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Rue is thirteen now, and with that comes first boyfriends. So when they came home begging for a ride to the local bowling alley, Nico agreed but only under that promise that they’d bring this kid for dinner.
Today was the day. Will was busy cleaning while Nico made a lasagna from scratch. There was much less food to make and house to clean now that the twins and Polly have permanently moved out.
As Will finishes setting the table (only setting up four spots) Rue walks down. They’d let their hair grow out and it was perfectly curled. It appears that they’d ransacked Maria’s old closet and had picked out a wine-colored dress. The dress flared around the waist, had thin straps, and only went halfway to the knee, something Rue would never normally wear.
All of this plus their full face of feminine-leaning makeup sets Will’s parental instincts off. Rue never dresses up feminine like this, and they look uncomfortable.
Will walks to his child, “Rue, you look very handsome.” Will figures that he should support his child no matter what. Even if they look like they want to tear their skin off.
Rue looks down, shuffling their feet, “it’s pretty dad. Not handsome.” Apparently Nico heard that, because he peeks his head out from the kitchen and gives Will a look that could only mean ‘what the fuck.’
Rue had been going by gender-neutral and occasionally masculine terms for four years now. Will would be totally in support of Rue exploring their gender if they didn’t appear to be so uneasy.
Will was about to speak before his child interrupts him. “No. I do not want to talk. I’m a girl,” Rue winces as they talk, “and that’s how I should be. End of story.” Rue storms off to the living room, instantly grabbing a blanket and covering themself up.
Will shares a look with his husband and they meet in the kitchen. “Will, are they okay? This isn’t normal for them and did you hear the way they talked about themself? It wasn’t something we said right? Are we bad parents?”
Will places his hands on Nico’s shoulders, “Hon, maybe it’s their hormones? We can talk to them later because Jonas is going to be here soon and-“ just then the doorbell rings. Will releases his husband and goes to greet the kid at the door, but it seems like his child beat him there.
He sees Jonas hug Rue. His hands rubbing all over their exposed shoulders making them tense.
Will decides to intervene, “hello Jonas, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He tries to be as intimidating as possible without seeming like he’s treating his child as property. It seems to work as he startles the kid, causing Jonas to jump back.
Jonas eyes Will up and down, brushing past him. “Ruella, what did your mom make for me?” He barks, plopping himself down on the couch, shoes still on.
Now Will wasn’t a strict parent, but this boy was just plain disrespectful. “Jonas we ask that we take our shoes off in the house, and to answer your question my husband has made lasagna.”
Jonas’s eyes widen in shock, but he quickly looks down when met with Will’s glare. “Rue, honey, why don’t you show Jonas to the dining room?”
Rue and Jonas shuffle out, Jonas’s shoes still on his feet. Gods if that boy dirties their rugs there’s going to be a problem.
~~~~~~
Dinner went badly if you would have asked Will. Every question the parents asked the boy was answered with a scoff or a half-hearted response. Not to mention the boy kept touching his child (unwanted by Rue, he’s not a prude,) and used obviously feminine language to describe them. Will was furious.
Jonas left shortly after he ate, not stopping to help clean up or thank Nico and Will for having him over. Rue saw him off and told him they’d see him later, yet once the boy was out the door, Rue rushed upstairs and hid themself in their room. That left Nico and Will to clean up dinner, which was mostly Will protesting how he should clean since Nico cooked and Nico trying to sneak around his husband in an attempt to help out.
After the couple had finished cleaning up dinner they decided to go upstairs to check on Rue. As Will reached the top he heard faint sniffling; sharing a look of concern with his husband, they both rushed to Rue’s room.
Nico knocks on their door, “Rue, honey, can we come in?”
Will, expecting to get an angsty ‘go away dad!’ Was surprised when Rue let out a faint, “come in.” The couple obliged, opening the door and softly shutting it behind them.
The second the parents sit on the bed, Rue bursts out into sobs. Nico holds his arms out for his child, who instantly collapses into them.
Nico and Will give each other a look before going into Parent-Mode. Nico starts rocking his kid back and forth, while Will rubs their back, whispering reassurances.
~~~~~~
After the whole debacle, Nico was fuming. “How dare he talk about my child like that? The balls of that boy. Rue is never dating again! I’m not going to let anyone hurt my baby again. I’m going to talk to my father, once he hears-”
“Nico.”
Nico stops his ramble, looking at his husband. “But Will! You cannot tell me I’m being unreasonable!”
Will sighs, “Nico, I don’t disagree with you, well except for the dating part, but we can’t fight their battles for them. Would I totally murder that boy for hurting my child? Yes, one-hundred-percent. But that wouldn’t be right. The boy’s only thirteen, and Rue needs to learn which relationships are healthy and which are red flags. Sometimes that can only be learned from experience. Not everyone meets their soulmate at ten.”
Nico listens to his husband intently before sighing and letting his shoulders slump. “Fine. You’re right. Once again. You’re perfect at this stuff.”
Will walks to Nico, wrapping his hands around his husband’s waist. “I’m not always right, or perfect, I’m just less impulsive in emotional situations.” Will looks down at his and Nico’s socked feet. “Unless it’s you, then all rationality goes out the window.”