Acceptance

Only mothers can love so unconditionally. He stood at the door, looking down at her.

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He had returned home happy. Finally willing to shed the fears. No more dissappearing acts for him now on. No siree !!

She had looked so lovingly at him through the screen door. She flung open the door for him and hugged him tight.

"You look good, Jason!" Her tone was proud. "Have you been working out?", she wondered and a laugh that had been hidden in his recesses since forever bubbled up.

"Yes Mother. I try to keep in shape.", Jason responded.

"Well, come on in. You are famished is what it is. I've made your favorites. Have to fatten you up. "

The step across the threshold was the hardest he had ever taken. Everything seemed new yet old, in it's context with him. The furniture had been moved around but was the same. The rooms had a dustry air about them. Looked like his mom has lost her fanatical cleaning streak. The photos were all there. The medals, the games, the plays. He reflected on those moments with fondness.

He shrugged off his coat and got comfortable and soon it was like he had never left. They laughed and joked talking about the old times. They gossiped and cried talking about the present. His mom was still the best cook in the world and he ate like he had been hungry for ages.

The banging started just before nightfall. He wasn't even aware that it had been that long. They looked at each other, startled. She rushed to see who it was and backed away from the screen in revulsion.

" Open the damn door lady. ", his father shouts were garbled. His mother stood firm.

" Go away John. I told you not to return here until you had changed your mind. And in your state, I don't think your mind would be working even."

Silence. Then softly, "Has he come home?"

Her head tilted sideways towards her son with sadness and nodded an affirmation towards the door. Jason stood up and went towards the door, the moonlight shone over them like spotlight.

"Ah! So here he comes. The prodigal son has returned.", there was disdain in his father's voice.

And then with a burst of energy, before anyone could react, his father's foot was through the lock and the door has swung open.

"Flimsy door! No one stops me from entering my own home. Specially not my dumb wife.", he was mad with rage and intoxication.

Jason come forward standing between his mother and father.

"Father!", his voice was weak with fear.

His father guffawed and then his eyes went dead."Don't you call me father, you sick SOB!! You think you can come between us ?!!! You think you are a bigger man than me? Well, think again."

He pushed past them towards the kitchen and picked a knife unsteadily. He addressed his wife, brandishing the knife.

"How dare you? How dare you protect him? When you know that truth about him? This piece of shit who killed my daughter... ", tears filled his eyes. His shoulders slumped as memories flooded his being.

"He killed my precious, sweet, delicate little daughter. I taught her how to walk, took her to her friends place, her laughter, the way she called me father, my innocent daughter ... " his voice wracked sobs and he was almost bending in surrender.

The night was silent. His mother laid a hand on Jason's shoulder and nudged him aside.

"John. Jason is our son. We have him to love and cherish. Jasmine, she is no more. You need to understand that and accept it. He is all we have ...", the love in those words brought Jason's head down in shame.

John stared at Jason, his sight venomous. "I will never forgive you." With the last word in the air, he lunged at Jason and cut his arm. The blood stained both of them, the blood they shared.

Jason pulled his father's hand away from him and tried to wrestle the knife out of his hand, while trying to push him towards the door.

"JOHN, STOP !"

They both turned to see the shout had erupted from a woman who had never raised her voice in her whole life . The same woman now held a gun in her hands, leveled at her husband.

"Get Out of My House! I will not let you hurt him." The steel in her voice has both men shocked. John looked at both of them, lost as if seeing them for the first time and with listless feet, stumbled out the door and into the night, without a word.

His mother had then proceeded to bandage his arm. Terror gripped Jason's heart. "What if he does something stupid mom? I should go get him back. "

She had cuped his face in her hands and said,"He won't. He will come back in his own time. Deep down he loves you too. And no matter what he says or does, it doesn't change the fact that you are our child. They will all have to eventually accept that. Now help me fix this door."

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He covered her sleeping form with the blanket and went out into the hall. The photos along the mantelpiece and walls beckoned him. He touched them lightly. Jasmine with the medals. Jasmine in the plays. Jasmine rejoicing with her team mates. So full of life yet ....

Sadness engulfed him. His father was right. He had killed Jasmine. But peopld would eventually see that he had no choice.

Jasmine had never wanted to be a girl. The mirror had taunted her for years before she had decided the path she wanted to take and left home. Her transition to Jason was inevitable. They would all eventually accept that. It was not going to be easy but the journey had begun and now nothing could stop it.

His mother had been the first to know his secret after he had decided to reveal the truth. That was when he had discovered.

Only mothers can love so unconditionally.