"Father D, um sorry Mr. Lopez." Damian looked up from his desk to see Javi Perez standing in the doorway of Damian's office. The smell from the plate in Javi's hands made Damian remember that he skipped lunch in his rush to jot down some session notes.

"It's fine. You can call me Damian if you're comfortable with that." After he left the priesthood Damian had gotten a job at the Second Chance, a place for former gang members and ex-cons to transition to a normal life. He sometimes worked with them when he was still a priest. After Javi had been jumped out of his former gang Damian had driven him from the hospital to the center.

"I noticed that you never came in for lunch." Javi handed Damian the plate of food.

"Thank you. I got wrapped up in my work and completely forgot." Damian accepted the plate and placed it on a stack of papers. "How's Emily?"

A large smile spread across Javi's face. "She's great! We just found out she's pregnant!"

"Congratulations! That's great! You two didn't waste any time!" They were the last couple he'd married. He'd already decided to leave the priesthood at that point, but he wanted to administer that one last sacrament.

"It happened sooner than we'd planned." Something in his voice tipped off Damian that Javi might need to talk about it. That was pretty much his job now. He helped former gang members and ex-cons (most were both) work through their trauma and develop better coping mechanisms.

"Have a seat." Damian indicated one of the chairs in front of his desk. "How are you feeling about this big news?"

Javi sat down in the chair. "I'm happy obviously. Emily is going to be a great mom."

"And you'll be a great dad."

Javi leaned back in his chair. "How do you know that? My dad went away when I was 6. I barely remember him. Even before that, he wasn't much of a dad. How am I supposed to be a dad when I never got a chance to see a good one in action?"

"You may have not experienced it much, but you were a good dad to your siblings. Didn't I hear that Cristian is going to Long Beach in the fall with a full ride? That's all on you. You made sure he had food, and a roof over his head, and went to school every day when you were still a kid yourself. You are the reason he's going to be a successful man."

"But I wasn't able to keep Lilliana safe. If I had left the gang earlier she'd still be alive. That's my biggest fear. Emily or the new baby or Cristian getting hurt or worse because of something from my past."

"You can't change what you did in the past, but you did change your future. And because of that, you're going to be a great father."

"I just don't want to mess them up. Like I tried to shelter Cristian, but I know that the stuff I did messed him up. He used to look at me like he was afraid of me and sometimes he still does. I don't want Emily or my kid to ever look at me like that."

"I truly don't think they will. Cristian knows that you are trying to be better. It will be okay. You'll make mistakes every parent does, but you'll learn from them."

Javi nodded and got up from his chair. "Thanks, Fa- Damian. You were one of the first people to believe that I could change and become a better person." A playful smile swept across his face. "Now eat your food. If you wait til gets cold it'll lose its flavor."

Damian smiled back at him and picked up the plastic fork. "Yes, chef."

Javi left the small office with a smile on his face. He was one of Damian's success stories and Damian now considered him a friend. He started to eat his lunch and as with anything Javi cooked it was delicious. It was hard to believe that three years ago he'd been running the day-to-day operations of a street gang. Hopefully, in another three years, he'd be running his own restaurant.

Damian's phone rang. He didn't recognize the number but answered it anyways. "Hello."

"Hi. It's Genny Bradford. We met at a hotel about a month ago. Your sister works with my brother."

He almost dropped his phone into his food. "Yeah, I remember you." He didn't think he could ever forget her.

"I know we said we wouldn't talk about what happened and I know you're a priest. I-"

"I'm not a priest anymore." He cut in. "I left the priesthood a few weeks ago."

"Oh. I didn't know that. Was it because of what we did that night?"

"That night wasn't the first time I strayed from my vows." As soon as she left his room that night he'd known that he couldn't fight it anymore. He'd strayed too many times. He couldn't preach against sin when he couldn't stop himself from sinning.

"I'm pregnant."

This time he did drop his phone, but he quickly picked it back up. "Sorry, bad connection. Are you sure? Aren't there sometimes false positives?" He didn't actually know if that was a thing.

"I haven't gone to the doctor yet, but I've had all the same symptoms I had with my son just 10 times worse."

He nodded as his brain started to process the information. He was going to be a dad. "What can I do?"

"You want to be involved?" She sounded surprised, but then up until a few minutes ago, she'd thought he was a priest and couldn't be involved.

"I do if that's okay with you." So many of the former gang members he worked with had dads that were dead, in jail, or just not around. He and three of his siblings had been successful (although Cruz had now been sober for over a year), but they had their abuelo and other male relatives involved in their lives.

"No, that's good. I'd like for you to be involved if you want to be. I have a doctor's appointment on the 20th. I can text you the details. Maybe we can grab lunch afterward and discuss our plan for co-parenting."

"I'll be there." He paused. "And thank you for telling me and letting me be involved."

"Thank you for wanting to be involved. I enjoyed our night together."

"I did too."

"I have to go pick up a pack of rowdy Kindergartners, but I'll see you on the 20th." She ended the call.

As soon as he put his phone down the anxiety hit and his food was forgotten. He was going to be a dad.