Chapter Text
Cellbit has never been a huge fan of baseball. Granted, rotting in a jail cell for a few years usually warps your perception of what you do and don’t like, but that was beside the point. He thinks he’d still be pretty apathetic to the sport, even if he had been a free man for the last few years.
Little league is pretty similar to actual baseball, all things considered. The players make fatal errors because they love to show off, they “accidentally” pelt balls at each other when they’re losing, and they cry when they can’t handle the bitter taste of defeat. Cellbit supposes it’s a little bit more entertaining watching kids do all of those things, as long as it’s not his kid.
Speaking of.
The team has two outs, one kid on base, and Richarlyson is currently up to bat. It’s been so long since Cellbit’s been an actual parent, so he’s not quite sure what sort of reaction he’s supposed to have. Forever told him to be “encouraging,” but cheering at the top of his lungs when it's otherwise completely silent feels too awkward to Cellbit, so he claps his hands a bit and hopes Richarlyson knows it’s him doing it.
He bitterly realizes that Forever would’ve had no problem screaming for their son even if everyone else was silent- In fact, he would scream because everyone else was staying quiet.
The pitcher throws the ball at his son and Cellbit doesn’t know enough about baseball to determine if the pitch was good or bad. It’s pretty fast, Cellbit probably wouldn’t have been able to hit it, but he also has the stamina of an old man so that’s not saying much. Richarlyson doesn’t hit it either, doesn’t even have time to react and swing before it’s wizzing past him. Oh well.
He’s not standing very close to any of the other parents- he definitely doesn’t know anyone well enough to have a friendly chat with -but the stands of the park stadium are so small it’s hard not to be surrounded by parents on all sides. Which also means that, intentional or not, he’s been picking up on some conversations. To his right is a group of dads that Cellbit has been listening to the whole game, catching glances of them through the corner of his eye and trying to match kid to father.
When his son misses the first ball, he hears one of them say, “Mierda, al menos intenta golpear la pelota.” Cellbit’s Spanish isn’t perfect by any means, so it takes him a moment to translate it in his head.
The other dad huffs out a laugh, responding, “En serio. Alguien tiene que mostrarle cómo sostener el bate, al menos.” The two of them laugh loudly.
The words ring out in his brain. “Shit, at least try to hit the ball.” “Seriously. Someone has to show him how to hold the bat, at least.”
The blood rushes to Cellbit’s ears and he’s so pissed he doesn’t even hear the smart ass comments they make when Richarlyson misses the second ball. Who the hell talks shit about kids at a little league game? He makes a mental note to ask Forever if the dads talk like this at every game (he can’t imagine Forever is the type to stay quiet when people are talking crap about his son, though. Not like Cellbit is).
He wants to offer his son some encouraging words but what’s the right thing to say? “Just hit the ball, Richarlyson, even though these assholes, like, three times your age are talking shit about you.”
Luckily, Cellbit doesn’t need to say anything. Almost as if his son just needed a moment to get the timing right, the third ball comes whizzing at Richarlyson and he hits it with a satisfying clack! It travels through the air and, luckily for Richarlyson, the kid closest to it in the outfield is too busy picking his nose to notice. By the time he does, the ball has already landed on the grass next to his shoe, and Cellbit knows it will buy his son and the other kid enough time to make it home.
Cellbit doesn’t know if Richarlyson hitting it was a fluke, but he cheers with the rest of the crowd nonetheless- including the dads next to him, but Cellbit doesn’t think this absolves them of their crimes just yet.
Smugly, he turns towards them and says, “Guess he was holding it just fine, huh?” To his delight, the two of them stop clapping, as they both slowly turn their necks to look at him, each with varying degrees of shock and embarrassment on their faces.
“Wait,” The taller one wearing glasses starts, while the shorter one with a bandanna on his forehead is just staring at Cellbit with his jaw dropped. “Are… Are you Richarlyson’s dad?”
Cellbit only nods in response. Suddenly, from the row above them, a man wearing a beanie crouches into their conversation. “I thought Richarlyson’s dad was blonde, with long hair.”
The shorter one in the bandanna furrows his brows, confused. “Noo, Richarlyson’s dad has curly black hair and a ton of tattoos, remember?”
Then, the one wearing glasses says, “I thought Richarlyson had two dads… The guy with glasses and the one who’s always in that Pac-Man hoodie, remember?”
Cellbit cringes, wondering why none of the others had ever bothered explaining their weird family tree. But, he supposes he sort of understands when he simply mutters, “It’s complicated,” as a response.
The two shit-talkers standing next to him are still staring at him, looking guilty and embarrassed, however Cellbit does notice that neither of them apologize. Suddenly, another man wearing glasses sitting next to the guy in the beanie in the row above them peaks his head in their conversation.
“That’s what you idiots get for talking shit,” He says, clapping both of them hard on their backs. Cellbit grins when they both grumble under their breaths, and he thinks their embarrassment is worth almost as much as an apology.
While the two dads next to him do stop talking shit for the rest of the game, he doesn’t miss the way the shorter one in the bandana spends the next half hour sneaking glances at him. Each time Cellbit catches him out of his peripheral, he’s staring at him with furrowed brows, almost as if he’s scrutinizing him. Pettily calling out their rude behavior was enough confrontation for him for one day, so he lets the man stare, not finding it in himself to cause a scene.
