TPASD 25

Dinner, from Alex's perspective was interesting. Catherine was effervescent, in a way that Henry told him she had not been in the longest time. It was definitely a low-key affair. Philip and Martha's boys wearing denim jeans and sweaters, while Martha was wearing a pleated pants suit. Bea too, had dressed down for the occasion, in jeans and tee. Shaan was still dressed in the suit he had worn that day, as was Philip.

Little James had been fascinated with Gabriella, while Arthur had looked down his nose a bit at the baby in the highchair that sat between Alex and Catherine. He was making funny faces at her and would laugh when she laughed. His father Philip, scolding him on more than one occasion, but Henry winked at James and told Philip to leave his son be.

Henry had wanted to sit on the other side of Gabriella, but Catherine had insisted he sit next to Alex and she would sit next to Gabriella. The introductions had gone ok, well, ok-ish. Philip had been a bit of a dick to Alex but that was really the best Henry had hoped for. He had expected down right homophobia from Philip.

Martha had been warm and welcoming, even enveloping Alex into a welcome hug, while giving Henry a discreet thumbs up behind Alex's back. Arthur had point blank asked Henry why he was making them all have dinner, before Martha admonished her son for his rude behaviour.

Bea had been a delight, as expected. She had warmly hugged him hello again. Telling Alex how wonderful it was to see him and Gabriella again. She had held her arms out to see if Gabriella would go to her. She didn't, but she did send Bea a gummy smile.

"Come on, Darling." Henry urged her, holding his own arms out for her, which she had immediately wanted. "Come to Hen, my beautiful girl." He smiled at her. "There you are my precious girl."

Martha thought Henry holding and playing with Gabriella was one of the sweetest things she had ever witnessed from her brother-in-law. Her insides were almost melting in a sisterly way, seeing the love that Henry has for Alex's little girl written all over his face. Gabriella was in equal amounts of adoration with Henry. Reaching up and touching his nose, alongside her small baby giggles. Henry bopping her on the nose to make her laugh and giggle, in return, had to be one of the most precious things ever.

"Makes your ovaries hurt, doesn't it?" Bea asked Martha, putting an arm around her sister-in-law. Bea had no desire to want or have children, let alone meet and spend the rest of her life with someone else. But even she could admit how much it warmed her heart to see Henry in this light.

"So, what is it you do for a living?" Philip asked Alex, tersely. "I must admit when my wife told me we were going to dinner to meet Henry's new boyfriend, you were not what I had in mind."

"Philip!"

"Philip!" His wife and mother chastised, simultaneously.

"You must forgive him, Alex." Bea admonished Philip, in her own brand of humour. "I suspect he was dropped on his head as a baby."

"It's ok." Alex replied, amused. Henry's family. His core family were almost as chaotic as his own. "I am a lawyer. I specialize in anti-discrimination and the rights of the LGBT community."

"You don't seem gay." Philip muttered and Martha flung her hand back and hit her husband's chest on instinct. "No offence. I just meant you're … fit. You have a child, and you look like you enjoy sports, is all."

"Gay people can like sports, Philip." Bea lectured Philip. "Gay people can be fit. They can play sports an elite level. You're stereotyping.

"Not that it is any of your concern, but I am not gay." Alex announced, sending a wink to Henry. "I am super bisexual, though."

Bea cackled first. Then Henry laughed. Catherine was next with a small snort, followed by Martha who was really trying to control the urge to start giggling at her husband's naivety.

"Can confirm." Henry smart-mouthed, and Philip thought he was going to expire on the spot. He caught sight of a smallish hickey on Alex's neck and began turning as red as a tomato. "He is very, very bisexual."

"Yes, well, perhaps this is a conversation we best have away from the children." Philip suggested, motioning to his own boys.

"We know what gay and bisexuality is, Dad." Arthur piped up, looking up from his Nintendo switch, suddenly a lot more interested in the conversation around him than his game. "We've been learning about different sexualities in health class at school."

"What?!" Philip demanded. "You're only eight years old!"

"So?!" Arthur retorted. "My friend's mums are lesbians. They're mum's friends too."

"Arthur, does it not bother you if your Uncle Henry is gay?" Philip asked his son. His mother shot her son a warning look, but Philip shoved it off.

"Uncle Henry is cool." Arthur said, indifferently. But it wasn't indifferent to Henry. He gripped Alex's hand. He had always thought his nephews didn't care about him. He was happy to be proven wrong. "Who cares if he wants to be gay and have a

boyfriend? It's ok by me."

