TPASD 37

"What's going on?" Ellen asked, her mouth thin with worry, as she followed the boys down the hall to their apartment. She had been a parent for more than two thirds of her life and she had never experienced something like this before. And Alex was a difficult child.

Philip was following too, with Henry's phone in his hand. He had also retrieved Alex's from where he had tossed it, when he had ripped Gabriella's t-shirt over her head. Seeing Henry bolt from the room had worried him. He wanted to make sure he was there for Henry, just in case Henry needed him.

Henry had run ahead, unlocking the door and turning the shower on. Philip could hear Oscar and Raf talking in rapid Spanish, following behind him. By the time they had caught up to Alex and Henry, the shower was running, and Alex was shirtless in the small ensuite. Henry had a syringe with a clear liquid in his hand that he had retrieved from the refrigerator and was trying to get the medicine into the baby's mouth.

"Can I help?" Ellen asked, stepping forward. The machine was still beeping and from Philip's vantage point he could see that the number had dropped from ninety-four to ninety-one. Now he had a good look at the machine, it looked like a fancy oximeter gadget. This one also had a second set of numbers that Philip assumed was a heart rate since there was a heart next to it. He was pleased to see that it was holding steady. But the small mapping on the bottom of the LCD screen that seemed to be the respiratory rate was all over the place.

"Hear that noise?" Henry muttered, managing to get the small syringe of liquid into Gabriella's mouth and getting her to swallow the bitter tasting liquid. "The whistling, high pitched noise? That's called a stridor, Ellen. Can you count how many you hear in a minute? Philip time it for her."

Alex loosened his grip on his now almost naked baby so Henry could see her ribs. Her body would shake violently, and Philip would physically wince when she coughed. The cough barking and hoarse, quite frankly, every time she coughed it scared him.

The door opened and Raf and Oscar slipped in. "Close the fucking door." Alex hissed in frustration and anger at them. Raf went to fumble for the exhaust fan because the room was beginning to fill with steam and Henry growled at them, while Alex seethed out. "Don't touch that fucking switch."

"It needs to be steamy. It will help break her congestion up." Henry added, as he was gently prodding along her rib cage and watching it very closely. "I can't see or feel any rib tugs, love. Turn her."

Alex flipped Gabriella in his arms, so she was laying on her back in his arms. Both Henry and Alex were close to her leaning over, blocking everyone's view from seeing what they were doing.

"No tracheal tug in her neck." Alex added and sighed a relief as let his tense body relax. Henry pulled Alex into his arms, encouraged him to rest against him. He sat Gabriella upright into his arms. "Thank fuck for that."

Ellen wanted to say something but was unsure what... She was unsure and she looked at Raf and Oscar, before looking at Philip. Rafael sent an unsure shrug to Ellen. Philip had a bewildered look on his face and Oscar took a small, tentative step forward.

"Breathe, Ale-" Oscar instructed, and they all let out a small breath when the oximeter beeped, before rising up to ninety-two. "You too, Henry. Breathe."

"That's it, my love. Keep breathing." Henry murmured, rubbing her back while trying to get his own heart rate under control again. "Are you ok, darling?"

"Not just yet." Alex replied, and Henry kissed his forehead.

"You did good, my love." Henry whispered to Alex once more. "She's ok, Alex. Look, her numbers are on the rise. That is officially the best two hundred dollars we've ever spent."

Alex let out a small, watery chuckle, followed by Henry and soon they were laughing hard. "I guess it lived up to its hype. It saved us a trip to the hospital."

Philip felt like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest. He was man enough to admit, he was actually terrified. He had never been that scared before for a child. He had thought she was going to die right before his eyes.

More importantly, he had seen how cool and calm Henry was. He was scared, that was written on both of their faces. But he was cool and calm, he knew what to do and he wondered if Henry had been acting on instinct or if it was so routine by now, that he and Alex had it down pat. He just hoped and prayed to God; it was the former rather than the latter.

"What the hell was that?" Raf asked, worried into the small steamy bathroom.

