Longish chapter to make up for the delay. Hope it's alright:)

Chapter 36

The seconds went by like hours as Aaron stood dumbstruck at his door, his mind still trying to come to terms with the absurd and very unpleasant fact that his estranged father was standing right in front of him on the threshold of his home, looking quite at ease as if the past, what, fourteen? Fifteen? years had not happened at all.

Still Gordon Livesy was no fool, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to fathom that by the look on Aaron's face this visit was not a welcome one. Still he held his ground peacefully and waited for Aaron to make his move.

He didn't have to wait long.

"What do you want?" Aaron snarled, fingers tightening on the door frame to the point of nearly damaging the paintwork.

Gordon sighed and raised an eyebrow "As straight to the point as ever. I just wanted to see how you've been."

By the way he spoke one would swear it'd been simply a week since he'd last had contact with his son.

"I was doing perfectly fine until you darkened my door! Cut the bullshit, what are you really here for?"

"Only if you cut the dramatics, Aaron!" Gordon sniffed "I just want to see how my son is, is that a crime?"

By now it was all Aaron could do not to physically raise his father off the ground with indignant rage

"Don't call me "son"! You lost the right to call me that years ago! Now if you've nothing else to say, do one!"

"Aaron-"

"I mean it; you have ten seconds to get off my property before I do something I'll later regret!"

With that Aaron slammed the door shut and waited. After a few minutes he could hear footsteps leading away from his door, gradually fading before disappearing completely. Accepting he was gone Aaron stormed into his living room where he paced angrily for a while before launching a kick at one of the skirting boards in frustration, leaving a dent. He then sank onto the sofa and placed his head in his hands, cursing furiously.

He didn't understand why life did this to him. It seemed to deliberately wait until he was happy and everything was perfect before dropping a bombshell like this on him.

He remained in this position in silence until he was startled by another knock at the door, this time sounding a bit softer. Clenching his fists in expectation of round two he made his way once more to the door and flung it open.

This time round he was relieved to find that it was Gennie with Kalum in her arms; Kalums clothes looking a bit scruffy but he managed to take away some of the scruffiness with the bright smile on his face.

"Sorry for the state of his clothes Aaron, our Max talked him into crawling under bushes when they were playing soldiers."

Aaron pasted a fake smile on his face "That's okay, Gen." Taking Kalum into his arms he continued "Were you good for Gennie and Nikhil?"

"Yup!" he replied happily. "Pleasure as always, Aaron. So, did you have a good time yesterday?"

"Oh yeah, yeah I did. Thanks."

Gennie cocked her head to the side at his slightly off tone "Is everything ok, Aaron? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Kalum too looked up at his dad, worried by this "What's wrong?"

Aaron managed to keep up the forced smile "Nothing, baby. Nothing at all." He kissed him on the forehead "But there's something important I need to talk to auntie Gennie about so do you want to go and play on your X-Box for a bit?"

"Ok." Kalum replied somewhat reluctantly as Aaron placed him in his chair and Gennie looked on concernedly.

"There's my lad." Aaron smiled, ruffling his hair as he made his way to his room. Once the bedroom door shut Aaron turned gloomily to his aunt "You won't believe this…"

Naturally Gennie was shocked and outraged by Aaron's news. She had never been Gordon Livesy's number one fan, and to her he had just crossed the line by turning up at her nephews' home after years of wanting nothing to do with him.

She demanded that Chas be told, which Aaron hurriedly put a stop to. Aaron's relationship with his father was strained enough without Gordon thinking Aaron needed his mother to fight his battles for him, which she certainly would attempt to do should she get wind of this. He'd tell her when the time was right and when he could stop her taking action of her own. Gennie clearly didn't agree with this but respected his wishes.

She then suggested he call Jackson to which Aaron also refused. He wasn't about to call Jackson in from work over something as ridiculous as this and get him all worried over nothing. There was nothing in this situation that he couldn't handle himself.

Gennie stayed on for a bit but Aaron eventually assured her he was fine and that she should be getting home to her own family. She did go in the end but not before making Aaron promise to tell her if anything else happened.

Aaron rolled his eyes as he re-entered the living room and sat back down. He knew Gennie meant well and her heart was in the right place but what her and indeed his mother seemed to forget at times was that he wasn't a child anymore and was well capable of looking after himself. God knows he had done that for long enough.

Kalum came back in and once again Aaron put on a cheerful act "Hi mate!"

