WIANP Chapter 3
Walking Into A New Past Chapter 3
Okay, so this is where things start to get big
“Mark, listen to what I’m saying, you can’t be away for this much time, Foreman is going to notice, okay? And then who’s going to be punished? Me! The guy who brought you in! Me, me and me. No one else,” Pete said into his phone, the clinging of computer noises on the background as Pete hummed one of the songs of some underground band only he knew.
“I promise I’ll be back in a few days, Pete, I promise. I’ll do my best here,” Mark sighed.
“Shut up and come back,” Pete said and then hung up. Mark felt like throwing his cell phone on the wall and just watching it crash into a million pieces.
He couldn't stand Pete anymore, ever since Mark had started to feel weird he felt like Pete was just a useless lump in his dull life. He couldn’t be near Pete anymore, he felt like he needed to get away.
He got up and decided to do the thing he was there for in the first place. Mark took a cab from the hotel and in eight minutes time he was there again, at the DeLonge residence, looking at the house in front of him being bathed in the dark of the night.
Tom opened the door, but forced himself to don’t give a smile to Mark, he had an apron around his waist and the guy just looked silly.
“What are you doing?” Mark said trying not to laugh, and Tom finally smiled at that, “Why would you wear that?”
“April.”
“Right,” Mark said understanding.
“This time I’ll ask you to come in,” Tom said and fully opened the door for Mark to go in.
“Thank you,” Mark said as he walked into the house. Tom stared at him for a little while as he took time to take his jacket off “What?” He asked, tone confused.
“Nothing,” Tom shrugged “You took a little more time to come around now,”
Mark hadn’t seen them in two days, he had decided that he was freaking the two out a bit so he just waited a bit longer.
“And in a totally fucked up hour,”
“What time is it?” Mark asked
“Around seven,” Tom shrugged and started walking back to the kitchen while Mark followed him.
The kitchen was dirty and messy “Don’t care about the state of the place,” Tom said “It’s Tuesday, me and April do this ritual every Tuesday where I cook what she asks for and we sit in the garden and just eat while talking to each other,”
Mark laughed “What did she ask for today?”
“Ice cream,” He said, putting a ball of chocolate ice cream into a bowl that’s big enough for three families “And it’s entirely your fault.”
“Hey, I know how to pick the best food, okay?”
“Sure you do,” Tom chuckled “Remember that time we spent the day puking and with fever because of the shrimp you made me eat at that sleazy restaurant?”
“That” Mark pointed at Tom “was a beginner’s mistake, okay? I’m a pro now,” He said proudly “April likes the food I have chosen.” He pointed out as he pointed to the bowl Tom was preparing.
“I am making something special” Tom said “I’m putting cake here in the ice cream, some chocolate cereal flakes and syrup. Also made some cookies, chocolate chip, of course, she loves them”
“What kid doesn’t,” Mark snorted and Tom laughed, agreeing with him.
“Where is she?”
“At a friend’s house, the girl’s mom is going to drop her here at any minute now and I want to have this ready when she gets here,”
That was when the doorbell rang, Tom licked his thumb and went to open it, and soon he came back with April following him.
“Mark!” Her whole face lit up as she ran to hug him.
“April, how’s your arm?”
“Better,” She said moving it around, the fabric was nowhere to be seen then
“Can you join us for ice cream today?” April asked Mark with an eager voice.
“If your dad’s up for it, I’d love to” Mark answered and April smiled, giving Tom hopeful eyes.
Tom threw his hands up and said he was going to change upstairs and that Mark and April should set everything up in the backyard.
They do it as they talk to each other, Mark sits by April’s side by the sun chairs, even though it’s dark and there’s no sun. When Tom gets back he sits by April’s other side, making her sit in between them.
And they keep talking.
***
Mark only got back to the hotel after midnight.
The next morning Mark was right back where he was the night before. Tom opened the door with a coffee mug in his hand and his hair all messed up, he gave Mark a sleepy grin and let him in.
“You look like you just woke up,” Mark smiled.
“And you know how I look when I wake up?” Tom asked with a grin
“Oh” Mark laughed, “I do, trust me,”
“April has that PTA meeting today; you can’t stay for much time, okay?”
“Why can’t I go?” Mark pouted “I could make a good parent,” Tom froze for a bit and just stared at Mark, “What?”
