"Here, taste this and tell me what you think," Will said, holding a spoon toward Sonny's mouth.
Both men were enjoying a rare day off together, spending time in their kitchen, trying to decide what they wanted to contribute to the upcoming Brady Thanksgiving feast. Will had been trying new recipes all morning.
"Oh my God, that is delicious!" Sonny praised as he tasted the pumpkin-cinnamon pastry Will had offered him. "This is heaven!"
Will couldn't help chuckling. Everyone knew how much Sonny loved food, so it wasn't hard to make him happy if he was near a kitchen.
"I think you definitely need to make some of these. Just make sure you make extras for home. I don't want to have to fight Roman for them!"
Will merely shook his head in fond exasperation, then turned his attention once again to something on the stove. Sometimes Sonny could be adorable.
They were brought out of their thoughts a few minutes later with the shrill ringing of Will's phone. He figured it was Sami calling with another one of her daily life dramas, and braced himself before picking up the phone.
It wasn't Sami. The name and number of Ari's school appeared on the display, causing Will to immediately begin to worry.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Horton-Kiriakis, this is Sandy Andrews from Bryson Academy. We need for you to come and pick up Ari."
"Is she alright?" Will asked, his voice a higher pitch than usual. Sonny rose from his chair and went to stand next to him, his hand gently squeezing Will's shoulder in support.
"Yes, physically she's fine," Mrs. Andrews assured him. "There was an incident a little while ago, and Ari is very upset. None of us can get her to calm down, so we thought it would be best if you came and got her."
"What happened?" Will demanded to know. Ari did not get upset easily, so if she was that distraught, it had to be something pretty major.
"I'd rather not get into it over the phone," Mrs. Andrews told him. "I promise we will explain everything once you get here. Please hurry."
"I- Of course," Will told her. "We'll be there in ten minutes."
As soon as he ended the call, he turned to Sonny. "Come on! I'll tell you what little I know on the way!"
Bryson Academy was only a few miles away from their apartment, but it seemed to take forever to get there. Traffic was terrible, and seemed even worse than it was because they were worried sick about their daughter.
When Will first learned he was going to be a father, she represented nothing more than a problem. A big problem. A problem that had the potential of costing him the love of his life.
But the more he thought about the little girl he had helped create, the more real she became to him, and the more he loved her. And once Sonny found out about her and had a chance to come to terms with the reality and forgive Will for lying to him, he loved her just as much as Will did. Especially when he had the honor of being the one to bring her into the world.
Now they couldn't imagine life without their eight year old beauty.
Finally they arrived at the school, and Sonny hurriedly turned into the parking lot, and pulled into the first available spot. Only seconds later, the two men quickly walked hand-in-hand into the building, trying to get to their daughter and find out what was wrong with her.
As soon as they walked into the office, they saw her. She was sitting in one of the hard plastic chairs that were set against the wall. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her face was blotchy, a result of prolonged crying.
Will and Sonny wasted no time rushing across the room. Sonny sat down next to her and gently stroked her hair while Will crouched in front of her and took both her hands in his.
"Ari? Sweetie what's wrong?" Will asked. "Why are you so upset?"
Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet his, and his heart broke at the devastation he saw there. He'd never seen her like this.
She refused to say anything and merely shook her head sadly, dropping her head once more and looking down into her lap.
"Come on, baby girl," Sonny whispered in her ear. "Daddy and I want to make things better, but we can't do that if you don't tell us what's going on."
She still refused to say anything, but she did lean a little closer to Sonny. His presence seemed to be helping to calm her down, at least a little bit.
They heard footsteps and looked up to see an older woman approach them.
"Mr. Horton-Kiriakis?"
"Yes," they both said at the same time.
"I'm Will Horton-Kiriakis, and this is my husband, Sonny. We're Ari's parents."
"I'm Sandy Andrews," she said, reaching to shake Will's hand as he stood to face her. "I'm the assistant head master here, and I'm afraid Ari has had a tough morning. Would the three of you like to step into my office so we can talk about it?"