Kalum wasn't easily fooled however "What did you have to talk to Gennie about?" Aaron shook his head "Nothing important, really boring stuff. Anyway let's forget about it for now, what would master Walsh like to do today?"

This seemed to side-track Kay "Will you read me a story? Daddy couldn't read me one last night because of the party."

"Sure thing." Aaron then paused and looked pensive "Tell you what; if you get me your reading book out of your bag you can help me read it, how about that?"

Kalum seemed pleased with this and shot off to find his school bag. Once he returned with his reading book he was pulled into Aaron's lap and both read it together. Obviously Kalum didn't know most of the words in the book as his class had just started learning how to read but he recognised a good few of the smaller words and was able to attempt sounding out the ones he didn't know. It was a slow uneven process with the pair of them reading at the same time and the story wasn't exactly riveting but Aaron didn't care, it momentarily distracted him from dark thoughts of his father and words honestly couldn't describe how proud he felt as he watched Kay trace the sentences with his finger and sound out the words.

Aaron somehow managed to keep it hidden from Jackson for the majority of the day, avoiding the possibility of having to leave the house at all under the guise of coming down with another head-cold. However it was getting more and more difficult as the hours went on, and it didn't help that he now felt incredibly guilty for keeping things from Jackson.

By evening he thought he was in the clear. Everything was as normal; Kalum was put to bed, the pair of them did the dishes from dinner and they went to chill out in the living room with a movie. However just as Aaron was flicking through their DVD's for one to watch he heard "Do you fancy telling me what the matter is?"

"Huh?"

"You heard. You haven't been yourself all day. Has something happened?"

Aaron sighed and stood up, shaking his head "No, nothing's wrong."

"Aaron, I've known you long enough to know when you're lying."

"Well now I'm not so just drop it!"

"There flaming well is something wrong and I don't know why you're hiding it fr-"

"Maybe because it has nothing to do with you, Jackson!" Aaron snapped harshly. However upon seeing the hurt in Jay's eyes he softened and sighed, sitting down beside him and taking his hand. "I'm sorry Jay, I'm really sorry. I just meant that it's not your burden to bear."

"If it's upsetting you then it is my burden." Jackson replied softly, stroking Aaron's hand. Aaron nodded wearily and Jackson gently pulled him into his lap, wrapping his arms around him. As Aaron breathed in the smell of sawdust, lynx and the unique scent that was unmistakably Jackson he felt a bit more secure and felt the wall he'd set up start to crumble.

"Anything that annoys you annoys me, you know that."

"I know." Aaron muttered in defeat before finally opening up to Jackson about what'd happened that morning. He felt Jackson tense against him and as he finished Jackson spat angrily "What the hell did he want?"

"Search me. He came out with some bull about wanting to see how I was. I'm well honoured after fourteen years of not giving a shit if I was alive or dead."

Jackson shook his head disgustedly and tightened his grip around Aaron. "You should have called me, babe. Or at least told me earlier."

"I just didn't want you thinking I wasn't capable of handling it alone."

"Of course I know you're capable, Aaron! I know that more than anybody! But just because you're able to handle it alone doesn't mean you have to handle it alone."

Aaron looked up and Jackson raised a hand to affectionately stroke the stubble on the side of his face "You're the strongest person I know but that doesn't mean you ever have to handle anything alone, Aaron. Me and you are a team. Us against the world no matter what, remember?"

Aaron nodded and curled up closer to Jackson's chest, feeling a lot better. "I love you." He mumbled against Jackson's shirt. "I love you too." Jackson soothingly rubbed his husbands back.

Before he could say anything else about it Aaron's phone buzzed. As he answered it he was surprised to hear his aunt's voice on the other end "What's up Gennie?"

"Listen Aaron this may be completely unrelated to what happened this morning but you should know about it anyway. Molly just told me that when her, Abby and the boys were at the park this morning she saw some strange man talking to Kalum…"

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo xox

Aaron was gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were near popping through the skin. He was also driving just a little over the speed limit but he was too riled up to care.

He'd told Jackson he was just going for a spin to clear his head, which technically wasn't a lie, but he couldn't resist taking a small detour along the way.

Gennie's words had hit him like a tonne of bricks the night before. They had woken Kalum up and sleepy though he was he was able to recount what had happened that morning. A man had approached him while he was playing with Max in the park and had asked him if he knew where Aaron Livesy lived.

"I didn't know who he was talking about." Kalum had yawned.