"Oh, ok." Philip conceded, trying not to let the sound of defeat colour his voice.

"Besides, Alex seems cool." James added, looking up. "He knows about America and stuff."

"He bloody well should." Henry teased him, looking at his youngest nephew. "He's from America and Alex's mom and his dad are both important politicians in America."

"Alex, are you related to the Senator Ellen Claremont?" Martha asked, piecing the pieces of Alex's name together. "Senator Ellen Claremont, the absolute champion for children's education and the protective rights of education for all young women, worldwide. That Ellen Claremont?"

"Small? Blonde? Loudmouth, ball-busting, Texan Senator? That's my Ma." Alex beamed proudly at Martha. "Have you met her before? They're just two of her favourite passion projects."

"No, but she has been an inspiration to the charity that Bea and I have started working with, funding education programs for young girls." Martha replied.

"Your mother is a Senator?" Catherine asked, clearly impressed with what she was hearing. As if she hadn't already had Alex completely background checked and vetted. "What does your father do?"

"So is Dad. He is a Senator for California. They're divorced now." Alex told Catherine. "They call dad the patron saint of gender-neutral bathrooms in California. He has worked extensively with the LGBT community there for visibility, in particular with trans rights movement."

"No wonder you're so good with the kids at the shelter; helping them with their fight for their own rights." Henry mused, proudly. "It's in your blood."

"Sounds like you should have been a politician, mate." Philip uttered, looking over Henry's boyfriend. He had been hoping he would be able to rattle the man. Or at least scare him off a little. Their grandmother wasn't even cold in the ground and here was Henry, preparing to go public with a boyfriend. A boyfriend he knew that they all knew their gran would not and did not approve of. "Maybe if you ever go back to America, you can be like your parents."

"Never say never." Alex promised, giving Henry's hand a squeeze. "But right now, my focus is on LGBT rights and anti-discrimination cases here in London. After that, I think I would like to give civil and immigration law a try. Help fight for immigrant rights."

After dinner, Arthur was on the floor, playing his handheld Nintendo switch again, while little James was reading a book for school and Henry was doing Gabriella's physiotherapy leg exercises with her. Alex was squished between Catherine and Bea, while Martha sat on the settee with Philip. Henry's mother and sister showering Alex with Henry's baby photos, as the three of them cooed over how cute he was as a baby.

Henry was focused on Gabriella, wholly, as he moved her legs the way that Alex and her physio had taught him to. "That's a girl. Six more times, baby. You can do it. You're doing a good job, bub." Henry cooed, smiling at her in a reassuring way. She was grizzly and sulky, but not crying. She hated doing her exercises, but it had to be done. It was the only way to improve on the low muscle tone she had in her left leg. Intensive physio now, meant less invasive and hopefully, not a lifelong debilitating disability further down the road.

"Henry, why on earth are you torturing that baby?" Philip asked his brother. While Martha had been focused on Bea and Catherine's conversation and the sharing of Henry's baby pictures with Alex; Philip had been watching Henry. "She is getting upset, she clearly does not like it. Stop!"

"I do not need your parenting advice, Philip." Henry chastised him. "It has to be done. I know what I am doing. Leave me be."

"Yes, well right now, you are making a mockery out of parents everywhere, with this parenting charade of yours." Philip snapped, glaring at his brother. Philip was also angry at Alex. How could Alex just sit there and let Henry just torture his baby and do nothing? "And you, Henry is hurting your child and you're just ignoring it."

"Henry is not hurting her!" Alex growled, offended at Philip's outburst. "Henry and I have both explained already, that Henry is doing her physiotherapy. Yes, she is grizzly because she does not like it. But she has to do it, for her own well-being. I trust Henry, he knows what he is doing."

"You should be down there doing it, then. She is your child, not his. It is beneath someone of Henry's station in life to be on the floor like that." Philip snapped harshly, before screaming. "Henry is not her parent, but you are!"

The whole room stopped. The photo album that had been on Alex's lap slid to the floor with a thud. Arthur had jumped from the sudden scream. James' bottom lip was quivering, as he flinched at his father's harsh words. Gabriella started screaming, wailing from the sudden loud noise.

"Alex, I think we need to leave." Henry said, immediately pulling Gabriella's pants back up her legs while she was screaming and wailing form the shock of Philip's loud voice. "Because if I stay in this room, I am going to punch him in the face and I

won't do that in front of his boys."

Alex stepped up and took Gabriella from Henry, before offering an outstretched hand to help his love off the floor.

