Chapter 28

“Luke? What are you doing here?” Ted frowned as he walked towards the lobby of Kinnetik, on his way back to his office after he had just finished a meeting. Everyone in their family knew that Luke had moved into Emmett's place and was angry with his fathers and the rest of the family, so to say that he was surprised to see Luke at Kinnetik of all places would be an understatement.

“I was looking for Dad,” Luke said, not really meeting Ted's eyes. “Maggie said he was in a meeting, but that I could wait in his office.”

Maggie was their receptionist and she knew to always let Brian's children and Justin into his office, no matter when or what the reason was. His family would always have access to Brian.

“Do you want me to get him?” Ted offered, looking at Luke on his crutches. Brian had told him about the foul at the game yesterday, so at least he wasn't surprised to see Luke with crutches.

“She said he was doing a presentation,” Luke said, slowly making his way towards Brian's office. “I'll just wait in his office.”

“You don't have to wait for him, Luke,” Ted said quietly. “I'll just get him. I am sure he wouldn't want you to wait.”

Luke shook his head. His voice was incredibly quiet when he replied. Ted could also hear a certain degree of nervousness in it. “No, it's okay. I am sure it's an important presentation if he's doing it himself.”

And Luke wasn't wrong about that. Everyone knew that by now Brian was only working on a few select accounts. Accounts that were either the biggest Kinnetik had or important ones that had been with them since the beginning. For other accounts Brian had his account execs and they would take care of the presentations.

“You know your Dad wouldn't mind. I am sure he would consider talking to you more important than any presentation.”

“It's fine. I'll just wait,” Luke said once more, this time more testily.

“Okay,” Ted nodded, holding up his hands in defeat. “Let me take your backpack and help you to his office,” he offered, reaching for the backpack Luke was carrying.

“It's fine,” Luke only replied, then made his way past Ted and to his father's office. For a minute Ted wasn't quite sure what to do, but Luke was his godson, he had loved the boy since he had been born and he knew that he owed him an apology, if not an explanation for his role in this whole mess. So after a minute of hesitation, he followed Luke into his father's office.

“Luke...”

Luke was sitting on the sofa in the office, carefully placing a pillow on the table and resting his foot on it. “Yeah?”

He could see that Luke wasn't really happy that he had followed him, but he needed to say his piece anyway.

“I just want you to know that I am really sorry about my part in this whole mess... I know it won't change anything, but I wish things had been different and... I really wish you hadn't been hurt by any of this.”

“Too late for that,” Luke just muttered as he pulled a notepad from his backpack. “I really don't want to talk about it.”

“I understand and I respect that. I just want you to know that I am really sorry and ... if you ever feel like talking about this or... anything else really... Blake and I will always be there for you. We love you. We always have.”

Luke nodded, knowing that Ted meant it. Ted had been his godfather and he had always taken his position really seriously. Luke had been taken on many trips by Ted and Blake over the years and he was really close with both men and even though he wouldn't admit it to them or anyone else right now, he missed family dinners and missed spending time with them.

Ted realised that Luke didn't really seem to feel like talking and accepted that. He turned around and made to leave Brian's office. “The presentation should be over in about 30 minutes. Are you sure you don't want me to get your Dad now?”

“I'll wait,” Luke just said, not even looking up from the notepad he was now writing on.

Ted nodded, then left the room with a sigh.

Luke continued working on his homework for the next 45 minutes until he heard some commotion outside his Dad's office. He could hear voices, but couldn't really make out what they were saying. He could hear though that one of the voices, his father's voice, seemed angry about something. Maybe it hadn't been the best idea to come by his office. What if the presentation had gone badly or there was another problem and his father would be too busy to talk to him?

A minute later his father stormed into the office, an angry expression on his face which immediately disappeared when his eyes settled on Luke. “I didn't expect to see you here,” he just stated as he slowly walked over and looked at his son from concerned eyes, the anger completely gone from his features now.

“I can leave if this is not a good time,” Luke said quietly, looking up at his father nervously. “You seem busy.”

“No, it's fine,” Brian said, still looking at Luke curiously. “I just wasn't expecting to see you here today,” he admitted.

“Maybe I should leave... You seemed angry out there,” Luke nodded towards the door of Brian's office, indicating the rest of Kinnetik. “I guess there's some trouble you need to take care of.”

Before he could get his leg off the table and his notepad back in his backpack, Brian had walked over to the other side of the table and stood across from Luke. “No...,” he ran a hand over his face, sighing in frustration. “It's nothing like that,” he explained. “You have been waiting here for 45 minutes?”