But the man kept insisting that he did until Kalum finally convinced him that the only Aaron he knew was his dad, and his last name wasn't Livesy.

Aaron kicked himself mentally for not even stopping to think about how his father knew where he lived. This was a new low for Gordon Livesy; using a child to achieve his ends. Aaron's child. And Aaron wasn't just going to let this slide.

Reaching the house he had sworn years ago never to return to he didn't even bother to take the keys out of the ignition as he stormed to the door and walloped it with a fist.

Gordon Livesy had barely fully opened the door before Aaron barged inside, roughly shoving his father up against the hall wall without caring if Sandra or whoever should wander in and snapping "What the fuck do you think you're playing at?"

Gordon looked more surprised than scared at Aaron's rage. In saying that he should have considered himself lucky that in Aaron's current state his son hadn't put him straight through the wall.

"I have no idea what-"

"Who the fuck gave you permission to talk to my son?"

Gordon's eyes widened "So, he is yours then? But he said your name was-"

"Walsh." Aaron finished sharply "My surname is Walsh. Has been for the past ten years."

Gordon raised an unimpressed eyebrow "Took it off your mothers squeeze did you?"

Aaron shook his head "Mum never married. I did, Walsh is my husband's name."

"Your what?"

Aaron knew he probably shouldn't have been surprised at Gordon's stunned reaction but he was. He'd assumed Gordon had either heard about it through the grapevine or seen them together and put two and two together, as he obviously must have seen him with Kalum before. Evidently his detective skills were not as up to scratch as Aaron had presumed.

Aaron cocked an eyebrow mockingly "A bit late on the news update, aren't you Gordon? Let me bring you up to speed; I'm gay."

After a moment of shock Gordon replied by dumbly shaking his head "You're lying, that's just a sick joke to get back at me. You have a kid for God's sake…"

"Shut your flaming mouth!" Aaron snarled "Don't you dare call it "sick"! And the kid isn't just mine, he's ours!"

As if to prove this he whipped out his phone and shoved it in his father's face so he could see the picture of Jackson and Kalum that lit up his screen

"If you think I'd lie about being gay just to spite you then you need your bloody head checked!"

As Gordon still stood lost for words at this revelation Aaron finished with a warning "I don't know what your real reason for coming to find me is but to be honest I really don't give a shit what it is. I only came here today to tell you to stay away from me and stay away from my family. Come near my son again and I'll make you wish you'd never seen the light of day."

As he turned to go out the door he heard a croak behind him "Aaron… I don't want anything from you; I just want to build bridges. Can you not just give me a chance?"

Aaron stopped at the door with his back still turned to his father and replied coolly "All I've done my whole childhood is give you chances. No more."

With that Aaron left the house far calmer than when he had entered, and turned his back on Gordon Livesy for what he then believed was the last time.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo xoxoxoxoxox

Jackson woke up feeling weight on his chest. Straining his neck to look he saw Aaron fast asleep across him, fist curled up beside his face like a child. Jackson just grinned and let him sleep on; he hadn't been sleeping too well since the encounter with his father a week earlier so every little bit helped.

Needless to say Jackson hadn't been happy when Aaron had told him about his "talk" with his father but Aaron wasn't a child and he hadn't resorted to violence so Jackson just begrudgingly accepted that decision. His little chat seemed to have worked; there were no further house or phone calls from Gordon. But clearly the situation was still annoying Aaron for reasons he hadn't revealed to Jackson yet. Jackson knew better than to push him and knew Aaron would open up when he was ready so he just let him be.

Just then his husband's eyes started to flicker open and he started to adorably rub a fist against them in an effort to wake up before looking up dazedly at the smiling face watching him.

"Morning, sleeping beauty."

Aaron rolled his still sleep-heavy eyes and moved himself further up so his head was now resting on Jackson's shoulder. "Mornin'" he grunted in reply.

"Sleep well?"

"I've slept better."

Jay just nodded silently and ran his fingers comfortingly through Aaron's dark hair. Just then an idea came to him.

"How about the three of us clear off for the day? Go for a little wander down along the coast? It's a decent day for it."

That sounded like an appealing idea to Aaron but at the same time he didn't want Jackson to think that they had to run away from his problems, and this he said to Jackson.

"Nonsense!" Jackson snorted "That never crossed my mind. I just saw the sunlight and thought that there were worse ways I could spend a Sunday than walking along a coastline with the two most gorgeous men in the world beside me."

