Chapter Text
It was time. At least, Max thought it was time. Everyone else had already told at least one person in their family about the dinosaur thing, making Max the last holdout. He took a deep breath. "Mom, Dad..." He looked at them across the kitchen table, steeling his resolve as much as possible. "There's something I really need to tell you."
"What is it son," his father asked.
"We're listening," said his mother.
They both sported curious expressions, no doubt running through all the many possibilities of what he might say. His lips quirked upwards when he thought that they'd never be able to guess in a million years... or, sixty-five million years, actually. He met their eyes, heart pounding in his chest. All he had to do was say it, forge ahead and get it all out there.
"I'm a dinosaur."
His father laughed outright, and his mother put on an amused expression, eyeing him with feigned skepticism. "You look pretty human to me, Rolf," she said.
"Well... okay, I'm not a hundred percent dinosaur, but I do actually... I mean... I can turn into a T-Rex!"
"Well that would really be something, wouldn't it darling?" his father said to his mother, chuckling lightly. "Gee, son, you had us scared. I half thought you were gonna say something drastic, like you got a hideous tattoo or something. Nice to see you're not too mature to pull one over on your old man."
"It's not a joke! I can show you!" Max insisted. With no further preamble, he raised a hand and transformed it, sharp claws extending on thick fingers as green scales appeared on his skin. His mother gasped and put a hand to her chest, eyes wide. His father took her by the shoulders and pulled her close, protectively. They both leaned back in their chairs, trying to get away from him.
"My word!" his mother said, alarmed.
"This is taking the joke too far, Son," his father said sternly. "You're scaring your poor mother half to death. How'd you do that, anyway? Smoke and mirrors? Which of your friends is helping you pull this awful trick?"
"It's not a trick!" Max insisted, transforming his other hand to show them before changing them both back. "I'm telling the truth! I really do turn into a dinosaur!"
"Not in my house you don't!" he said gruffly, and Max felt his heart sink into his stomach. "That's monstrous! Dangerous! It's against nature!"
"It's so horrible dear," his mother whimpered, and Max could see tears in her eyes before she buried her face in her husband's chest. Max felt pretty close to tears himself.
"There'll be none of that as long as your mother and I are around, do you hear me, Son?" His father looked furious, and his mother was trembling in her fright.
"I hear you, Dad," he said. "I'll uh... I'll leave you two alone for a while."
"Be back before curfew, and none of that dinosaur business, you hear?"
"Yes, Dad," Max agreed, fighting back tears so his father wouldn't see him cry.
He got up and walked slowly, calmly towards the front door. As soon as the door closed behind him, the tears came. They poured down his face faster than he could wipe them away, and he started running. He ran all the way to the lighthouse, his muscles burning and lungs aching when he got there, panting hard, eyes still wet.
"Max?" Fiona's voice said when he entered through the garage. "I thought you were spending time with your parents today." She looked up from the tyrannocycle she was tinkering with and saw his face. Immediately she stood up and walked over to him. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"I... I..." he wiped his eyes and sniffed and tried to take slow deep breaths. He was being pathetic. Rolf Maxwell wasn't a crybaby, and he had to pull himself together.
"Come on inside," she said, putting a hand on his back and gently leading him into the lighthouse.
"Max?" Caruso said when he saw the two of them come in. "I thought you were with your parents, what—" he cut himself off when he saw the state Max was in. "Ms. Moynihan just made some tea. I'm sure it's still hot. I'll get you some. You want sugar?" Max shook his head and scrubbed his hands over his face. "Generous amount of honey it is."
Max barked a single, melancholy laugh as Caruso strolled into the kitchen. How someone could be so self-absorbed and also so in tune to others, he'd never know. Not that Caruso used that latter skill all that often. Still it was nice to have friends that could read him so easily, even if it was a double edged sword at a time like this.
"What's up with Max?" Buzz asked, leaning over the railing of the loft to look down at the two of them. "What's up, Max?" he asked, redirecting his question at the one who was actually in distress, but Max just shook his head. He was still trying to pull himself together and quit crying, but his parents had never treated him like that before. He'd faced harsh words and even rejection from a lot of people, but never from them, and it hurt more than he could've imagined.