Luke frowned, not quite sure why that mattered, but nodded.

“That stupid idiot...,” Brian just muttered, shaking his head in anger.

Luke watched him and slowly got an idea why his father might be angry and who might be the person who had caused that anger.

“It's fine. I know you were in a presentation.”

“Who cares about the presentation?” Brian muttered, forcing himself to take a deep breath. “Ted said you told him not to get me?”

Luke nodded. “Yeah... It seemed important if you did it yourself. I was fine waiting. I started on my homework.”

“Who cares about the presentation?” Brian only said once more, looking at Luke closely. “Cynthia could have finished it.”

“Dad, it's fine,” Luke said once more, not quite sure why his father seemed so angry about the fact that no one had gotten him out of the presentation and that Luke had waited 45 minutes to see him.

“You shouldn't have had to wait 45 minutes to see me,” was all Brian muttered, before he finally moved over to the sofa and sat down on the armrest on the other side of the sofa, crossing his arms and looking at Luke expectantly. “I didn't expect you here,” he said once more, now a clear question in his eyes.

Luke could see that his father had finally calmed down for which he was glad. This conversation would be so much easier to have if his father was calm and not agitated. “I need to ask you something,” he said slowly, meeting his father's gaze head-on.

“Okay,” Brian nodded, indicating that he was listening.

“Why were you at the game yesterday?”

Brian frowned at him, seemingly confused by the question Luke had just asked him. “I always come to your games.”

“Yeah, but... why did you come yesterday?”

“Why not?” Brian asked, not sure if he understood what Luke was asking.

“Dad,” Luke sighed, trying to make his Dad understand what he was really asking. “Most fathers don't even come to our championship games, but you come to each and every one of them and... yesterday wasn't even a championship game. It was just a friendly. And... you knew I didn't want to talk to you...”

“I had no intention of talking to you,” Brian defended himself. “I wasn't even planning on you knowing that I was there, but then... you got injured, so...,” he shrugged. “I know you don't want to talk to me. To us.”

“Then why did you come?” Luke asked again.

Brian shrugged. “I always come to your games. To support you, to show you how proud I am of the player that you have become... That hasn't changed just because you're angry with me.”

“That's what Papa said,” Luke said quietly and Brian wasn't quite sure what to make of that comment.

“Does it bother you that I was there?” He asked next, not looking at Luke for fear of seeing the hatred he had verbally expressed before, in his eyes as well. “If you don't want me to come, I won't come to your next game,” he offered quietly.

Luke eyed him for the longest time, before he spoke again. “I don't think there will be any games for me for a while.”

Brian nodded and looked at Luke's ankle. Luke was probably right. He wouldn't play again before the Christmas break started and after Christmas there would be a winter break until it got warmer again and spring started. “How is your ankle?”

“It's okay. I wish everyone would stop acting like I am about to die. It's just a sprained ankle, not a gunshot wound to my stomach.”

“Emmett driving you crazy?” Brian just asked, raising an eyebrow at his son, not surprised when he nodded in response.

“I know he means well, but he's acting like I am an invalid.”

“He's only worried...,” Brian said quietly, then raised an eyebrow in question. “Do you want me to talk to him?”

“And say what? That I am an ungrateful bastard who doesn't appreciate all he's been doing for me in recent weeks?”

“He wouldn't think that,” Brian said, knowing that he was right. If told in a nice way, Emmett would surely understand that Luke hated being coddled like that.

“Well, he wouldn't be the first to think so,” Luke muttered, his eyes widening in surprise at what he had said and the fact that he had said it out loud.

“I am sure that's not what Jenny meant,” Brian said after an uncomfortable silence had settled between them, not quite sure how much he should reveal to Luke about the conversation he had had with Jenny about their argument.

“Well, that's what she said,” Luke muttered, then crossed his arms as well. “But I don't want to talk about it.”

“She has a very different perspective to yours. You can't blame her for that... Just like she can't blame you for having a different perspective to hers. Your childhoods... your experiences... they can't be compared at all. I think it's hard to judge someone for reacting differently than one might have just because they have had a different background and different experiences in their lives so far.”

When Luke didn't reply anything, Brian turned to look at him from curious eyes. “Why did you come here today, Luke?”

“I told you, I wanted to ask you that question,” Luke muttered, but didn't meet his father's gaze when he spoke.