Luckily, the rest of the game passes by quickly. His son’s team wins and, as much as he needs to make up for lost time with Richarlyson, he’ll still make sure to tell Felps or Forever that they’ll be going to the next game.
He waits for Richarlyson at his car, not caring to mingle with the other parents waiting for their kids. Soon enough, Richarlyson is running towards his car, shouting, “Dad, did you see me? Did you?”
When he’s close enough, Cellbit grabs the baseball cap from his head and ruffles his curls. “Of course I did. You were awesome!” He responds, as his son shoots him a grin and snatches his hat back.
“Good enough to get pizza for dinner?” Richarlyson asks, pleading with his wide, brown eyes. After so much time away, Cellbit has lost his resistance for his son’s begging, much to the chagrin of his other fathers.
He pretends to hum and says, “I dunno. What will your dad Forever think? He hates when you eat crap.”
Richarlyson rolls his eyes and pouts. “It’s just pizza…” Then, as if realizing something, his son gives him a wide grin. “Plus, dad Forever isn’t taking me home today. Dad Cellbit is! So it’s his decision!”
Cellbit smiles at his son and his cleverness. He wonders when his son got to be such a sneak. Probably sometime when he was away. “Well, luckily for you, he wants pizza, too. Get in the car, let’s go,” He responds, trying not to let his throat choke him up too much.
That was becoming a relatively consistent thing now. Before, Cellbit never used to cry- he didn’t even cry in jail. But, every time his traitorous brain lets a thought about lost time and his missing place in his family pop into his mind, he can’t help but get emotional.
He should probably look for a therapist soon.
Richarlyson practically skips to the passenger seat, literally jumping for joy at the prospect of having junk food (he really needed to talk to Forever about letting him have a treat or two once in a while).
As Cellbit is opening the driver-side door to get in, he feels a shiver run down his spine, almost as if he’s being watched. Admittedly, Cellbit does not like that feeling. It’s a feeling he’s grown familiar with, and one he can’t afford to ignore.
His paranoia prevents him from acting in a sensible way, as he immediately spins around to see who could possible be looking at him. To his surprise, he makes eye-contact with the bandana-wearing dad from earlier, who is currently standing across the parking lot by his car, also probably getting ready to leave the park.
Apparently, it’s to the surprise of the other guy too, since he immediately jumps in shock when Cellbit spins around, catching him in the act. He at least has the decency to seem embarrassed, grinning forcefully and awkwardly waving at Cellbit.
Cellbit doesn’t really know the proper way to respond to this kind of situation. He isn’t sure if the staring was malicious or curious but in the end it probably doesn’t really matter (and he can maybe sort of figure which it was, anyway). He musters up a half-smile, half-grimace, giving a slight wave in return before getting in the car as quickly as possible.
His son is too busy sharing his enthusiasms about pizza to notice his father’s blush of mortification.
——————
The next Monday, he insists on taking his son to school. Forever tries to talk him out of it, saying that Monday mornings are when the mandatory parent meetings happen, where the parents of all the kids in Richarlyson’s class will be in attendance. And, while Cellbit appreciates his concern, he also knows he can’t afford to miss out on anymore of Richarlyson’s life. Plus, while he’s in-between jobs, taking and picking up his son from school seems like the least he can do to pull his weight.
Thankfully, Richarlyson doesn’t seem awkward or embarrassed bringing his estranged father to school. Unfortunately, he’s too comfortable with it, almost immediately ditching Cellbit to chat with his friends, leaving Cellbit stranded.
He waits around, awkwardly staring at his son like a helicopter parent, before someone at the front of the room finally claps his hands. To Cellbit’s surprise, it’s the same beanie-wearing guy from his son’s baseball game. Forever told him that Richarlyson’s teacher’s name is Quackity, so Cellbit figures that this must be him.
“Alright kids,” Quackity starts, his hands clasped in front of him. “You know the drill. My TA is gonna watch you guys while I go in the other room and have a chat with your parents. Say your goodbyes now, kiddos!”
Cellbit finds Richarlyson in the crowd again, but his son is already looking at him. He’s giving his dad a concerned look, his eyebrows drawn. He raises his hand up in a thumbs-up, but then shakes it back and forth, as if asking, “You okay?”
Cellbit smiles at his son’s intuition, but he also hopes his own confusion and awkwardness isn’t too obvious to anyone else. Quickly, he raises his hand in a solid thumbs up back to his son, as if responding, “I’m okay.”
Satisfied, Richarlyson shoots him a smile and then continues to play with some monster trucks with another classmate. The parents begin moving out of Quackity’s classroom, as the TA takes his spot at the front of the room. Following the crowd, Cellbit moves out of the room with all of the children to another, empty classroom down the hall.
Some of the parents take seats at the school desks, but Cellbit doesn’t want to get stuck in the classroom once the meeting ends (meaning: he’s ready to bolt at the earliest availability), so he stands next to the wall closest to the door. He crosses his arms over his chest, trying to look as closed off and unapproachable to avoid any potential conversations with curious parents. Unfortunately, that tactic doesn’t work as well as he was hoping, because someone immediately sidles up next to him.