“Nothing, nothing,” Tom breathed, taking his eyes off Mark and not even glancing at him again “You can go if you want. You… you really would make an awesome parent,”
“I’m sorry,” Mark, said “I didn’t mean it like that…”
“Like what?” Tom asked.
“Um, the baby… It felt like, Um…”
“Oh,” Tom said, realization kicking in. He frowned at Tom who just said “Yeah, I’m sorry too.”
April came down the stairs and Tom held her hand as they walked to the car and from the car to the school. The parking lot was full of other parent’s cars.
The kids would go to class normally and the parents would go to another place.
They left April in her class and went looking for the gym, where all the other parents were, “Do we have to go talk to the other parents? I hate old people,” Mark asked as Tom sat down.
“They’re just as old as you are, Mark,” Tom laughed “And I hate them too, but you can handle it, right?” Mark sighed when he saw a woman walking towards them “Be nice,” Tom shot before doing the greetings.
“Mark,” The woman tasted the words on her tongue. Mark decided she was pretty with her full lips and cheerful, friendly tone of conversation.
“You’re Tom’s friend, right?”
“Yes I am,” He laughed. “You are Gabrielle’s mom?”
“Renee, yes,” She giggled like Mark had just told her the joke of the century and he obviously felt flattered, she said her name again even if Tom had said it already. He looked at Tom who looked back at him with a fake smile, not knowing if he should smile happily or sadly, keeping it an in-between smile.
“Well, I will go talk to other parents now if you two let me,” Tom said and excused himself.
Renee sat in the spot Tom had left and Mark kept talking with her about Gabrielle and April. Renee told Mark how good friends the girls were and how they talk about the school and the teachers. She also chatted about how Brianna’s mom had just gotten a boob job, but he wasn’t supposed to tell that to anyone because apparently she went to an illegal doctor and a bunch of other crap he missed when he zoned out.
“But let’s not talk about that stuff anymore,” She said while taking a sip from her orange juice with her long whore nails covered in red polish gripping the plastic cup, “What about you? What do you do?”
“Well, I am unemployed right now,” Mark said even if he still had his job, something in the back of his head told him that he was going to lose it. Mark had to be back in Chapin by the next day and it wasn’t like he was in a hurry, “Single, unemployed and…” He drifted off; that was when he realized he had nothing to tell about his life, what was he going to say? “I don’t know,”
“You don’t know?” She asked him disbelievingly.
“I don’t know about a lot of things in my life right now…” Mark whispered.
He looked to the other side of the room where he saw Tom and another guy talking and laughing.
“I don’t think I even know half of it,” He said quietly and rolled his eyes at her hand that had just rested on his knee, though she didn’t see it.
“Are you having problems, Mark?” He looked at her, wanting to tell her to go fuck herself, but Mark felt a hand on his shoulder right on time, “Oh, hi Tom,” He said turning around, laughing a little.
“Hey, we're next,” Tom explained, face serious.
“For what?”
“For the meeting, the teachers want to talk to us now…”
“You want me to go?” Mark asked.
“Sure,” Tom chuckled “I thought you had said you were going to make an awesome parent”
Mark smiled and turned to Renee “Sorry, but I…”
“Yeah no, go ahead, I’ll be fine, ” She said with a dismissing hand.
“Okay,” Mark smiled and followed Tom to exit the room.
“Oh Mark, my friend” Tom laughed as soon as they hit the hallway “You are a precious one, aren’t you?”
“What were you talking about?” Mark asked a bit confused.
“Renee is like the whore mom,” Tom chuckled. “Her daughter is just a little plastic Barbie brat. The woman had sex with almost every parent that’s single.”
“Well, have you?” Mark asked.
“What?” Tom questioned and Mark raised his eyebrow, “If I had sex with her?” Tom asked to confirm and Mark nodded, “No, I haven’t for your information, though she tried … Oh and now they’re coming shh be quiet,”
Mark felt relieved at what Tom had said. He really did. Somehow it made things easier.
Tom and Mark sat down on the plastic chairs that were set for them while the teacher made the introductions. Mrs. Wilson started explaining what they both already knew: That April was the best of the class and how smart and intelligent she was, how her creativity was so advanced and all.
“Now Mr. DeLonge and Mr.…” Wilson gestured for Mark to talk.