“I know your father already gave you an answer to that question. So why are you really here?” Brian asked, his voice gentle and probing, not annoyed or angry like it had been earlier when he had come into the office.

When Luke looked up in surprise, Brian couldn't help but chuckle at his son's reaction. “Yeah, believe it or not, sometimes we actually talk. He told me about your conversation last night.”

Luke nodded, knowing that he shouldn't really have been surprised by that. Other than that, he stayed quiet and didn't react to his father's statement.

“Luke,” Brian sighed, looking at his son from sad eyes. “If there is anything you want to say or ask me... you know you can.”

Once again Luke stayed quiet, not looking at his father, but at his foot that was resting on the pillow on the table. It was clear that he was struggling with something.

“I promise to give you an honest reply,” Brian added quietly, hoping that it would make his son say or ask whatever was on his mind.

“Would you have ever told me the truth if Jenny's mother hadn't shown up?” Luke asked after the longest pause, still not looking at his father.

“Yes,” Brian said honestly, looking at his son anyway as he replied. “Your Papa and I always knew that we would have to tell you the truth one day and we always intended to do it. Maybe not right now, not the way it happened now, but we always knew that one day we would tell you the truth.”

Luke nodded slowly, letting the answer sink in. “When would you have told me?”

Brian eyed Luke, then shook his head. “I don't know. We didn't have a specific date in mind or a deadline by which we would have told you. I guess... when the time had felt right.”

“There would never have been a right time,” Luke muttered.

“I guess not, but still you deserve to know the truth.”

“If Papa hadn't come back from New York when he did... would you have ever told me the truth?” Luke now turned to look at his father, staring at him from angry eyes.

To his credit Brian didn't flinch under his son's anger, just taking it all in, knowing that he deserved it and so much more. “Yes, I would have.”

“Really?”

Brian nodded. “Yes... I have always told you about your father. I always told you about him, what kind of person he was, where he was... You knew his name. You knew his mother, your Grandma Jen. I knew that when you got older, you would have questions and that me saying he was in New York working on his career wouldn't be enough of an answer anymore. I always knew that and I always swore to myself that I would tell you the truth if you asked. If you had been older and had wanted to meet your Papa... I would have tried to arrange that. I never kept his identity from you because I never intended for you not to know him.”

“Would you have told him? If I wouldn't have said anything?” Luke held Brian's gaze as he asked the question.

“I don't know,” Brian answered honestly. “Maybe... maybe not... I guess it would have depended on the circumstances. If he had stayed in New York, hadn't returned to Pittsburgh... It's hard to say because he came back when you were five and things unfolded then. I don't know how our lives would have turned out if he hadn't come back then. I honestly can't say.”

“Didn't you feel bad about what you had done? Didn't you feel bad about keeping the truth from him, knowing that he was out there, that I was here and he had no idea about my existence?”

“Honestly? Not in the beginning,” Brian admitted, looking at Luke from pained eyes. “I know it sounds horrible, but... I was so convinced I had made the only choice possible for all of us. I was so convinced that I had done the right thing for him, for you... No, I didn't feel bad about it, but then... you were born and I got to see you grow up, I got to see you become this incredible boy with his own personality and the more I loved you and got to spend time with you, the more I knew that your Papa was missing out on all of that because of me and... I knew he would hate me if he ever found out the truth. And yes, there were moments where I started to question my own choice, but... by that time too much time had passed already and the damage would have been done already, so it seemed easier to just let things play out as they were.” Brian ran a hand through his hair. “I know it's not what you wanted to hear, but it's the honest answer.”

Luke nodded. His dad was right, it wasn't what he had wanted to hear, but he also knew it was honest. “Did you really think not knowing Papa would be best for me?”

“Luke... it was never about not knowing your father. It was about trapping him in a life I felt he wasn't ready for. He was still so young and... being tied down with a family at that age when he hadn't even finished his education, hadn't built a portfolio as an artist... I felt like he would start to feel trapped one day and would start to hate both you and me for trapping him in a life he hadn't really wanted.”

“But... he said... he said he always wanted a family with you and that you knew,” Luke accused, glaring at his father.

“Yes and I thought that he was too young to know what he really wanted, that he was too inexperienced and too naive to be able to make that decision at that age. I thought that I knew better than he did what he wanted from his life and... it's turned out to be the biggest mistake I ever made in my life. I should have just trusted him but I didn't and only trusted my own, messed-up mind.”

“So you didn't even give him a choice.”