She still had the stridor whistle in her chest when she breathed, but it was nowhere near as prominent as it was before and not as frequent. "That was a croup episode." Alex replied, his friend Raf and his parents seem just as confused. So, he knew he was going to have to explain this through. "One that came on extremely fast."

"That was what happened when I was watching her, and we had to call an ambulance to the palace." Henry snapped at his brother. "Except we didn't have dexamethasone on hand to administer. So, she kept getting worse. Oh, and she was having an allergic reaction to a medication from our palace doctor."

"Normally, Gabriella would have redipred, but when Marissa, her paediatrician called in the prescription, the drug store was out of stock." Alex explained. "Last night, Gabriella started coughing and it was getting progressively worse through the evening. A phone call to her doctor in London had her calling in a prescription to the downtown twenty-four-hour drug store."

"Shaan and Lachlan went out to collect it at 4am this morning for us." Henry replied, reaching up to switch the shower off. "We'd been half expecting Gabriella to need medication at some point today. Darling, I do want to get her looked at by a doctor here, just to be on the safe side."

"Thank you for talking me into buying the oximeter and coming to the training session with me, baby." Alex murmured, and Henry beamed a wan smile at him. "Dad? Do you know a good doctor here?"

"I'll call Dr. Ryan and see if he can recommend someone." Oscar smiled, reaching out slightly to stroke Alex's hair in comfort.

Looking up, Henry caught Ellen's face. She looked out of her depth. There were tears in her eyes and she was still looking panicked. "Ellen?"

"Oh honey." She sobbed and Henry held his arm out for Alex's mom. She hugged him and Henry held her close, so she could reach her son and her granddaughter. Henry saw Oscar's hand on Ellen's back, and he was speaking to her in Spanish. Henry didn't know what he was saying, but his voice was low and calm; he figured they weren't harsh words. "I…I…" Ellen pulled back from Henry a moment and kissed his forehead. "I've never been that scared before. Not even when Alex was two and climbed up that old tree in our backyard. Oscar, you know the one. And he jumped off and knocked himself out. I don't think I was as scared that day, as I was just then."

"Mom?" Alex murmured, letting his mom kiss his forehead too. "She's ok. Look, ninety-five. Anything that or above is ok. The stridor is lessening, and she's resting comfortably. Her resps are steady and so is her heart."

"I don't know what I would have done if …" Ellen trailed off.

"Yes, you do." Oscar corrected his ex-wife. "You're a good mom, El. You would have noticed something wasn't right. You would have called a doctor or called 911. Then you would have called Alex and Henry, and they would have immediately come. Don't doubt yourself."

"Tú y Oscar sois buenos padres, Ellen. No dudes de ti mismo. Sabes que eres bueno." Raf told her, sincerely as he helped her off the floor and tucked her under his arm. ("You and Oscar, you're both good parents, Ellen. Don't doubt yourself. You know you're good.") "Todo lo bueno de nuestro Alejandro es bueno gracias a ti y a Oscar. Aprendió a ser un buen padre de ustedes dos." ("Everything good about our Alejandro is good because of you and Oscar. He learnt how to be a good parent from both of you.")

"Raf's right, Cariña." Oscar hugged her tight, and Alex thought for a brief moment, he must be hallucinating. His parents rarely hugged, if ever since their divorce. "It was a scary moment in time, and you are doubting yourself. You'd know what to do."

"You weren't scared." Ellen hiccupped, looking at her ex-husband. It had indeed been a long time since she had been held and comforted by this man.

"Are you kidding me? El, I was terrified too." Oscar admitted, kissing Ellen's cheek and pulling her back into his chest for a tight hug.

Alex was sure he was hallucinating now. He must have hit his head. Or it was all a dream because his parents did not hug and kiss one another like they hadn't been divorced for more than half of Alex's life. Oscar certainly didn't have pet names for his mom anymore, and even when they were married, he certainly never used that one. This could not possibly be the same two people who wanted to tear each other limb from limb less than a week ago.

