Father and Son Episode Thirty-Seven: Family Weekend
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"Hey, it's Darius! Now that we've got the semi-finals out of the way, it's time to focus on my next big challenge: Going home to the family....I worry about Omar, he tries to talk big, but he's still pretty fragile from everything before....Thankfully James and Lars are going to be watching over the gym...and over us..."
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Saturday morning, Darius was going through his closet. "Where is it, where is it..."
Omar popped his head into the room, cup of coffee in hand. "Hey puppy I made you some coffee-whoa...Did a tornado go through here?" Omar found Darius digging through the closet. "What are you looking for Darius?"
Darius stopped, grabbing the cup from Omar and taking a quick swig of coffee. "My spare duffle bag. I wanted to pack some clothes today." Darius handed back the cup of coffee and continued digging.
"Come on Darius, we have all weekend for that. You're just coming off of a big game, relax a bit." Omar shrugged.
"I'll relax after I find my bag..." Darius finally reached the bottom of his closet. "AHA! There it is!" Grabbing his duffle bag, Darius sat in front of the closet looking it over. "Hmm...Pretty torn up...It'll still work..." Darius' thoughts were interrupted by a cup of coffee being set down in front of him and a pair of arms wrapping around his chest from behind.
"Come on Darius, you found your bag, now come have some breakfast. You've been in here since you woke up, and I had a surprise for you." Omar dragged Darius away from the closet.
"Fine, fine..." Omar got to his feet, brushing himself off and tossing the bag onto his bed. "What's this big surprise anyway?"
Omar led Darius into the kitchen, where a magnificent breakfast was laid out. "Ta-Daa!"
"Wow! Look at this spread! Did you do this!?" Darius was instantly drooling.
"Haha, nope. I got it catered." Omar gave Darius a smug smile.
"Catering? Who does that for breakfast?" Darius shrugged.
"I do!" Lars waved from the living room. "Surprise!"
"Morning Darius." James was sitting with Lars in the living room.
"Lars? James? What are you guys doing here?" Darius had a wide smile on his face.
"It was Lars' idea." Omar had a wide smile on his face as well. "He asked me if he could come over this morning. I told him I wasn't sure, but then he said he would cook and..." Omar chuckled, shrugging.
"You guys are going to be gone all week next week, so I wanted to see you guys off with a nice meal!" Lars excitedly nodded.
"Wow, that's really sweet of you, bro..." Darius blushed a bit at Lars' kindness.
Lars jumped out of his seat, a bright blush growing on his face. "Yeah, and it also means we can eat together...As a family..."
Darius was taken off guard by Lars' comment."Family?"
"Yeah...You two aren't just "Like brothers" to me, not anymore...You guys ARE my brothers..." Lars hugged them both. "As far as I'm concerned, you two are Alexanders just like me and dad...We're a big happy family...And we love each other."
"Yeah..." James joined Lars, patting Darius on the shoulder. "My dad told me that my grandpa would always say "Your family isn't in the blood, but in the bond." James dragged them in for a hug. "And you two are bonded so tightly with me and Lars that...Well...I'm not good at these kinds of things when I'm not fucking the guy I'm talking to..." James blushed a bit. "What I'm trying to say is that me and Lars both love you two very much. We know you two are getting ready to go through some heavy shit, and we want you to know that we love and support both of you..." James gave the two a serious look. "So don't go doing any dumb shit while you're gone!"
"Wow...Lars...James...." Darius could barely hold himself together. "I'm...touched...Really touched...." Darius hugged the two back. "You two are right! We may not have the same blood...or even be the same species...But we're still a family...I love you guys too!"
"Yeah yeah, we love each other..." Omar had a sarcastic look. "Now enough of the sap and let's have some food already."
"Come on Omar." Lars jabbed Omar on the shoulder through his hug. "You got a problem with being sentimental?"
"Exactly." Omar rolled his eyes. "I'm a MAN, men don't act sweet."
"Don't make me pop you one, kid." James gave Omar a deadpan look. "I'm trying to see you two off proper."
A bit later, everyone had sat down to eat.
"Sheeesh Lars, this is GOOD!" Darius excitedly ate. "I've had some of your cooking before, but I had NO IDEA you could cook like this!"
"You've only ever eaten my experiments from class." Lars smirked happily. "Hehe, I've really come along since I signed up for the cooking program at school."
"Hell yeah, you have!" Darius smiled widely.
"Now I know why you were so big when we first met you James." Omar chuckled.
"Funny Omar." James rolled his eyes. "Very funny."
"So what are you and Darius going to do when you get to your home Omar?" Lars asked.
"Well..." Omar thought it over. "We're going to see Darius' parents first. From what he's told me, his parents are going to be the easier ones to break the news to."
"And then we'll focus on Omar's dad..." Darius shrugged. "He always kinda thought I was okay, even after I came out so...hopefully it's not that bad..."
"It'll be bad Puppy....It'll be really bad..." Omar sulked. "I've been lying to him about everything...And now I'm going to tell him I'm getting married to another man..."
