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Cause I love you guys and Jacinda929 totally reminded me at a great time. Also, I don’t edit. I don’t know how obvious that has been since I began this story but I just don’t.
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“Hey, Richie,” Troy whispered as he sauntered into the living room and sat on the couch beside Richie. It was the only period of time when he was quiet, when his murderous-if-woken family was all asleep at the same time. Richie was watching reruns of Seinfield while letting his thoughts run wild when Troy came down.
Richie couldn’t fight an affectionate smile though he knew he should be scolding the young boy. “Hey, Troy, why are you up so late? It’s way past your bedtime.”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Troy whispered back. He fidgeted with his fingers, throwing sideways glances at Richie.
“What is it, Troy?” Richie asked, scooting closer to him.
Troy asked nervously, “Would you be mad if I said I miss my mom?”
All of the oxygen flew out of Richie’s lungs. He felt like he couldn’t breathe and his heart ached. “Oh, baby,” Richie lifted Troy onto his lap and cuddled him, “Of course not. It’s fine to miss your mom.”
“But I kind of don’t,” Troy snuggled into Richie’s shoulder, “I like having you around. If my mom came back, would you leave us?”
“No,” Richie was appalled by the idea, “I wouldn’t do that to you or Venus or Rachel. I love all of you.”
“And you want to be our daddy too?” Troy asked.
Richie blinked at him, “What?”
“Dad said that you want to be our daddy too, that’s why you live here with us.”
“Oh, did he?” Richie laughed, “I guess he’s right. I want to be here for you whenever you need me and even when you don’t need me.”
“I’ll always need you,” Troy stated irrefutably. “You’re my dad too.”
Richie felt a sudden wave of tears sting his eyes and hugged Troy tighter. He couldn’t trust himself to respond with an even voice.
“Okay, little guy,” Tyler appeared at the doorway, “Off to bed.”
Troy pouted, “I don’t wanna.”
“Yeah, you’re not going to ‘wanna’ when you wake up tomorrow morning either. Now get up there. Come on, march.” Tyler watched Troy go up the stairs until he was out of sight then sat beside Richie.
Richie immediately fell into the protective embrace of his boyfriend and allowed his tears to stream down his cheeks. He chuckled, “Did you hear that, Ty? I’m his dad too.”
Tyler nodded, “I’ve known that for a while now.”
They fell silent, the automated laughter of Seinfield filling the room.
“I want Bonnie.”
Tyler’s eyes widened as he looked down at Richie.
Richie wiped his eyes roughly with the sleeve of his shirt and muttered, “I want my little girl. She’s my daughter too so she should be here.”
Tyler froze, unsure of how he should respond. Getting Bonnie back wasn’t as simple as picking her up from her grandparent’s house. Sarah’s parents never even liked him. Thinking back, he was sure that he married Sarah just to spite them and he was almost sure that they’d take him to court for even stepping foot on their property now that he and Sarah were divorced. The most he could really hope for were visitation rights. But…
He looked down at his red-eyed boyfriend and shrugged. He’d give it a shot. Maybe full custody wasn’t as far out of his reach as he thought. “We’ll take a personal day off tomorrow and go to get her.”
“Together?” Richie asked in disbelief. “You mean as boyfriends?”
Tyler nodded, “How else?”
“No, I mean,” Richie stopped talking and just smiled tearfully, “I can’t wait.”
He said that then but now he was standing in front of Sarah’s parents’ door. Her parents lived in a small, one story building with chrysanthemums growing in vases that line the porch. Their lawn was cut evenly and looked unreal. Saying he was nervously was like saying a giraffe is taller than a rat. True but it doesn’t quite touch the enormity of the feeling. His hand trembled until Tyler took it into his own.
“Relax,” Tyler commanded.
“But,” Tyler shook his head at him.
He repeated, “Relax.”
Richie nodded slowly, “Okay, I’ll try.”
“Good.” Tyler rang the doorbell without another word.
Richie stated plainly, “I think I’m going to start hyperventilating.”
“Don’t. Just smile and try to look happy to see them.”
“Okay, I can do that. How about you?”
“Of course not. They know I’m never happy to see them.”