The number on the oximeter was reading ninety-six now, and Alex passed Gabriella over to Henry so he could stand and open the door. With six adults and a baby crammed into one albeit generously sized ensuite, with the steam in the air, it was getting a little claustrophobic. Once Alex was on his feet, and he had the door opened, he was surprised to see Leo, Nora, June and Shaan outside the ensuite door.

"Ok, if you were not there when Gabriella was conceived or if you have been vomited and peed on by Gabriella at the exact same time, I'm gonna need you to give us some space." Alex announced.

"Alex." Henry warned him.

"Alejandro." Oscar warned him at the exact moment and in the exact tone Henry did.

"What?" Alex defended himself. There was a lightheartedness to his tone that seemed to diffuse a lot of the tension in the room. "I was going to say those that have seen me naked, but this family knows too few boundaries. That Philip would be the only one here."

"Fair point." Oscar conceded with a chuckle and ushered everyone out of the ensuite, and the bedroom. While Alex worked on getting Henry, Gabriella and the oximeter up off the floor.

A knock at the door interrupted the solitude of their early evening. Henry and Alex were curled up on the sofa. They had already had Dr Ryan pay them a visit and tell them that Gabriella was doing well, and they were doing everything right, just to keep an eye on her.

Agent Gavin Hatley was there, along with Shaan and another man Alex had never seen before in his life. "Can we come in?" Shaan asked, as Hatley looked around. No one seemed to be in the hall, and he slightly lessened his intensity. "Please."

Henry held the door open, and the trio of men entered. The man accompanying Hately and Shaan had salt and pepper hair and was just under six foot one, taller than Alex, but shorter than Henry. He was at least in his mid-fifties, if not, early sixties. He was stern and militant, but not too harsh and severe.

"I am Senior Agent Mike Donavon. Agent Hatley's supervisor." The man introduced himself. "I apologise for stopping by so late in the day, I got here as soon as I could. We have managed to locate Miguel Ramos, and the missing uncle. He is involved in a Tijuana cartel, but please be rest assured, he is a relatively new member. The uncle's real name is Juan Perez, he became a member five years ago and had been working his way up the chain. Together with his nephew, Miguel, they have been a formidable force. MI6 can link them to everything from drug running, money laundering, to terrorism. As well as some more petty domestic charges like B and E's, theft. It seems that Ramos has a bit of a history that was quite hard to track."

"Miguel Ramos is an alias." Hatley explains gently and his eyes zero in on Henry's hand grabbing Alex's tightly in support. "His birth name is Pedro Perez. His mother is Juan's sister. He studied journalism at Columbia, but it was his semester abroad where he really spiraled. He is linked to almost seventeen other accounts of sexual abuse, assault or rape of mostly men. There is one female in the bunch, but mostly men. When he came back to the states, he transferred to NYU and became Ramos. We suspect it was forged papers. Fresh out of NYU a year later, he joined Senator Oscar Diaz on his campaign trail."

"Our intel suggests that his uncle, aware of his transgressions, warned him against touching you." Donavan picked up the narrative and the boys could scarcely believe what they were hearing. "Immediately after you were sent packing, back to Texas by your father, Perez was angry. He knew what his nephew had done and said nothing. Not to draw suspicion, the duo stuck it out, but when Juan joined the cartel, he recruited his nephew as punishment."

"It's a delicate situation here, Alex." Hatley seemed relieved though. Alex didn't want to hold out hope though. "The good news is we won't have to leak photos of your injuries to the media now. The bad news is that with all the messed-up things that the Perez duo have done; Pedro, or Miguel, whatever the fuck you want to call him will never see the inside of a courtroom, let alone a jail cell for what he did to you. Or for those other crimes, including the sexual assaults in the UK. He has friends in high places and unless he sets foot back in the UK, MI6 cannot do much about him."

"So, basically you're saying we have to back off?" Alex asked. The anger in him was rising and bubbling in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't sure if he wanted to throw up or hit something. "That he gets to get away with what he did to me, and God only knows how many more people?"

