Chapter 17:
A few days after Christmas, Jason has his friends crashing over for the first time ever, he was super excited, they played pool, video games, board games, they relaxed in Tadano's outdoor hot tub, they even sat around the fire pit and just enjoyed each other's company.
"Hey Jason, I just want you to know that we didn't become your friend just because you are Tadano's nephew, we became your friend because we really like you as a person and enjoy being around you and hanging out." Desoto says as he blows on his marshmallow before making a smore. Jason lets out a chuckle and thanks his friends for staying and just hanging out.
A few minutes later they can hear someone crying. Jason gets up and notices who is crying.
"Hey guys, be right back my dad is having one of his small episodes." Jason says as he opens the screen door and walks into the house. He follows the sound of the soft sobs as he sees his two dads in a corner of the living room Haida holding a sobbing Jojo.
"Oh hey sorry son, didn't think you could hear us." Haida says
"It's ok dad is it a bad one?" Jason says concerned as he kneels down and rubs Jojo's back gently.
"I...I'm sorry son, it's shameful that you have to take care of me, your only 17 you shouldn't have to be dealing with this...I'm a bad dad aren't I?" Jojo asks in between sobs.
"No of course not...you could never be a bad dad, you have so much baggage that you had to carry alone, you are one of the bravest people I know dad... I wanna grow up to be just like the both of you, hard working, caring, selfless and just amazing people." Jason says leaning forward and kissing his dad on the cheek.
"Hey your Majesties" Anna says as she does a little curtsy. Seeing this causes Jojo, Haida and Jason to let out a little chuckle.
"Yes Anna, what can we do for you? Did you guys run out of snacks?" Haida asks.
"Oh no we still got plenty but we were wondering, would you guys care to join us outside its a really nice night, plus we still have questions we wanna ask and we wanna hear some of your stories." Rosco says.
"Oh sure we can hang out with u guys for a bit." Haida says as he, Jojo and Jason stand up and head out with the rest of the gang head outside and sitting in two of the chairs was Tadano and Anai.
"Oh hey Dano, I didn't know you were still awake and I didn't know you was even here Anai" Haida says.
"Yeah Emily went to visit her parents for a few days and I was bored at home so I asked Dano if I could come over and he said it was fine so here I am." Anai says taking a sip of his mixed drink.
As the gang all sit around the fire pit the kids on one side and Tadano them on the other. Tadano speaks up first.
"Alright so who wants to ask the first question?" Haida asks.
Rosco raises his hand, "This question is for you Tadano, how did you meet Haida them and how did you guys become a family or see each other as family?"
"Well I met Haida first, he had a crush on Retsuko for the longest and I dated her for a few months, but then she told me she wanted to marry and I was still young and just wasn't ready for it so we broke it off. Then Anai came fresh out of college, he was alot worst than he is now, back then he couldn't take any type of helpful criticism." Hearing that Anai looks away and turns a little red from embarrassement.
"Then our head of security ended up putting his two weeks, and thats when we hired Jojo, and to be honest I think it was the fact that me and Haida both got hurt by Retsuko that we became friends and eventually saw each other as family, then Anai joined and lastly Jojo." Tadano says as he sips his wine before dipping his chip in the salsa.
Desoto raises his hand next and asks his question," This one is for you , Jason told me that you had some real trust issues, umm if its not to out of line can you tell me how you got rid of the issue?"
"I can tell you this, anything that deals with your mental health no matter how minor they may seem, may never truly go away, issues with trust for example, people like Jojo and Haida and me we had our trust broken so much for so long that we still have our doubts. We learned down the road that even though we had our trust broken so much that we would lose out on possibilities if we stopped trusting all together. Like last New Years Eve, if I didn't trust them, Emily and Melody wouldn't be here today. She slipped over the balcony and was holding onto the ledge and I ran up the stairs and held her with everything I had but couldn't bring her up. Jojo and everyone there made a little padding with pool floaties and a blanket and said that nothing bad would come to them. If I didn't trust them things could have went south and ended badly but I trusted them and things turned out will come a time when people may betray or even take advantage of your trust but then in the darkness there will come those who will guide you back to the light." Anai says as he pets Jojo's head which causes Jojo to stick his tongue out.
Rosco raises his hand, "This question is for you Haida, what made you fall for Jojo?"