“Hoppus, I’m a friend,” Mark smiled.
“I have noticed some abnormalities in April’s art work,” Wilson took out a few drawings from a case and showed them to Tom, Mark moved closer to take a look at the drawing of two guys and a little blonde girl. “A few days ago we asked the kids to draw their families and this is what we got from her. Until then we weren’t aware of Mr. Hoppus, but now that we’ve met you it is a little less awkward to ask this question,”
Mrs. Wilson made a chuckle to make the situation a bit more funny and Mark and Tom looked at the drawing and then at each other.
“It's not weird that she made this drawing,” Tom said while still looking at Mark, “She really likes you,” he continued and Mark flashed him a smile.
“I know,” Mark said as he looked back at the drawing once again.
When they left the conference they went to pick up April, who was finished class and in the room the parents were. Renee walked up to them instantly “What are you three doing now?” She asked at Mark.
“We're going home,” Tom said shortly and Mark gave him a look that said ‘Be polite’
It was fun to see Tom being on the short end of the stick now, wasn’t it?
“Where are you going?” Mark asked.
“I was thinking about taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheeses later this evening, that’s if you guys want to join us.”
“We’d love to!” Mark said cheerfully and he could see Tom rolling his eyes behind them.
“Tom has my number if you guys need anything,” She winked at Mark and walked away with her daughter holding her hand.
The ride home was silent, not even April said anything, and everyone just stayed quiet. When they arrived, Tom said he was going to get dinner ready so April went upstairs to her room.
“Hey Mark, give me a hand?” Tom asked for Mark to follow him into the kitchen.
“Yeah, sure,” Mark said and followed him. Tom had a hand on the counter; he was taking deep breaths and not looking at Mark. “Tom, is something wrong?”
“I don’t know,” Tom said sighing, “Maybe.”
“What is it? You’re scaring me,”
“I have something that needs to be told,” Tom said, “and it is well past the time for me to tell you this…"
“What is it?” Mark almost barked, but then Tom motioned for him to sit down at the table and he does as told, raising an eyebrow for Tom to tell him what was the secret.
“Remember when the teacher showed us her drawings of you, me and April?” Tom asked and Mark nodded “Yeah, I don’t know if this happened to you too, but I saw us… As a family, like the teacher said.”
Mark stopped for a few seconds to take in the words Tom was saying. He really felt like they were a family in those drawings too.
“It reminded me of that day in the hospital when our baby was… was with a tube down the throat and you were right to freak out back then because I remember I was all freaked out too, I still remember the accident and…”
“Tom…” Mark whispered
“Mark,” Tom interrupted him “Let me go on, please,” He said and Mark nodded, “I think you deserve to know the truth.”
“About what?”
“April”
Mark froze “Tom, what’s wrong with April? Are you hiding something from her?”
“I’m a terrible father, Mark,” Tom said while taking both hands to his face, hiding himself from Mark.
“Tom, what are you hiding?” Mark got up and faced Tom, putting both of his hands on Tom’s arms to bring them down so he could see the other one’s face.
Tom bit his lip and looked to the sides and God, Mark wasn’t this close to Tom since that time they had fought in the living room. Tom hugged him tightly and buried his face in Mark’s chest “You have to promise me something,” He whispered.
“What?” Mark asked as he hugged Tom back.
“You have to promise me and April that you won’t leave us now, okay?”
“Tom, you’re scaring me, tell me already!”
Tom stopped hugging Mark, but didn’t pull apart enough for them to not be connected. He looked into Mark’s eyes and stared as his features, Mark’s eyes, Mark’s lips and again the eyes and then he just simply whispered “You’re her father,”
Mark froze “What?” He managed to say “Don’t tell me you were… while I was…”
Mark couldn’t be April’s dad, he just couldn’t! It didn’t make sense, the pieces didn’t fit and they seemed to be dispersed all across the room. One piece here, and the bigger one a thousand miles away.
“No, not that,” Tom said a bit hurriedly, trying to clear Mark’s mind “That kid never died like you thought,” Tom whispered back and stared into Mark’s eyes as he stared back in his.
“But that kid was a boy…” Mark tried to explain, April wasn’t his kid, that little baby died, that was why he ran away, that was why he had spent the previous eight years away from the only guy he ever loved, that’s why… shit.