Aaron smiled and shook his head fondly "You are full of it." But he appreciated the sentiment and laced the fingers of his left hand with Jackson's right. "I think it's a good idea; Kay will like it. Tough first week back at school so I hear."

"Oh yes, exhausting hours spent learning how to write letters, count numbers and rhyme words this week I've been told. On top of Carla's little gent being put on the bench during playtime for throwing paint at young White-Bowne." Jackson chuckled.

As if this bothered Ryan in the least! He simply lay on his back across the bench quite at his leisure with his hands behind his head, keeping an eye on the teacher on yard duty and beckoning one of his three friends over when his or her head was turned.

The men couldn't help but have a soft spot for the little rebel. He was careless, laid-back and remorse or regret didn't seem to feature in his dictionary but overall he wasn't a bad kid. He didn't set out to cause trouble or behave wrongly; it just seemed to come to him naturally. At the end of the day he was a good friend to Kalum, and that was all that mattered.

"We'll leave early then?"

"Now, if you're up for it."

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo xoxoxox

Just over two hours later the small family were walking along a beach, Kalum on Jay's shoulders. The sun was out and the sky was clear, however it still being in the frozen depts of Winter meant they were wearing heavy jackets and Kalum was also wearing his beanie and scarf, slightly disappointed that they couldn't go in the water but making up for it by getting his dad to pick up shells for him at random points along the way.

They stopped briefly at the waters edge where Jackson started skimming some pebbles. He tried showing an interested Kalum how to do it and the frustrated expression on his little face when he couldn't get the hang of it was adorable.

Aaron smiled as yet another of Kalum's attempted stone throws ended up plunging straight away. His mood had lifted slightly. The walk and the sea air had helped clear his mind and he was enjoying the peace and solitude of just being alone with his boys.

On the pier they had some chips sitting on a bench, Kalum sitting in the middle throwing the odd chip at some local seagulls who were eyeing the family and their lunch rather threateningly.

"Nice place isn't it?"

"It is." Aaron agreed vaguely, mind elsewhere. Sparing a look at Kalum, who was too occupied with making new feathered friends to pay any attention to them, Jackson finally decided to chance asking Aaron the question both he (and unbeknownst to him, Aaron) had been avoiding all week

"Do you want to build bridges with him?"

Aaron froze as expected, and for a second he considered either playing dumb as to what Jackson meant or fiercely denying it till he was blue in the face. In the end however he replied solemnly

"I don't know. I really don't know. I can't describe what I feel about it; it's like on the one hand I never want to see his face again, and on the other I just really want to know why he came looking for me in the first place after all this time. I don't know if I'm looking so much for a relationship as… as… what's it called?"

"Closure?" Jackson suggested.

"Exactly. I'm 99.9 per cent sure that he's got himself into some sort of trouble and only wants me as a way of bailing him out of it, but there's this 0.1 per cent that wonders if maybe he does just want to build bridges and the thought of it's eating me alive. You think I'm mad, yeah?"

"Not at all." Jackson shook his head. "My mum always said that there's nothing worse in this world than an unanswered question. It's only natural that you want to know for certain where you stand."

After a long pause Aaron looked him right in the eyes and asked softly "Would it bother you if I did give it a shot? Just to see for myself what his game is?"

Jackson was honest "I've never known your father, and based on what you and others have told me about him I don't think I'll ever want to know him. I can't ever see me and him being mates after the way he treated you. But this isn't about me. As much as I may not like it, if it makes you happy then I'll back you up a million per cent."

"Even if it ends up going arse-about-face?"

"Even if Gordon manages to somehow strip us of land and title." Jackson chuckled.

Aaron smiled and reaching across the back of the bench his fingers found Jacksons and he gave them a loving squeeze "You're the best, you know that?"

"Hey, if you can manage to put up with my father I can make the same effort for yours."

That was another thought. One reason why even now Aaron didn't see eye to eye with Jerry Walsh was the fact that Jackson's dad had nearly beaten him to a pulp on one occasion but yet in all Jackson had forgiven him. He knew Jackson was of a more relaxed and forgiving nature than himself but even so, if he could manage to forgive his father that then maybe Aaron could take a chance with his own.

Just then Jackson let out a horrified yell as he was startled by an over-cocky seagull landing on his lap, having finally given into the temptation of the food that Kalum had been taunting them with for the better part of ten minutes. Jumping to his feet his chips fell to the ground and the rest of the seagulls launched themselves at them with glee.