"Philip." Martha warned, but Henry shook his head no at her. She needed to save her breath. It was too much of Henry to have really expected Philip to say anything positive, or treat him with respect, really. He should not have expected anything of him, so then he wouldn't have been disappointed.

"Mum, thank you for dinner." Henry said softly, avoiding looking at Philip. "Bea, Martha, it was a pleasure as always. James and Arthur, I'll see you soon, ok?"

Henry took Alex's hand in a show of defiance. Gabriella was snuggled into her father's arms, but her eyes looking on Henry. She was unsure what had just happened, but she had known it was upsetting.

Alex stopped and loitered in the doorway, momentarily. "For the record, Philip. Henry is the only other parent that Gabriella has ever known. You don't need to be there at conception to be a parent and he is her parent."

"You should find yourself a woman, Alex and leave Henry alone. He is not the one for you." Philip called out, ignoring the scathing looks that his wife, sister and mother were shooting him. "A child needs a mother in their life."

"Can I kill him, baby?" Alex asked, as he strapped Gabriella into her car seat while Henry stowed his small carry-on case, he had packed of things to take with him back to Alex's temporary home. "How dare he say you're not her parent?"

"Well, I am not really, love." Henry reminded his boyfriend. "You do know that, right?"

"Hen, baby?" Alex kissed his lips over the centre console, as soon as Alex was behind the steering wheel. "Do you change her diapers? Do you sing her songs? Care for her? Read her a bedtime story? Do you cook food for her or feed her? Do you hug and kiss her? Play with her? Do you take care of her when she's sick? Does she reach for you in a crowded room? Yes, to all of the above and much more. She loves you; Hen and I meant what I said. Besides me, you're the only other parent she has ever known."

"Darling." Henry almost melted at his words. His love for Alex written on his face. Henry could feel Alex's love for him when he spoke to him. Even if they hadn't actually used the L word between them yet. "I think you better get us back to your flat. Now, more than ever, I am really looking forward to getting you alone."

The final wink Henry had sent him was lethal. Alex needed to get him home, get his daughter into bed and get Henry under him, STAT!

"Damn!"

"What the hell do you think you're playing at?!" Martha demanded, as soon as Alex and Henry were clear from the room. She did not care that the boys were present. The boys were old enough to know that their father was homophobic. Philip had already showed them his true colours when he had put Arthur on the spot at the dinner table. "That was really uncalled for!"

"Henry was acting like he is her goddamn father!" Philip retorted, resisting the urge to snap at his wife. He felt his outburst was justified. "You three just sat there like that Alex fellow was the second coming. Blatantly ignoring the fact that Henry was treating that childlike she was his. I think we would all know if Henry had a child. She is not his child, and we'd be foolish if we pretend."

"Philip!" His mother chastised him. For Catherine, it was hard to fathom how her elder son could be so cruel to her younger son. "Henry and Alex are serious about each other. I imagine very serious, given Alex is the first gentleman Henry has brought home for us to meet."

"Not for a lack of trying." Philip muttered to no one in particular.

"You've made sure of that, haven't you?" Martha retorted, angry at her husband. Philip looked at her indignantly. He could scarcely believe the harsh words had come from his wife's mouth.

Martha knew about Ben. Bea knew about Ben. But Catherine did not, and when her further line of questioning was not answered, she was determined to find out more. "What does that mean?" Catherine asked, glaring at her son.

"I will do whatever it takes to make sure that Henry does not completely destroy the Monarchy's image." Philip told Martha, in no uncertain terms. "It's the least I can do, given the sledgehammer Beatrice already tried to take to it with her cocaine addiction."

"Arthur, James; step out of the room with Shaan, please." Martha said, keeping her cool. Her demeanour towards Philip had irrevocably shifted. Where it was warm and cordial, for the sake of trying to reconcile their differences, now it was frosty. She was going to tear him a new one, but she would never be so callous as to destroy the boys' father, in front of them.

Shaan stood on the spot, having returned from seeing Alex and Henry out the door. Shaan, took both of the boys; choosing to escort them into the library a fair few rooms away from where Martha was about to release pandemonium onto Philip.

She made sure to give Shaan enough of a head start that the boys could not hear her.

"Well?" Philip snarked, waiting. His tone full of bravado. He was acting like he wasn't afraid of Martha.

"That's it, I'm done!" She declared, wringing her hands. "If you insist on continuing to be the world's biggest knob, and a homophobe, then I am done with you. I do not want you influencing the boys and their open beliefs. I'll take the boys and move out. File for divorce. I have tolerated your unfaithfulness. I have tolerated your indifference to being a parent. I have even tolerated your deplorable attitude and the truly harrowing way you have treated not just me and the boys, but Henry, Bea and your own mother. I've had enough of you."