Cellbit turns his head to glance at the other parent and he nearly does a double take: The person standing next to him is the same bandana-wearing, shit talking dad from the baseball game. Except this time, instead of taking quick, sneaky peeks at him when he thought Cellbit wasn’t looking, the guy is trying to meet his gaze with a grin on his face.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Richarlyson’s dad,” The guy says pointedly. “Or should I say one of his dads. It took a lot of asking around to find out who you are, Cellbit.”
First of all, Cellbit is immediately sketched out by the fact that this guy was asking around about him (and that’s not even mentioning his concern that someone from the team or the school actually knows who he is). Second off, the way the guy says his name really pisses him off; proud of himself, as if he was in on some big secret.
Trying not give the guy any satisfaction of seeing Cellbit sweat, he casually responds, “You could’ve just asked me after the baseball game. You were already staring at me in the parking lot, so you could’ve just come over.”
The other guy bristles at being called out and, to Cellbit’s delight, his nose turns red from embarrassment. He opens his mouth to retort but Cellbit quickly cuts him off, “What’s your name, if you don’t mind me asking? I feel like it’s only fair, since you apparently know so much about me.”
The guy schools his expression into something more neutral, but Cellbit can tell he’s just dying to be rude- he probably would’ve already had some sort of smart ass response if they weren’t currently in a classroom surrounded by other parents. Instead, the man responds, “My name’s Roier. My son’s name is Bobby, in case you were wondering that, too.”
Cellbit definitely was wondering, so he can tell Richarlyson which kid to stay away from.
The man- Roier, Cellbit now knows -holds his hand out to shake. He uncrosses his arms and grabs the other man’s hand. Roier’s grip is firm- too firm -and he has a fake smile plastered on his face as he shakes Cellbit’s hand too hard. Cellbit returns the faux pleasantries, wishing there was something he could do to wipe the other man’s smug smile off of his face. But, before anything more can be said, Quackity is calling for the parent’s attention as Cellbit snatches his hand back.
“Alright parents, lucky for you the announcements are pretty brief today, so let’s knock these out,” Quackity says at the front of the room, consulting his clipboard.
The first few announcements aren’t very memorable; early dismissal time on Friday, that month’s hot lunch payments were due on Wednesday, students need to adhere to the school dress code or else be sent home for the day (“That means no pool floaties, Phil.” “Quackity, if you wanna deal with his tantrums trying to take that stupid thing off, by all means.”)
“Finally,” Quackity says, causing Cellbit’s shoulders sag in relief. The teacher holds up a stack of papers and says, “We need chaperones for our field trip to the aquarium next week. Any volunteers?”
Without hearing any more information, Roier immediately raises his hand. And, well… Cellbit isn’t proud of it, but the other dad volunteering makes his blood boil. He was not about to be out-fathered by the guy who talked shit about his son at a little league baseball game.
So, before he can stop himself, Cellbit raises his own hand up. He can see Roier’s eyes widen and he can’t help but give his own smug smile. Quackity walks over to them and passes them each a permission slip for their sons, as well as a chaperone form they needed to fill out and return. Then, he walks over to the other parents with their hands raised and does the same.
As Quackity makes his rounds handing out permission slips and various forms where needed, the two dads look over their papers. Then, Roier is leaning over a bit, muttering in Cellbit’s general direction, “That was generous of you. I’m surprised you’ll still be in town when the field trip happens.”
Cellbit clenches his fists, causing his papers to crumple in his hands. It’s a wonder he doesn’t reach over and punch Roier in his stupid mouth, but before he has a chance Quackity is it at the front of the room again.
“Alright, that should do it,” He says, tucking his clipboard under his arm. “You’re all free to go. Except um,”
To Cellbit’s horror, the teacher turns his head to make eye contact with him, continuing, “Cellbit, can you hang back for a sec?” Cellbit tries his hardest to ignore the way the other parents in the room also turn towards him, as he nods in response.
As the parents all begin to stand up and make their way towards the door, Cellbit (against his better judgement) meets Roier’s gaze. The other dad wiggles his eyebrows at him, before spinning on his heel and walking out. Cellbit lets out an agitated sigh in response.
Once all of the other parents have left, Cellbit makes his way over to Quackity. The other man is checking something on his clipboard as he approaches, but when he notices Cellbit in the peripherals of his vision he looks up, smiling.
“Sorry to call you out like that, man,” The casualness of his tone catches Cellbit off guard, but it also relaxes him a bit. “I don’t really know the specifics of your arrangement with Richarlyson and his other dads but, since you haven’t before, you’re gonna need to fill out this paperwork. It’s just mandatory stuff from the school, basically making sure you’re one of Richarlyson’s emergency contacts and there’s no issue with you picking him up and dropping him off.”
Quackity hands him a stack of papers, which Cellbit takes gratefully. Suddenly, the teacher gets a bit of a guilty look on his face as he continues, “I just wanted to say um… Richarlyson is a great kid. Super respectful and well-behaved. I’m sure you know that already but I just wanted to remind you… Um, yeah.”