"I hope you choke on them, you crafty feathered bastards!" Jackson snapped before excusing himself for cursing in front of Kalum. Not that it mattered much; Kalum and Aaron were too hysterical with laughter at his reaction to hear what he'd said anyway.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Aaron paced over and back across the cricket pavilion, trying to get his head straight and calm his nerves. On the outside he looked calm and collected, on the inside he was a nervous mess. His first, second and third thoughts were that he wished Jackson was there with him but he knew this would have to be sorted by himself.

Sitting on the steps he waited and watched out over the fields overlooking the village. Five minutes passed-nothing. Five more- still nothing.

Finally fifteen minutes later he saw the burly figure making its way across the field, thick jacket sheltering him from the wind. As he approached Aaron stood up but his face was blank; offering neither greeting nor insult.

Gordon's face also betrayed no emotions as he faced his son. After a brief awkward silence he began "You wanted to see me?"

To which Aaron grunted "You complaining? You wanted us to talk, so we're talking."

"Not complaining but I'd like to know what made you change your mind."

Aaron shrugged "I want to know why you want to talk after all this time. Or are you sticking with your excuse?"

"I'm sticking with it because it's true. I'm many things Aaron but I'm no fool, I know I've messed up a lot with regards to you so you probably don't believe a word I say but on my life I just want to try and make up for lost time. Nothing else."

Aaron mulled this over in his mind "Right. Let's say you're telling the truth; after everything that's happened between us why should I give you another chance?"

"To be honest, with everything that's happened even I think maybe you shouldn't. But I hope you will. If only to rid yourself of a lifetime of "what-ifs"."

"But why? Why after all these years have you just decided you want to be back in touch with me now?"

Gordon paused "I'm not sure to be honest. The thought just hit me one day that I'm not going to be around forever, and I've made some cock-ups in my time, so I might as well try fixing some of the more important ones while I still have time."

Aaron snorted "So what? I'm just one of those "cock-ups"? Just because you have a bit of spare time on your hands you might as well try fixing things with me?"

Gordon shook his head "Like I said, it's hard to explain. But all I'm asking is a chance, Aaron. At least then we'll know, whether it goes well or…" He stopped, not knowing how to finish tactfully.

This was the moment of decision which Aaron had been running over and debating in his mind all week. Finally with a shrug of his shoulders he grunted "I've got nothing to lose."

The look of hope that started to spread across his fathers face should not have made Aaron want to punch him so bad.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo xoxoxoxoxo

It was difficult to start, and in all honesty it didn't really get any easier as their first attempted civil conversation in years played out. The topics were really simple and predictable; what they had gotten up to in the past years and about their lives in general at the minute.

Not a whole pile had happened with Gordon, though Aaron was surprised albeit not saddened to hear that he had split with his wife in recent years and now lived alone. Aaron had never liked the old cow anyway, and the feeling seemed mutual so it was no skin off his nose.

Aaron was brief and blunt about his life, not used to opening up to his father even when they had been speaking. He spoke about his relationship with his mum, his job, his coming out, his meeting and eventually settling down with Jackson and their adoption of Kalum. No grand details about anything; though he couldn't help mentioning that his mums ex Paddy Kirk had been like a dad to him for years and gaining satisfaction at the slight disapproving vibe from Gordon at this.

To his relief his father passed no comment on his sexuality or on Jackson. He wasn't sure what he'd do if he did. His father was never the most tolerant of "the homos", which hadn't made Aaron's initial struggle with his sexuality any easier, but he was behaving himself for now.

Instead he commented on Kalum "I've seen you with him a couple of times in passing. You seem to be doing a good job with him."

Aaron couldn't help himself "I haven't abandoned him yet anyway."

He caught a grip though in the awkward silence that followed. If he really was going to try and draw a line in the sand then the digs would have to stop.

Gordon changed the subject as he shivered at the sudden gust of wind "You couldn't have picked a better rendezvous point, no?"

"You know damn well what would happen if mum or Cain saw you in the village."

"I can guess." Gordon looked at his watch "I'm sorry Aaron but I have to go; I've a doctor's appointment."

Aaron shrugged as he stood up and brushed himself down "I should be getting home to Jay and Kalum anyway."

"….is it alright if we meet up again?"

Aaron stuck his hands in his pockets with a careless air "That's what we agreed, isn't it?"