"Unfortunately." Hatley winced. He hated being the bearer of bad news like this. Personally, he agreed with them, it was a shitty outcome. Alex and his sexual assault was the price for getting him on a higher charge.

Alex bolted to the trash can and vomited. Finally giving in to the anger in his gut. Violent heaves echoed around the room. Henry came over to rub his back, as he tried his best to comfort his boyfriend.

As Alex started another fresh round of vomiting, Henry turned to the two agents and Shaan in the living area, a harsh glare on his face. "This is not fucking good enough!" Henry spat out. His eyes flashing red with anger, but full of unshed tears and raw emotion. "It's horseshit!"

"I must agree with His Royal Highness." Shaan stood his ground, backing Henry up. "It's horseshit. There must be another option."

"I am afraid there is not." Agent Donovan replied. "I truly wish there was more we could do, but our hands are tied. They are US citizens and hold a dual nationality with Mexico. We cannot stop them from coming and going. The FBI and CIA are using them for information on the cartel and what they are up to. The best we do is flag them with customs in the UK."

Alex lifted his head up from the garbage can where he was still dry heaving. "If that's all you have to say, then please leave. Allow me what little is left of my dignity." Alex managed to get out before another round of vomiting took hold of him.

"Oh, sweetheart." Henry murmured, rubbing Alex's back as the agents showed themselves out. "I am so very sorry."

"It's me, Hen." Alex sighed, collapsing back onto the linoleum floor, exhausted. "Want to know something crazy, Hen? I don't feel like there's anywhere I belong anymore. The US feels like home, but it's not. Everywhere I go and everything I do, my race and then my sexual identity will follow me. Biracial and bisexual. London feels like home too, but it's not. I am far away from most of the people I love. Oh, and there's that small pesky problem of being biracial and bisexual too. That follows me like a bad smell. I guess being brown and having a 'Z' in your last name, and being bisexual, really does make you a second-class citizen."

"Alex?" Henry was worried. Alex sounded so defeated and jaded. Henry was afraid Alex was giving up on everything now.

"Hen, baby? My father was twelve when my abuela brought him and his sister over from Mexico." Alex whispered and Henry noticed that Shaan had moved closer to listen to what Alex was saying to Henry. "You may not understand this, but in America, if you're an immigrant with a "Z" in your last name, there's not a lot of people in positions of power that look like you, or sound like you. On the campaign trail, I'd been given a chance to be someone in the world my father didn't see when he was growing up. You can't know what that meant to a seventeen-year-old me. But it all means nothing now."

"Alex, what Miguel or Pedro or whoever the fuck he is; he did to you. This was not your fault. Not now, not ever." Henry promised him. "You didn't deserve it then and you don't now. Neither did those other people he assaulted. Like Rafael said yesterday, he is a predator, love. He preyed on you. You were his victim. And as for not knowing what that's like. It's true, I don't know what it's like to be an immigrant. But being here with you, in the States, experiencing it all firsthand, I am learning."

"I get it, Alex. I really do." Shaan added in a whisper, and honest to God, Alex had forgotten he was still there. "I am English-Indian, and I all too often face the realities of that. Racism is rampant everywhere, not just in the US. But I understand the feeling. Feeling like I don't fit in London, with the English people. Feeling left out and isolated. Then I go home to Mumbai, and I don't fit in there either. Too 'white bred', too 'English'. While I don't know what it is truly like here in the states, the stories are enough to go off alone. I understand what you are feeling Alex." Looking up at Henry, he added. "Everyone just wants to feel like they belong. Deserves to feel like they have a home."

That Henry understood all too well. That was the whole purpose of the Fox-Okonjo foundation and the LGBTQIA shelters. To have somewhere to belong. A home. A community

Henry couldn't sleep. Alex had nodded off and was in a deep sleep and honestly, Henry was glad. It had been hours and it was almost daybreak. Insomnia sometimes plagued him; it was no stranger. Slipping out from Alex's grasp, Henry headed out into the living room. He tried to read a book, but he was still too keyed up and too angry about what had unfolded last night.