Cellbit suddenly remembers that Quackity was at his son’s baseball game. And, while he doesn’t remember the teacher participating in the shit talk, he does recall Quackity leaning over to talk to Roier and the guy wearing glasses. He must be friends with Roier, hence the embarrassment.
Regardless, Cellbit didn’t have any problem with Quackity. He seemed like a nice enough guy and he couldn’t technically fault him for who he was friends with (even though he couldn’t understand how anyone could stomach being around Roier for more than five minutes).
“Thanks. I appreciate that,” Cellbit responds kindly, trying to clear the air between them. Quackity nods in response.
“Alright, man. I’ll let you go. Just make sure to get that plus the volunteer stuff to me by Wednesday morning at the latest.”
Cellbit thanks him, bidding him a farewell as he takes his papers and (finally) walks out the classroom door.
**
A few hours later finds Cellbit picking up Richarlyson from the same classroom that he dropped him off at. Only this time, his son seems much more enthused, running up to Cellbit and nearly bouncing on his feet from excitement.
“Woah, Richas,” Cellbit says, holding his hands up as Richarlyson nearly runs into him after failing to stop in time. “Did you have a good day at school today?”
In response, Richarlyson nods his head vigorously and Cellbit is endeared by the way his brown curls bod in time with his nodding. “Yes!” His son exclaims. “A new kid got transferred to our class after he was kicked out of his last one for bad behavior!”
Cellbit furrows his eyebrows. “Okay… I’m failing to see why that made your day so much better.” Cellbit holds out a hand and, in return, Richarlyson gives him his neon green backpack, which he throws over his shoulder. The two walk towards the parking lot- well, Cellbit walks, meanwhile his son is skipping in delight.
“Well, I’m not really excited that he got kicked out of his class,” Richarlyson starts, swinging his arms back and forth. “But, he asked if he could play with the trucks with me and, of course, I said yes-”
“Of course,” Cellbit mutters under his breath, smiling softly.
“-And he was actually really cool! Some kids in class said that he’s really mean during recess and gym and stuff, but I played handball with him today after lunch and he was really nice! He didn’t even get mad when I won, like Chayanne does!”
“That’s awesome, Richas,” Cellbit responds as they reach the car. Cellbit quickly pops open the trunk and drops the backpack inside, while Richarlyson opens the passenger-side door.
As Cellbit opens his own door to get into the driver’s seat, Richarlyson is still talking a mile a minute. “Yeah! And the best part is, I invited him over to our house after school today!”
Finally, Cellbit took pause.
“What?” Cellbit asks in disbelief, his neck turning to look at his son.
“Richarlyson,” He starts, trying to remain calm. “Why did you do that? Don’t you think you should’ve asked me or one of your other dads before you invited someone into our house?”
Richarlyson, at least, looks a little guilty at those words. “Oh, um…” He says, his eyes turning towards his thumbs fiddling in his lap so he isn’t forced to look at his dad anymore. “I guess so… I was just really excited! He was so cool and when I told him about the monster trucks I have at home, he said he wanted to see.”
Then, as if sensing his dad’s kryptonite, Richarlyson turns to look Cellbit in the eyes. “Plus, dad Forever never has a problem with me inviting people over, so I didn’t think you would either.”
And, damnit, Cellbit really shouldn’t let Richarlyson win. It didn’t take long for the kid to pick up on his dad’s insecurities and the last thing Cellbit should do is give in when his son was using them against him.
But… if Cellbit was anything he was weak. A weak, sore loser.
“Okay, Richas, fine,” Cellbit gives in, causing Richarlyson to cheer in response. Cellbit begins to reverse out of the parking lot as he continues, “Where is the kid now? He better not be at our house already or I’ll be pissed, Richarlyson.”
“No, no,” Richarlyson responds. “He’s not. His dad’s schedule is really weird so he gets picked up kind of late. He said he would ask his dad and then get dropped off at our house.
Cellbit’s shoulders sag a bit in relief at the thought that the kid’s dad might say no, but he doesn’t tell his son this. “Alright, well let’s get home quick. Your room is a mess, Richarlyson, and I don’t want your new friend seeing it like it is right now.”
“Dad.”
**
When they get home and Richarlyson is in his room, cleaning up, Cellbit nearly paces a hole in their living room carpet waiting for the kid and his dad to show up. That’s how Forever finds him: Walking back and forth in front of the couch, anxiously chewing on his thumb nail.
“Woah, man,” Forever says, still in the process of buttoning up his shirt. “You’re making me anxious with all this pacing. What’s your problem?”
“Richas is bringing a friend home today. A friend none of us have ever met before,” Cellbit responds, not bothering to stop his pacing.
“God, is this kid a little delinquent or something, why are you acting like that?” Forever asks, huffing out a laugh. He plops himself on the couch and muses, “Wow, good for Richas, though. He’s never invited a kid from school over before. He must really like them.”
That makes Cellbit stop in his tracks. He quickly spins on his heel, staring down at Forever on the couch. “But- Richas- He said that you-” He blubbers, his cheeks growing hot in embarrassment.
Forever raises an eyebrow at him, urging him to finish one of his cut-off thoughts. But instead, Cellbit just clears his throat; there was no way in hell he was going to admit that their son had picked up on his insecurities and was now using them against him. Not in front of said insecurity.
