Thicker Than Water - 10. Chapter 10

“Get in the car!” Diego barked. “We're leaving right now! !Vamanos¡”

Bryan couldn't believe what was going on. One moment they were in the graveyard, the next moment, they were running from his birth father. Caleb was asking a million questions, which was frustrating their dad. Bryan on the other hand didn't know what to think. The man in the graveyard looked nothing like the man he remembered. Yes, it had been nearly a decade, but Bryan assumed he'd always know what Calvin would look like.

Steve made some detours just in case Calvin was following them. Nearly an hour had passed when they pulled into the motel parking lot. Diego swore as he watched Calvin step out of a car. He should've guessed that the bastard would be there, since it was the only place to stay, but it didn't help his mood.

Steve turned off the engine, took his boyfriend by the hand and said, “Take the boys inside. Get everything and I'll meet you in the car, okay?”

“What are you going to do?” Diego asked, feeling just scared as he was angry.

“Nothing more than guarding the ones I love.” He looked over his shoulder and added to the boys, “Listen to your dad, okay? We'll explain more when we get home.”

“Are you going to hurt him?” Caleb asked. He hadn't let go of Bryan's hand since they fled.

“Not unless I have to. Violence is never my first resort.” He looked at Bryan and added, “Right?”

“Right,” Bryan echoed, remembering their conversation from a few days prior. “Be careful, please.”

Steve winked and got out of the car. Bryan almost laughed as he watched Calvin, who had been marching towards the car, come to a dead stop at the sight of Steve. Bryan had always taken the big man's height for granted. Diego, who was barely 5' 4”, was dwarfed by Steve, as were most people. However, Steve drew himself to his full height of 6' 10”, which was about a foot taller than Calvin. It also didn't help that Steve was very muscular and in great shape, compared to Calvin who looked like he could barely lift a gallon of milk. Steve also kept his blonde hair very short in the style of a US Marine, which only added to his ability to intimidate. Calvin had to crane his neck up just to look Steve in the face.

Diego and the boys ran to their rooms and grabbed everything, only making a single trip. Diego dropped the keys off, while Bryan got Caleb in the car and threw everything into the trunk.

“They're my fucking kids!” Calvin screamed at Steve who didn't react. “Bryan! Caleb!” The dead beat yelled, as he saw the boys get into the car. “I'm your real father.”

“Fuck off!” Bryan yelled and flipped Calvin off.

“Chico,” Diego said as he got to the car. “Don't antagonize him. He's not worth it.” Diego yelled to Steve, who turned his back on Calvin. Bryan was scared that Calvin might take a cheap shot but was glad to be wrong. Instead, Calvin continued to yell and advance towards the car, though out of Steve's considerable reach.

Once onto the highway home, Bryan asked the question he'd been dying to ask. “Why are we even running from him?”

“Because,” Diego replied, “Calvin is the kind of guy who would try to kidnap you. He had tried it a couple of times when he and Donna were still married, but she wouldn't let you leave her sight. Right now, I don't want to deal with him. I need to get a lawyer and see what our options are.”

“You have custody of us, though, right?”

“Yes, Chico. I fully adopted you, but Calvin is a professional manipulator. I wouldn't put it passed him to lie to a judge to get what he wants.”

“How did he find us?” Caleb asked.

“I'm guessing the preacher contacted him or someone on your mom's side did,” Diego said. “There's no way Preacher Dave would've known the situation, and I never thought to ask.”

“Is everyone alright?” Steve asked.

“I think so,” Bryan said.

“I'm okay,” Caleb said.

“And you, Babe?”

Diego sighed and said, “I will be when we get home. Luckily, he doesn't know where we live. I moved us the second I filed for adoption.”

“So,” Bryan said, trying to get a good grasp of the situation, “for about nine years, everything is great. Then, out of the blue, mom dies, Kenny and I have a major falling out, and at the funeral, our deadbeat sperm donor suddenly shows up at her funeral, and now, we're on the run from him. Sounds like really bad writing to me.”

