TWs: Matt's father returned from buying the milk/abandoning him, and poisoning/affair/death/killing mention. Stay safe :)
Another day in England as everyone was starting to relax again. Pau and Pat managed to get their jobs back in order, which left Tord alone as always. Yan, You, and Clay debated moving to be closer to where the Black Army operates and where their friends are located; they're still getting things together.
Edd invites Tord to hang out every so often, just to make sure he has company- no other reason.
Today was one of those days as Edd prepared breakfast and Tord sat at the table. He was surprised that Tom hadn't complained about him being there; then again, Tom had been distracted recently.
Tord looked at Tom, who was on his phone and smiling, then he glanced at Matt, who was doing the same thing while sometimes giggling to himself.
He definitely missed something.
Tom and Matt were planning their date, which was Saturday. Then they got sidetracked with sending memes to each other.
While looking for another meme to send, Matt's phone rang, causing the others to look at him.
He looked at the caller ID, seeing that it was his uncle.
Matt answered, getting up to go to the living room, "Hello?"
"We have a situation." His uncle spoke, making Matt stop at the doorway between the rooms.
"Situation? What do you mean?" The ginger leaned against the doorway.
"The family kind." His uncle was exasperated.
"Oh no- did Katherine get wine poisoning again? Or did Henry have an affair again? Did the twins finally die- cause if so, it's about time." Matt rambled.
His friends stared wide-eyed as he chuckled to himself.
His uncle sighed, "Unfortunately, no- It's much worse."
"What is it then?"
"It's your father; he's back."
Matt paused, "What?"
"He's here at the studio if you want to officially meet him."
"Okay..."
"Stay safe, kid."
"You too, uncle." Matt ended the call, turning to his friends with a furrowed look.
"Matt? What is it?" Edd asked as he finished plating the food.
"It's my father..."
The others looked between themselves. Matt never talked about his father; they assumed he passed away.
"It's your call, Matt," Tord spoke, "What do you want to do?"
Matt hesitated, "I want to meet him."
Edd glanced at the other two, smiling abit, "Not without us."
"We've never met your uncle, Matt- what is he like?" Edd asked as he changed lanes.
"What do you mean?" Matt looked at him, confused.
"Your uncle- we've never met him."
'Oh, that's right.' Matt realized, 'They don't know he's my uncle because I never told them...'
"He's, uh- interesting. Works with a lot of machines for a movie director." The ginger said.
"Movie director?" Tord huffed from the front seat, "I hope it's not that director who tried to kill us with our clones."
"Yeah, he was a bit much." Edd laughed.
Matt maintained his tongue, opting to hold Tom's hand to calm him down, rubbing small circles.
Edd pulled into a parking lot, parking the car near the entrance.
Once walking to the doors, they noticed a buzzer where a receptionist would have to allow access for someone to come in.
"I got this." Matt smiled, pressing the buzzer.
There was a ding before someone spoke, "What's the password?"
Matt didn't know the password, so he improvised, "Bing est le meilleur oncle du monde."
There was an audible 'aw' in the background as the speaker said, "Close enough."
A 'bzzt' sound was heard as the doors opened, allowing them inside.
Matt saw Larry sitting at the receptionist's desk doing some sort of paperwork while he saw his uncle hanging around writing something on a clipboard.
"Wait, isn't that-" Edd was cut off by Matt yelling.
"Uncle Bing!" The ginger exclaimed, going to hug him. His uncle threw his clipboard at Larry, who caught it.
"If it isn't my favorite nephew!" Bing wrapped his arms around him, "I haven't seen you in forever."
"I know, it's been so long!" Matt complained.
"You guys literally saw each other a few months ago." Larry deadpanned.
The other three looked at the scene wide-eyed.
"Your uncle is the weird director!?" Edd exclaimed.
Bing let go of Matt to speak, "Get the name right! It's the Evil Director."
"Yeah- no, we're good." Tom shook his head.
"I hope you don't mind, uncle- I brought my friends along for moral support." Matt smiled.
"I don't mind, though I did say this is a family matter." Bing frowned.
"I consider them family."
"Oh, well- guess they can come along. Your father is in my part of the studio. Let me show you guys around."
Bing and Larry lead the way, with Bing showing the others around. As they got to a door, Bing turned to Matt.
"He explained that he got out of hiding, and everything is a bit 'strange' for him, so do with that what you will." He said as he and Larry went inside the room first.
Matt hesitated as he slowly followed them inside.
He noticed a man standing at the far side of the room, staring at a projection screen. He was tall, ginger, and had a bit of a morning shave going on. He had a wrinkled lab coat on with a black turtleneck and brown pants underneath. He had a Victorian-style cane with a citrine bulb on the top.
There was a pause as everyone stared awkwardly at each other.
"I'm assuming I go first?" His father spoke.
"Duh," Bing muttered. He didn't precisely like Matt's father.
Matt's father cleared his throat, "Well, my name is Arthur Hathaway, Matthew's father."
Another pause as Arthur thought about what to say next.
"I'm guessing you're all his friends?" He inquired.
Edd nodded, "I'm Edd; this is Tom and Tord."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," Arthur said.
"You too...?" Edd quirked an eyebrow.
"If I may- just what are you doing here after abandoning your son his whole life?" Tord decided to cut to the chase.
Arthur didn't seem phased, almost as if he expected it, "The Red Army- heard of it, I've presumed?"
The group's eyes widened, not expecting the response.
"I left England because of them and came back because the Red General died. I used to work for the army, but something changed, forcing me to go into hiding. If I ever revealed myself to the public while the Red General was still the General, I would've died, along with my family." Arthur explained.
Matt's breath hitched at hearing the last part. He would've died if his father returned.
"There's also the thing about me being permanently blind." He continued.
"You're blind?" Edd asked.
"Yep, even prescriptions won't work." Arthur sighed. Then he whispered something, looking back up, "I know I missed out on a lot, and I know your mother presumably always avoided trying to talk about me- she was stubborn like that. I don't want to end up being like your Aunt Katherine or Uncle Henry- as a deadbeat parent." Arthur shrugged.
Matt laughed, "Yeah, me either."
The ginger looked at his father, smiling a bit.
"You have a lot of work to do then."
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French =
Bing est le meilleur oncle du monde - Bing is the best uncle in the world
(Translations brought to you by Google Translate)