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“Are we really doing this?” Emily asked.
“You bet Colin's sweet ass we are.” Alex told her as he hopped out of the car, “the guys invited us and you said you wanted to go.”
She couldn't deny that, when she had mentioned she had never been to a Pride celebration before but that she wanted to, their friends had immediately invited all three of them to the event they would be working, insisting when she had tried to backtrack.
Now here they were three weeks later, and Emily could feel her nerves heightening with each step down the sidewalk as they made their way to the entrance to the festival.
“Heads up,” Colin muttered, breaking her from her thoughts, “protesters.”
She was surprised how little it bothered her to walk past the group of people shouting that they would be going to hell, that they needed God in church to see the light, etc etc. It wasn't like she hadn't heard it all before growing up, only getting worse after she had dared to come out.
But she had at least found friends and a community that accepted her, and Colin and Alex had no fear holding hands as they walked past a screaming man brandishing a sign, saying they're corrupting the country.
“The guys have been working all day,” Colin told her as they finally got to the entrance gate, “the plan is for all of us to go get dinner after they're done with their shifts.”
Emily nodded and followed them into the festival grounds, stopping first at a booth that proclaimed itself as Info
“Hi!” A woman with blazing orange hair greeted them, “we have a map of all the vendors and a schedule of activities we have here, and feel free to take a pronoun and flag button, they're all labeled so you can take whatever feels right.”
They quickly grabbed buttons they wanted and reviewed the map, deciding to just make a big loop so they could see everything.
And everything was almost overwhelming. There were queer vendors, vendors that were known local allies, info booths about different organizations and lifestyles, music filling the air from an unseen DJ, people of all different types chatting and laughing and loving freely… her throat suddenly felt a little tight and she swallowed against it.
She had never seen so much freedom in her life.
“There's Chester!” Alex broke through her sappy thoughts, “let's go say hi!”
He grabbed her hand, dragging her and Colin to a tent with a sign hanging over the front that proclaimed: Polyamory, is it right for me?. Inside the tent was a portable projector and screen that was displaying some kind of slideshow, the current slide simply reading Thank You for Coming. The familiar bespectacled man in his favorite Love is Love tank talking to the assembled crowd.
“- and remember folks!” Chester was saying, “communication, communication, communication! This is a must in any relationship but especially in a non-monogamous one, a lack of communication is a one-way ticket to failure. Even if you're mad or feeling left out or want to change something up, literally nothing good can come from burying it down. And I have five boyfriends, I know what I'm talking about.”
The crowd chuckled.
“Alright, thank you all for coming!” Chester said with a smile, “there's brochures for our local poly dinner club and lube samplers on the way out!”
They waited while Chester answered some questions from people that approached out of the crowd, not wanting to interrupt him. While he was talking he absent-mindedly flipped back through the slides, still the showing up on the screen:
Communication is Key
Vanilla or Kink? How to Float Not Just a Boat but a Fleet
How Much Lube Is Enough In An Orgy?
Sleeping Positions for Maximum Snuggles in an Odd or Large Numbered Polycules
Ensuring No One Feels Left Out
Don't Let The Romance Die
Types of Polycules
“Hey guys!” Chester walked over to them with a smile, “did you see my presentation? It's my last one for the day, another speaker is taking over for the evening shift.”
“We just saw the tail end,” Alex replied.
“Although we saw you going through the slides,” Colin laughed, “Did that lube one just say yes?”
Chester shrugged, “you can never have enough.”
“Are you done volunteering for the day then?” Emily asked.
“No I still have a little bit of time, but I'm going to go join Dave for the end of it. Why don't you guys walk over with me?”
With that they set off again across the festival grounds, Chester happily pointing out different booths, food trucks, and even a cotton candy maker, little wisps of spun sugar floating gently through the air as they passed.
“Wait, I want some,” Colin stopped them.
“Sugar for my sugar,” Alex grinned at their groans before he led Colin over to get in the short line.
“How are you doing?” Chester asked.
“It's… a lot.” Emily admitted, “don't get me wrong this is amazing, but I have no clue how I'm going to see everything before we leave, kinda wishing I got here sooner.”
“Don't worry about that, just have fun with it. After all, you're among your people now.”
