[Samuel x Roman]

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"Because..." Samuel said with some hesitation, glancing at Roman for some support. All the kids were looking at him now, with much anticipation, wanting to finally know who Sebastian was, "Because Sebastian is family as well,"

"he is?" Stella said, sounding both surprised and confused, "but... Like, how?"

"Well, technically he's your uncle," Samuel said carefully, kind of procrastinating saying the full explanation even if it only was for a couple of seconds, "and my brother, half-brother. But the reason we had to wait to tell you is that it's on my dad's side, my biological dad not your Abuelo, which makes things a little complicated."

Once that was revealed a deep scowl appeared on Stella's face and Eden looked worried. These children had not forgotten what their fathers had told them about Manuel years ago it seemed.

"But it's still a family matter, so we wanted to talk to you guys about it. Sebastian has two siblings, they are all you age, I think I want to get to know them, but Sebastian is interested in getting to know you guys as well. And we want to know how you would feel about that,"
 
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There was some silence as the kids seemed to consider what their papa was offering. A chance to get to know new family members, two uncles and an aunt. Roman had no doubt that these kids loved London, Evan, Brooklyn and Chelsea, and that they were content with the aunts and uncles they already had. But they were curious and compassionate children -- the idea of getting to know new family members was surely very appealing to them.

"But ... but he hurt you, Papa," Harper said, his tone serious. Too serious for a thirteen-year-old -- Roman wished his son didn't have to think so rationally about such terrible things. "Why would you want to be near someone who hurt you?"

"Well ... people can change, Harper," Roman said. "That's not an excuse for what he did to Papa in the past. But it could mean he's willing to make up for what he did, to make things right. I'm not promising that, but it's a possibility."

Roman sighed and rubbed his husband's knee under the table. "But even so, it's not about Papa's biological dad, it's about Sebastian and his brother and sister, and it's about them getting to know us. Would you guys maybe want to do that?"
 
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"I don't know..." Stella said with some hesitation, she glanced at Eden who seemed unsure as well, and then towards Harper who was the oldest and all the siblings tended to look at for reasoning.

"Well, it's really important that we remember that Sebastian, Julia and Tomas aren't the same people as their dad," Samuel tried to make them understand. "So try not to think about him in this scenario, it's just about getting to know your aunt and uncles,"

"But he could give you PTSD, how can we not think about him?" Stella said, almost sternly, as if she was lecturing her own dad on what was healthy for him. He loved that the kids were so caring and loving that they felt concerned, but he hated that they had to feel scared Samuel would end up flashbacking.

"Yeah okay, that's fair enough, I know we can't think him away completely, but I have thought a lot about this, and I am not going to rush into something here, I'll take my time to make sure I can handle it, and I know I have yours and Daddy's support so I truly believe I'll be okay," Samuel told his daughter with a soft smile to reassure her, "And it's like daddy says, people change. We can't know what he's like yet, but he seems to be treating these kids well, so hopefully things will be easier. And that's why I think we should just focus on the kids right now,"

He didn't want the kids to walk around and worry about Manuel. That was Samuel's thing to try to figure out. It was going to be scary, but he didn't want to let it affect the decision, he didn't want it to be able to control his life to that point.

"...Are they nice?" Eden asked carefully, actually doing what Samuel had asked and focused on the kids, "I know they aren't the same people as him and I know you're nice Papa. But if their dad isn't a good person they might not be..."

"Well we don't know for sure but Sebastian was really sweet when he came over?" Samuel turned to Roman so that both of them could confirm it, "right?"
 
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Their kids were honestly the sweetest in the world, and Roman felt so blessed to have them. They were so caring and compassionate and loving. They felt concerned when they didn't need to be, they were putting their father's feelings before their own unlike so many other kids. But he wished they didn't have to feel that concern. He wished they didn't have to worry about their parents' mental health.

"Right," Roman affirmed with a nod of his head. "When we met Sebastian he was nothing but nice and polite, and he really wanted to meet you guys as well."

"He did?" Letha asked, her angelic little eyes wide open.