"You wouldn't dare leave." Philip hissed and Bea shot him a dirty look.

"Sure, she would." Bea replied with a smirk. "I'll even help her pack. You're being and you have been an asshole, Philip."

"Aren't you going to say something to defend me, mother?" Philip asked, feeling quite surprised that his own mother wasn't coming to his defence.

"Not really." Catherine replied, looking at him disappointed. "You really need to take a good, hard look at yourself. Your father would be really disappointed in you, Philip. This was not how we raised you. We raised you to be kind, caring and respectful and you can't even manage one of those three things."

"You wouldn't really leave me, would you Maz?" Philip asked her, seeming genuinely worried now. He had already begged her and promised her he would change once before. Now, he realised, he was going to have to follow through on his promises. "I'll change, I swear."

"That remains to be seen." Martha replied to him. "Alex went to law school here, I am sure he can point me in the direction of a good divorce lawyer."

"I'm begging you." Philip pleaded. "I'll go to therapy. I'll try. I'll put in more of an effort with the boys. I'll …"

"Volunteer some time at a LGBT shelter." Bea supplied with a smirk. "Not Henry and Percy's, obviously. But there are others here in London. Go there and see them for yourself. Listen to their stories. Empathize with them. Maybe you will come back with a shred of understanding and humanity in you."

"Really, Beatrice?" Philip retorted, annoyed at her butting her nose in. "I don't think we need to take it that far."

"I do." Martha deadpanned. The look of calmness and seriousness on her face, it frightened Philip. He had never seen her as serious as this before and for that, he was mentally cursing his sister. "Maybe learning more about it and listening to some of the trauma and abuse that people who require services like theirs live through. It might just open your eyes, a little more. If you do that AND go to therapy. Make a concentrated effort to change, then we can talk more about me not taking the boys and leaving because I will not subject the boys to that kind of attitude."

"I can't just waltz into a shelter and demand to be allowed." Philip argued softly.

"Darling, obviously you will have your equerry tee it up." Catherine reminded him. Philip wasn't usually this obtuse. Catherine kept her thoughts to herself. "Philip, you're looking for excuses. If you are truly serious about fixing your life. Fixing things with Martha and the boys, fixing your relationship with Henry; you need to step up and make changes."

Gabriella had fallen asleep in the car and Alex had warned Henry he was better off keeping her awake, so she would go down easier, especially given it was only six minutes further back to Alex's temporary flat. But Henry hadn't wanted to wake her, not having the heart to do it. Now Henry was having a difficult time getting Gabriella in to bed and to actually falling asleep. Alex was smirking at him, as Henry passed him, rocking a wide-awake Gabriella, in an effort to get her to fall asleep.

"Don't say a word." Henry warned him, but there was no heat or malice in his words. There was amusement and the silent admission that maybe, just maybe, Alex had known what he was talking about. Henry tried keeping his tone cool and collected; calming when he spoke to her.

However, the act was futile. Gabriella just cackled at him, giving him an adorable, gummy smile that was too busy melting his insides with love and threatening to make his heart explode.

"Want some help?" Alex asked, coming to stand before him. Alex was only in his boxer shorts. Henry having naively thought Gabriella would go straight to sleep and telling Alex to go get ready for bed.

"I can do it." Henry insisted, ushering Alex back onto the bed. "I just want to do it. I need to be able to do it too."

"Hen, baby." Alex pleaded with him. "Let me help you, there is no shame in asking for help. We are a team."

"I need to know I can do it too." Henry sighed. Alex had been able to do it all himself before he had gotten into a relationship with him. "I need to know I can do something as simple as put Gabriella down for a sleep when she's like this. What if you're not here next time? You could be working late, or, I don't know, on a run. I need to know I can do it."

"You can do it." Alex reminded him. "You've put her down for a thousand sleeps already. You can do it. It's just when babies are like this, it's hard to get them to go down. Plus, Gabriella is the first baby you've ever really been around on a consistent basis. I

grew up in a world full of babies. Cousins of all ages and the funny things is, those older cousins were popping their own babies out, while their parents were still having their younger siblings. It might just be me and June for dad, but in dad's family, there's eight kids. Dad has two older sisters and two younger sisters. He also has two older brothers and one younger. June and I were born somewhere in the middle, I think. I know my cousin Chloe; she was giving birth to her son Matteo while our Tia Maria was giving birth to her son Carlos. Matteo and Carlos were born seventeen hours apart, are grew up like siblings; like cousins. But baby, they're a whole generation apart on the family tree."