Shaan had told Henry he would take care of notifying the others, which was a weight off both Alex and Henry's shoulders. He felt all keyed up, full of energy and it was not really a situation he was overly familiar with.

Leaving a note for Alex, he changed into some sweats and sent Lachlan, one of the PPOs, a message telling them he was headed down to the twenty-four-hour gym. Receiving the surprising reply that the PPO was already down there, Henry slipped out of the apartment, keys and phone in hand.

Seeing Philip stretching was a surprise. He knew his brother didn't normally work out, so this was the last place he expected to find him. "Hey mate," Pip greeted him. "Great timing, we just got here, and poor Lachlan looked fit to be tied at the thought of having to work out with me."

As the two brothers stretched and warmed up in silence, Henry was feeling restless. Not a feeling Henry was akin to. "It's a bit early for you, ain't it, Pip?" Henry teased him.

"Yes, well I am heading back to London tonight." Philip announced, and Henry momentarily worried that with the distance they would undo all of the hard work they had put into repairing their relationship. "That doesn't mean I won't be available for you to talk to. In fact, I would be delighted if you could keep me posted with you, and with Alex and my niece."

Henry gawked at Philip wondering what the hell had caused such a drastic change in him. "Your niece?"

"You're not going to tell me after all this time, you are not the other half of her parenting team?" Philip asked, his tone slightly mocking Henry and his insomniac-addled brain. "Just because she isn't yours, biologically, doesn't mean she isn't your daughter. Come on, Hen! That girl adores you, as does her father. In fact, I am fairly certain Alex is obsessed with you. She looks at you with the same awe all children look at their parents with. And you're a damn good father! You are a dad. Welcome to parenthood. I, ah … heard about what Hatley and Donovan found too." Philip apologised and it had been a long time since Henry had taken an apology from Philip at face value like this before. "How's Alex?"

"Asleep." Henry deadpanned, before sighing. "He threw up. Anger. Nerves. Frustration. All of it, he felt the whole gamut."

"I don't blame him." Philip murmured. "You do know I like him, right? Alex. Well, all of them, actually. But I do like Alex. He's good for you, Henry. I am genuinely glad you two found each other."

"Morning," Rafael Luna's voice appeared from behind them. "Wasn't sure if I'd have company down here or not this morning."

Perfunctory nods were exchanged between Luna and the princes, leaving Rafael feeling like something was really the matter. Shaan had told him and Oscar last night about what had happened with Hatley, but something still seemed off.

"I'll stop in and see you all before I leave." Philip told Henry and nodded at him.

Watching Philip leave seemed odd to Henry, and he wondered if Philip could feel the tension between him and Rafael. He knew Rafael and Alex shared a special bond, and he didn't want to be that person. The jealous boyfriend. But something about this whole situation with Rafael had been eating at him.

"Ok, that's it." Raf said, cutting the power to the treadmill beside Henry he was on. Henry killed the power to his words too. "Out with it. It doesn't help anyone when problems keep getting bottled up inside. I suspect that's why you're down here at six in the morning when you could be asleep beside Alex."

"Funny you should mention, Alex." Henry smirked at him. He didn't want to sound jealous, but something was clearly bothering him about what was happening with Oscar's friend. "We've both noticed."

"Noticed what?" Raf asked, genuinely confused.

""Don't play coy with me." Henry warned him.

"I literally have no idea what you're talking about, man." He argued, putting his hands on his hips defiantly.

"I'm talking about you eye fucking Alex every time you're in the same room as him." Henry snapped, mirroring Rafael's body language. Henry might be taller, but Raf clearly works out more often than Henry and in terms of muscle mass, he would snap Henry like a twig. "It's making us both uncomfortable. Is this a game to you? Alex was literally sexually assaulted by a man and you're looking at him like that and it's weirding him out. But Alex is fucking too polite to say something to you about it because he values your friendship, both with him and his family."

