Coming Out Part II

People gave us weird looks as we walked. Feeling overwhelmingly scrutinized by the anonymous passersby, I succumbed to society's ideals and let the hand that she was holding go limp. Emily looked at me, her eyebrows raised, and I shrugged meekly. Rolling her eyes, she released my lax hand. Relief instantly washed over me.
Finally reaching her house, we walked in. The smells that hit us allured us into the kitchen where her mom was slaving over the stove.
"Hey girls, how was your walk?" her mom asked, glancing up for a brief moment before continuing to add ingredients to a pot.
"Uncomfortable," Emily admitted, her arms crossed over her chest. "Really uncomfortable."
Her mom glanced up at her daughter and after a moment, pulled her into a hug. "C'mere too," her mom said, pulling me in as well.
We stayed like that for a few seconds before Emily complained and pushed away. She anxiously reached out for me instead, wrapping an arm around my waist.
"It smells good, mom," Emily complimented. She gave me a chaste kiss on my cheek and whispered, "But not as good as you do."
I laughed and Emily's mom gave me a bewildered look before turning back around and saying, "It's your great grandmother's famous tomato sauce recipe. I thought I would try it for the lasagna."
"Oh, I'm super excited to try that now," I commented.
Her mother let out a hefty sigh. "Sam, today may be really rough for you. For the both of you."
I felt Emily's arm tighten around me. "We're prepared. We talked about it," Emily said.
Her mom nodded stiffly. "Your grandmother isn't going to like that her only grandchild is gay."
The kitchen was silent for a few uncomfortable moments albeit Emily's mom's stirring of the sauce.
"Well that's too fucking bad for her," Emily bit back, breaking the silence.
"Emily, it's Christmas; we don't use that language," her mother scolded. "But honey, it may be a good idea to keep your relationship on the 'down low.' For now anyway."
Emily glared at her mother. "Well I'm not going to pretend that Sam and I are just friends! I've been in the closet for too long and so has this relationship, and I'm not about to lie to my grandmother on Christmas."
Her mother and I gaped at her. Emily was usually so passive, but today she seemed rather passionate, angry even. I had to admit it was kinda attractive.
"You know," I began, "when you're gay, you come out everyday. There will always be someone somewhere that doesn't like it. By you wanting us to pretend that we're not together..." I looked pointedly at Emily's mother. "You're not doing us any favors. We're always going to get hate."
"But can't we avoid any complications on Christmas?" her mother asked. "I really don't want to fight with her about how I'm a bad mother."
Emily let go of me and hugged her mom hard. "It'll be fine," she soothed. "Everything will turn out alright."