“Where are you going, man?” He asks instead. “Church? I never see you wearing a shirt.”
The skeptical look washes off of Forever’s face and instead something smug and self-assured takes it place. “I have a date,” He says, expecting Cellbit to be impressed.
Cellbit gives him a serious look that lasts all of five seconds before he begins to laugh obnoxiously in Forever’s face. “No you don’t man,” Cellbit responds, clutching his stomach from laughing so hard. “Don’t lie to me.”
Forever’s face reddens in a mixture of agitation and embarrassment. He opens his mouth to retort and interrupt Cellbit’s hysterical laughter when they both are stopped in their tracks by the ringing of the doorbell.
“Oh shit,” Cellbit mutters, at the same time Forever leaps up from the couch.
“And that’s my cue,” He says, making his way over to the door.
“Dude, don’t leave me alone,” Cellbit pleads, following Forever as they both walk toward the front door. “I can barely handle Richas by myself. How am I gonna handle two kids?”
“Kids are easy, man,” Forever says, slipping on his shoes that had been placed next to the doormat. “It’s the parents you gotta watch out for.” Forever glances up at him, an ominous look plastered on his face, before he breaks out into a grin and winks.
“You’re a dick, Forever,” Cellbit responds under his breath, nervous that the kid and their parent can somehow hear them on the other side of the door.
Instead of replying, Forever unlocks the front door before Cellbit is ready and throws it open. Cellbit feels his breath catch in his throat. Because, to his surprise, standing on the other side of the threshold is-
“Roier?” He exclaims.
Sure enough, Roier is standing on the other side of the door, one hand placed on his son’s shoulder- his son Bobby, if Cellbit’s remembering correctly. Side by side, the two look eerily similar- same hair, same boyish looks -and there’s no doubt they’re father and son.
Roier, dressed much more formally than Cellbit had seen him that morning, in a button up and slacks, looks about as shocked as Cellbit feels. His eyes are wide and his mouth is hanging open a bit.
Forever looks between the two men standing in the doorframe gaping at each other and Cellbit can tell from the Cheshire grin his lips curve into that he immediately senses the tension. But, like an asshole, he only says, “Great! You two already know each other.”
On his way out the door, he gives Bobby a pat on the shoulder and says, “Have fun, kid. Richas cheats at card games, just so you know.” And then, he’s gone.
Bobby can also apparently sense the tension, even as a kid. His eyes look back and forth between the two dads, as he shrugs Roier’s hand off of his shoulder. “Dad,” He starts, seemingly annoyed. “Can I please go now?”
“Oh,” Roier finally says, breaking his awkward eye contact with Cellbit to look down at his son. “Oh yeah, sure Bobby, just be good and-”
But, apparently, that was all the kid needed, because he immediately runs into Cellbit’s house and calls out Richarlyson’s name. Richas responds from his room and Bobby runs in the direction he heard the voice coming from.
Roier makes a strangled noise of disbelief at his son’s rudeness, his nose coloring in embarrassment. Instead of feeling the smug delight that he had earlier at the man’s helplessness, Cellbit only feels bad. Even though he hadn’t been home for very long, Richarlyson had never blown him off like that, and he’s willing to bet that the kid had never blown off any of his other dad’s either.
“Um…” Cellbit starts awkwardly, attempting to extend the olive branch. “Want some coffee?”
Roier seems shocked at the sudden kindness, but not displeased. “Sure, I can do coffee,” He replies. And, in a similar way to his son, Roier is shoving past Cellbit and walking into his home.
Cellbit fights the urge to groan and roll his eyes. Apparently, father and son were more alike than Cellbit realized.
He walks Roier into the kitchen and begins pulling out the grounds to make the coffee. And, even though Cellbit currently has his back turned towards the other man, he can sense the way Roier’s eyes are roaming throughout the house- probably trying to find something snarky to say about the interior decorating.
Apparently, he comes up short on any architectural-disses, because instead he says, “That was Forever right?” While Roier can’t see him, Cellbit rolls his eyes. The man had found a way to figure out his name- of course he figured out the names of Richarlyson’s other dads, too. Cellbit only nods in response.
“Interesting,” Roier mumbles. “How does that work, exactly? Is this, like, a polyamorous situation orrr…?” Cellbit bristles at the other man’s forwardness, internally begging the coffee to brew faster so he can get Roier out of his house as quickly as possible.
“No, it’s not a polyamory thing or an orgy thing or anything like that,” Cellbit responds angrily. He delights in the way Roier chokes at the word “orgy.” “It’s… It’s just complicated okay? We’re all his dads but none of us are together.”
Thankfully, before Roier gets the nerve to ask anymore questions, the coffee is done. Cellbit quickly pours them into the most normal looking mugs they have (which, admittedly, are not at all. One is a gag mug that says “#1 Daddy” that Felps got Forever as a joke- he hopes Roier will think it was a present from Richas. The other is a color changing Pac-Man mug where the ghosts appear after hot liquid has been added- courtesy of Pac, of course).
“Do you take cream?” Cellbit asks, pulling it out of the fridge. Truthfully, he does not, but for some reason or another he just knows that Roier does.
“Yeah, um,” Cellbit can hear the embarrassment seeping into his tone, which makes him unreasonably happy. “A lot actually. I’ll tell you when.”
