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“Dani, love, can you get that?” Henry calls out when the doorbell goes off. “That should be the pizza!”
“Yeah, dad!” Dani weaves her way through the crowded kitchen, heading towards the front door. She yanks the door open and comes to a sudden stop when she sees an old lady standing in front of her. “Uh, who are you?”
“Young lady, that is not how you speak to your elders, or anyone for that matter, and that is certainly not how you answer the door,” the lady frowns. “I’m looking for Henry or Beatrice Mountchristen-Windsor. Are they home?”
Dani’s eyebrows furrow. “Dad? I think some lady is here for you and aunt Bea,” she calls out. Turning her attention back to the lady at her door, she continues, “my dad’s last name is Fox, though.”
“Henry is your father? You’re far too old to be the child Beatrice gave her body up for.” The lady clears her throat, a clear look of disgust on her face. “Well, are you going to be polite and let me in or not?”
“No offense, lady, but I have no idea who you are. My little sister and little brother are in this house. I’m not letting a stranger in.”
“There’s three of you? Christ-”
“Gran?” Henry frowns as he walks up, immediately wrapping his arm around Dani’s waist. “What are you doing here? How did you even know where I lived?”
“I’ve known where you’ve lived since the first letter you wrote your mum,” Mary says boredly. “I came to see if I could talk some sense into any of you, but given how rude this child has been, I don’t believe you’ve changed at all.”
“Excuse you,” Dani scowls, taking a step forward, “don’t-”
“Dani, please,” Henry murmurs, pulling her back. “Can you please go find grandma and Pip, and send them my way?” He sighs softly as Dani walks away with a grumble.
“All of you are here?” Mary asks. She adjusts her purse on her arm as she shifts.
“We’re having a family game night, everybody is here including Alex’s sister and her girlfriend.”
“I’m family, am I not?”
Henry bites his tongue to keep himself from replying how he wants to. “Half the people in here don’t know who you are, Gran. My kids don’t know who you are, I’m not making them uncomfortable.”
“Nonsense.” Mary pushes forward, brushing Henry aside as she lets herself in. Philip is coming around the corner just as Mary makes it to the hallway. “Where’s Beatrice and Catherine?”
Philip’s jaw drops. “Uh- Bea is helping June and Cat finish the cookies, mum is helping get Artie ready for bed.”
Mary’s nose scrunches. “Artie? You named your child after your father?”
“Yes,” Henry says through gritted teeth, “why would I not?”
“Hmm.” Mary glances at the family photos as she walks down the hallway. She pauses at one of Henry and Alex, with all three children. “They’re rather dark, aren’t they?”
“Oh hell no.” Dani’s voice echoes from the kitchen, followed by the sound of skin slapping on skin. When Henry and Mary make it into the kitchen, Alex has his hand over Dani’s mouth.
“The mouth on that one is so vulgar,” Mary frowns. “Surely you’re teaching your children better than that, Henry, Mountchristen-Windors do not speak like that.”
“Good thing they aren’t Mountchristen-Windsors then,” Bea says without even looking up from the cookie tray. “They’re Fox-Claremont-Diazes. Christ, can you imagine if Henry hadn’t dropped the other names? Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor-Claremont-Diaz.”
“I would run away,” Dani says flatly, finally getting Alex’s hand off her mouth. “Three last names is already torture enough.”
“So does that mean if I take June and Nora’s last names in the adoption, and then we get married, our last name would be Fox-Claremont-Diaz-Holleran?” Jesse grins, placing a piece of cookie in Dani’s mouth. “The ceremony would take ages.”
“Just thinking about that gives me a headache.”
Alex flicks the back of Jesse’s head. “You are literally sixteen, quit talking about marriage.”
“I’ll be calling you dad before you know it,” Jesse shrugs.
“You already do.”
Mary clears her throat loudly. “I’d like to speak to my grandchildren, please.”
“And we’d like to have our family game night,” Henry snaps back. “I don’t know what you’re even doing here, Gran, nobody invited you.”
“Henry, I will visit my family whenever I deem necessary-”
“Gran, you haven’t contacted any of us in months, years even,” Philip interrupts her. “I was the last one you had a relationship with. You ruined that when you didn’t even care when Bea almost died. You almost lost a granddaughter, and your grandson almost lost his son, but you didn’t even care. You never even called to check if Bea was okay!”
“If Beatrice wants to throw away her body and her health for deviants-”
“Alright.” Alex claps his hands together as he steps forward. “That’s enough from you. You are not going to come into my home and treat my family like this. You’re rude, and you’re being blatantly racist and homophobic. Out of all the people in this kitchen right now, you and Philip are the only straight ones, so you’re very clearly outnumbered. There are also plenty of ‘dark’ people in this house, so maybe you’d be better off just leaving.”
Mary clutches her chest. “Henry, you’re going to let your- this man speak to me like this?”
“My husband, gran, and yes. It’s bad enough that Dani had to meet you, but I’m not letting you near my other children. My number hasn’t changed. If you’d like to meet at a neutral location, and you plan to be respectful, I will speak with you. But for now, get out of my house.”
“Let me be polite and show you the door,” Dani plasters a huge, fake smile on her face as she walks to the door. She holds the door open and gestures. “Have the night you deserve.” As soon as Mary is gone, Dani slams the door shut behind her. “What a bitch.”
“I can’t even chastise you for that one,” Henry sighs quietly. “I am so sorry, everybody. Never in a million years did I think she would show up here.”