“That was what the exams said, but when she was born we were all so fussed about her problem that we could only take notice of her gender a few minutes after the doctor had zoned me out. And since she was in such awful state they only cared to say it after a few hours, when everyone could finally breathe,”
“But I ran away before I could even hear those things…” Mark whispered, wanting to punch himself, he disconnected his eyes from Tom’s and hung his head low, “I’m sorry,”
“For what? You did nothing,” Tom said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“That’s why,” Mark said, “I could’ve been happy during these years and you wouldn’t be a single parent,” Mark looked towards the stairs and then at Tom again, the lips, the eyes and the lips, finally the eyes again “Does she know?”
“No” Tom whispered “She… She had never even heard about you,”
“I…” Mark started to say “I have to go talk to her,”
“Sure,” Tom said, but besides Mark saying he would go, he doesn’t actually. He stayed for a little while and they just looked at each other, then Mark finally let go of him, heading towards the door of the kitchen.
April was sitting on the floor when she said Mark could come in. He opened the door and just stared at her with a smile on his lips, thinking how perfect she was and how she was all his, all Tom’s, she was his and Tom’s and that thought, that simple thought made him the most happy man in the world.
“The teacher said you were awesome,” Mark whispered while walking towards the little girl with small steps.
“Mrs. Wilson really said that?” She asked him, voice hopeful.
“Not with these words,” he said and April laughed, “But she meant it,”
“I don’t like Gabrielle,” April blurred out with a shake of her head while Mark took a seat beside her on the floor, “She thinks she’s so great because her mother says so,”
“What is this? You don’t want to go to Chuck E. Cheese?” Mark asked and April nodded “Well, I think her mother is nice,”
“Her mother is a whore,” April said quietly.
“April!” Mark exclaimed and she started giggling “Don’t ever say that again,” He pointed a finger at her.
“But she is!” April giggled again “And I still want to go to Chuck and Cheese because Quinn and Georgia are going to be there too, but they also don’t like Gabrielle,”
“They don’t like her for the same reason as you?” Mark asked and April nodded again “But if you’re still going you should go downstairs because your dad just made lunch and he’s waiting for us,”
“Okay” April said and Mark helped her getting up.
Okay, so this is where things start to get big
“Mark, listen to what I’m saying, you can’t be away for this much time, Foreman is going to notice, okay? And then who’s going to be punished? Me! The guy who brought you in! Me, me and me. No one else,” Pete said into his phone, the clinging of computer noises on the background as Pete hummed one of the songs of some underground band only he knew.
“I promise I’ll be back in a few days, Pete, I promise. I’ll do my best here,” Mark sighed.
“Shut up and come back,” Pete said and then hung up. Mark felt like throwing his cell phone on the wall and just watching it crash into a million pieces.
He couldn't stand Pete anymore, ever since Mark had started to feel weird he felt like Pete was just a useless lump in his dull life. He couldn’t be near Pete anymore, he felt like he needed to get away.
He got up and decided to do the thing he was there for in the first place. Mark took a cab from the hotel and in eight minutes time he was there again, at the DeLonge residence, looking at the house in front of him being bathed in the dark of the night.
Tom opened the door, but forced himself to don’t give a smile to Mark, he had an apron around his waist and the guy just looked silly.
“What are you doing?” Mark said trying not to laugh, and Tom finally smiled at that, “Why would you wear that?”
“April.”
“Right,” Mark said understanding.
“This time I’ll ask you to come in,” Tom said and fully opened the door for Mark to go in.
“Thank you,” Mark said as he walked into the house. Tom stared at him for a little while as he took time to take his jacket off “What?” He asked, tone confused.
“Nothing,” Tom shrugged “You took a little more time to come around now,”
Mark hadn’t seen them in two days, he had decided that he was freaking the two out a bit so he just waited a bit longer.
“And in a totally fucked up hour,”
“What time is it?” Mark asked
“Around seven,” Tom shrugged and started walking back to the kitchen while Mark followed him.
The kitchen was dirty and messy “Don’t care about the state of the place,” Tom said “It’s Tuesday, me and April do this ritual every Tuesday where I cook what she asks for and we sit in the garden and just eat while talking to each other,”
Mark laughed “What did she ask for today?”
“Ice cream,” He said, putting a ball of chocolate ice cream into a bowl that’s big enough for three families “And it’s entirely your fault.”