Sonny gently prodded Ari to stand up, then took her hand in his. They followed Mrs. Andrews down the hall and into a small but nicely furnished office, Will and Sonny sat in chairs across from Mrs. Andrews' desk with Ari perched on Sonny's lap, her arms around his neck and her head resting on his shoulder.
Once they were all settled, the school administrator turned to the men.
"Ari was sent to me a little while ago by her teacher, Mrs. Jamison. Apparently, Ari had an argument with one of the other students who said some pretty upsetting things to her. When Mrs. Jamison was unable to calm Ari down, she sent her here, hoping I would have better luck. As you can see, it hasn't helped."
"What did they say?" Sonny asked, feeling his temper begin to rise.
"Ari? Would you like to tell your parents what Melanie said?"
The little girl clung even tighter to Sonny, seemingly afraid to say anything.
"Ari? It's ok, baby girl. You can tell me and Daddy anything. You do know that, don't you?"
"Y-yes."
"Tell us what Melanie said that upset you. We need you to tell us so we can make it better. We won't be upset with you, I promise."
He pulled her away from him slightly and sat her upright in his lap. Her hair was covering her face, and he gently brushed it back with his fingertips, and kissed her forehead. Will reached out and rubbed his hand up and down her arm.
She refused to meet their eyes, choosing to look at the floor instead.
"She said we weren't a family," she muttered, almost to softly for either man to hear. "She said that we couldn't be a family because Sonny lives with us instead of Mommy. She said that two men couldn't be parents."
The only sound in the room was a sharp gasp from Sonny. It felt as if someone had slapped him. Nobody could love Arianna Grace more than he did, but to some it didn't matter. He would never be viewed as her parent. And no matter how much they tried to shield her from it, the prejudices of the world were already affecting her. He felt the tears as they began to slip from his eyes. It hurt so much.
"She said that Mommy gave me away because she didn't love me, and that's the reason I live with the two of you."
Will was furious. No child was loved more than Arianna Grace Horton! Yes, she lived with him and Sonny instead of Gabi, but it wasn't because her mother didn't love her. Gabi had problems, and tended to put her own needs ahead of her daughter's (hence, the reason custody had eventually been awarded to Will and Sonny), but deep down she still adored their daughter. And for someone to tell Ari anything different was an outrage!
But then Will wasn't really surprised, knowing the person who had done it. He knew Melanie's family. Her father worked with Kate at Mad World. He was a bigoted ass who always had a negative comment about Will and Sonny. He hated them for being gay, and apparently he was instilling the same hateful attitude into his young, impressionable daughter.
"Sweetheart, listen to Daddy, ok?" He put his index finger under her chin to gently raise her head and force her to look at him. She nodded and locked eyes with him.
"We are a family. Me, you, and Sonny love one another with all our hearts, and that's all that matters. There is nothing in this whole wide world that would stop Sonny and me from loving you. We love you so so much!
"And your mommy loves you too. She loved you enough to let you live with us while she works. You know she calls almost every day, and she comes to see you as often as she can, right?"
Ari nodded and even gave him a small, sad smile.
Sonny had finally managed to get his own tears under control and he turned Ari so that she was looking at him.
"And as far as family is concerned, you probably have a lot more than Miss Melanie. Remember you have three grandmas, two grandpas, several great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and a whole bunch of cousins! More family than I ever had when I was growing up! And I'm betting you're going to see most of them in a few days when we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. I doubt Melanie will have anywhere near as much fun as we will!"
"Yeah!" Ari said, finally showing them a genuine smile.
"What do you say we go home and make some ice cream sundaes?" Will asked her. "And maybe you and I can actually get some chocolate sprinkles before Sonny eats them all!"
"Hey!" Sonny said in mock offense, causing Will, Ari, and Mrs. Andrews to laugh."
"Let's do it!" Ari said, grabbing Will''s hand and jumping from Sonny's lap.
They thanked Mrs. Andrews for calling them, and then the Horton-Kiriakis family walked out of the office and headed home. No matter what anyone said, they were a family. And even though the hateful taunts and jeers hurt worse than sticks and stones, they remained strong because they had one another. That was all they needed.