Cellbit turns his head back a bit so he can meet Roier’s gaze, opening up the bottle of creamer. He starts pouring it into the mug, waiting for Roier to tell him to stop. He’s horrified when a few seconds pass by and Roier still hasn’t said anything.
“Dude,” He mutters with disgust, creamer still filling the mug.
Finally, Roier raises a hand and says, “Okay, that’s good.”
As Cellbit pulls out a spoon to stir the coffee with, he says, “This is literally all creamer. How can you drink this?”
Cellbit passes the mug of coffee(creamer) towards Roier, who only smiles guiltily and shrugs. “I’m used to it. Tastes too bitter otherwise.”
Half-expecting the other man to be joking, Cellbit holds his breath as Roier brings the mug to his lips. Cellbit watches with a disgusted look on his face as Roier takes a sip and doesn’t immediately gag.
When Roier looks up and notices Cellbit’s horrified expression, he fights the urge to laugh. Instead, he takes an even bigger gulp, releasing an obnoxiously satisfied “Ahhhhhhh,” when he’s done.
“Gross,” Cellbit mutters, wrinkling his nose and taking a sip of his black coffee. Roier only chuckles into his mug in response.
As they stand there in silence, Cellbit feels an itch under his skin. For some reason or another, he just couldn’t let Roier’s nosiness go. First his obvious inspection of Cellbit’s house, then his want to know more about Richarlyson (and, by association, Cellbit’s) private life. He figured that the other dad should also get a taste of his own medicine.
“So, Richarlyson said Bobby got moved to his class today,” The ‘because he had behavioral issues,’ goes unsaid, but Cellbit can see from Roier’s obvious grimace that he didn’t need to mention it anyway for the point to be made. “I was just sorta confused because I thought Bobby had been there since the start of the school year.”
“Well, I guess you wouldn’t really know anything about the start of the school year, since you haven’t been around and all,” Roier says through a fake smile, which makes Cellbit’s blood boil more than the dig. If the man was going to insult him, he wishes Roier would just do it instead of pretending to be nice. “But yeah, the last teacher reported him for… an incident and now he’s in Richarlyson’s class.”
“What incident, exactly?” Cellbit can’t help but pry. Not even just to be rude at Roier’s expense, but also because Bobby was seemingly Richarlyson’s new best friend. As his dad, it’s important that he knows the kids Richas hangs around.
Cellbit doesn’t miss the way Roier’s shoulders sag at the question and the youthful man seems a lot older all of a sudden. “The teacher said Bobby has ‘a history of talking back,’” Roier uses air quotes and changes his tone of voice to be more nasally, clearly mocking the teacher, which does make Cellbit smile a bit. “But last week he apparently called her a nasty name or something when she randomly called on him to answer a math question. I guess that was the last straw.”
Roier sighs, his eyebrows furrowing. “We told her that Bobby doesn’t do well under pressure and we even asked the school to make accommodations so he only has to answer when he raises his hand. Apparently calling the teacher a ‘vieja puta’ is worse than her going against his accommodations, though.”
Cellbit can’t help but bark out a laugh and he doesn’t miss the expression of guilty pride on Roier’s face. “Where did he even learn that?”
Roier shrugs, smiling into his mug. “I don’t think I’ve ever said it but who knows. A lot of the kids on the little league team are Spanish-bilingual, so probably one of them.”
Cellbit nods a bit (although he doesn’t necessarily believe that Bobby picked up the curse word from anyone but his dad) and, suddenly feeling earnest, responds, “Well, Quackity seems like a nice guy. I’m sure he won’t do anything stupid like Bobby’s old teacher.”
“Quackity and I have been friends for a long time, so I’m not worried. I wanted Bobby to be in his class since the beginning, but he said it was too much of a conflict of interests, or whatever. I think he just felt bad for us so he finally agreed.”
“Conflict of interest because he might favor Bobby?” Cellbit asks, taking a sip from his mug.
“No because he hates him,” Roier responds, a grin on his face. Cellbit’s eyebrows furrow, but he doesn’t feel like questioning what’s obviously an inside joke, so he doesn’t.
Suddenly, Cellbit remembers what should be an insignificant detail in Roier’s story. He had said, “We told her.” Cellbit isn’t sure why he hadn’t considered the possibility that Bobby also has a mom, but she hadn’t come up in conversation before. Did Roier have a wife?
He can feel the question on the tip of his tongue and is almost about to ask, but suddenly he can hear two pairs of feet padding down the hallway. Then, his son and his new friend are suddenly skidding into the kitchen, startling the two dads.
Bobby immediately turns towards his dad, exclaiming, “Dad! What’re you still doing here?” Roier starts responding to Bobby in Spanish- something about stop being a rude little shit (confirming Cellbit’s earlier theory that Roier was to blame for his son’s potty mouth) -but he can’t be bothered to translate anymore when he feels Richarlyson tugging on his shirt.
“Dad, can we get dinner soon? We’re hungry and Bobby wants pizza,” Richas says, looking up at his dad with big eyes.
“Bobby gordo!” Roier scolds, tugging on his son’s ear much to Bobby’s displeasure. “Don’t tell someone else what to eat in their own house. It’s rude.”