"Yep, he did," Roman confirmed. "He was a very nice boy. And he risked getting in trouble to come all the way here just to meet is family members."

"Well ..." said Harper, uncertain, "I don't think I would mind meeting him and the other two. But I'm not sure about their dad."
 
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Samuel nodded at Harper's concern. He felt exactly the same. For him, it wasn't really an option, but the kids they could actually protect from him. It would definitely be easier if they didn't have to keep the kids from Manuel, but if they needed to Samuel would make sure they would never see him save for in the small number of photos of him that was available to them in Susan's old photo albums

"Well, your dad and I have talked a lot about it, and for now the two of us are going to talk to him first, and just see where we're at with him, and how okay he is with us getting to know his kids," Samuel said, because they didn't really know that yet. They might get a hard no from him, and then Samuel wasn't going to argue much. He wanted to get to know his siblings but he knew he couldn't take arguing with his father, "But I'm going to be honest and say that I don't want him near you right now. Not until we have gotten a chance to talk to him,"

Manuel might not be treating Sebastian, Julia and Tomas bad, at least to their knowledge, but that really said nothing about the precious and sweet children sitting there at the table. Because Harper, Stella, Eden and Letha were Samuel and Roman's children. And he clearly hadn't had any issues mistreating either of them in the past, and that meant he might do the same to their kids.

"If there's any chance that you being around him isn't safe we'd never put you in a situation where you have to be near him and we'd try to make sure we can meet Sebastian and his siblings without him there. But if we see that he has changed we can sit down and discuss things again and see how we all feel about it then," Samuel figured this was the safest way to do it, and the kids would get a second chance to make up their mind, because Samuel wasn't going to force them to see someone they might be scared off no matter how much the man had changed, "Does that sound okay?"
 
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"Yeah, I think that that sounds good," Harper affirmed with a nod of his head. Then, always diplomatic, he looked to his siblings to see what they thought. Roman did the same, because even if Harper was the eldest, the other kids deserved to have their opinions voiced as well.

"I like that idea," Letha said, nodding along too.

Once they had gotten affirmation from the twins as well, Roman nodded and got up to give all his kids a kiss to the tops of their soft heads. "You guys are amazing. How about you finish your snacks and go watch a movie, and Papa and I will go upstairs and talk a little more?"

And so, Roman took his husband upstairs, to their bedroom. He sat down on the bed and then pulled his husband into his lap, and he wrapped his arms around him tightly. "I'm so proud of you," he said for the millionth time. He didn't know when that would ever not be the case.

"...I think we should call him. Get things underway."
 
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Samuel was happy things went well with the kids, he hadn't known what to expect really. Nothing bad because they were all very understanding children, but it really was a complicated situation so they could have reacted, however. And now they got a chance to discuss it amongst themselves while he and Roman were upstairs, which was a good thing. Samuel liked the idea of the kids processing things on their own terms as long as they felt comfortable to talk to him or Roman if they needed it.

But now Samuel needed Roman. He snuggled into his chest a little and sighed, "yeah, I mean we gotta do it sooner or later, I guess," he really didn't want to do this. Every fibre of his body said no. But they had to. Honestly, even if Samuel had had no intentions of building a relationship with his siblings he would have had to call, if only to let Sebastian know.

Samuel got his phone from his pocket and made no effort to move from Roman's lap, if anything he sat closer as he dialled the number he had gotten Sebastian to text him. He had not put it in his contacts, and wasn't sure he ever would. He sat with his phone in his hand for what was probably ten minutes, leaning his head against Roman's chest to calm himself, before he finally pressed call. The phone rung for a while before anyone picked up, "Manuel Ortega, who am I talking to,"

Samuel was quiet as he built up the courage to speak, but not long enough for his father to hang up or ask what was going on, "It's Samuel,"

"oh,"

"A-and Roman. He's here too. You're on speaker," Samuel glanced at Roman silently requesting for him to say hello or just anything. Both because he felt safer if his father knew someone else was there to listen and because he desperately wanted something to fill the silence with as he tried to calm himself down a little.
 