“Hey, I know how to pick the best food, okay?”
“Sure you do,” Tom chuckled “Remember that time we spent the day puking and with fever because of the shrimp you made me eat at that sleazy restaurant?”
“That” Mark pointed at Tom “was a beginner’s mistake, okay? I’m a pro now,” He said proudly “April likes the food I have chosen.” He pointed out as he pointed to the bowl Tom was preparing.
“I am making something special” Tom said “I’m putting cake here in the ice cream, some chocolate cereal flakes and syrup. Also made some cookies, chocolate chip, of course, she loves them”
“What kid doesn’t,” Mark snorted and Tom laughed, agreeing with him.
“Where is she?”
“At a friend’s house, the girl’s mom is going to drop her here at any minute now and I want to have this ready when she gets here,”
That was when the doorbell rang, Tom licked his thumb and went to open it, and soon he came back with April following him.
“Mark!” Her whole face lit up as she ran to hug him.
“April, how’s your arm?”
“Better,” She said moving it around, the fabric was nowhere to be seen then
“Can you join us for ice cream today?” April asked Mark with an eager voice.
“If your dad’s up for it, I’d love to” Mark answered and April smiled, giving Tom hopeful eyes.
Tom threw his hands up and said he was going to change upstairs and that Mark and April should set everything up in the backyard.
They do it as they talk to each other, Mark sits by April’s side by the sun chairs, even though it’s dark and there’s no sun. When Tom gets back he sits by April’s other side, making her sit in between them.
And they keep talking.
***
Mark only got back to the hotel after midnight.
The next morning Mark was right back where he was the night before. Tom opened the door with a coffee mug in his hand and his hair all messed up, he gave Mark a sleepy grin and let him in.
“You look like you just woke up,” Mark smiled.
“And you know how I look when I wake up?” Tom asked with a grin
“Oh” Mark laughed, “I do, trust me,”
“April has that PTA meeting today; you can’t stay for much time, okay?”
“Why can’t I go?” Mark pouted “I could make a good parent,” Tom froze for a bit and just stared at Mark, “What?”
“Nothing, nothing,” Tom breathed, taking his eyes off Mark and not even glancing at him again “You can go if you want. You… you really would make an awesome parent,”
“I’m sorry,” Mark, said “I didn’t mean it like that…”
“Like what?” Tom asked.
“Um, the baby… It felt like, Um…”
“Oh,” Tom said, realization kicking in. He frowned at Tom who just said “Yeah, I’m sorry too.”
April came down the stairs and Tom held her hand as they walked to the car and from the car to the school. The parking lot was full of other parent’s cars.
The kids would go to class normally and the parents would go to another place.
They left April in her class and went looking for the gym, where all the other parents were, “Do we have to go talk to the other parents? I hate old people,” Mark asked as Tom sat down.
“They’re just as old as you are, Mark,” Tom laughed “And I hate them too, but you can handle it, right?” Mark sighed when he saw a woman walking towards them “Be nice,” Tom shot before doing the greetings.
“Mark,” The woman tasted the words on her tongue. Mark decided she was pretty with her full lips and cheerful, friendly tone of conversation.
“You’re Tom’s friend, right?”
“Yes I am,” He laughed. “You are Gabrielle’s mom?”
“Renee, yes,” She giggled like Mark had just told her the joke of the century and he obviously felt flattered, she said her name again even if Tom had said it already. He looked at Tom who looked back at him with a fake smile, not knowing if he should smile happily or sadly, keeping it an in-between smile.
“Well, I will go talk to other parents now if you two let me,” Tom said and excused himself.
Renee sat in the spot Tom had left and Mark kept talking with her about Gabrielle and April. Renee told Mark how good friends the girls were and how they talk about the school and the teachers. She also chatted about how Brianna’s mom had just gotten a boob job, but he wasn’t supposed to tell that to anyone because apparently she went to an illegal doctor and a bunch of other crap he missed when he zoned out.
“But let’s not talk about that stuff anymore,” She said while taking a sip from her orange juice with her long whore nails covered in red polish gripping the plastic cup, “What about you? What do you do?”