“I didn’t tell him, I just suggested it!” Bobby responds, swatting Roier’s hand away. “Besides, Richas wants pizza, too!” Cellbit raises an eyebrow at his son, who only smiles guiltily in response.
“You already had pizza this week, Richarlyson,” Cellbit sighs.
“Yeah but I haven’t,” Bobby responds, causing Roier to mutter a fierce ‘Cállate’ in his ear.
“Well,” Cellbit says, scratching at his stubble. He looks up to meet Roier’s eyes, who looks surprised to be consulted. “I suppose if Roier doesn’t mind his son eating junk. What do you think?”
Catching on, Roier pretends to consider, rubbing at his chin. “I don’t know, Cellbit. Bobby has been kind of mean to me today…”
Suddenly, Bobby is in front of his dad, clasping his hands together and begging, “Please, dad! I’m sorry for being mean. I’m just hangry, you know?”
Roier barks out a laugh at that, ruffling his son’s hair who doesn’t move away. “Alright, when you put it like that-” He holds up a hand, looking over at Cellbit. “But, only if Cellbit doesn’t mind. And if you say please and thank you, Bobby.”
He’s bombarded by two high-pitched voices screeching out, “Pleeeaasseee!” And Cellbit agrees only to make it stop. He’s rewarded with two angelic “Thank yoouu”s as a result.
Roier’s eyes suddenly widen, as he grabs Bobby’s shoulder and leans down to whisper in his ear, “Jaiden’s picking you up, though, so you better make sure she can’t smell the grease on you or else we’ll both be in trouble.”
Cellbit’s breath catches a bit in his throat. Jaiden. That must be Roier’s wife’s name. He did find it a bit strange that they referred to her by her first name, but Richarlyson calls each of his father’s “dad first-name,” so Cellbit supposes he doesn’t have any room to judge.
More importantly, he’s left fixated on the question: “Why do I even care if Roier has a wife?” Specifically, “Why does it dissapoint me so much?”
Before he has time to internalize any of these thoughts, Roier is saying his goodbyes to his son. He wraps his arms around Bobby and, for all Cellbit’s heard so far about this kid being a terror, he’s endeared by the fact that Bobby wraps both of his arms around Roier’s neck and squeezes tight. Before he can let go, Roier is leaning back and pressing a wet kiss to his forehead, which causes Bobby to gag and Richarlyson to giggle (and doesn’t provoke any kind of reaction out of Cellbit. At all.).
“Thanks for letting Bobby stay over,” Roier says as Cellbit is walking him to the door. “He likes to pretend he’s Mr. Popular, but we’ve never had any kids over at our house and he never asks to go anywhere, so it’s pretty obvious he really likes your son.”
Cellbit can’t help but smile at that. “Richas is a pretty shy kid, so it’s nice to see him make a friend that’s more… Out-there, than he is.”
Roier laughs loudly at that. “That’s definitely one way to put it.”
As they approach the door, Roier holds his hand out for a typical “bro-shake,” which Cellbit surprisingly feels comfortable enough to give him (even though he still thinks the other dad is a nosey little smart ass). When Cellbit pulls his hand away, he notices that there’s a twenty-dollar bill left in Roier’s wake.
“For the pizza, since it’s technically Bobby’s fault you’re ordering,” Roier explains with a wink. And, as much as Cellbit has been pretending Roier’s boyish charm hasn’t been getting to him, he can’t help the way his heart speeds up a bit.
Before he can thank Roier, the man is opening the door and stepping out. As Cellbit shuts the door, he can only think of one thing.
Shit.
**
Bobby and Richarlyson are easier to handle than Cellbit expected.
At first, they’re pretty rowdy playing with Richarlyson’s stuff in his room. But, it only takes one request that they quiet down a bit to get them to stop shouting. At one point, when he goes to check on them from the doorway, his son has his head thrown back in a loud laugh, to which Bobby immediately shushes him with a finger on his lips, causing Richas to muffle his laughs with closed-mouth giggles.
When they eat their pizza with Cellbit in the kitchen, Bobby is meticulous, eating over his plate and wiping his hands with his napkin (which makes Cellbit extremely jealous, as he looks over at his son who has instead opted for wiping his greasy hands on his once-clean shirt instead). Distantly, Cellbit remembers that Bobby is being so neat because he doesn’t want his mom (Roier’s wife) to know about the junk food, but it’s nice to see such a well-mannered kid nonetheless.
A few hours later, close to eight o’clock, Cellbit is sitting on the couch watching Dateline or whatever shitty, tasteless true crime show it was, when he hears a knock at the door. He almost thinks it’s Forever, since the guy is constantly losing his house keys, but then he remembers the two boys that had been playing pretty quietly in Richas’s room and his stomach drops into his ass.
He quickly tries to fix his hair, tucking it behind his ears, before realizing that A. It was a useless endeavor since his long hair can only be styled into what is formally known as A Mess, and B. He didn’t even know why he was trying to make a good impression for Roier’s wife.
He opens the front door and is greeted by a nice looking woman dressed in a suit. She’s attractive and powerful looking which makes Cellbit’s shoulders sag for reasons he doesn’t understand.
