5. Baby, I was Born This Way


Henry had finally tormented the truth out of his boyfriend in bed the night before. Finally getting Alex to confess the truth about what exactly had transpired between Alex and Arthur on that fateful day he had left the two of them alone that had Alex hastily retreating into himself. Henry had planned his interrogation down to the tiniest detail, before taking advantage of the fact that Alex's brain had been mush and his body sated and pliant from Henry's meticulous ministrations on Alex's body. In reality, Henry had fucked Alex's brains out before interrogating him.

It was a successful mission and had made Henry realise that leaving Alex alone with his father had made Alex feel vulnerable. Even though they weren't together at that point of time, Alex's attraction to Henry had been evident. Alex deserved not to feel forced out of the closet because Henry's father would be visiting and that he had felt exposed during their initial meeting.

Henry was eagerly awaiting his father's arrival. He had taken the day off from work.

Henry had a meeting with an author on zoom very early the following morning that he could not miss though. This author was both an important client of Henry's and an important source for Henry's final dissertation. He had given Alex a heads up that he and his father would be alone for the duration, with the option to have a ready-made plan in place.

Alex had gone to the law library, wanting to give the father and son a chance of some one-on-one time; just like Henry had done when Raf had been visiting the week before. Alex wasn't avoiding Arthur, per se. The less time Alex spent with Henry's father, the better it would be for all involved.

The sound of the buzzer downstairs had Henry jumping to his feet in excitement. Whilst he tried to speak with his father at least once a week, Henry hadn't seen his father in almost four months. It had been even longer since he had seen his mother and his brother Philip, along with his wife Martha and their son James. He saw Bea when she had stopped in for a flying visit three weeks ago.

Henry buzzed his father up, once he had confirmed it indeed was his old man at the door and not some random person trying to gain access to their secure building.

"Henry, my boy!" Arthur beamed loudly and kindly, looking his son over as soon as Henry had answered the door. "Look at you, you look good. Happy."

Arthur hugged Henry tight, muttering into his son's hug how much he missed seeing Henry.

Both Philip and Henry had grown taller than their father the year they had each turned sixteen and it irked Arthur to no end. Although Philip looked more like Catherine than Arthur, he did share some features with his father. Whereas Henry was a carbon copy of his father's younger self - just taller.

At only 178 centimetres tall, or five foot ten inches, Arthur was often tauntingly referred to as "The Short King" by his toxic mother-in-law. Especially if they had been arguing over something. Which, they did a lot. The topic could be anything from the choice of colour of the dress Bea had chosen to wear to Henry's sexuality and everything in between. Mary always had something to say about one of their children, especially the younger two. Philip was the oldest and always could do no wrong in her eyes, even when he did dare disagree with her. Which would vex her to the extreme and somehow would always cause her to lash out at the others. Although Henry or Arthur were always her favourite targets. She was a bully, and they were her favourite victims. If it wasn't for the fact that Catherine and her father James were close, or the friendship Arthur shares with James, they would have cut Mary out of their lives years ago.

It had been a blessing in disguise when Henry had announced that he had been accepted to NYU and would be moving to New York for school.

As Henry ushered him inside the apartment and closed the door behind him, Henry did manage to take his father's bag and lead him through the apartment and into his bedroom. "Here, you can stay here dad. There are clean sheets on the bed and towels in the closet. The bathroom, I am sure you remember, is just across the hall."

"I can get a hotel room, Hen." Arthur reminded his son, but Henry vehemently shook his head, no. "That's not a problem. I don't want to put you out."

"Stay here." Henry insisted and Arthur looked around his son's bedroom. The room was neat and tidy. The bed was freshly made, and the bedroom window was cracked open to allow the cool breeze inside. "Please. I even cleared out some of my things. I wasn't sure how long you were in town, but both of the nightstands are empty and there's some hanging space."

"Thank you, Hen. But I don't want to run you out of your bed." Arthur hesitated. He was watching Henry carefully, waiting to see what explanation his son would provide for him. "Where will you sleep?"