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Roman let Samuel just sit there for as long as he needed to, not complaining whatsoever, because it was important he was as calm as possible before making the call. Even when Samuel eventually did make the call, Roman continued to loyally hold him, never wavering in support.

"Hi, Manuel," Roman said without hesitation. It felt so weird to be polite to this man, considering all the unforgivable shit he had done over the years. But it wouldn't get them anywhere to be rude to one another.

Roman looked up at Samuel, gave him a reassuring look, and then a soft kiss to the cheek. Then, he turned back to the phone. "So, um, we've been thinking, and we've had a talk with our kids, and ... well, Samuel and the kids would like to get to know Sebastian and his siblings a little better."

Roman deliberately left his own name out of that comment, but of course, it went without saying that he would be there. "Of course, it's up to you, but we'd also like to get together and just talk things over at some point. It'd help ... well, not fix things, but it would help us all work things out and hopefully set us on the right track."
 
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"I... I had a talk with Sebastian as well, he wants to get to know you. I haven't talked to the younger ones yet. And I told Sebastian that I didn't believe you would actually want to have contact with our family," Samuel's heart dropped at that, because to him it sounded like his father didn't want his children to associate with them, but he was still blaming it on them. But it seemed like Samuel was completely wrong, "He'll be happy to know I was wrong," Samuel's eyes got wide. He had almost expected this whole thing to be shut down by his dad out of principle, but it seemed like he was willing to let it happen.

"When you say talk things over... Who...?" Manuel continued.

"You, me and Roman," Samuel said, he still sounded a little shaky, but slowly he was getting used to the idea of talking to his father again, "We just need to talk this over properly, decide what this all mean. And if you are going to be involved in my family's life in any way, even if you don't even meet the kids, I need to talk to you first...Because I don't trust you," his voice broke a little at that final part, he needed his father to know that even if it meant kind of revealing he was still scared of him,

"I don't blame you," Manuel said. Samuel didn't ever think that was the response he would get. But it was. His father did sound kind of tired as he said it, Samuel wasn't sure how to place that, maybe it was because of regret, maybe it was because he knew he had to deal with past mistakes, "We can meet in public if that's better,"

"N-no.. No I..." Samuel did not want to meet in public, he knew the risk of him flashbacking was there so it just wasn't an option. But he also couldn't explain that to his father, "At our place is better. When the kids aren't home. We'll inform friends who can help if something happens,"

"Okay... Nothing will happen, we'll just talk. I promise, I..." The uncertainty in the man's voice was so unfamiliar to Samuel, even when he hadn't had any idea about what he was talking about, "If you don't trust me for your own sake, know that I wouldn't do anything for Sebastian's sake, this means something to him. But I... I have one condition for this all to happen,"

"what?" Samuel asked, almost scared to hear because he had no idea what it was, and the last couple of conditions his father had given him involved giving up Roman.

"Don't... Don't tell the kids about the past. About, prison and you and... And all that." He was dancing around what he actually meant but Samuel knew he meant the abuse. He honestly didn't feel like Manuel deserved to keep it a secret, but he also didn't want to ruin Sebastian and the two other's view of their father if they were having a good life.

"I won't" Samuel said, his voice small, "I promise," he looked over at Roman to urge him to answer as well, because he couldn't talk for him on this one.
 
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Roman scowled at the phone. He was incredibly glad that Manuel seemed willing to talk, and that he seemed understanding of what he had actually done to his son and why Samuel was reacting in the way that he was to this whole thing. But what he didn't like was the idea that they had to keep the truth from those three kids. Manuel didn't deserve to live this amazing blessed life with three innocent children in his care when he had abused his first son and completely took for granted his entire existence. He simply did not deserve that happiness.

But those kids didn't deserve to have their own happiness ruined. "Okay, first and foremost, I'd like to remind you that your prison sentence was pathetic since you only got locked up for what you did to me and not what you did to your son," Roman said, his tone terrifyingly polite. "And I'd like to stress to you the fact that eventually, your three kids are going to find out what happened, you can't avoid it forever and you'd be stupid if you tried to convince yourself otherwise."