The door opened before Richie could get another word out. A thin, silver haired elderly woman appeared in the door way, her face decorated with frown lines and crow’s feet. She immediately frowned when she caught sight of Tyler. The old woman folded her arms and said with heavy sarcasm, “What a lovely surprise, the bastard who broke my daughter’s heart.”
“It’s nice to see you too, Mary,” lied Tyler. “We need to talk.”
Her frown may have deepened if it was possible, “About what?”
“My daughter.”
She glared at him silently for a moment before he gaze shifted over to Richie. “And this is?”
Tyler cleared his throat, the only sign of nervously Richie could make out, “My boyfriend.”
Mary laughed, “Boy, you are kidding, right? You thought you’d come over and pull this old woman’s leg for a bit.”
“I wouldn’t take a day off of work just to pull your leg,” Tyler retorted, “I have better things to do.”
She eyed him warily then opened the door, “Get on in here. We really do need to talk.”
“Thank you,” Tyler strolled in confidently and Richie followed behind nervously. He could feel the woman’s eyes burning into his back. Tyler led him to a homely little living room. Pictures of Sarah and other children sat on top of the fire place. Richie smiled fondly when he caught sight of Troy and the girls, probably at some family event.
“Richie,” Tyler motioned to the spot next to him on the love seat.
He sat down beside Tyler and pointed at the picture, “Aren’t they cute?”
Tyler grunted, “If you say so.” He groaned with pain as Richie elbowed him.
“Are you having fun?”
Richie immediately straightened and blushed. Mary was watching them intently, her steely green eyes didn’t waver for a second and she yelled for her husband. A minute later, a man came stumbling into the living room. He was a big man with a beer belly and a hair full of gray.
He yawned, “What is it, Mary?” His gaze fell on Tyler and a disdainful frown curled his mouth, “What are you doing here son?”
“He and his boyfriend,” her eyes purposely redirected to Richie, “Wants to talk about Bonnie.”
“Boyfriend?” His eyes widened, “What on God’s green earth do you mean?”
“The earth is actually mostly water,” Tyler couldn’t help adding his snarky input. “And it’s nice to see you too, Howard.”
Howard glared at him, “Don’t get smart with me. Since when were you a fag?”
“I’m not a fag,” Tyler answered, “I’m in a very serious relationship.”
“With a man?” Howard asked incredulously.
“Yes, with a man,” Tyler stood, his glare deadly, “A man who loves my children as much as I do and you can’t tell me that that doesn’t mean anything. It means everything to me.”
Howard glared back but his expression softened. As much as he hated the man his daughter married, he couldn’t help thinking that if that kid had a father and a mother that cared, he’d be exactly what Howard wanted for his daughter. He was strong-willed, smart, hard-working, and protective but when Tyler had married Sarah, he was missing the one thing after husband needed to take care of his family. “So you found it.”
Tyler’s glare went from menacing to quizzical, “What?”
“Tyler, when you married my daughter, we all knew you didn’t love her,” Howard informed him patiently, “I knew it, Mary knew it, hell, even Sarah knew it. The only one who didn’t seem to know was you. You said you were going to marry her and every time we said ‘no’ just drove you on. Now I just want to ask you, do you love him?”
Then something occurred that Richie thought would never happen. The world would decide to randomly combust before Tyler Delroe actually blushes. But he did. His face turned into an alarming red and his mouth opened and closed like a fish on land.
“Tyler, are you…” Richie stood up and took Tyler’s face in his hands. He gasped happily, “Tyler, you’re blushing. I can’t believe it.” He giggled at Tyler’s glare, “Aw, look at you. So cute. Say it.”
“Say what?” Tyler asked stubbornly.
“You know what,” Richie pouted, “Come on, Tyler, say it.”
“Actually,” Tyler smirked, “Never. I’m not going to say it.”
“Why not?” Richie whined.
“Instead,” Tyler ignored the question, “I’m going to ask you a question. Richard Manning, will you be the father of my children?”
Richie rolled his eyes, ignoring his own blush, “Honestly, Tyler. I already am.”
“Then why are we talking about this instead of getting your daughter?” He turned towards Mary and Howard, hoping they’d get the point.
Mary huffed, “I guess I’ll pack her things but you better bring my grandchildren around to visit. I want to see all four of them every holiday, birthdays included.”
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