“Well, I am unemployed right now,” Mark said even if he still had his job, something in the back of his head told him that he was going to lose it. Mark had to be back in Chapin by the next day and it wasn’t like he was in a hurry, “Single, unemployed and…” He drifted off; that was when he realized he had nothing to tell about his life, what was he going to say? “I don’t know,”
“You don’t know?” She asked him disbelievingly.
“I don’t know about a lot of things in my life right now…” Mark whispered.
He looked to the other side of the room where he saw Tom and another guy talking and laughing.
“I don’t think I even know half of it,” He said quietly and rolled his eyes at her hand that had just rested on his knee, though she didn’t see it.
“Are you having problems, Mark?” He looked at her, wanting to tell her to go fuck herself, but Mark felt a hand on his shoulder right on time, “Oh, hi Tom,” He said turning around, laughing a little.
“Hey, we're next,” Tom explained, face serious.
“For what?”
“For the meeting, the teachers want to talk to us now…”
“You want me to go?” Mark asked.
“Sure,” Tom chuckled “I thought you had said you were going to make an awesome parent”
Mark smiled and turned to Renee “Sorry, but I…”
“Yeah no, go ahead, I’ll be fine, ” She said with a dismissing hand.
“Okay,” Mark smiled and followed Tom to exit the room.
“Oh Mark, my friend” Tom laughed as soon as they hit the hallway “You are a precious one, aren’t you?”
“What were you talking about?” Mark asked a bit confused.
“Renee is like the whore mom,” Tom chuckled. “Her daughter is just a little plastic Barbie brat. The woman had sex with almost every parent that’s single.”
“Well, have you?” Mark asked.
“What?” Tom questioned and Mark raised his eyebrow, “If I had sex with her?” Tom asked to confirm and Mark nodded, “No, I haven’t for your information, though she tried … Oh and now they’re coming shh be quiet,”
Mark felt relieved at what Tom had said. He really did. Somehow it made things easier.
Tom and Mark sat down on the plastic chairs that were set for them while the teacher made the introductions. Mrs. Wilson started explaining what they both already knew: That April was the best of the class and how smart and intelligent she was, how her creativity was so advanced and all.
“Now Mr. DeLonge and Mr.…” Wilson gestured for Mark to talk.
“Hoppus, I’m a friend,” Mark smiled.
“I have noticed some abnormalities in April’s art work,” Wilson took out a few drawings from a case and showed them to Tom, Mark moved closer to take a look at the drawing of two guys and a little blonde girl. “A few days ago we asked the kids to draw their families and this is what we got from her. Until then we weren’t aware of Mr. Hoppus, but now that we’ve met you it is a little less awkward to ask this question,”
Mrs. Wilson made a chuckle to make the situation a bit more funny and Mark and Tom looked at the drawing and then at each other.
“It's not weird that she made this drawing,” Tom said while still looking at Mark, “She really likes you,” he continued and Mark flashed him a smile.
“I know,” Mark said as he looked back at the drawing once again.
When they left the conference they went to pick up April, who was finished class and in the room the parents were. Renee walked up to them instantly “What are you three doing now?” She asked at Mark.
“We're going home,” Tom said shortly and Mark gave him a look that said ‘Be polite’
It was fun to see Tom being on the short end of the stick now, wasn’t it?
“Where are you going?” Mark asked.
“I was thinking about taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheeses later this evening, that’s if you guys want to join us.”
“We’d love to!” Mark said cheerfully and he could see Tom rolling his eyes behind them.
“Tom has my number if you guys need anything,” She winked at Mark and walked away with her daughter holding her hand.
The ride home was silent, not even April said anything, and everyone just stayed quiet. When they arrived, Tom said he was going to get dinner ready so April went upstairs to her room.
“Hey Mark, give me a hand?” Tom asked for Mark to follow him into the kitchen.
“Yeah, sure,” Mark said and followed him. Tom had a hand on the counter; he was taking deep breaths and not looking at Mark. “Tom, is something wrong?”
“I don’t know,” Tom said sighing, “Maybe.”
“What is it? You’re scaring me,”
“I have something that needs to be told,” Tom said, “and it is well past the time for me to tell you this…"
“What is it?” Mark almost barked, but then Tom motioned for him to sit down at the table and he does as told, raising an eyebrow for Tom to tell him what was the secret.
“Remember when the teacher showed us her drawings of you, me and April?” Tom asked and Mark nodded “Yeah, I don’t know if this happened to you too, but I saw us… As a family, like the teacher said.”