"Well you'll be able to get through it together, right?" Lars nodded. "It's not like he can toss you over his knee for a spanking or something..."
"Yeah, but..." Omar shook his head. "My dad...he was so proud of me when I got married to Brandi...He was expecting grandchildren...He was more relaxed than my mother was, but he still expected me to live a heterosexual life..." Omar shuddered. "I'm....I'm afraid of disappointing him...He's the only family I have left..."
"You have me Omar..." Darius held onto Omar's hand.
"You have all of us..." James grabbed Omar's other hand from across the table.
"And we'll never disown you..." Lars got up from his seat and hugged Omar tightly.
"...You guys..." Omar smiled softly, blushing a bit. "You know I don't like this sugary crap..."
"Too bad..." Lars snuggled Omar's side.
"I guess...I needed this..." Omar's smile grew wider. "I barely had Darius before...and now I have all of you..."
Later that day at the gym, James and Omar were in the office going over everything James needed to take care of. "So that's it basically." Omar handed James a schedule book. "And I wrote you a list of everything in here."
"Sheeesh, you and Darius take care of EVERYTHING here..." James rolled his eyes. "You guys ever think of getting a general manager for this stuff?" James read through the list.
"General Manager?" Omar shrugged. "What would we need one of those for?"
"Well, to do all the paperwork stuff. And all the math stuff." James thought. "Basically, to do all the desk work you need in addition to acting as another authority figure in case you and Darius are both gone..."
"General Manager...." Omar thought deeply about it. "Where could I find one of those?"
"You could post up ads on Yelp or something. I can help you with that while I'm here." James nodded.
"Wait!" Omar had a brilliant idea. "YOU!"
"Me?" James blankly pointed to himself, a bit lost.
"You're in between work, you're already gonna be running the joint while I'm gone, you'd be the perfect general manager for us!"
James thought it over. "Huh...Well...I'm not quite in between work...I'm just suspended for the moment..."
"Well would you please consider it James, pleeease?" Omar begged. "You're PERFECT for the job! You got the smarts, you got the style, hell, you even have the body for it!" Omar calmed down a bit. "Me and Darius can't offer you that much money...But you and Lars are always more than welcome here...You're part of our family..." Omar blushed a bit. "We-Darius and I...We...You know...We'll take care of you."
"I'll...think about it..." James tossed the idea around.
"I guess I can't ask for more than that..." Omar patted James on the shoulder. "Think about it James."
A bit later, Lars was wiping down machines while Bouchard was sweeping.
"Aye Butcher, I 'aint hiring you to sweep, bud..." Omar slapped Bouchard on the back. "That's Lars' job."
"I am not minding Omar." Bouchard smiled brightly. "I like being a help..."
Lars smirked. "Yeah, he offered."
"Well...Whatever..." Omar smiled. "You know, I'm actually gonna miss you guys."
"Sheesh Omar, you're only going to be away for a week." Lars rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you're choosing now to soften up."
"Well it’s not that I'll be homesick..." Omar let out a heavy sigh. "It's that you guys...you guys are kinda like...I don't know...my moral support..." Omar sat down on one of the benches. "This'll be the first big challenge I'll have to deal with just Darius..."
"Come on, how bad can it be?" Lars patted Omar on the shoulder. "Worse case, your dad disowns you. I don't see that much of a problem..."
Omar gave Lars a flat look. "Gee, that really helps Lars. Thanks."
"I'm just sayin'..." Lars shrugged. "And besides, after the hell you've gone through with him, Darius should be enough, right?" Lars smiled widely. "He's been with you from day one. He's your rock. Me and dad may have given you two the nudges you needed to get together, but Darius was the one helping you through your problems and giving you support." Lars nodded. "That guy...he cries over you being happy. He's all you need in a man."
"...You really think so Lars?" Omar started to smile.
"Of course!" Lars nodded excitedly. "You two can overcome anything together...and when you come back, we'll be here waiting for you, big bro..."
"Right...." Omar nodded. "It's kinda funny...Having a...family...waiting for me when I get back...I don't think I've ever had something like that...."
"Well now you do Omar!" Lars slapped Omar on the shoulder. "Now would you stop worrying over this?" Lars chuckled. "You scare me when you're introspective..."
"Alright, alright..." Omar got to his feet. "You know, James is right about you Lars. You really are pretty smart...sometimes..." Omar jabbed Lars on the shoulder. "You're alright...Little brother..."
Later that evening, Omar and Darius were just closing up the gym when James and Lars waved them over.
"Hey you guys!" Lars waved to them. "Me and dad are headed out to eat! Wanna come?"
"Huh...I don't think so Lars..." Darius shrugged. "We have to start packing for this-" Darius found himself being dragged by the ear by Omar.
"For Christ’s sake Darius, it's free food! We can pack tomorrow!" Omar rolled his eyes as he continued dragging Darius. "Seriously, stop being such a wet blanket...that's my job..."
"O-Omar..." Darius chuckled and blushed a bit as he started to walk. "Haha, fine then. But do that again and I'm going to gnaw that hand off!"
