Chapter 7: Father's Day Pt. 2

Disclaimer: For the 27th time, I do not own the Fosters.

AN: Three chapters in a little bit more than a day? I'm surprised at myself. Even if this chapter is a little short compared to the others in this story. Shout out to the anonymous reviewer, JonnorFTW, who requested I make Sophia a villain in this story. I decided to through it into this chapter, at least a little bit. Please keep reviewing. Every review is appreciated and helps enormously in writing the story.

Connor's POV:

I don't think I've ever seen Jude look so nervous as he does now, standing face to face with his father for the first time in months.

"Hey Jude," Donald said, approaching the table slowly, "Wow. You've gotten so big."

"Yeah." Jude said hesitantly, "I'm almost taller than you."

Donald smiled.

"It's good to see you kiddo." He said.

Jude smiled. It was small, but it was a smile nonetheless.

"Yeah. Likewise." Jude said, "How have you been doing?"

"Good. Really good actually." Donald answered, "I've got a steady job. Better apartment. Completely sober. I'm doing better than I've done in years."

"That's good to hear, Donald." Stef interjects.

Jude's dad turns back to us, and he catches sight of me.

"Okay, I've met the others, but you I have absolutely no memory of meeting." He said.

I get up and approach him, holding out a hand for him to shake which he accepts.

"Connor, sir. Connor Stevens." I said, "It's nice to meet you."

We spent the rest of the time until dinner in the living room. Jude's dad and my dad immediately struck up conversation. The talked about cars, sports, and other stereotypical manly things, while Jude and I cuddled up on the couch and watched a movie with Jesus and Brandon.

Mariana arrived about ten minutes before dinner. When Stef announced that dinner was served, we all took our places at the big table in the dining room. She made pork roast.

We make small talk for about ten minutes, telling each other about our days. Jude and I stay silent, until Donald turns to us.

"So, Jude." Donald asks, "You dating anybody yet?"

Jude immediately looks uncomfortable.

"Um. Yeah. I am."

"Good for you, kiddo. Who?"

"Um. I'm uh, dating Connor actually." Jude said hesitantly.

Donald looks between us, a shocked look on his face.

"Wait, so... you're gay, Jude?" Donald asked confused.

Jude bristled at being called gay. Sensing a potential fight brewing, I intervene.

"Jude doesn't use labels." I explain, "He thinks they're idiotic. He hates them. He doesn't get why people go around putting each other in boxes."

Donald looks at Jude for a second, before offering him a small smile.

"If I HAD to put a label on it, I would say I'm queer." Jude said testily, "It means that I don't identify as gay, straight or bi."

"You really are just like your mom." He said, "She was the same way with labels. And I'm happy for you, bud. It looks like you managed to snag a good one. How long have you been dating?"

"About ten days." I reply, "But I've had a crush on him since before he was adopted. It just took me a while to stop being an idiot."

"Connor..." Jude interrupts warningly, "How many times do I have to tell you to stop sweating that?"

"Ha. Yes dear." I snarked playfully.

"Oh my god, you two are too cute." Mariana interrupts, and I wince at the use of the name, "Oh! That reminds me, how was your guys' date today?"

Jude and my dad both snort at the same time.

"It was eventful." Jude said.

"We were there for two hours and some old couple sat down at the table next to us. They took offense when Jude gave me a kiss. The said something to us, and we started a game of verbal hack and slash." I explain.

"Destroyed them. Ended up getting them thrown out of the restaurant by the owner." Jude continued.

"The owner threatened to have his husband throw them bodily from the restaurant if they refused to leave. Ended up giving us all three of our meals for free." Adam finished, "We will definitely be going back there."

Just as he finished speaking, Stef's phone let out an text alert. She picked it up, and her face paled.

"Crap." Stef said, looking down at her phone.

"What is it mom?" Brandon asked as Jude took a drink.

"Callie is on her way home." She answered, "Right now. She'll be here in ten minutes."

Jude's eyes widened. Dad noticed this, and pulled Jude's dad out of the way just in time to avoid being covered in the drink Jude had just been drinking.

"Crap is right." Jesus muttered under his breath. Brandon massaged his temples with his right hand, trying to fend off a migraine.

"Um, maybe I should go." Donald said.

"No." Jude said, "I invited you here, so you're staying. Callie can deal with it."

We all sat in silence and nervous anticipation until we heard the front door open with a bang. Callie came stomping in, a look of extreme displeasure on her face. She walked up to the fridge and opened it, extracting a can of Sprite from its depths. She marched towards the cupboard, and removed a plate, before fetching a fork and spoon from the silverware drawer. She plopped down in the only empty chair and helped herself to a large piece of pork, which she proceed to eviscerate into tiny pieces which she then salted. Only then did she notice Donald and my dad sitting at the table as well.