Mark stopped for a few seconds to take in the words Tom was saying. He really felt like they were a family in those drawings too.
“It reminded me of that day in the hospital when our baby was… was with a tube down the throat and you were right to freak out back then because I remember I was all freaked out too, I still remember the accident and…”
“Tom…” Mark whispered
“Mark,” Tom interrupted him “Let me go on, please,” He said and Mark nodded, “I think you deserve to know the truth.”
“About what?”
“April”
Mark froze “Tom, what’s wrong with April? Are you hiding something from her?”
“I’m a terrible father, Mark,” Tom said while taking both hands to his face, hiding himself from Mark.
“Tom, what are you hiding?” Mark got up and faced Tom, putting both of his hands on Tom’s arms to bring them down so he could see the other one’s face.
Tom bit his lip and looked to the sides and God, Mark wasn’t this close to Tom since that time they had fought in the living room. Tom hugged him tightly and buried his face in Mark’s chest “You have to promise me something,” He whispered.
“What?” Mark asked as he hugged Tom back.
“You have to promise me and April that you won’t leave us now, okay?”
“Tom, you’re scaring me, tell me already!”
Tom stopped hugging Mark, but didn’t pull apart enough for them to not be connected. He looked into Mark’s eyes and stared as his features, Mark’s eyes, Mark’s lips and again the eyes and then he just simply whispered “You’re her father,”
Mark froze “What?” He managed to say “Don’t tell me you were… while I was…”
Mark couldn’t be April’s dad, he just couldn’t! It didn’t make sense, the pieces didn’t fit and they seemed to be dispersed all across the room. One piece here, and the bigger one a thousand miles away.
“No, not that,” Tom said a bit hurriedly, trying to clear Mark’s mind “That kid never died like you thought,” Tom whispered back and stared into Mark’s eyes as he stared back in his.
“But that kid was a boy…” Mark tried to explain, April wasn’t his kid, that little baby died, that was why he ran away, that was why he had spent the previous eight years away from the only guy he ever loved, that’s why… shit.
“That was what the exams said, but when she was born we were all so fussed about her problem that we could only take notice of her gender a few minutes after the doctor had zoned me out. And since she was in such awful state they only cared to say it after a few hours, when everyone could finally breathe,”
“But I ran away before I could even hear those things…” Mark whispered, wanting to punch himself, he disconnected his eyes from Tom’s and hung his head low, “I’m sorry,”
“For what? You did nothing,” Tom said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“That’s why,” Mark said, “I could’ve been happy during these years and you wouldn’t be a single parent,” Mark looked towards the stairs and then at Tom again, the lips, the eyes and the lips, finally the eyes again “Does she know?”
“No” Tom whispered “She… She had never even heard about you,”
“I…” Mark started to say “I have to go talk to her,”
“Sure,” Tom said, but besides Mark saying he would go, he doesn’t actually. He stayed for a little while and they just looked at each other, then Mark finally let go of him, heading towards the door of the kitchen.
April was sitting on the floor when she said Mark could come in. He opened the door and just stared at her with a smile on his lips, thinking how perfect she was and how she was all his, all Tom’s, she was his and Tom’s and that thought, that simple thought made him the most happy man in the world.
“The teacher said you were awesome,” Mark whispered while walking towards the little girl with small steps.
“Mrs. Wilson really said that?” She asked him, voice hopeful.
“Not with these words,” he said and April laughed, “But she meant it,”
“I don’t like Gabrielle,” April blurred out with a shake of her head while Mark took a seat beside her on the floor, “She thinks she’s so great because her mother says so,”
“What is this? You don’t want to go to Chuck E. Cheese?” Mark asked and April nodded “Well, I think her mother is nice,”
“Her mother is a whore,” April said quietly.
“April!” Mark exclaimed and she started giggling “Don’t ever say that again,” He pointed a finger at her.
“But she is!” April giggled again “And I still want to go to Chuck and Cheese because Quinn and Georgia are going to be there too, but they also don’t like Gabrielle,”
“They don’t like her for the same reason as you?” Mark asked and April nodded again “But if you’re still going you should go downstairs because your dad just made lunch and he’s waiting for us,”
“Okay” April said and Mark helped her getting up.