"No worries." Henry grinned his gummy smile, which never failed to make Arthur smile in return. "Pez spends most of his time with Nora, so I'll bunk with him. But if he and Nora spend the night here, I'll crash in with Alex. His stepdad was here last week, and he crashed with me. It's not a big deal."

Arthur was thankful he had schooled his expression and had professional training not to react at his son's words. But inside was a very different story. Inside he was curious.

Before either of them could break the silence that had enveloped between them, the front door opened. Venturing out into the hallway, Henry could see that it was Alex entering. He was laden down with bags of groceries and he looked as if he was on a mission.

"Hi love, what's all this?" Henry asked, when he went and joined Alex in the kitchen. Henry let his hand linger slightly on Alex's waist as Alex had leaned up and pressed a kiss to Henry's cheek.

They'd made plans to keep their new relationship revelation, low key. They weren't going to announce it but weren't going to hide it either. Henry however, had not expected Alex to be the one to make the first move. Especially with Henry's father hovering.

"Dinner, sweetheart." Alex replied, with a playful roll of his eyes, before seeing Arthur come out from the hallway. "Hi Arthur, it's great to see you again."

"You too, Alex. You're making us dinner? Is that really safe?" He asked.

Alex took a deep breath and tried really hard not to take offence to his words.

"Better him than me, hey?" Henry replied, trying to break the tension between Alex and his father. "What's for dinner?"

"I'm making some tequila and lime shrimp ceviche, creamy roasted tomato soup with queso fresco, carne asada with avocado, mango, and jicama salad with citrus dressing, and Mexican chocolate mousse."

Arthur had to admit his mouth was watering, but he couldn't help but wonder if Alex had bitten off more than he could chew. That sounded like a lot of effort for a simple meal.

"I would have made a Tres leche cake instead of mousse, but I loaned Brianna my pan and she hasn't returned it yet." Alex ranted as he leaned into the fridge looking for cilantro.

"It all sounds delicious, Alex." Arthur rushed to reassure Alex it was fine. He had actually been planning on taking Henry out to dinner. But Alex's bulldozing plans were good too.

"Hmmm," Henry hummed as he filled their electric kettle for tea. "Missing home?" he asked his boyfriend in a low, hushed whisper.

"Missing June." Alex replied and Henry thought Alex looked like he was on the verge of crying. More than once, Alex had confessed that his sister was the one he missed the most. Even if she and her husband lived in Connecticut, which was a lot closer than Texas where everyone else lived.

"Oh, Love." Henry reached for him, but Alex resisted slightly. He was trying to stay on Arthur's good side, and he knew he couldn't do that if Alex suddenly melted into Henry's arms and cried out his sorrows. It wasn't Henry's fault that on the way to school today, he walked past a woman on the street today that reminded him of his sister, and it made him miss her. "I know how hard it is."


While Alex was in the kitchen cooking dinner, Arthur and Henry were on the sofa discussing the generous opportunity that Shaan had presented him with.

"It really is a wonderful and generous offer from your employer Hen." Arthur gushed, as he casted an eye towards the kitchen. He noted that Alex had loosely tied the curls atop his head in a small black scrunchie. The kind that Bea uses when she plaits her hair.

Henry couldn't stop the grin that had pasted itself on his face at Alex's appearance. Seeing all of his curls piled into a messy ponytail on top of his head and a small curly strand that had strayed to frame his face.

Arthur noted these two kids couldn't keep their eyes off each other. Henry has been pleasantly distracted by Alex's presence that he had not noticed Arthur had been watching them both. Alex only had eyes for Henry and seemed to be skeptical of Arthur's presence.

"Perhaps, instead of discussing the generous offer from your employer, we can talk about why you and Alex can't take your eyes off each other?" Arthur smirked at his son, seeing Henry's dear in the headlights look on his face.

"It's nothing, Dad." Henry muttered, before picking up the formal offer of the PhD that Shaan and Zahra had sent him. "What do you think of the offer? I know you all were looking forward to my return to London."

"I think it will be good for you Hen, you always wanted to do your PhD." Arthur replied. He noticed now that Alex was focused on dinner and Henry was focused on the papers in front of him.