Roman took a deep breath, and calmed himself down before he continued. "But I'm not going to tell them anything, even if we all know you don't deserve to keep what you did under wraps. But I'm extending you this courtesy because I want to believe you're going to do whatever you can to make things better with Samuel. That's what you need to do if you want to make things work. You fucked up real bad with him, you know that, so you need to fix it and make up for the years of his life you missed out on."

Roman pressed a gentle kiss to Samuel's shoulder before continuing. "And I'm hoping you'll tell your kids about the abuse -- because that's what it was, don't you dare try and say anything otherwise -- in your own time, because when they eventually find out, it'll be worse if they hear it from anyone but you. I'm not threatening you, Manuel, I'm not like that. I'm just trying to make sure you know what you need to do."
 
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Roman clearly didn't think the answer was as simple to give as Samuel had. Or maybe it was just that he was brave enough to say them, because he definitely agreed with every word his husband was saying. Even if it scared him that he was actually saying them to Manuel, finally calling him out for what he had done.

A silence followed. A very long one. But it was very clear that Manuel was still there on the other side of the phone. He just wasn't speaking. Had this been twenty years ago he would have been yelling at Roman, saying anything to not be called out like this. And Samuel couldn't help but anticipate it. But it never came and when Manuel spoke again his voice was quiet, almost distant, "Yes I know. Now's just... It's not the time to tell them. Especially not if they are going to meet you." He paused again, a shorter pause now and when he spoke again he sounded more composed and more like his normal self, his tone naturally kind of stern, "But I'll think about telling them in the future."

Samuel wondered when that future would be and what would happen then. He wondered if Manuel would ever tell his kids at all or if he was just saying it to please Roman. He would have never said anything to please Roman before though, so maybe even that was a step forward. Samuel knew that Roman was right though. At some point, Sebastian and the others needed to find out, and they needed to do so through the right person.

"Is that all or do we want to figure out a date now?" Manuel added, allowing the conversation to come to an end. Samuel wasn't going to protest, he knew he would need small steps with this, and it was enough for now. And it was definitely enough for him to have a lot to think about later.

"No, we'll keep in touch, so we can work something out later," Samuel said. He got an "okay," from his dad.

And then, "...Samuel?" It was so weird to hear his name with his accent. Said in the Spanish way with the soft m and the o sounding u. The kids obviously didn't call him by his first name when speaking Spanish and Roman still had his accent when speaking the language.

"yeah"

"I... No... It's nothing. I'll let you call me when you want to set up the date,"'

"Okay... Bye."

"Good bye,"

Samuel shakily put the phone aside and pressed his face to Roman's chest to calm down again. This was a lot but he had done it. He was proud of himself and he was happy this meant he would get a chance to get to know his siblings. But then again, he was also absolutely terrified, because now he knew he would have to meet his father again. But it wouldn't have to be in a while, and for now, he had his family and their support and it'd all be okay.
 
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Over the next few days, Roman spent his time consoling Samuel, doing nice things such as making breakfast and coming to have lunch with him at work so he wouldn't be alone. They also spent a good amount of time talking about what was going to happen from there, as well as figuring out a date for them to meet up with Manuel. They had decided on a date that would take place a few weeks later. It would give Samuel time to both recover, and to prepare. And time was exactly what they all needed.

However, today, Roman was spending some quality time with Stella. Roman had needed to do some shopping, and he had also needed to visit the grocery store and run some other errands, so he had decided to take Stella along for some company. Harper had soccer training, Letha's arm was almost healed but still a little sore, and Roman wasn't sure what Eden was up to, but that was fine, because he rarely got to have any one on one time with his lovely elder daughter.

Currently, they were in a shoe store, where Roman was trying on new pairs of combat boots since he needed some more sturdy footwear for work -- and since he was soon going to be opening his own store, it was incredibly important he set a good example. With everything that had been going on, it was hard to believe that something so amazing was happening soon. But Roman was so excited.

"Stella," Roman asked his daughter, pointing to the two pairs he had picked out. "Should I go with the black ones, or the red ones?"
 