“No, I didn't. Because I was an idiot and an ass and thought that I knew better what he wanted in his life than he did...the moment he set eyes on you, the moment he realised who you were and the pain of that realisation appeared on his face... I knew how wrong I had been and Luke, you have to believe me... I have regretted that decision ever since.”

Luke didn't say anything for the longest time, just hung on to his own thoughts and Brian let him.

“What if he hadn't forgiven you?”

Brian shrugged as he looked at his son sadly. “I guess we would have tried to raise you the best we could anyway. From the very first day we tried to make you our priority. Every decision your Papa made, every decision I made... we tried to make with your and Gus' best interest at heart. I don't know if that would have been enough, but I guess we would have tried to make it work that way... “

“But he forgave you,” Luke pointed out, his voice strangely void of emotions.

“Yes and I had honestly never expected that to happen. I knew that what I had done had been unforgivable... I knew the amount of pain I had caused him and you as well... I knew how hard raising you together with me was for him, so... no one was more surprised than me when he forgave me and... no one felt more undeserving of that forgiveness than me.”

“Weren't you happy that he had forgiven you and you had gotten away with it?”

Brian met Luke's gaze and shook his head. “No, not really. I was well aware of my part in all of this and for the longest time I blamed myself more than your Papa blamed me. He had forgiven me, but I couldn't forgive myself knowing that I had caused the people I loved most in my life so much pain. I just couldn't move on from that guilt and blame and... it took us a long time to work through that.”

“It's why you went to therapy?”

“Yes,” Brian nodded. “It's the main reason we went to therapy, the main reason I went to therapy. I just couldn't forgive myself and couldn't understand why your father would ever consider forgiving me after what I had done. I didn't feel like I deserved that forgiveness and I didn't know how to deal with his forgiveness and the knowledge that he still seemed willing to love me even after everything I had done.”

“Papa said that... going to therapy helped you both move on from what had happened.”

“It did,” Brian agreed. “I don't think we would be here today if we hadn't gone to therapy then. If we hadn't learned to talk about everything that had happened and more importantly why it happened and how to move on from it. I don't think we would have ever had Vicky or would have ever gotten married if we hadn't worked through everything back then. No-holds-barred, total honesty. We put everything on the table then and learned to face it all and as a consequence we learned to move on from it.”

“So it all worked out in the end,” Luke pointed out quietly.

“Yeah, I guess it did, but... Luke, that doesn't mean that I still don't regret to this day what happened. Yes, your Papa and I moved on, yes we learned how to deal with our past and how not to let it affect us more than necessary, but that doesn't mean I still don't have regrets over what happened. This will always be the biggest regret of my life and knowing that I have hurt you, Gus and your Papa in this way... that will always stay with me,” Brian said seriously.

“What I don't get,” Luke said quietly, looking at his father from clouded eyes, “is how you got everyone to go along with this. Why didn't anyone tell Papa the truth? Why didn't anyone tell him what was going on? Why did they all go along with your idea? I mean... Grandma Jen is his mother, not yours!”

“I didn't really give your grandma a choice,” Brian said calmly, clearly hearing the anger in Luke's voice. “She disagreed with my decision and she wanted to tell your Papa what was going on and... I threatened to take you away and to move away with you to a place where she couldn't find us. In the end, even though she knew that what she was doing was wrong, she went along with it because it meant that she could at least be a part of your life and make sure that you were alright.”

“But... if you had done that and she would have told Papa... he would have had rights, wouldn't he?” Luke frowned, not sure he really understood.

“Yes, he would have, but at the time your grandma didn't think that far. I think she was just too scared to lose contact with her grandchild and maybe... deep down... she also felt that your Papa was too young to have a family... I don't know, you'll have to ask her. All I know is that she has also felt incredibly guilty about what has happened and it took her and your Papa a long time to move on from that and to learn to trust each other again.”

“I guess I get Grandma Debbie,” Luke said quietly. “She was always your surrogate mother and probably felt that her alliance should be with you and not Papa,” Luke mused only to be interrupted by his Dad.

“It's not that easy,” Brian said slowly. “She loved your Papa. She always did from the very first time she saw him. She felt responsible for him and loved him like he was another son. You know that he lived with her for some time when he was younger and they were always close. When she chose to keep my secret... it didn't have anything to do with her loving me more or her alliance lying with me and not your Papa.”

“Then why did she go along with it? Did she think you were right?” Luke asked angrily.