"How mad do you think gran is going to be?" Henry asked, in a small voice.

It felt silly to be worried about his grandmother and her reaction at his age, but Henry's grandmother Mary was a force to be reckoned with. Mary Mountchristen was the darling of the publishing industry worldwide and it was a well-known fact she ruled her company with an iron fist. Even her own daughter Catherine had wanted to pursue a PhD in English Literature and had been forbidden by her mother to do so. Mary had contacts in every university associated with the industry and she had spies and contacts within the industry. Some of whom she personally planted. Some she had managed to micro-manage and manoeuvre into companies and positions to suit her nefarious plans. Henry had no doubt that some of them were blackmailed into doing her bidding.

"Just leave me and your mother to deal with your Gran." Arthur reassured his son. "Now tell me what it is that is happening between Alex and yourself?"

"Nothing." Henry denied. Alex dropped a metal pan on the linoleum floor in the kitchen. The sound of the pan clattering on the floor broke the tension between Arthur and Henry. "It's just…"

"You like him, don't you?" Arthur asked with a knowing grin. Arthur never asked a question he didn't already know the answer to. Of course, Henry liked Alex. It was as obvious as the nose on his son's face. "What am I saying? Of course you do. You know you can tell me the truth, if you and Alex are a thing. I'm not going to out him to anyone. Not even to Cat, if you need my discretion."

Henry and Alex caught each other's eye from across the room. They were having a silent conversation on how to proceed. Henry trusted his father's word. But Alex did not deserve to be pushed into coming out before he was ready, and Henry wasn't willing to out Alex just to appease his father's insatiable curiosity.

They had agreed not to hide it.

"Alex is my boyfriend, dad." Henry admitted and Arthur grinned like a Cheshire cat. He felt vindicated that his suspicions were correct. "You absolutely cannot tell anyone about this yet. Not a soul. I mean it, not even mum, not Pip and definitely not Bea. Especially since Alex is not out to any of his family and Bea is acquainted with Alex's sister."

"I promise not to say a word." Arthur held up three fingers, like a scout's promise. Despite never having been a scout in his life. Arthur looked over to the kitchen and Alex was preparing something and he looked to be one hundred percent focused on the task at hand. "But I have to ask, is that why Alex is trying to impress me by cooking dinner? Are we going to have to get take-away?"

"Alex is a marvellous cook, Dad. You're in for a treat." Henry rushed to reassure his father, before giving Arthur a serious look. "He cooks some of his father's specialty Mexican foods when he gets homesick or when he misses his family. His enchiladas melt in your mouthwateringly delicious and are unlike anything you've ever tasted before. He makes me pozole when I am sick, or in winter, when it's cold outside. Tamales, Tres leches cake, quesadillas, Migas, huevos rancheros, chilaquiles, sopapillas - whatever Alex is cooking, it never misses."

"I just keep picturing when your brother Philip told us Martha could cook, do you remember that?" Arthur shuddered, remembering the time that Philip insisted that Martha would cook a birthday feast for them all to celebrate his twenty-third birthday and it was a complete disaster. Bea and Arthur ended up ordering pizzas and Martha spent the rest of the evening crying in the bedroom.

"I'll just let Alex's food do the talking, then." Henry replied smugly. One day his father needed to realise that he and Philip were two totally different men and that he shouldn't underestimate Henry or his words.


By the time that Alex called out that dinner was ready, Nora and Pez had returned home too, and Alex had thrown a few more things together to stretch the meal out further. He was thanking his lucky stars that he had made a double batch of the Mexican chocolate mousse, after Henry muttered that his father had a sweet tooth and Nora and Pez's untimely arrival.

Arthur and Henry had been in Henry's bedroom talking, discussing his generous offer and the repercussions of choosing to stay in New York against returning to London. Leaving New York meant leaving Alex. Something that Henry had to admit did not hold much appeal. He didn't want to leave Alex. They got lost down a rabbit hole in their conversation that they forgot Alex had called that their food was ready.

Pez had been the one to go and remind them.