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When Daddy had asked Stella to come with him to go shopping she had honestly been excited. Though she had made sure not to show it too much. Being the middle child, and in her opinion even more so than Eden, because Eden got a lot of extra attention since he needed it because of his ADD, she sometimes felt a little... Not pushed to the side or forgotten or anything just... Less prioritized maybe. She knew her daddies loved her just as much as her other siblings, but still, she liked it when she got to do something with just one of them as a reminder.

And today that was shopping, which she was a little on the fence about. She had always been very against it, until that one time Shannon had been over and done her makeup and helped her see that liking clothes and makeup and stuff wasn't something she had to be ashamed of. And she had realised that fashion didn't just mean whatever what was popular with most people and that they sold in every h&m store. But it could be things that were popular in other places, in other cultures and amongst people with different hobbies. It was actually pretty cool. She was still afraid people would think she was just like any other girl who just liked the same things as anyone else if she expressed it. But she was getting to a point where she was more comfortable with it. She was even thinking of maybe asking for an eyeliner for her birthday or Christmas maybe, because she had seen this girl on youtube who had shaved of her eyebrows and drawn them on as bats. She wouldn't do that, but she was starting to realise the possibilities makeup and art held.

"I don't know," She and Daddy were now in the shoe store. Daddy was trying on some combat boots, which were really cool. She had always liked Daddy style, especially when he wore mostly black. And she liked combat boots too, but she mostly just wore trainers herself. Though today she was dressed in all black, recently she had been interested in this old fashion designer from Japan called Yohji Yamamoto, and the clothes he made were all black and super minimalistic and shapeless and Stella thought they were awesome. She was just wearing a T-shirt and jeans so it wasn't really the same thing but still.

"I like the black ones because they go with most things and they look kind of badass, but I think the red would be cool like if you didn't wear any other colours? Like you know when you draw a greyscale picture but add just one thing that is coloured so it pops? Like that," Stella said, kind of rambling on a little, her reference point to things was often art, because that was the one thing she cared the most about in the world, other than her family of course, "That's how I would wear them if I had shoes like that," she added a small shrug as if she didn't care and glanced off to the side as if she wasn't super interested and looking for other things in the store. Not to be mean to Daddy but because she felt a little self-conscious about talking so much about shoes. Talking about shoes was such a girly thing.
 
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Roman couldn't help but smile when Stella answered his question so in-depth. He loved that one of his kids was interested in art, just as he was. It wouldn't have made a difference if none of them had liked art, but he couldn't deny that he liked it. It meant he had someone to paint with, someone to take to art galleries, someone to discuss mediums with. Of course, he could do that with his friends, but it was just a bit more special to have that kind of relationship with his little girl.

He could tell that Stella was a bit self-conscious, though, so he rubbed her arm a little and gave her a soft kiss to the cheek. "I think I'll get the both of them, thank you for your advice," he told her with a smile. He probably would have gotten the both of them anyway, but he didn't have a problem with Stella thinking she had made the decision for him.

Roman bought the shoes, walked out in the black ones since he was wearing all black that day, and then lead his daughter to the grocery store. He picked her up and put her in the trolley, since the kids had all liked that sort of thing when they were younger and part of Roman wasn't willing to admit that they were growing up just yet. The trolley was a bit harder to push, but he managed.

"What do you want for dinner, sweetie?" Roman asked, directing the trolley to the meat section, but of course he would be getting a vegetarian option for Eden and Samuel as well. "One of the privileges of coming shopping with me is that you get to pick."
 
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Stella honestly felt kind of happy that her opinion had mattered to her Daddy. And she liked both shoes so it was cool that he was getting both. But she was also a little relieved to go shopping regularly. She didn't have to think as much when they were just grocery shopping.

When daddy lifted her up in the trolley she didn't protest. She was honestly getting to old for it, she was turning twelve in just half a year. But she didn't have the heart to tell him. Plus it was pretty fun.

"I dunno what exactly, but I'm kinda feeling chicken," She said, "can I help you cook?" She didn't do that as much as her siblings but occasionally she thought it was fun, especially when she got to do it alone with daddy.
 
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"Sure, baby girl," Roman answered Stella when she asked if she could cook. He never had a problem with his kids wanting to help in the kitchen. Of course, there was only so much that they could do, but he would never turn down a bit of assistance and besides, they were really great company.

