Thomas, after storming back inside the house, run straight to his room, locking the door and heading to his bed, where he remained sitting on it, hugging his legs and with his eyes full of tears. His mind was a mess, as he no longer knew who to trust and what to believe. First, it was his mother who hid from him who his father was, and now his own uncle…?
The fact his uncle Prince knew about his father didn't come as a shock, but knowing the two of them had been in contact all along… that his uncle was also Bluey's godfather… He started to wonder if his father really didn't know about him all along.
It was then that he heard someone knocking at the door, with Bandit's voice coming from outside:
"Come on, Thomas, open the door please."
"No! Go away!" Thomas replied.
"Come on, mate, I can explain everything to you" Bandit continued to say.
"You're just going to lie to me!" Thomas shouted. "Everyone is always lying to me! I'm done with lies!"
"But I never lied to you" Bandit told. "Please, son, just… open the door so we can talk."
However, this time, he didn't get any response, what worried Bandit.
"Come on, mate, please… talk to me."
"It's no use, Bandit" a voice said, with Bandit turning and seeing Prince appearing. "When that kid stays like that, it's better let him cool off a bit."
But Bandit didn't reply to him, only giving him an angry look. Prince couldn't help but feeling uncomfortable with that. For most of the times, he had only seen Bandit when he was happy, sad, startled and embarrassed, but his angry look was something he didn't see that much, but it was, nevertheless, intimidating.
"Oh, I really don't like when you give me that look…" Prince said. "Look, Bandit, I…"
"Let's talk in my study" Bandit said, as he turned around and started walking towards his office.
Despite a little nervous for what would happen, Prince followed Bandit.
At the living room, Chilli was with the girls who were playing with some of their toys. Stopping for a moment, Bluey turned to her mother and asked:
"Mum, why did Thomas got upset with uncle Prince and Dad?"
"Well, Bluey, it's a little complicated" Chilli explained. "You see… uncle Prince… he is Thomas' mum's brother."
"Really?" the two girls asked, to which Chilli nodded.
"Does that mean that uncle Prince is also Thomas' uncle?" Bingo asked. "His real uncle?"
"He's your uncle too, even if not by blood, but yes, he is Thomas' real uncle" Chilli said. "And it's because Thomas got to know his uncle had been in contact with us and he didn't know about it…"
"He got really sad" Bluey ended, starting to feel sad as well.
"Yeah… he is" Chilli replied.
"I wished we could do something to cheer him up" Bingo said.
At that moment, Bluey had an idea.
"I know! Maybe we can lure him out of his room with some food" she said. "Thomas loves snacks."
"That's a great idea, Bluey" Chilli said. "And I know just the thing to lure him out. I've made a lamington for afternoon tea."
"Thomas loves lamington!" Bluey exclaimed. "Maybe we can give him a square."
"And we can make him some orange juice, maybe" Bingo said.
"Yeah!" Bluey agreed.
Chilli couldn't help but smile. Seeing her daughters doing their best to cheer up their older brother made Chilli so happy. She then saw them starting to hurry towards the kitchen. As they started climbing the stairs, Bluey told Chilli:
"Mum, hurry up!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming" she said, chuckling, while getting up.
Meanwhile, Bandit and Prince went to the former's study, with him entering first and the latter entering last.
"So, I bet you have a lot to tell…" Prince started, while closing the door.
But he didn't finish, as, when he turned around, Bandit punched him on the face.
"Ouch! That hurts!" Prince protested, while massaging the place where Bandit hit.
"How could you have done this to Thomas?!" Bandit exclaimed, furious. "How could you have done this to me?! To the girls?!"
"Bandit, I…" Prince started.
"Do you have any idea what I felt when I found out about Thomas?!" Bandit asked. "That Emily hid our son away from me?!"
"It must have been awful to you…" Prince said.
"Awful?" Bandit repeated. "Try agonizing! It was the worst experience I ever had."
"Really?" Prince asked. "Even more than that situation when you and Chilli got hitched?"
"Shut up"
"Okay…"
"You have been my only link to Emily ever since she left me" Bandit said. "The only reason why I didn't ask anything about her was because I didn't want to put that stress on our friendship because… you are like a big brother to me. But knowing you helped her keep her secret for years… I've never felt so betrayed."
"I understand that, Bandit…" Prince started.
"Do you?" Bandit asked. "Sorry if I look skeptical, but you just lied to me for eleven years!"