“Hi, are you Cellbit?” The woman asks, smoothing down her blazer. She looks a bit tired, which tells Cellbit she must’ve just gotten off of work. “I’m Jaiden, Bobby’s mother.”
She sticks out her hand and Cellbit reaches for it to shake. It’s firm but not nearly as aggressive as Roier’s from before. “Yeah, I’m Cellbit. Nice to meet you. Bobby is in my son’s room-”
But, before Cellbit can even finish, a voice from behind him screams out, “Mom!” Suddenly, a little body is running past his, the speedy form colliding with Jaiden, who takes it like a champ and wraps her arms around her son.
“Bobby!” She exclaims, almost as enthusiastic as his scream. “I missed you today! How are you?”
“I’m really good!” Bobby says, bouncing on his feet. Cellbit notes that, while Bobby had pretended be uncaring towards his father (even though he clearly loved him), he was much more affectionate with his mom. “Dad dropped me off, and Richarlyson showed me his cool room, and then we-”
“Okay, kiddo,” Jaiden quickly interrupts, holding up a hand. “I’m sure you had a fun day and you can tell me all about it in the car so we can finally give Cellbit a break. Where’s your backpack?”
Bobby’s eyes widen in realization. “Oh yeah! It’s in Richarlyson’s room. I’ll go grab it and say goodbye.” Then, the kid is taking off back towards the hall, leaving the two adults alone.
Before Cellbit can say anything, Jaiden is suddenly sniffing the air. Her eyebrows furrow as she realizes, “Did… Did you guys have pizza?”
Cellbit’s stomach drops. “Um… It was Roier’s idea,” Cellbit replies. He feels bad throwing Roier under the bus, but he wasn’t about to risk losing Jaiden’s trust in him and subsequently risk losing Richarlyson’s new best friend.
Jaiden only sighs. “Of course it was. I hope he paid for it, at least.” Cellbit nods in response, even though he had already snuck the twenty dollar bill back in Bobby’s backpack while the two had been washing their hands before dinner.
“Thanks for watching Bobby. I know he can be a handful sometimes, so I hope he wasn’t too rowdy,” Jaiden continues, wringing her hands a bit. Cellbit immediately shakes his head.
“Not at all. He’s a really sweet kid,” Cellbit replies, causing Jaiden to smile gratefully. Cellbit clears his throat a bit, shoving his hands in his pockets awkwardly. “You and your husband raised him to be really great.”
Jaiden’s face is blank for a moment before she lets out a loud laugh of surprise. Cellbit’s eyes widen, a bit shocked at the reaction, as Jaiden explains with a smile on her face, “Roier’s not my husband. We consider each other, um… Platonic co-parents, I guess. It’s easier to raise Bobby together, since we both work crazy hours.”
The words ring out in Cellbit’s ears, as if he suddenly had tinnitus. Platonic co-parents.
Oh.
Oh shit.
Before he can respond, they’re interrupted by two pairs of voices chatting excitedly down the hall. Richas and Bobby walk over to them, Bobby’s backpack now sitting snugly on his shoulders.
“Bye Richas! Thanks for letting me see your toys. Your room is really cool!” Bobby says, throwing his arms around Richarlyson. Cellbit cringes a bit, knowing Richas isn’t the most comfortable with touching but, to his surprise, his son returns the embrace.
“It was fun! I hope you come over again soon!” Richarlyson responds once Bobby has stepped away. Then Bobby looks up at Cellbit, smiling shyly.
“Thanks for letting me over, Richarlyson’s dad,” Bobby mumbles and Cellbit has to strain a bit to hear him, but he smiles nonetheless. This certainly couldn’t be the same kid who called his teacher a vieja puta.
“No problem, Bobby. Come over whenever,” Cellbit says before he can regret it. One successful night of chaperoning his son and his friend didn’t necessarily make Cellbit an expert, but he supposed he wouldn’t mind doing it again.
“If that’s okay with your mom and dad, of course,” Cellbit adds, remembering said mom is still standing in his door way.
Jaiden smiles in return, replying, “It’s okay with me, and I know it’s certainly okay with Roier.” She pauses for a moment before looking into Cellbit’s eyes and giving him a knowing smile that makes his stomach churn.
“Mom, can we get dessert on the way home?” Bobby says, already skipping down the stairs towards Jaiden’s car. Richarlyson has already begun to step away from the door, waiting for Cellbit a few feet away. Cellbit would close the door, but Jaiden is still standing there. She looks back and forth between Cellbit and his son standing behind him, seemingly contemplating something.
Before she can lose her nerve, Jaiden is leaning towards Cellbit and, in a low voice as to not be overheard by either of their kids, she says, “He’s single, by the way.”
“Mom!” Bobby calls out impatiently, jiggling her car door handle with ferocity.
She gives Cellbit another smile before turning away and calling towards her son, “I’m coming. Stop doing that, Bobby!”
As she’s unlocking the car door, she turns around to give Cellbit a friendly wave. Cellbit can only muster up a weak, awkward hand-raise in return before she’s driving off down the street.
“…Dad?” Richarlyson calls out from behind him. “Are you gonna close the door? They already left.”
“Shit,” Cellbit mumbles, banging his forehead against the doorframe.