Rafael stepped back onto the bench seat behind him and sat. He looked like the wind had been knocked out of him. "I didn't mean to make either of you uncomfortable, you do know that, right?" Henry gave a non-committal shrug. "For the record, I wasn't eye fucking him. I was trying to fathom how the hell this great kid I once knew managed to grow up, become a decent man, a loving father and boyfriend. How the hell he managed to pull the prince of fucking England?"

Raf's laugh was high pitched, Henry could have almost called it borderline hysterical, if not for the somber squint behind his eyes. "Alex is a good man, Raf."

"I know Henry, and I am sorry if I made either of you uncomfortable. That's on me." Raf admitted and apologised, offering Henry to take a seat beside him. "Alex is a good man, you know that. I guess I am struggling a little with the concept of grown-up Alex. We haven't seen each other in five years and that was barely for a moment in time.

Did you know, I was seventeen when I met Ellen and Oscar? I had been outed by some kids in my school and my parents had kicked me out of home. My sister was older, married. She took me in and made me finish out my senior year. Her husband was away with the military and not home, but things weren't great with my parents. Oscar and I hit it off instantly and when I turned eighteen, I went to work on Ellen's campaign. June was seven and Alex was five.

See, when I was eighteen, I was just like Alex was back when Alex was that age. Dedicated and passionate about politics, had an idealistic view of the world and wanted nothing more than to make a change in the world. To be a positive change. After Ellen was successfully elected, I worked my way through college and law school, while working part time. Became close friends with Ellen and Oscar. Stayed friends with both of them, even through their divorce and Ellen meeting and marrying Leo. I am sure Alex has told you how messy that all was."

"Oscar left while Alex was at camp, didn't say goodbye." Henry supplied and Raf sadly nodded. "Ellen met Leo two months after their divorce was finalised and they married less than six months after they met."

"You have to understand that Ellen and Oscar loved each other deeply. They still do too, just not in a romantic way. Their relationship was something to be envious of. But they fought, clashed and butted heads. The divorce was the right thing to do. Did Ellen rush into marrying Leo? Probably. Did Oscar leave in a really shitty way? Yes. Did he feel like it was his only option? Yes. I am not defending either of them, but it was a really messed up time." Raf sighed. "Henry, Oscar's not just my best friend, but an older brother to me. Sometimes he has even been like a father to me. I know he has a son of his own, no need to unpack that suitcase of issues. My therapist earns his pay every time someone touches that one."

Henry let out a small wry laugh. He knew that feeling.

"I went to work for Oscar. I was on that campaign when Alex was assaulted. I had been elected the year before with Alex and Oscar's help and was returning the favour." Raf pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to starve off what he was sure was, the beginning of a stress headache. "I saw why Alex was pissed. I should have said something, I should have stepped in. Alex is like my kid brother and by not speaking up, I let this happen to him. I was the first person to suspect Alex wasn't straight. I clocked it when he was thirteen and told me that Han Solo had a nice ass."

"You saw yourself in Alex?" Henry asked, reading between the lines.

"Contrasting homelife, but essentially, yes." Raf looked at him carefully. "Ellen, Oscar and Leo, June and Nora, they're all amazing people. They're supportive and kind, generous and caring people. Henry, you're never going to be loved in the way that those people love you. They love fiercely, wholeheartedly and passionately. They love loud and vibrantly. It gets under your skin and into your bloodstream and as soon as it does, it consumes you. It makes you feel like you're loved. They have this way of always reminding someone how much they're loved, even if they don't say it. A kiss on the head from Ellen, a soft 'Mijo' from Oscar and Leo, not a big talker. He's a man of actions speaking louder than words. June and Nora, they're big hugs and beams of positivity. Alex, well, I am sure you know his love language is touch.

At first, I wondered if Alex had even known, if he'd had the realisation yet. Then, I figured there was no way he was that obtuse. He had to have known. Here he was, scared to come out to the best people I know, and I worried he would be outed. He was anyway. I should have tried to help him. And I didn't. Henry, I keep looking at Alex like that because I blame myself for what happened to him."

"You're not much older than Alex, yourself." Henry defended him. "It's not your fault, you didn't do this to him. You didn't drug him when he was intoxicated and vulnerable. You didn't sexually assault him."

