other and are still friends?" Jared looked surprised, "You always surprise me, Chris, if you're a man , can already be called a playboy.
"I always wanted to be a man." Angela was a little out of breath in her anger.
Fortunately, my father didn't hear clearly: "What did you think about?"
"It's nothing, okay, Dad, please don't mention this, okay? If you want to know the details, let's talk about it another day." Angela pleaded, "Don't let anyone else know about my sexuality, no matter Grandpa , Grandpa or Godfather, okay, Dad?"
"Okay, let's not mention this. As for your grandfather and the others, I'm not going to tell them now." Jared shrugged, then smiled and rubbed his daughter's face: "I hope you remember, Ke Liz, you are our daughter and we all love you."
Angela was silent for a while, then hugged her father again and hugged tightly.