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Frank came into the kitchen, standing nervously next to the counter. “Hey, Mom, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Of course, honey.” Seeming to instinctively understand that this was serious, she put the pot she was currently drying back on the sideboard along with the dishcloth she’d been using. “Trudy, you don’t mind if I leave you alone here for a bit?”
Aunt Trudy, washing up the dishes as Laura dried them, pulled her hands out of the water for long enough to wave Laura off. “I’ll be fine, Laura. If I need the extra help, I’ll call Joe out from his video games.”
“Actually, Mom,” Frank said, rubbing at the back of his neck, “I don’t mind if Aunt Trudy hears too. I was going to tell her anyway.”
“Alright, Frank, if that’s what you’d prefer.” Pulling out a seat at the kitchen table, she sat down, Frank following suit. “Trudy, come and take a seat.”
“This washing up still needs to be done, Laura,” Trudy said bluntly as she set her current pan on the drying board and immediately reached for another. “Unless this is news I need to be sitting down for, I’d prefer to keep at it, or we’ll still be going at Christmas!”
Frank laughed. “No, you don’t need to sit down for it! I’m probably making too much fuss about it, it isn’t big news.” He took a deep breathe, his smile fading. Even if it wasn’t, objectively, big news, it still felt big enough to him. “I’m asexual, Mom.” Remembering Joe’s initial confusion, he elaborated, “I don’t experience sexual attraction.”
To his relief, Laura smiled warmly at him. “I’m glad you told me, honey.”
“Nonsense, Frank, everyone’s like that!” Aunt Trudy said decisively, scrubbing furiously at a pan. “You might not think it, not with Joe around, but plenty of teenage boys make up those kinds of interests to feel mature, especially these days! When I was young it wasn’t polite to talk about, and of course some boys would do it anyway, but most knew better.”
“Joe’s not making it up, Aunty Trudy,” Frank said with a frown, defensive on his brother’s behalf. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“Trudy, do you really think Joe is lying about experiencing sexual attraction?” Laura asked. She was frowning too, but Frank recognised it as her ‘collecting information frown’. It was one he saw often.
Then the words registered, and he winced. “Mom!” He did not need his mom talking about his younger brother having sex. It was bad enough when Joe talked about it.
“Really, Laura! That’s not a polite subject.” Laura kept looking at her, and Trudy sighed, dropping the pan back into the sink and taking a seat at the table. Clearly she also recognised the ‘collecting information’ frown. “It’s not something to worry about, it’s something a lot of teenage boys do. He might even believe it.”
Laura reached out and took her hand. Trudy looked surprised, but allowed it. “Trudy, it’s not just a belief. Sexual attraction is a real thing, and most people experience it. I’d thought everyone, but–“ She glanced at Frank.
“Not everyone,” Frank continued. “It’s estimated that about 1% of the population don’t experience sexual attraction at all. It’s called asexuality, and that’s what I am. There’s related ones, like demisexuality and grey-asexuality, but I haven’t properly researched those yet.”
“I’d be happy to help you with that,” Laura said, and Frank smiled at her. They both knew he didn’t need the help, but it meant something that she wanted to know more. Besides, research had always been one of their favourite bonding activities.
“So there are people who...” Trudy trailed off. For once, she didn’t have a word to say. She looked between the two of them, brow slightly furrowed.
“Really, Aunt Trudy,” Frank said. “It’s a real thing. Some people experience attraction, some people don’t.”
Trudy blinked, then pulled herself together with a loud sniff. “Well! That certainly explains a lot about the unmannerly conversations I’ve heard over the years!” She stood up from the table, but not before patting Frank’s hand. “Thank you for telling me, dear. Now go tell your brother to come down and start drying while you and Laura do your research.”
“Sure, Aunt Trudy.” He pushed his chair back and headed for the stairs, then stopped to ask, “Would you like me to tell you what we find?”
Trudy gave him a rare smile. “I wouldn’t mind. Now go get your brother!”
“Will do!” He took the stairs two at a time, eager to get Joe downstairs so he could start researching. Once he got to Joe’s room, he knocked against the open doorframe, waiting for Joe to notice him and take off his headphones.
It took a few moments, during which Frank came closer and closer to see how long it would take Joe to notice, but eventually Joe took off his headphones and spun his chair around, raising his arms in a victory pump before spotting Frank. “Yes! Finally managed to smash the final boss, and in good time, too! How’d your talk go?”
“It was good,” Frank told him. Joe had been the one to listen to him freak out about it, just like he’d done for Joe. If there was anyone he wanted to talk to about it, it was his brother. “Mom and I are going to do some more research together, find about more about other identities in the spectrum.”
Joe snorted. “Nerds.”
“You don’t complain when I’m the one to pull research together for our adventures.”