"Still, I should have tried harder to talk to him about his sexuality." Raf took a swig from his water bottle and kicked off his shoes. They clearly weren't going to work out after this conversation. "But I didn't want to be that guy. The one who talks to a kid about it first. The thing was though, I was just as scared as he was. I was just as confused, and I had been out for ten years at that point.

It's the same with the assault. I should have seen through Miguel and his bullshit. I should have pushed harder to get Alex to talk to me; open up and confide in me. I should have followed up with him when he got back to Texas. I should have been there for him. Do you remember your first time, Henry? Because I remember mine and I was terrified. Now imagine someone taking that from you, forcing or coercing you."

"I was seventeen, drunk and in the throes of grief from losing my father to cancer. It was with my brother's friend, he plied me with liquor and took advantage." Henry supplied dryly. "He may not have raped me, but I know exactly what that feels like."

"I was the same age, and someone slipped a roofie into my drink. But I remember everything about that night." Raf supplied a firm tight-lipped look at him. "When I saw Alex, after all this time. Something I realised was that by leaving the States, leaving us all behind, Alex got out; he was free. He broke through that cycle, and he got help. He worked through his trauma. Here he is now, the boyfriend to a literal prince, a father to a beautiful baby girl. A successful lawyer. Compared to me, I have nothing to show for myself."

"He hasn't worked through his trauma, Raf." Henry corrected him. "He never will. Neither will you or me. You don't work through it. You just learn how to live with it and not let it have any power or control over you or your life. And it's not like his time in London was a vacation. He worked hard, studied hard. He was a loving partner and fiancé to Erica while she cheated on him and mentally and emotionally manipulated him at every turn. He grieved for her, and he grieved hard. He still does, in his own way. He has the trauma of having a premature daughter. The medical stuff alone is scary and let me tell you, parenting is not easy. But he does it, every day he shows up for her. He is a dedicated and loving father. He is wonderful. As for me, I'm nothing special, Raf. I am the spare heir and since my brother has children of his own, I am rather obsolete.

I am just a man, who was just going about my business, when I met Alex. Meeting Alex, having his friendship and turning that into love. It's the best thing I have ever done with my life. It also brought Gabriella to me, and I cannot imagine my life without either of them."

"You three are such an adorable little family, Henry and it's very clear how much Alex really loves you."

"Stop right there." Henry grinned at him. "The first time I hear how much Alex loves me, I want it to be from him, not you or anyone else. Please, don't. Just leave it be."

Raf almost choked on his own tongue in shock. "Hasn't he told you yet? That's absurd."

"Don't know if you've noticed, he's had a lot going on right now." Henry smiled at him. One of his genuine smiles. The one that's gummy and all teeth.

"Well, act surprised because I know it's coming." Rad winked at him. "Henry, I promise you I am not attracted to Alex. I mean yeah, I have eyes and I can see he is a drop-dead gorgeous man. But no, I am not sexually attracted to Alex. However, I am in awe of him. With whom he is now, and who he is yet to become. I look at all of the challenges and obstacles the world has thrown at him and how he conquers them. He takes those challenges, head on. I am proud of him too. Proud of him as a friend, and as a big brother, of sorts."

"You should tell him you're proud of him." They exchange a small look of understanding between them. "I think he would like that."

"One day …. maybe." Raf jokes and immediately the tense and awkward aura that had been surrounding them is gone and replaced by one of peace and understanding, a shared camaraderie. "That ego of his is already big enough."

Henry lets go of a huge belly laugh and Raf joins him. "Are we ok?" Henry asked Raf, hoping he hadn't offended the man that Alex looks up to.

"We're ok, kid." Raf grinned at him, throwing a brotherly arm around the prince. "You just keep on looking out for Alex and Gabriella and you and me, we will never have a problem. Ok, kid?"

"Don't call me kid." Henry retorted.

"Dos guisantes en una maldita vaina, hombre." Raf huffed with laughter, as he helped Henry up from the bench beside him. ("Two peas in a fucking pod, man.")