Emily smiled a little, it wasn't the first time he had told her that. The first time had been when she, Colin, and Alex had dinner with all of them, in a quiet moment she had just looked around and realized she was completely comfortable with them.
She had found her people.
Once cotton candy, bigger than Colin's head, was acquired the four of them preceded on to another tent, this one's banner reading FREE DAD/MOM/PARENT HUGS.
“That's real?” Emily whispered as they approached, “I always thought that was exaggerated or somethin.”
“Nope!” Chester told her, “this is one of the most visited areas every year and Dave is always in it, I like to help out too.”
The red bearded man in question waved as they approached, a Free Dad Hugs shirt on.
“There you guys are,” he greeted, “how did your presentations go Chaz?”
“It was great!” he crowed, launching into a recap of his various presentations throughout the day.
Emily let herself look around a little while they talked, the tent was bare, just some chairs for the volunteers, a cooler for water, and more pamphlets on various resources for LGBTQA youth and adults.
But Chester hadn’t been joking when he said it was a popular area, just in the few minutes they had been there Emily had seen at least a dozen people come through, some crying as they were embraced by the parental figure of their choosing; a woman not much older than her with pretty brown hair in a pixie cut and the kindest eyes Emily had ever seen was often picked.
When… when was the last time she had been hugged so tightly? Reassured that she was doing just fine and there was nothing wrong with her? Her relationship with her mom wasn't as bad as some people's, she didn't have any right to complain… a dad hug would be better.
And besides, the woman was not inspiring maternal feelings in her.
“Do you want a hug?”
She spun around, Dave right behind her with a hand on her shoulder, “what?”
“This is your first pride right?” He held his arms out, “you want a hug kiddo?”
Emily swallowed, that damn lump was back in her throat. Her voice was barely a whisper, “yes.”
She had no clue what happened, it's not like Dave was a stranger, she didn't really think of him as a dad… and yet she ended up falling into his arms like a kid, a feeling of relief rushing through her as he wrapped his arms tight around her.
“You’re doing great kid, just the way you are.” Dave whispered.
Emily pressed her face to his shoulder, trying to ignore the stinging behind her eyes. “Thanks.”
“Of course.” He waited for her to end the hug before letting her go, “Chester and I will be here for about an hour, so if you guys want to hang out you can, otherwise Mikey is just a few booths down.”
Emily nodded and did her best to discreetly wipe her eyes, glad when none of the guys mentioned it, “we'll go see Mike.”
“We'll text when we're done, there's a place nearby we should go for dinner!” Chester told them before turning to pull a newcomer into a fierce embrace.
They proceeded on, stopping to get lemonade and look at various vendors before Emily heard Mike's voice.
“It's hard when you're from two different cultures,” he was saying, “you already feel like you're not quite either, you're somewhere in this middle that only people in the same situation really understand, and then you add being gay or poly or even just kinky? It adds a whole other layer that people just don't get.”
“Exactly!” a visitor of the booth nodded, “it'll be nice to talk to people who have gone through it too.”
“That's what we're about!” Mike gave the woman his normal megawatt smile as she took information for the organization.
“Hey,” he greeted them as they approached, “having a good time?”
“It's been great,” Colin told him, showing him some of the things they had acquired on their trip through the festival, “how about you?”
“My favorite bakery has a booth like two up from here,” Mike told them, “I've been smelling my favorite chocolate chip cookies all day and it's killing me. As soon as I'm off I'm buying a dozen.” He looked past them to a new pair approaching, “I'll catch up with you guys later, ok?”
As they continued on, Emily could feel she was starting to get a bit overwhelmed, they had finally reached the DJ and dance floor, being run by Joe who gave them a quick wave but the loud music was getting to her.
“Let's dance!” Alex said, voice raised to be heard, grabbing Colin's hands.
He nodded, “you coming Em?”
Emily shook her head, “no, it's a bit much, I'm going to go find that quiet area.” She waved at Joe before she turned to walk to the other side of the festival.
She was glad they had a designated quiet area, even if it was a far walk from where she was at. It was at least an uneventful walk, stopping a couple times to look at different crafts that were being sold, until she had the misfortune of catching the eye of someone that was clearly drunk off his ass.