Coming into the small dining room, Arthur had to admit the food looked delicious and everyone seemed excited for the meal. Especially Pez, who had declared to Arthur that he was about to have a religious experience with his dinner. Arthur was skeptical, but his first mouthful of the lime and tequila shrimp ceviche had Arthur pleasantly surprised.

"I travel all around the world for work Alex and I have eaten all kinds of food, how is it that I never knew how good this was." Arthur praised him. The delicate balance between the tequila and lime, combined with the tangy taste and the lime zest had his taste buds dancing for joy.

"The real treat is the creamy roasted tomato soup with queso fresco." Nora told Arthur eagerly. "Alex's dad Oscar makes it the best, but Alex is so competent at replicating it you almost can't tell the difference."

That unfortunately opened up the conversation into Arthur asking Nora if she and Alex had ever dated. Two very large rounds of unhinged laughter from both Nora and Alex had followed. Along with a side of eww, from Nora.

"No. I love Alex but no. His parents and my grandparents both want us to date. They would love nothing more." Nora explained carefully. "Alex is my best friend, but that is as far as it goes."

"No matter how much they want it to happen, Nora is more like another sister to me and a very good friend." Alex added, as he brought over the soup. "Nora's not the one for me and somehow only she and I can see it."

"It's like this Arthur; My grandparents need Ellen and Leo's business to be profitable and Ellen and Leo need my grandparent's business to maintain their profit margins." Nora explained. "Then Alex's dad Oscar and stepdad Raf come in and wave their legal eagle mambo jumbo over all of the paperwork to dot the i's and cross the t's, making sure it's all right and following the letter of the law."

"Interesting family dynamics there." Arthur murmured slowly, but Henry heard it and warned his father once more.

"What?" Arthur asked his son between mouthfuls of soup. "I've never met someone who had two stepfathers at the same time before. That's all I meant."

"Love, I'd like to apologise for my father." Henry muttered, taking Alex's hand from across the table. "He knows not what he does."

"That's ok, sweetheart." Alex whispered his reply. "Ya haven't met my Ma and Leo yet."

The carne asada with avocado, mango, and jicama salad with citrus dressing was a hit with everyone and Alex had added a side of green beans and roasted honey dutch carrots to stretch the meal out to cover their unexpected guests. He had never made the carne asada for anyone else except for his sister before, but Alex had been missing his sister and that was what had come into his mind when he had been at the market.

"This is the best steak I have ever eaten in my life and that includes your mother's braised steak and onion casserole, Henry." Arthur declared and Alex felt like he was on top of the world. "Alex, truly delicious. I apologise for doubting your kitchen skills. No offence, but you're young and I didn't expect you to be able to cook. Especially like this."

"The only way anything of importance in my dad's house gets discussed is in the kitchen while we're preparing food. So, I started learning from a very young age." Alex explained before launching into a detailed story of the whole Diaz clan and how they only tend to communicate with one another through food. Nora joked that food was the Diaz family's love language, before Alex shot her a dirty look.

As they were wrapping up dessert, Arthur asked Alex if he had settled on a specialty for his law degree.

"When my Abuela brought my dad and Tia Maria over from Mexico they had nothing but the clothes on their back and the few meagre possessions they could carry. They had no money, and they had no employment lined up. Abuela managed to find work cooking for a rich family across town while Abuelo was away working on ranches or in the mines, doing whatever he could to make money. Even though they were documented when they came to the US, his surgical qualifications from Mexico were not recognised here."

Nora gave him a sad smile; she had heard the story from Oscar before and knew there was much more to the story.

"Is that why you want to go into immigration law?" Percy asked seriously. He had always wondered why someone like Alex would choose immigration law over any other type of law out there. Especially when there is not too much money in immigration law, like there is in business law or contract law.