"I didn't lie, I just didn't tell you that you had a kid with your first great love…" Prince said, realizing then what he just said. "Okay, when said out loud it does look bad, but… Bandit, Emily was my sister and she asked me to not tell you. It hurt me to be around you, knowing what I knew."
"Emily may be your sister, but Thomas is my son" Bandit replied. "If it was so hard for you to be around, then why did you stick around?"
"Because you're my brother!" Prince exclaimed.
There was a silence between them. Prince then advanced towards Bandit and placed his hands on his shoulders, saying:
"Bandit, Emily is my sister and that's the reason why I kept her secret… even from you. But you… you are the little brother I never had. I couldn't just cut my ties with you."
Looking to Prince's eyes, Bandit realized the sincerity of his words. Sighing, he free himself from Prince's hands and went to get something from the chest he had there, while saying:
"That may be true, Prince, but now I have a big problem in hands. Thomas now thinks I've been lying to him this all time, that I knew about him the all time and I just didn't want anything to do with him, that the only reason I went to him was because his mum died."
"I know… I should have come clean soon enough…" Prince said.
"Thinking about how we should have avoided the mistake won't solve anything" Bandit told, while taking a box out of chest. "But this will help me fix it."
Bluey and Bingo, after having their mother prepared a square of lamington on a plate and poured some orange juice to a glass, went straight to their big brother's room, with Bluey taking the lamington and Bingo taking the orange juice glass. Bluey arrived quickly to the room, but, looking back, she saw Bingo walking carefully, while looking attentively to the glass filled with orange juice she was holding with both her hands. Chilli was watching them from afar with a smile.
"Hurry up, Bingo" Bluey told.
"I'm coming, I'm coming" she said, while approaching. "I need to be careful to not drop or spill any juice."
After Bingo arrived to Bluey's side, the latter proceeded to knock on her brother's door.
"Oh, Thomas…" she called. "We have something for you."
"Go away, Bluey" Thomas told her. "I'm not in the mood for… anything."
"Not even to a square of lamington?" Bluey asked, teasingly. "Mum was the one to make it."
"And we also have orange juice" Bingo said. "We took it from an actual orange."
It took a few seconds, but then the two girls heard, to their excitement, their brother's steps. The door opened slightly and the girls could see one of his eyes peeking.
"That lamington does look delicious…"
"And it's all for you…" Bluey told, extending the plate to Thomas.
Despite hesitating, Thomas decided to open his door.
In Bandit's study, Prince was curious about the box Bandit had just taken out of the chest.
"What's in there?"
"Something that will help me fix things with Thomas. I just hope he opens the door to me so I can show him."
The two dogs got out of the study, with Bandit transporting the box, and, when they approached Thomas' room, saw to their surprise, that Thomas was sitting at the entrance of his room, eating a lamington and drinking an orange juice, with his sisters beside him.
"Only you two to make me get out of my room to eat a snack" Thomas said.
"But… why did you get mad with Dad and uncle Prince?" Bluey asked.
"Well… it's hard to explain" Thomas replied, trying to find the right words to say. "I guess you can say it's a problem that some big kids like me have."
"But it can't possibly be about Daddy" Bingo said. "He's the best!"
"Yeah, Bingo is right" Bluey replied. "I mean, he can be silly and clumsy sometimes…"
"But he is also funny and he loves us very much" Bingo added.
"Yeah!" Bluey agreed.
Thomas thought about what his sisters were saying and then remembered all the fun he has had with his dad, not to mention the times he was by his side, especially when he was missing his mother. The simple thought of those good memories made Thomas make a slight smile and say:
"I guess… you right about that."
"Hey there, mate" Thomas heard his father's voice say.
He turned around and saw him, standing there and holding the box. Prince was not far behind.
"Hey…" Thomas replied, with a certain melancholy on his voice.
"I'm glad that you're out of your room" Bandit said. "Do you think… we could talk?"
Thomas hesitated a bit. He was still very upset, but after talking with his sisters, he was able to calm himself and realize he should let his father explain himself.
"I… think so" he replied. "But only you."
He said that last part, while giving a look to Prince that made him feel a little comfortable. Hearing his son accepting to talk to him made Bandit express a smile. He then turned to Bluey and Bingo and told:
"Okay, squirts, scram. Go play or something like that…"
"Oh, but I wanted to hear the talk" Bingo said.
"Come on, Bingo, let's leave Dad with Thomas" Bluey said, while getting the plate and the glass.
The two girls moved away and then Thomas went inside his room, with Bandit following him and closing the door behind him. Prince remained where he was, feeling a little down after seeing how his nephew looked at him.