She stared at Donald in surprise.

"Donald. What... what are you doing here?"

"He called asking how we were," Jude explained, "And it's Father's Day, so I invited him. You don't have a problem with that, do you Callie?"

Jude's tone of voice left no room for disagreement. She picked up her can of Sprite, opened it, and took a drink. She drained the can, but didn't put it back down on the table.

"No. It's actually good to see him." She said.

"What's up with you?" Brandon asked, "I thought you were having dinner at Robert's?"

She crushed the can in her fist.

"I had to get out of there. If I didn't leave, I swear to god I would have killed him and Sophia."

"Why what happened?" I asked.

"We were sitting down to dinner, and Robert asked me how everybody was doing. I brought up you two." Callie said, pointing to Jude and I, "Sophia loses it. Starts ranting about it! Throwing around every homophobic word and insult that I knew existed, plus a few that I didn't. So I got up, punched her in the middle of the face and left. Robert just sat there. Didn't say a single word, didn't lift a single finger to stop her."

"Callie." Jude said, "Thanks. For defending me and Connor."

"Always."

"Not just today, but on his first day back as well." Jude said.

"What happened the first day back?" Dad asked.

"We had a, uh, small disagreement with Jeremy." Jude said.

"More than a small disagreement." Jesus snarked. Jude smirked.

"He called me a fag," He explained, a wicked smirk splitting his face, "So Connor punched him..."

"...And Jude kicked him in the nuts at the same time." I continued, "...And I'll say now, exactly what I said when it happened. He's lucky I didn't use my cane..."

"...Then he threatened us, and then Callie, Mariana, and Jesus showed up..." Jude added.

As Jude and I kept up our verbal trade off, I vaguely realized that my dad was literally about to fall out of his chair because he was laughing so hard.

"...Callie threatened to take a baseball bat to him..." I continued.

"...Jesus said he'd break both of his knees, and that he'd have Brandon tie him up with piano wire and torture him mercilessly..." Jude continued, just barely able to restrain himself from joining my dad, who had just toppled sideways out of his chair in hysterics.

"...Finally, Mariana threatened to knock him out and throw him off a cliff. He ran away like the hounds of hell were on his heels." I finished.

Jude's dad was biting his fist trying not to laugh. Jesus, Brandon, Mariana and Callie all had proud smirks on their faces.

We turned to Lena, expecting her to be angry. She rubbed her ears.

"You know? It's the strangest thing, I just went deaf for some reason, and I completely missed all of that."

She turned to us and winked. Jude and I grinned. Stef shook her head in exasperation. My dad calmed himself down enough to clamber back into his chair, clutching the stitch in his side.

"Oh... god... I haven't, laughed that hard... since college..." He panted, regaining his breath, "Gotta give it to you guys. You got style. Glad Connor's dating somebody who has the stones to deal with that kind of crap."

Dinner ends in comfortable conversation about random things. Jude and I recount the story of how we became boyfriends to Jude's dad, and Jude tells his dad about our other friends.

Soon enough it's time for Jude's dad to leave. As he gets up to leave he turns to Jude and I.

"Can I talk to you two real quick before I go?" He asks.

Jude and I nod and follow him to the door. We step out onto the porch, and he turns to us. He looks at me first.

"I uh. I just wanted to say thank you Connor." He said, "You've been a good friend to my son, I can see that. I can see that he's happy with you, and I can see that you'll take care of him. I can see that you really love him, and I'm forever grateful for that."

"Thank you sir." I said, feeling kind of touched.

He turns to Jude, who's looking kind of teary eyed.

"I'm so glad you're happy here Jude," He tells him, "And I'm glad you found Connor. I can tell he's a good boy. You take care of each other, you hear?"

Jude nods, and a tear falls down his cheek.

"And I'm glad you have such a loving family." Donald continued, "They gave you the family you deserved, the one that I couldn't give you."

"Can... can I give you a hug?" Jude asks.

Donald laughs, and opens arms and nods. Jude steps into his father's embrace.

"That's the same thing you said the last time you saw me." Donald said, "You never need to ask. If you ever need to talk, or ever need help, let me know, and I'll do my best."

"I will." Jude said as he pulled out of the embrace.

Donald nodded to us both.

"Until next time. Bye Connor, bye Jude." He said.

I nodded in farewell. He turned around and started to walk to the taxi waiting for him at the curb. He made it halfway to the curb before Jude responded.

"Bye Dad." Jude said.

Donald turned back, and offered a teary smile.

"Bye Son."

He got in the cab.

Jude wrapped his arm around my waist, and we watched the cab pull away, and disappear down the road.

Jude turned into my embrace and let the tears fall, but for once they weren't tears of sadness, or anger, or grief.

They were tears of happiness, and joy.