"Rodger, put your tinkering down. We've got a personal crisis," He shouted over his shoulder. Then he jumped over the railing, extending his pteranodon wings beneath his arms to glide down to Max's side. "You look like shit."
"Well that's helpful," Fiona scolded sarcastically.
She corralled them all to the sofa as Rodger started down the stairs, safety goggles pushed up onto his head, and Caruso came back from the kitchen with two mugs of tea, one for Max, and one for himself. Max accepted the mug gratefully and took a sip of honey-sweet chamomile. Caruso didn't ask any questions, just made himself comfortable on the armchair with his back against one armrest and his knees hung over the other, long legs folded over the tan upholstery. He eyed Max over the rim of his mug for a moment as he sipped his own tea before looking away like he wasn't the least bit interested in whatever was bothering his friend, kind of like a cat.
"Max..." Rodger observed when he came downstairs. He pulled off the rubber gloves he was wearing and set them on a nearby table. "What's going on?"
"We dunno yet," Buzz answered, shrugging. "You can tell us whenever you're ready, dude," he assured Max, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Or you don't have to tell us at all," Fiona added. "We're here for you either way."
Max dried his eyes one more time, and this time, the tears had stopped, at least for the moment. He sniffed and smiled. "Thanks guys," he said. "I just... I told my parents today... about..." he sniffed again and cleared his throat blinking rapidly to stop himself from breaking out into tears again, "about me turning into a dinosaur. They didn't take it well."
"Oh, Max..." Buzz and Fiona both wrapped him in a hug right away. Fiona's family, he knew, had taken it very well, but Buzz knew what he was going through. After all, his mother had fainted when he told her, and his dad made him go to therapy.
In the end that had all turned out to be a miscommunication; his mother had low blood pressure and was prone to fainting when surprised, and his father had only been concerned about how turning into a dinosaur and fighting mutants affected his mental health. But since his family was apparently not great at communicating, the misunderstanding had lasted for a month. Even though his parents never treated him badly after that, he had thought they were just pretending it didn't happen.
"That must've been really rough," Rodger said. He'd only told his little brother about the dino thing, and the siblings had both agreed it was best to keep it from their parents, at least until Rodger moved out. He stepped over and crouched down in front of Max, one hand on his knee, rubbing soothing circles. "I don't even wanna think about how I'd feel if that happened. I'm sorry."
"My dad was so angry... and my mom," he remembered the way her shoulders shook and her hands trembled as she refused to look at him. "She was completely terrified of me. I've never seen my mom look at anything like that before. And Dad told me it was against nature, and there would be none of that in his house." His eyes stung again, and he took another sip of tea to hide his face while he tried to collect himself.
"Yeah... my dad said pretty much the same thing when I came out as gay a few years ago," Caruso said softly, eyes unfocused as he stared into his mug. "It sucks, so incredibly much, but my parents came around eventually. That's probably why they were so accepting of the dinosaur thing, honestly, because we'd already gone through it when I came out before. Your parents will come around soon, just give them some time. They'll see, and then you'll get along with them even better than before."
"I'm not gay, Caruso, I'm a giant lizard," Max responded despondently. "I don't think my parents will come around that easily.
"As someone who's both, I can confidently say that when it comes to coming out, they're much more similar than you'd think."
"You say everything confidently, Caruso," Fiona teased lightly. "But maybe he's right. Maybe they just need some time to get used to the idea. I mean, you have to admit, it's a learning curve. Even you didn't accept that you were a dinosaur right away, and you were the one transforming."
"I guess I can give them the benefit of the doubt," Max relented. "After how they reacted... I don't think they'll come around any time soon."
"You're their son," Buzz said. "I'm sure they care about you; they were just shocked. And let's be real, who wouldn't be a little scared if they saw a T-Rex right in front of them. Maybe they'll adjust and come around sooner than you think."
"And even if they don't, you'll always have us," Rodger promised. "No matter what happens, we're on your side."
"If they become unbearable, there's an open guest room at my place," Caruso offered. "Even if they don't kick you out, they can be hard to live with when they're like that."
"Thanks but... I don't want to leave home because of this," Max admitted. More than anything, he just wanted to hug his mom and dad and have them tell him everything would be okay, but that couldn't happen, not when they were the source of his distress. He loved his parents. He wanted them to accept him, and for things to go back to the way they were. "I really, really hope you're right."