“It had to do with her own past,” Brian explained calmly. “When she got pregnant with her son... She never told the father either. She knew that they didn't have a future and that he didn't want to be tied down to a life in Pittsburgh, hell, that he didn't even want to be tied down to a life with a woman... She never told him that she was pregnant and having his child and when I was in that situation, she didn't feel like she had any right to judge me when she had done exactly the same to the father of her child.”

“What do you mean he didn't want to be tied down to a life with a woman?” Luke frowned, then his face started to show understanding. “Oh my God, she got pregnant by a gay man?”

“And a drag queen to boot,” Brian nodded.

Luke couldn't help himself and had to laugh. “Really? Only Grandma Deb would...And she didn't know?”

Brian shrugged. “I don't know all the details. Maybe she had a feeling that he wasn't really all that into her... maybe she knew that he was just trying to have sex with a woman to see if he would like it... In any case, she knew that he wasn't made for a life with a family in Pittsburgh.”

“But, if Papa lived with her and everything... she must have known that he wanted to have a family with you, right?” Luke frowned as he turned serious again.

“While she didn't do anything to stop our relationship, I don't think she was really all too happy about it either. I know she thought your Papa was too young for me and that I was a bad influence on him... I think she felt that he could do better than me and back then, I can't say that she would have been wrong...I guess she was happy enough while we were together, but she wasn't really sad either when your Papa moved to New York, away from me. I think back then your grandmas wouldn't have been too sad if he had found a nice 20-something student in New York and had started going out with him instead.”

“Because of the person you were back then?”

Brian nodded. “I am not going to lie to you, Luke. I was a bad influence on your father. Considering his age... considering my age... I can't blame them for having problems with our relationship and back then it wasn't even so much a relationship as me keeping him around because he was in love with me and I liked the attention. Or so they thought... I don't think they really understood our relationship and I don't blame them, I mean... we didn't and we were in it. It was a different time then, almost a different life. Things were not like they are now. Your Papa and I didn't have the same relationship we have now and I guess to people on the outside... it must have looked weird. And to be fair, we broke up not too long before he left for New York because he himself wasn't happy with our relationship or lack thereof.”

“Papa told me that he loved you even back then because he could see the real you, because he knew the person that you really were on the inside and... Emmett said that Papa always told him that you were different with him than you were with Emmett or your friends and that they just didn't know you as well as he did...”

“And I guess he was right,” Brian smiled benignly. “Your Papa could always see right through me. He always knew me better than anyone else, even people that had been in my life for twenty years at that point. He had this ability to see right through my bullshit and more than that, to call me out on it. And it scared me shitless.”

“Because you weren't ready to admit that you loved him?” Luke frowned.

“No, I wasn't... I knew that I cared about him and that he meant a lot to me, but I was scared shitless of how much and I thought if I admitted to him how much he really meant to me... it would only give him a chance to hurt me, that admitting that I loved him would make me weak. That's bullshit, but at the time... I didn't know better,” Brian admitted.

“Because of your childhood,” Luke stated more than asked. It was clear that he was putting together what everyone had told him so far.

“I had never known real love until I had met your father and Gus was born and then, when they both loved me... I didn't know how to deal with that... I was a different person back then, Luke and I had no idea about love because I had never experienced love in my life. Yes, I had friends, yes there were people who told me they loved me, but... those people... They always wanted something in return and it always felt like I only got their love if I did something for them in return and your Papa and Gus were the first people who loved me and didn't expect anything in return and I had no idea how to deal with that. It threw me and I was scared of it... Your Papa has the patience of a saint. He stayed with me even though I was that emotionally damaged and he just accepted it as a part of me. He never tried to change me even though I know he would have liked some changes, but he just loved me, accepted me as I was, all faults included and still loved me. I had no idea how to deal with that until much later...”

“When Gus and I lived with you?”

“Yes, that helped a lot because it taught me a lot about love and more importantly unconditional love, but it was also the time I went to see a therapist for the first time and that therapist really helped me work through some of my childhood trauma and some of the reasons why I was so scared of being loved and even more scared of loving back...”

“Have you ever confronted your parents about the way they raised you? About your childhood?” Luke asked, curiousity all over his face.

“My father passed away a long time ago when Gus was still a baby... And my mother... she's too caught up in her bible to really care what I think about her. She'd be too busy condemning me to hell for my sinful lifestyle than to even listen to a word I had to say to her,” Brian said quietly.

“Is that why we never met her?” Luke asked and saw his dad frown at him in confusion. “I mean, she is my grandma, isn't she?” He added.