“Yeah,” Diego agreed. “Sounds like a bad telenovela.”

“I was more thinking of some bad gay fiction on some obscure website, but whatever.”

“As long as it has a happy ending, I don't care,” Steve interjected.

“I guess we'll see, won't we. Either way, I'm ready for a transition. I'm exhausted.”

Caleb was fast asleep as they pulled into the driveway. Steve carried the boy into the house, while Diego and Bryan got everything out of the trunk.

“Chico,” Diego said, as they started gathering the bags, “how are you handling all of this?”

“With my hands?” Bryan said, hoping to deflect an awkward conversation.

“I'm serious, Bryan. Caleb was too young to remember Calvin. You struggled a lot after he left, and you bottle everything up. I need you to be honest with me right now.”

Bryan set everything in his arms down and hugged his dad. The pain in stomach stopped him from completely breaking down, but he hugged Diego tightly, hoping it would say everything he was feeling. “Dad, honestly, I don't care if Calvin comes around. Nothing he says or does will change the fact that you, Diego Padilla, are my father. I love you. I owe you everything.”

“But,” Diego said, trying not to choke up, “blood is thicker than water, Chico. There has to be a part of you that wants answers that only he can give.”

“I don't care, Dad. You can tell me every cliché or idiom there is, but nothing will change how I feel about you or him. I'm a Padilla. If Calvin wanted Caleb and I to be Donaldsons, he would've taken us with him or he would've stayed. Blood may be thicker than water, but so is shit, and Calvin Donaldson is a big pile of it.”

Diego laughed, still holding his son. He took a step back and said, “Caleb is going to want contact.”

“I know.”

“I don't know how to handle that, Chico. Calvin will only break his heart.”

“His heart is going to break anyway, so I say we keep them apart. Caleb might be disappointed, but it's better than losing Calvin again when he leaves.”

“Agreed.” Diego hugged his son one more time and asked, “How did you get to be so smart, Chico?”

“I got it from my dad...and Sesame Street.”

“You and your jokes.”

Bryan checked on Caleb, who was still asleep. There was a good chance that his brother would wet the bed again, so Bryan woke the 5^th grader up to use the toilet. He then put down a protective pad and waited for Caleb. He hugged his little brother and kissed him on the head before leaving.

Steve and Diego went to bed early, leaving Bryan the only one awake. It dawned on him that he hadn't checked his phone all weekend, so he took it out of his pocket. He didn't want to deal with Terra blowing up his phone with messages, and he didn't want to blow up Kenny's phone either. He hadn't received any new texts, which stung a little. A part of him was hoping to hear from Kenny.

Bryan then remembered he had Facebook, so he checked his notifications. He had a couple friend requests and to new messages. All but one of the friend requests were from cousins and Diego's younger brother, Luis. The last request was from someone he wasn't familiar with, so he ignored it. He went to the messages and saw one from Kenny:

“I know you probably hate me. I didn't mean to upset you. I thought you felt like I did. I'm sorry I was wrong.”

Bryan hated when people assumed how he felt, and it was worse then they told him how he felt. It was the reason he didn't like therapy. He wanted to be mad at Kenny for the message, but he didn't want to lose his friend, who was also clearly hurting.

“Kenny,” he typed, “I don't hate you. I could never hate you. You're my best friend. I do feel about you the way you feel about me, but I have a very hard time saying the words. If you can be patient, I promise I'll say the words when I'm ready.”

Bryan's thumb hovered over the send button, but he deleted the message, instead. The pain in his stomach hit him hard. He felt too vulnerable opening up like that, even to Kenny. Bryan almost talked about how his biological father screwed him up and his insecurities because of it; however, the pain grew stronger with each lingering thought to the point he wanted to vomit. Deleting it is for the best, Bryan thought.

To take his mind off of Kenny, Bryan looked at the other message, which was from that random friend request.

“Bryan. It's me. Your dad. Can we talk?”