"That Diaz family tree is going to make my head explode when it comes time to meeting them all, isn't it?" Henry mused with a huge smile on his face. He was looking forward to it, truth be told. He had always wished he had a larger family and that it could be loud and boisterous, like when you see them on tv. But their grandmother would always remind Henry that families like that; in her words, were loud and uncouth, unbecoming. That quite often, with that many people, people were left to raise themselves and nearly always will turn to drugs, or a life of crime.

It wasn't until Henry was older, and much more civilized, he realise just how stereotypical, harsh and judgmental his gran's words had been. When in fact, that was the select few. That most people who grew up in that family dynamic, were open, loving and accepting of people. They worked hard, provided for their family and did their absolute best.

That was all Henry ever wanted for himself, and whatever family he was blessed with. Love, laughter and happiness.

"Don't worry about it, babe." Alex took Gabriella from his boyfriend's arms. "We will do a slow immersion, like we did with Nora. Now, come. Strip off and I'll show you the trick to getting Gabriella to settle when she is like this."

Joining Alex and Gabriella on Alex's bed, in his own boxer shorts, Henry took up the spare space, opposite Alex with Gabriella laying between them. Alex had taken Gabriella's night light and switched on. The muted, pink light glowed, before plunging the rest of the flat into darkness. With the small pink, muted light casting a soft glow around the room, Alex took Henry's hands and encouraged him to draw lazy counterclockwise circles on Gabriella's left temple, while he calmly ran his fingers through her dark locks and soothed her, rubbing her back in smooth strokes.

It didn't even take ten minutes, Gabriella was growing sleepy and tired, Alex sent Henry a small grin. She had gone from a hyperactive baby to a sleepy baby in a matter of minutes.

Henry had remained quiet; he didn't want a jinx it by opening his mouth too soon. "See?" Alex had no such qualms.

To Henry, there really was nothing more beautiful than seeing Alex, with Gabriella in his arms. She always looked so small against his broad chest and shoulders. Seeing her there, against him, their skin a blended caramel colour, that hair just a riot of tangled curls; it made him feel everything, everywhere, all at once.

"Want me to go put her down?" Henry offered, knowing there was no coming back from this now. She was off in dreamland and snoozing away to her heart's content.

"Give me five." Alex murmured, leaning over his daughter without jostling her. Pecking a small kiss to Henry's lips, as he turned the ensuite light on and closed the door most of the way over. He took her night light and popped it back in her bedroom. Then he returned to Henry and told him to kiss her good night, before Alex carefully scooped up his sleeping child, and carried her to bed.

When he returned, the sight that greeted him was one Alex wouldn't ever get enough of. There was Henry, all sprawled out on his side of the bed. Face now washed, teeth freshly brushed, in just a pair of well worn, plaid cotton boxers that Alex was ninety-nine percent sure, he had loaned to Henry at some point. Henry must of kept them because there was no way, a royal prince, would own old plaid cotton boxers. Old Navy by brand and that had most likely come in a bulk five pack, that in all likelihood, his mom probably bought him as a stocking stuffer one Christmas, many years ago.

"Baby." Alex smiled, seeing Henry sprawled like that. It had conjured up the image Alex had in the car earlier, alongside the want of having and getting Henry under him. Joining him on the bed, Alex climbed onto Henry.

Henry surprised him by rolling Alex under him. "Now, where were we?" Henry muttered, as he adjusted himself on top of Alex's hard body. Henry's shoulders covering Alex's as they lay nipple to nipple, cock to cock and Henry kissed him.

Henry had put everything he possibly could into his kiss, conveying his feelings into it in a way that Henry could never articulate. Henry had plans, he wanted to take the reins. The previous night he had been pliant, pure putty under Alex's touch. This time, he wanted to be more than a passive participant.

The sound of the monitor beside the bed crackling to life with the sounds of wailing, and the echoes of hearing Gabriella's cries was like a surround sound. Hearing her, Henry broke the kiss, pecking his lips one more time, and groaning playfully as he climbed off Alex to allow him to check on his daughter.

Hearing Alex through the baby monitor, playfully teasing Gabriella her she was interrupting their adult time was amusing, and Henry laughed out loud at his boyfriend's silliness. He made a mental note to tell Alex it really was ok.

Even if she was cock-blocking them.