“I guess, but... she's someone I wouldn't wish on anyone. You're better off not knowing her. Trust me,” Brian just muttered, looking around the room as he spoke. “She'd only throw bible verses at you, telling you about how your Papa and I are bound to go straight to hell for being gay and then she'd probably be dragging you to the next church to get you baptised right away and to pray for your soul.” Brian turned to look at Luke, meeting his gaze. “You're better off with the grandmas you have, believe me.”

Luke only nodded. “Sounds like it.”

A silence settled over the room and neither really knew what to say. It was Brian who broke the silence, his voice quiet and serious when he spoke next.

“Luke... Your Papa and I want to respect your wishes and... if you don't want to see us, we will respect that. I just hope that one day... we might be able to work through this, like your Papa and I worked through this and I want you to know... I'll do whatever I can to fix this for you. If there's anything I can do...just tell me and I will do it. I hate knowing that I have caused you pain and I hate knowing that I hurt you when all I ever wanted was for you to be happy and... if there's anything I can do to make this easier on you, you can tell me. And... if you think that maybe a therapist would help or... I don't know... talking to someone who knows more about this than we do... I won't say no. I will do whatever it takes to fix this.”

Luke looked at his father and saw the sincerity in his eyes. “I know, Dad. Thanks...”

Brian nodded, knowing that there wasn't much more he could offer at this point.

Another silence settled in the room and this time Luke broke it. “I should probably head off now. It's getting late and I still have homework to do...”

Brian nodded, getting up from his seat on the armrest. “Let me take you back to Emmett's.”

“I am fine, Dad.”

“You shouldn't be getting on a bus or into a taxi with that ankle of yours. I can just drop you off at his place.”

“Okay,” Luke acquiesced, seeing how important this seemed to his father. “But you really don't have to. I know you must be busy here.”

“Not too busy to drop you off at Emmett's,” Brian immediately responded, walking over to the coat rack next to the door and picking up his winter coat. “Never too busy for you,” he said quietly, his voice hardly louder than a whisper.

Luke had still heard him though and nodded slowly as he got his things. “Thanks, Dad.”

They made their way to the car and Brian headed in the direction of Emmett's place. Luke was silent and seemed deep in thought until he suddenly turned towards his father. “Do you think you can drop me off at Grandma Deb's instead?”

Brian frowned, but nodded. “Sure.”

He turned in the direction of Debbie's house at the next corner and heard Luke's quiet voice as he headed down the road towards her place.

“I think I should talk to Jenny... Apologise to her for our fight on Friday.”

“I am sure she would appreciate that,” Brian said, not quite sure what else he should say. Yes, he and Luke had talked, but he knew that it had just been a first conversation and they were still a long way from being back to their normal relationship and whatever was going on between Luke and Jenny was between them.

“Do you know if her mom has been in contact with her since then?” Luke asked, turning towards his father and looking at him from sad eyes.

“I don't think so. I know she left without another word on Friday. Ted tried to talk to her, but she wasn't really ready to have a conversation and when Jenny was over for family dinner on Sunday, she hadn't heard anything,” he replied honestly.

“That sucks...,” Luke muttered.

“Well, you don't know her mother,” Brian muttered, then turned serious immediately. “I know that despite what happened, Jenny still loves her mother and I am sure it's not easy for her to be ignored by her like this even though she is probably not surprised.”

“How can she care so little? She's Jenny's mother...”

“Some people should have never been parents... they will always care more about themselves than the well-being of their children,” Brian said quietly. “Which is unfair towards the children, because they never had a choice in the matter. They didn't get to decide if they wanted to be born into that family or not.”

Luke nodded, knowing that his father was right and also knowing that his father had most likely also been talking about his own family as well. He hadn't had a choice when he had been born into his family and had been raised by two alcoholics, one beating him, the other treating him with indifference and religious righteousness.

As they pulled up in front of Debbie's house, Luke turned towards his father. “Thanks, Dad!”

“It was just a short drive. Nothing to thank me for.”

“No, I mean for...,” Luke stopped, not really sure what he wanted to say. “Just thanks,” he then ended and Brian nodded, having understood even though Luke hadn't been able to put his emotions into words.

Brian had understood that Luke had thanked him for never having been a parent like that.

“Your Papa and I love you, Luke. No matter what, okay?”

Luke nodded, then got out of the car. He got his backpack from the backseat, then made his way up to the door.

Brian watched after him for a few seconds and when he saw him disappear into the house, he slowly drove off. “I love you, sonny boy.”