He picked out some chicken drumsticks he could crumb and then cook in the oven, and found some halloumi he could do the same thing with for Eden and Samuel, if he wanted some. Then, they did their usual rounds, filling up the trolley with whatever they needed for the week. They could come back if they needed anything else at any point in time but Roman liked to stock up as much as he could, to avoid having to make really frequent trips.

They had just reached the ice cream section, and Roman smirked at his daughter before opening the fridge and dumping several tubs into the trolley. "Papa's not here so he can't stop me."
 
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Stella's eyes grew wide with excitement when Daddy placed all those tubs of ice cream in the trolley. This was why she liked going shopping with Daddy specifically. She loved both her daddies equally, but Daddy was just more fun sometimes, and he was the one who would always buy treats when they went shopping so it was great.

"yess! he can't stop us!" she said and let out a silly evil laugh to go with the joke, "Ice cream for all! Boycott carrot and cucumber sticks!" it wasn't like she disliked Papa's snacks, they were honestly quite good when they made some dip for them and she liked most foods, but ice cream was definitely more gun.

"but when he gets mad about it later I'm totally blaming you," she chuckled and reached over to poke her Daddy's arm.
 
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"Yeah, well, you know what, smarty pants?" Roman asked his daughter teasingly. "All Papa needs is a couple of kisses from me and then he'll be on my side, so I will blame you and you'll have no way to get out of it. Mwah ha ha!"

Roman was, of course, joking, he would never make anyone else take the blame for something he was responsible for, that would be mean and unfair. But he didn't have a problem with joking around about it with his lovely daughter. They went to the checkout and bought all their items, and soon they were on their way back home.

In the car, Roman handed Stella his phone so she could use the speaker to play whatever she wanted. "You pick, gorgeous, you have the most rad taste in music, after all."
 
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Stella instantly felt really happy and excited when Daddy allowed her to pick the music. It wasn't unexpected really, because it was just the two of them. Usually, Daddy or Papa would be in charge of the music, just to make sure there would be no arguing about it. It often meant a lot of Disney because they all thought that was fun, but as much as Stella liked Disney the songs weren't always the most interesting to her. She wasn't good at the piano like Eden but she loved music so much. Maybe not as much as she loved art, but almost, and music was technically art so it was kind of the same thing anyway.

She searched up a group she had found fairly result and put the first song in one of their albums. The singing started after just a few seconds and the girl who sang didn't have a voice like just any pop singer, it didn't sound as clean, and she didn't really belt out any impressive notes in the way Daddy could, but she sounded sweet and Stella loved how her voice worked with the music and the sound, it was really beutiful.

"You know it really won't surprise me, If you're a wreck by the age of fourteen," she sang along to Eighties Fan by Camera Obscura. She didn't completely understand the lyrics all the time, because they weren't as straightforward as the lyrics in most of the pop that played on the radio, and she supposed she just wasn't old enough. But it was more about the feel of the song anyway, "The way you look, The way you look is fine,"

Stella was definitely not a bad singer, her friends and family told her she was good at it all the time ad it made her happy because she liked it and it was another thing that made her feel closer to daddy. Thinking about him and how he lied music she turned to him and said, "I like this band a lot, think it's my favourite right now,"
 
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Roman didn't mind whatever music Stella put on -- he had, after all, given her complete control -- but he couldn't deny the fact that he liked it when she put on more alternative music. He hated pop music, he always had and he always would, so he appreciated the fact that Stella didn't like it that much either and that she was more fond of his music style. Really, he liked anything that made him feel even that much closer to his four lovely children.

"Well, they're certainly not that bad at all, so, I'm glad that you like them," Roman said to her, giving her a small smile. He believed that one of the most important aspects of parenting was encouraging your children. He couldn't stand people who just constantly shut their kids down and made them feel bad for what they liked.

They arrived home and Roman shut the car off, but before they got out, he leaned over to Stella and gave her a kiss to the forehead. "Thank you for coming shopping with me today, baby girl, I had a lot of fun."
 
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