Haida lets out a soft chuckle and rubs the back of his head. "Well you see I was really attracted to Retsuko, and I chased after her for many years, but then she told me that she only saw me as a friend and that things between us would never be more than friends. So I finally gave up on that dream and then one day Jojo came in for his first day and he was wearing some punk style cloths and in the beginning I thought he was straight until I told Tadano that I thought the new security was really cute, and Jojo overheard me and said that he thought I was cute as well. Then we ended up eating at my favorite ramen place and I took him to my place, we didnt do much just hang out and kiss but I was embarrassed because my place wasn't the best in fact it looked like it was below the normal standard for someone like me especially with where I worked but Jojo wrapped his arms around my waist and whispered that home will always be where ever I am." Haida says hugging jojo and giving his nose a lick.
Anna raises her hand and asks a question for Jojo "So why do you guys call each other king or queen and stuff like that?" Jason and Desoto look at her like why the hell did you ask them that.
"It's not that big of a deal to ask, in fact the reason why we call each other that is because, well growing up I always had a stupid way of thinking that I would have a fairy tale ending but, as I got older I knew that a fairy tale ending never existed outside of stories or movies, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't make my own fairy tale, so I started calling Haida my king and at first I admit he thought it was weird and i thought he was going to break up with me, but down the road he got into it and I remember the first day he called me his queen." Jojo says taking a sip of his drink.
"Well what happened? When was it?" the teens ask very curious now.
"Haha, well we were at the mall eating lunch then these punks came up and asked for Haida's money and made fun of the shirt that said HIS king, so I broke one of their jaws, and when one of them was gonna grab me from behind, Haida grabbed him and threw him over the table and said Stay the fuck away from MY queen, then Tadano gave the last dude a legit charlie horse it was funny" Jojo, Haida and Tadano start laughing.
"Now its our turn to ask, you guys questions," Tadano says.
"Jason this one's for you, did you ever think you were going to get adopted and what were you thinking when Jojo and Haida came to grab Nate and you, and when you found out that I would be your uncle?" Tadano asks.
"Well, when I first saw Jojo and Haida, I thought one of them was going to be Nate's dad while the other was just a friend who came along for the ride, then when I found out that they both were together and was going to adopt Nate as their son, I didn't care that they were gay I just wanted them to treat Nate right and raise him well, then when I found out that I was getting adopted too. I tried my best to put on a tough guy act but when I came out and saw them with open arms I just broke down and rushed into their loving arms. I don't care who knows it they are the best dads I could have ever asked for. When I found out that they knew you Tadano, I thought they were just your friends but then you told me that you guys were all like a family. So I was suprised, and to be honest I still am kind of suprised that, everything I thought was going to happen to me turned out so different. I thought I was just going to get kicked out of the orphanage when I turned 18, but look now I got two wonderful dads, an uncle that is well known and rich...But I dont love you because your rich uncle Tadano," Jason says waving his arms out infront of him a little uneasy which causes everyone to laugh.
"And lastly I didn't think I would ever get a single friend let alone 4...and a band." Jason says finishing his story.
"What about you Rosco, then you Desoto?" Jojo asks
"As you guys well know, my dad left when I was born so my mom raised me as a single parent for as long as she could, she would work two jobs and try her best to provide for me, she...she would more often than not wear the same cloths to work even if they were old, just so that I could have somewhat new cloths for school...even if they were from donations that we picked up. Once I got old enough I started mowing peoples lawns for some money just to help my mom with bills, groceries, and what ever she needed...I just wish that I had enough money to pay for my mom to go on a nice relaxing vacation...She hasn't done anything for herself and I would do anything, if it meant that my mom would be able to have something nice for herself." Rosco gets an idea and takes off his watch and walks over to Tadano.
"It's not much Tadano, and I know you gave my mom money already, which I will forever be grateful for, but I want to do something for my mom, that comes from me so can I sell you my watch? It probably isn't worth much but this is the only thing I got," Rosco says holding out the watch to Tadano.
Tadano simply grabs his hand and closes it.
"You don't need to sell me your watch, but if you really want to work for money I can use your help cleaning the pool and some little stuff here and there," Tadano says smiling. "In fact if you all want to work to do something nice for your parent's you can do little chores for the next two weeks and we will call it even." Tadano says winking and giving a thumbs up.
Two weeks of non stop working hard the group of friends had made enough money to let their parents go on a week long cruise. Emily sat down with the parents and asked them what kind of cruise they would want to go on and explained that their kids worked for Tadano doing some things around his house to earn money so that they could say they worked for it and so that you guys can go on a cruise. Hearing this causes the parents to tear up. The parents all agree that they want to go to Wolf Island and explore the forests there as well as swim in the water, Desoto's mom says that the water is so clear that you could see the bottom from the surface. The parents are so excited for their trip and that Emily was going with them since she's been there a few times already and knows the best places to see and eat.
Over at the highschool Jason and his friends are counting down till summer, and since Jason came in late of the school year he has to repeat the 12th grade which means he will be able to graduate with his new friends. Once the bell rings they head for the door and as they are walking they hear how some of the students will be celebrating their summer vacation.