“I love you guyssss,” he slurred as he threw an arm around Emily's shoulders, “it's so good to sees you again!”
“You got me confused for somebody else man,” Emily told him, trying to throw off his arm and not gag from his beer breath.
“Nos I knows you,” the man insisted, “yous Sara!”
“I don't-”
“Problem here?”
Emily let out a silent sigh of relief at the sight of Rob standing next to her, wearing a yellow security vest.
“We got him!” A man and woman ran over to grab the drunk man, “we're so sorry, he went a little nuts.”
“You should get him home then,” Rob told them, “there's taxis waiting near the front if you need one.”
“We will!”
Rob waited until the trio were out of sight on their way to the entrance before turning back to her, “you alright?”
“I'm good,” Emily shrugged, “glad you showed up though.”
“I was hoping to run into you guys anyway, Chaz texted me that you three were here. Where were you heading?”
“Quiet area, Colin and Alex are dancing the day away.”
“I was already heading that way,” Rob said, “I'll walk with you.”
They fell into a companionable silence as they walked, the sunset and breeze helping to cool off the heat of the day.
“Think you'll come back next year?” Rob asked as the quiet tent came closer.
“I think so, it's loud and chaotic but it's fun.”
Rob nodded, “that was exactly what I thought when I started coming here. It's just… different, a welcome escape for a day.”
“That's exactly it.”
Rob smiled and pulled back a tent flap with a flourish, “I got to keep patrolling, say hi to Brad for me.”
Emily was a little stunned at how much more quiet it was in the tent; soundproofing had been added to the walls, the floor was covered in a fluffy rug and cushions to sit on, and a table had been set up for an attendant with a bucket of earplugs, mini water bottles, and various fidget items.
“Hi Em.” Brad was seated at the desk, his signature sparkly headphones around his neck, “needed a break?”
“Please.”
He gestured to the tent, “we have water if you need it, power blocks for charging your phone, ear plugs, anything you need to just chill away from everything.”
“Thanks,” Emily picked up one of the fidget toy, rolling it between her fingers, “do you have any fun being in here all day?”
“Absolutely, I did a little bit of shopping when we first got here and now I can relax here with my phone and make sure others get the breaks they need.” Brad shrugged, “besides, we're all going out after the guys are off in-” he checked the time on his phone, “-fiveish minutes. I'll get my fill of people and noise then.”
Sure enough the tent flap opened again ten minutes later and Chester launched himself through, going straight to Brad to haul him up into a hug
“Had a good day Braddy?” he asked
“It was pretty relaxing,” Brad told him.
“How about you?” Alex asked as he flopped onto the cushion next to her
“It's been great.” Emily told him.
“Going to come back next year?” Joe asked.
“Yeah,” she smiled, “I think I will.”
“Excellent,” Joe offered a hand to help her up, “let's go get something to eat.”
Emily let him pull her up, following them out as another volunteer took Brad's place.
She almost felt wistful as they left the festival and made their way to a nearby bar and grill for dinner; she had been anticipating the day and now it was just over already.
But… something about it had made her feel more comfortable in her own skin, a confidence she hadn't felt before.
As they ordered their food a familiar pixie haired woman caught Emily's eye, sitting with a dark haired woman and holding her hand.
The woman that was giving mom hugs back at the festival.
How was the woman she was with just as attractive as her? Surely that wasn't fair.
But if body language was anything to go on, they were together and Emily certainly wasn't going to try to hit on someone that was taken.
“For you,” the server put a fruity drink in front of her, “one tequila sunrise.”
“Oh, I didn't order this.” Emily told him.
The server shrugged, “came from that table.”
Emily looked over to the table he had pointed out and found pixie cut and dark hair watching her; both smiled when she looked over and gave a little wave.
“Go talk to them,” Colin encouraged her.
“I would have no clue what to say.” Emily whispered.
“Thanks for the drink?” Brad suggested.
“I have a slideshow that can help with that.” Chester chimed in
“Babe no.” Joe shook his head.
Mike nudged her shoulder, “go say hi.”
Emily looked at him, her drink, and back at them before giving a small nod.
Time to use that new found confidence.
With last words of encouragement, Emily grabbed her drink and went to the two, silently thanking her lucky stars that the others had invited her out to Pride.
Her first of many.