"You might not understand this bit, but in America, being an immigrant with a z in your last name, there aren't a lot of people who look like you or sound like you that can help you." Alex said wistfully. "I've been given a chance to be something in the world that my father didn't have when he was growing up here. I just wish I could help more; ya know. Back then those immigrants were fighting more than just the societal and social pressures, as well as racism. There were people like Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta who were leading the charge with their strong voices in the fight for better wages and working conditions for Latinas and Latinos in the United States. A pivotal point for our history. Back then, American ranches would only hire Mexicans and Mexican Americans because they believed that these desperate workers would tolerate living conditions that workers of other races would not. There's no justice and fairness in a life like that. Every year, there are too many cases of people who deserve a green card here in the US that slip through the cracks here. Too many people are here in the states for their own safety. Society is on a slippery slope and we're falling backwards again. They need an advocate. Someone's who's willing to stand up for them and fight, no matter what it costs."

"It's an admirable fight, Alex." Arthur had to admit that unlike their family's acquaintance with the Okonjo family, they had no clue what it was like to be an immigrant family. Arthur was a self-made man, but he had married into money when he married Catherine Mountchristen. Their children had always had privilege, even attending the best schools in the UK that money could buy.

Even the Okonjo family was from old money. Ezekiel Okonjo, Arthur's friend and Percy's father had inherited all of his money and his companies from his father, and he believed that Miele Okonjo, Percy's mother, had come from some kind of Nigerian royalty, so knew nothing about being poor.

"It's a fight I intend to win." Alex declared and Nora gave him a here, here in support.

"Society doesn't really like to talk about it. Like it's a taboo subject. Unless you've grown up in a world where you've had to experience racial slurs being hurled at you, just to get an education. Or, you've had objects hurled at you just for daring to walk to school. You will have no idea what it feels like. Sometimes adults can be just as cruel as kids too."

"That's bloody awful, Alex" Arthur was shocked. He knew that there was a systemic culture of racism everywhere and that there were people who fought against it. Racism was rife in Hollywood as well, but never that evident. He had never known anyone who had physically worn scars from racism. He had always thought that those headlines on the evening news were sensationalised for television. He had been blinded by his own naivety. He felt very sheltered and protected. He knew that he and Catherine had taught their children to be open and loving and had thought everyone else taught their children the same way. Clearly, he was really wrong.

"June's already making a name for herself, but Alex, he is going to be the one to change the world." Nora declared.

"Thank you, Nora." Alex hissed pointedly. Henry had cringed at Nora's words. "Nothing against my sister's achievements Arthur. Please don't get me wrong, I love and adore my sister. But she and my mom look a lot alike. Her skin is like a soft tan, not brown. She didn't inherit the dark Mexican skin like I did, and she never experienced what I did, to the same extent."

Alex opened his phone and scrolled through his gallery, opening the folder labelled BUG. He selected the first photo in there and handed his phone to Arthur.

On screen, stood Alex with a woman both wearing huge grins. Alex was in a really nice-looking suit that was a firm fit without being described as too small, while the woman was in a white dress of layered lace and crystal applique.

"That's your sister?" Arthur asked, surprised. There was definitely a family resemblance, but Alex had been right about the skin tones.

"If you swipe to the left, you will see our parents with us."

Arthur swiped and there they were. A tall, slender, blonde woman with white skin dressed in a rich red gown. She was standing beside a bald man in a fine grey suit on one side of the siblings. On the other side was a man that if Arthur was not mistaken was Alex's father. They were like he and Henry, carbon copies, only a generation apart and the son was taller. Next to the Diaz patriarch was a man with his arm tucked into the crook of his husband's arm with salt and pepper hair and a beard to match. He too was a Latino in appearance.

Now Arthur understood Alex better.

"I see why you've taken up the cause so personally." Arthur replied.

He felt like he should bestow some kind of wisdom on Alex, but he feared overstepping the mark. A bigger fear than overstepping did rise in Arthur.

Where would Henry fit into Alex's life? Into this future Alex is carving out for himself? Would Alex carve out space for Henry in his life? Would Henry want to live his life like Alex is? So open and unabashedly afraid.

Arthur was fairly certain the answer was no.

He knew his son. Henry would want nothing more than to live his life in peace and quiet.

An anonymous person in the world.

With that all in mind, Arthur makes a mental note to have Henry end things with Alex before it can deepen and feelings become involved, while they can still salvage a friendship out of the ashes. Their relationship would eventually go up in flames and Arthur did not want to see Henry hurt.

If Henry won't end it, Arthur will.