“Oh, I’m not complaining,” Joe said. “This is just fact. You’re a nerd.”
“Because I like to research?” Frank found himself smiling without even thinking it. He hadn’t realised how tense he’d been, thinking his family would react badly or somehow think less of him, until suddenly the pressure was gone. That it hadn’t made things awkward meant more than he could ever put into words.
He flopped down onto Joe’s bed. If Joe was going to insult him, he might as well be comfortable during it.
“Bro, you research things for fun. You get lost in Wikipedia rabbit holes for hours. And I remember in primary school, when you filled up pages of workbooks just doing endless long division.” Joe leaned back in his chair, smirking at Frank. “Mrs Bryant only wanted us to go down to two decimal points, but you’d do at least ten.”
“It wasn’t always ten!” Frank protested. “Sometimes it was eight.” Realising that didn’t really help his case, he shrugged. “And sometimes it was twelve. Or twenty. Long division’s relaxing.”
“You are literally the only person in the world who thinks that.”
Frank opened his mouth, about to argue, then shut it and just shrugged again. He really couldn’t think of anyone else who did long division for fun. Even Phil and Callie didn’t; Phil preferred writing programs, and Callie colour coded multiplication tables. Instead, he changed the subject. “Aunt Trudy wants you to dry dishes for her.”
Joe groaned, a long drawn out sound. “Fiiiine. But only because otherwise you and Mom might try and drag me into your research geekery, and bro, you know I support you, but I would rather die.”
Frank stood up, then reached over and dragged Joe to his feet as well. He didn’t resist, which was proof enough that he was faking his reluctance. “You know, one day I won’t do all the research for both of us, and you’ll end up on a mountain somewhere, completely lost.”
“Hey, I know how to research! I pass all my assignments.” Joe actually did have fairly good grades, even if they weren’t quite as high as Frank’s own. “And why a mountain, specifically? We’ve been stranded on islands way more often than we’ve been stuck up mountains.” Joe stopped in the doorway and paused, inadvertently blocking Frank from passing through. “It’s probably a sign our lives are really weird that I can say either of those.”
“Mysteries happen anywhere,” Frank reminded him. “Now hurry up, or Aunt Trudy will have us solving the mystery of who doesn’t get dessert tonight.” He pushed Joe forward, and Joe went. “And that’s exactly why it would be a mountain,” he continued from the previous topic. Not that he’d actually thought about it at the time, but it was an older brother’s privilege to make stuff up and see if his younger brother could catch on. “We’ve been stranded on enough islands that you’d know what to do. Mountains are a different story.”
Joe placed a hand to his heart and staggered, nearly falling down the stairs before Frank grabbed his arm. “I’m hurt by your lack of trust, bro. Just devastated.”
“You just nearly fell down the stairs, how would you manage a mountain?”
Joe grinned at him. “Easy. Like this.” He hopped up to sit on the stair bannister, ready to push off.
Aunty Trudy’s voice floated up from downstairs. “Joseph Hardy, do not even think of sliding down that bannister or you will be grounded so long, you’ll think sleeping beauty had it too easy! Now get down here to help me with the dishes!”
The boys exchanged a spooked look.
“At least she didn’t middle name you,” Frank whispered.
“So I’ll live, but I won’t enjoy it,” Joe whispered back. Louder, he called, “I’m coming, Aunt Trudy!” Jumping off the bannister, he took the stairs two at a time, taking the final three stairs at a leap before skidding into the kitchen and out of sight.
Frank also took the stairs two at a time, but didn’t leap down the last few in case Aunt Trudy caught him at it and made him join Joe in drying dishes. There was no way he wanted to give up research with his mom.
When he went into the library, Laura was already on the computer. “Hi, honey,” she said distractedly. “Just give me a minute to finish reading this.” A moment later she turned to him. “Now, Frank, can I ask you a few questions first?”
“Of course, Mom.”
“Have you told Joe?”
Frank laughed. He couldn’t help it. He could barely manage to keep Joe’s Christmas present a secret – keeping his sexuality secret wasn’t even a possibility. Besides, Joe had been the one to help him figure it out, talking with him about what attraction meant and how it worked.
Laura laughed as well. “I’ll assume that’s a yes. Have you told your father?”
Frank’s smile faded. “Not yet. He’s been gone the last few weeks. And...” He ducked his head. “I thought it would be easier to tell you first.”
“You know your dad loves you, Frank,” Laura gently reassured him. “He’s not going to judge you. And if he says anything, just tell me, and I’ll deal with it. You don’t have to.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Somewhat more reassured, Frank pulled away, breaking the moment. Opening his laptop, he pulled up a site he’d saved earlier, just for a circumstance like this. “I thought we should start here. Sound good?”
Laura leaned over his shoulder, taking advantage of the opportunity to give him a half hug. “You’d know best, honey. Let’s get started.”