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo xoxoxoxo

It went good, better than Aaron had dared hope in the next few weeks during which he saw his father regularly about once a week. They met up for a couple of hours each time in some random spots in Hotten where they wouldn't be recognised; sometimes in a pub or a café, sometimes in an open area like a park but always in a neutral setting. Aaron never invited him back to his house.

No one back at home besides Jackson knew what Aaron was up to. Aaron didn't want anyone knowing until at least he was sure of where he and Gordon were at. Kalum was oblivious as to where his dad disappeared off to; having been told by Jackson that he had to work late. Jackson himself had been so supportive in this even though Aaron could tell he wasn't liking it too much. He knew how important this was to Aaron and Aaron made sure Jay knew how much he appreciated it.

They didn't talk about too much during these meetings; just the ordinary chit-chat about the events of the week. There was still a bit of hostility but the atmosphere wasn't as tense as when they'd first begun meeting up and Aaron wasn't as defensive. It'd be a long time before they would laugh over a pint or before Gordon would be taking Aaron fishing but it was a start.

Aaron was loath to admit that he had been liking these meetings. In time he even came to almost look forward to them (emphasis on the "almost".) Eventually one evening he made a risky decision, which he discussed with Jackson beforehand who again wasn't too thrilled about it but agreed begrudgingly.

He met his father at a run-down café in Hotten as arranged. Conversation was slow to take off as Gordon was constantly frowning and rubbing his temple; he'd suffered from migraines for the past couple of years, which wasn't a good start considering what Aaron wanted to discuss that evening but if he didn't mention it now he never would.

Moving away from the small-talk of sport he grunted "There's something I want to ask you."

Gordon raised an eyebrow as he stirred his coffee absent-mindedly "Go on."

Aaron started drumming his fingers on his knees anxiously; here went nothing.

"I was just thinking; if you'd like, I'll introduce you to Jackson sometime."

Gordon stopped stirring and his face dropped, as Aaron had half-expected. Hurriedly he added "It's alright with him like, he knows I was going to ask you and he's agreed to it so…"

"No, Aaron." Gordon replied, eyes downturned.

"Too soon, yeah? I didn't mean like right now or anything, like in a couple of weeks or-"

"No, Aaron you're missing the point." Gordon sighed uneasily, the tone of his voice alerting something in Aaron. He now felt odd as he waited for his father to elaborate.

Gordon raised his head slowly, his eyes not quite meeting Aaron's. Clearing his throat he spoke "It's nothing to do with it being "too soon" or whether he minds. It's nothing personal; I'm sure he's a decent enough bloke but…."

"So what's the problem?" Aaron filled the hesitant pause that followed, hackles starting to rise dangerously. This time Gordon looked him straight in his eyes as he finally admitted

"The problem is that he's a bloke, Aaron, can you not see that?"

There it was. After weeks of expecting this issue to crop up and then probably foolishly starting to believe that maybe his father wasn't all that bothered by it, there it was.

Aaron clenched his fists tightly as he snarled sarcastically "Well let me think; I've been with him for twelve years, I sleep beside him every night and I dare say I've seen him in the buff a good number of times so yeah, I'm pretty sure I can see he's a bloke!"

Gordon bit at his lip uncomfortably as Aaron glowered "I might have known." He growled "Some things never change."

"Aaron, you know how I feel about that way of life." He grunted "I've tried to accept that part of you, I really have, but I just can't. If I was to meet your… your…"

"My husband." Aaron snapped.

"Whatever, it would be like saying I approve of your lifestyle. I'm sorry Aaron but I can't do that."

"What the fuck do you actually mean by lifestyle?" Aaron was dangerously close to boiling point at this stage.

"Well, your whole relationship with this lad… it's all just casual stuff isn't it?"

The rest of the café's occupants snapped their heads around in confusion and surprise as they heard an almighty crash and were intrigued to see a table on its side, its cutlery scattered across the floor and one of its chairs on its back. They were so concerned about the state of the area they barely noticed a young man storming out the door with an older one hurriedly following him.

….TBC

So, not so happy families! More to come in the next chapter. Just if I may I'd like to dedicate this chapter to a close friend of mine who has just recently shocked us all by coming out. It wasn't easy for her to do so yeah, I'm proud of her.:)

Just as a heads-up, while I still have a few more chapters in mind to come I regret to say that there is an end to this story in sight.:( At the moment I'm still debating whether or not to add some extra chapters at the end on Kalum in his teens but the jury is still out on that one. But anyway as it's not the end just yet, I hope to see you soon!:)