“It’s not your fault, babe,” Alex murmurs, wrapping his arms around Henry’s waist. “Are you okay? I know you haven’t seen her in a while.”
“I’m okay.” Henry gives Alex a small smile. “Let’s just continue with our game night, yeah? We can have fun.”
Henry’s mood is off for the rest of the night, and everybody can tell. Despite his objections, Alex ends the game night much sooner than their previous nights have ended. Bea and Catherine offer to take the kids for the night. Dani goes home with Nora and June. As soon as everybody is gone, Henry can barely hold back his tears.
“I’m sorry for ruining our night,” he whispers. His voice cracks.
“Oh, baby, no.” Alex wraps his arms around Henry and pulls him close. “You didn’t ruin our night. That bitch did by showing up, knowing what she’s done to y’all.”
“I don’t even know why she showed up,” Henry mumbles. He lets Alex carry him upstairs to their room, dressing him in his pajamas. He waits for Alex to join him in bed before he continues talking. “She hasn’t spoken to me since the day before our wedding. She called me to tell me what a huge mistake I was making, and how I was ruining the Mountchristen-Windsor name. I reminded her that I had always been a Fox, even mum uses the name Fox. Only Philip used Mountchristen-Windsor. She was so furious with me for marrying you. She told me I was ruining my life by marrying a-a Mexican man-” he whimpers when Alex holds him a bit tighter, “-and caring for a daughter that wasn’t mine-” He breaks off with a small hiccup, burying his face in Alex’s neck. “I’m sorry I never told you.”
“Oh, baby, it’s okay, I understand,” Alex murmurs, rubbing Henry’s back. “I love you so much, and I’m so unbelievably grateful that you chose to marry me.”
“I knew from the moment I met you that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.” Henry kisses Alex’s neck gently. “I love you, Alex. I never want you to doubt my love for you.”
Alex leans back just enough to tilt Henry’s chin up. “Baby. I don’t care what she says- I don’t care what anybody says. I love you so much, and I know you love me. We don’t have to prove our love to anybody else- although I’m sure they all know with how gross we are sometimes,” he teases. He smiles when he hears Henry laugh quietly. “Let’s just get some rest, baby, we’ll be okay.”
-
Henry meets up with his grandmother at a park two days later. “I’m not coming back to London with you,” he says before she can even open her mouth. “I’m not leaving my family, and I’m not changing anything about my life.”
“Henry, be reasonable,” she sighs. “I could find you a nice woman to marry and you can have an acceptable family with actual children.”
“All three of my kids are actual children.” Henry has to clench his fists against the table. “Cat is biologically mine and Artie is biologically Bea’s. I’ve known Dani since she was barely five. She’s known me as her dad longer than she hasn’t. This is my family.”
“Henry.” Mary takes a sip of her tea. She looks bored, like having this conversation with Henry is something she doesn’t deem worth her time. “This is not how Mountchristen-Windsors live-”
“I’m not a fucking Mountchristen-Windsor!” he finally snaps. “My last name has always been Fox, and now it’s Fox-Claremont-Diaz. I don’t care if you don’t approve. I don’t need your approval and I don’t need you to like me. I need you to just leave me and my family the fuck alone!”
“How dare you speak to me this way!”
“I’ll speak to you however I please, you old, racist, homophobic hag.” Henry shoves himself away from the table and storms away. He waits until he’s far enough away from Mary before he finally wipes the tears off his face. He doesn’t go straight home. He walks around the neighborhood for a while, trying to clear his mind. His phone is on silent. Before he realizes it, the sun has gone down and he has seventeen missed calls from Alex.
“Fuck, Henry,” Alex breathes when Henry finally calls him back. “I was so worried about you. Are you okay? What happened?”
“I’ve just been walking,” Henry says quietly. “I-I don’t really know where I am right now. Are the kids with you?”
“No, no, June took them all for the night.” He can hear Alex moving around in the background. “Where are you? Send me your location, baby, I’m on my way. Can you just sit down wherever you are?”
Henry finds a bench and puts his phone on speaker so he can send Alex his pin. “I’m sorry I worried you. I just let my mind wander.”
“Don’t apologize, Hen, it’s okay.” The door shuts in the background. “Just stay on the phone with me, okay? It says you’re only about fifteen minutes away. I’ll be as fast as I can.”
“Be safe.” Henry pulls his knees up to his chest. It’s not terribly cold outside, but he doesn’t have a big jacket.
Alex jogs up exactly fifteen minutes later, immediately wrapping his arms around Henry. “Hey, baby, I’m here. You’re okay.” He takes Henry home and gets him dressed into comfortable pajamas, helping him into bed. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“We barely even talked,” Henry whispers. He clings to Alex, curled into his chest. “She wanted me to go back with her so she can find me a nice woman to have an ‘acceptable’ family. I snapped at her and called her an old hag.”
Alex snorts quietly. “Baby. I love you so much,” he murmurs. “You should just cut her off for good. I don’t think she’s good for your mental health. I’m sure Bea and Philip would support you doing that.”
“I know they would. I haven’t talked to her in years anyway, it’s just- I can’t believe she’s really trying to bring me down like this even after all these years. I’ve been out of the closet since I was sixteen.”
“She’s not worth it.” Alex tangles their legs together under the blanket. “We’ll have a movie night tomorrow with the kids, okay? I’ll order pizza and we’ll just have a nice family night.”
“That sounds perfect,” Henry smiles softly. “I love you, Alex. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You never have to find out, baby.”