" I'm going to be spending it at my uncle's cabin that has a private beach. I am also going to invite so many people!" One student says.
"Hey thats cool do you think we can tag along?" Jason asks.
"You...Haha hell fucking no, you aren't anyone special you're just a orphan kid that got adopted by two dudes...no way in hell am I going to invite you or your friends," the student replies in a smug tone and looks at Desoto them.
"Yeah you guys are just kids who are barely making it by, I heard your mom is working TWO jobs Rosco and still she can't even buy you name brand cloths." a girl says which makes Rosco's eyes water, seeing this causes Desoto to growl and begin to walk towards the students. Anna places her arm infront of him and tells him they aren't worth it. Jason just sighs feeling defeated. As the friends get near the door they can hear a loud commotion coming from outside. Once they get out there, Jojo, Haida, Tadano, Henry, and Anai are standing there waiting for them.
"Dads, what's...with the limo?" Jason asks.
"Well since you guys worked to send the parents on a cruise, the parents agreed to take the younger kids with them so that we can have our own fun," Tadano says.
"Where are you guys going?" Rosco asks.
"You mean where are WE going," Haida says.
"First we are going to stop in Tokyo since there is a ramen place that Haida and Tadano really like...In fact they went every what? Few months?" Jojo asks.
"Meh once every 4 months...trying to get Haida on a good day was challenging."
"Anyways once we done with that we are going to two amusement parks. Still don't know which ones but definitely two,we will stay for about 4-5 days and then head to the next one." Jojo says.
"But dad, wouldn't that cost alot of money?" Jason asks.
"You forget Jason I got my own plane remember, now hurry up we got a plane to catch before the ramen place closes" Tadano says as Jojo them get in the car, Rosco is the last one till he hears a familiar voice behind him.
"Hey Rosco you know I was just joking about your mom not being able to get you cloths right, it was just a joke," the girl says. "Do you think I would be able to come?"
"Yeah not gonna happen, you may take what you said as a joke but it hurt me really bad, if it wasn't for Anna, Desoto was going to really hurt your friend." Rosco says as he gets into the limo.
"Maybe we should try to be friends with them so that we can do stuff with them, I mean Tadano is rich as fuck, we could milk it and pretend to be their friends." One student says.
"You know I can hear you dumb fuck," Tadano says as he gets into the limo and they take off heading to the private plane.
After about 45 minutes they get to the plane. The kids are suprised to see how big the plane is and that there is no line and they get a whole plane to themselves.
"Just so you know its going to be a long flight so make sure that you guys get some rest ok." Tadano says as his butler starts the plane.
'No way uncle, we are too excited to get any type of rest, besides we each bought an energy drink at school so that we could have fun after school, but we did not expect to go to Tokyo and amusement parks." Jason says
"Are you sure it's ok for us to come along Tadano?" Desoto asks scared to board the plane.
"Well of course its ok, if it wasn't do you think I would have told you guys about it? Nope I would have just picked Jason up and we would have taken him, but like i said before you guys were his friends before finding about me, and he did tell me how you guys defended him when the students made fun that he had two dads...So yeah I'm sure it's ok, now get on the plane please." Tadano says sternly.
The kids sprint up the stairs and just gasp at how simple the plane is, they thought it would be fancy, but it was just like your typical plane with the exception that there was a lot of more leg room.
Once the plane took off Jojo them came out with drinks and snacks.
"OK so who wants hot dogs and who wants burgers?" Anai says pushing out cart that has burgers and chips while Henry pushes a cart that has hotdogs, sodas and juices.
The kids said what they wanted and Anai and Henry handed out the snacks.
"Dude Jason I am so glad that we became your friend, not the fact that Tadano is your uncle, but the fact that you got two kick ass dads, and Anai who we heard has his own cookbook. Hey Anai?" Rosco says.
"Yeah whats up? Also you can call me Uncle Anai." Anai says as he takes a sip of his grape soda.
"And Uncle Henry,Uncle Jojo, Uncle Haida, and Uncle Tadano" Jojo says.
"Thank you, anyways Uncle Anai, would you be willing to cook us something one day?" Rosco asks.
"Sure how bout this, on the second to the last day of your summer vacation we can have a pot luck over at Tadano's place, and I will cook some food that are my most popular dishes."
"I can make some deserts," Haida says.
'I can make mean mixed drinks, both alcoholic and non alcoholic." Jojo says as he smiles proudly.
"That would be amazing Uncle Anai, Uncle Haida, and Uncle Jojo," Desoto says as he finishes his cheeseburger.
