Work Text:
Charlie tears his eyes away from the book he was reading the second he hears the front door open, followed by sniffles so soft it could have only come from a child, which means-
“Papa?” a little head pops in the bedroom door and Charlie’s heart simultaneously flutters and aches because while his kid’s crying face is very on point, why was she crying?
“What’s up, buttercup?” He asks before the 6 year old runs to her father’s open arms. Will buries her face on her dad’s neck as a few more tears spill, wetting Charlie’s favorite sweater. The anxiety within him builds as a million scenarios run through his head. A creak stops his train of thought and Charlie looks up to see an upset but also internally-fuming Knox at the door.
Charlie scrunches his brows in confusion as Knox says “We need to talk”.
“You know how kids are, Knox. They say dumb shit all the time! Hell, I did too when I was younger.” Neil reasons quietly, careful not to speak any louder for Will, distracted and entertained by Todd in the living room, to hear.
Knox stops his pacing and looks at him like he just told him the earth was flat. “Neil, you said stuff like “yellow snow tastes different from white snow”, not “you’re a freak for having two dads!”” Meeks peaks out the door and shuts it closer just a little more.
Cameron stares at the passed around child’s drawing in his hands. It was a drawn portrait of her family (wonky stick figures of two blue men with a short girl in the middle of them, drawn in pink). The artwork was supposed to be presented in front of class only for a few boys in the front row to start pointing at it in mockery of the fact that she had “wrongfully” made two fathers. The shock and embarrassment drained the child’s confidence and forces her to sit back down without even presenting.
“Knox, you need to calm down. You can’t do anything anyways, I’m pretty sure punching a kid in the face is frowned upon in at least 40 states.” Pitts reasons out. Knox rolls his eyes and continues pacing. “It’s not even the kid I’m most upset about, it’s what the teacher said to me when I picked her up.” Knox mutters.
“Wait, a teacher was involved too?” Cameron asks, which garnered a look from Meeks that read ‘were you not listening?’
Knox looks like his head was about to pop out of his body. “A teacher! Telling me to tell my kid to ‘man up’ because ‘boys will be boys’! Who says that?!”
“Isn’t Mrs. Smith a 70 year-old woman with one working ear left? She’s clearly not with the times, Knox.” Meeks points out and the rest nod their heads in agreement. “She’s gonna say some outdated shit”
Knox sighs as he sits on the bed, running his hands through his hair and finally buries his face in his hands. What a way to end Willie’s first week in preschool. It obviously wasn’t something they thought would never be brought up but Knox didn’t think they would have to have the conversation this early in the game.
He looks up and his eyes land on the only person who hasn’t contributed anything since the impromptu meeting started. Charlie sits on the arm chair at the corner of the room in deep thought. It was eerily unusual of him to not be the one blowing a fuse. For someone generally so loud, his silence was the most deafening.
“Charl” Knox calls out. Everyone turns to Charlie, who still hasn’t moved. Knox repeats himself, almost worrying the discussion has broken his husband. “Charlie” This time Charlie does move and without a word, slips out of the room. Everyone is all but surprised at this reaction as they understand that was the cue that Charlie was too overwhelmed with emotion that words weren’t going to suffice.
“Look, we’re not saying the bullies or the teacher’s right. They’re obviously very, very, very wrong” Meeks explains to Knox as he tries to level with him “but hate spreads and it will continue to spread. And you’re not gonna be able to save Willie from not feeling any of it”
When everyone else started feeling as equally depleted as Knox or as equally as hungry as Pitts, they move towards the kitchen to scour for any leftover food. Knox passes by the living room to find his husband curled up next to Willie, in a blanket, watching TV.
Hours later, the sky turns a dark shade of blue and all the boys leave with a heavy heart except for Meeks who leaves with also a slice of their leftover pecan pie.
I’m sad! I can’t be hungry too!
Knox lets him.
Knox can’t concentrate. How could he? When he was just awakened by the idea that his kid will have to suffer through a lifetime of humiliation and bullying, all because society decided her parents’ union wasn’t morally legitimate, almost like she knew it coming and deserved it. Knox shuddered at the idea.
He removes his glasses to ease the the pounding in his brain and when it was obvious there was no point in reading the same paragraph he was reading 10 more times, he turns off the study room light and heads to bed to catch some shut-eye. He passes by the front door to check if it was locked, only to see a silhouette of a figure sitting on their porch bench.
“Charlie?” The man gives a wide smile to the other in recognition. “Ah, Knox. My heart and soul, will you join me?”
Charlie wiggles his eyebrows and raises a half drunk beer bottle and a smoked cigarette with one hand and Knox rolls his eyes but sits next to him anyways.
They sit in a pregnant silence. Neither one wanting to talk about the events that transpired today. It was stressful, heart-breaking, and depressing to think about and it’s clear that the only thing both of them needed at this very moment was a moment of peace.
Knox cuddles up next to his husband, head on the other’s shoulder, and holds out his hand and within a millisecond, Charlie envelopes his hand in it.
Another minute passes by before the first words escape Charlie’s lips. “She doesn’t deserve it, Knox” And a sniffle, very similar to his daughter’s, follows. Know looks up to Charlie’s face to see his cheeks already covered in tears. He makes an attempt to swipe them away with his thumb because how dare they ruin Charlie’s beautiful face, only to be replaced with more of their kind.
“I know, baby. It’s okay”
“No, it’s not, Knox! She’s six! Six! She doesn’t need to know about that shit this young! I mean...w-we...” and Charlie takes a deep breath when he realizes he was getting too ahead of himself and his brain and mouth weren’t syncing. “...we left Vermont because we didn’t want her to experience what we did.”
And Knox thinks back at their Welton days, when he and Charlie would hide in empty classrooms to kiss or peak behind their shoulder before holding hands; the struggle of cowering to avoid being scrutinized by others was anything but easy. To the point they almost broke up because of a fight that stemmed from Charlie feeling trapped within Welton but within his own relationship as well.
When rumors started flying around that there was “inappropriate homosexual behavior” happening around campus, Charlie and Knox grinned and bared keeping distance for just 2 more weeks before graduation came and they could finally run away to New York.
“I thought we were fine. I thought things would be better. We fought hard...haven’t we?” Charlie seriously asks and all Knox could do was sigh in Charlie’s shoulder.
“Hate spreads” Knox repeats Meeks words from earlier in hopes to alleviate the conversation with some sort of wisdom. Charlie shakes his head in disbelief and disgust at how cruel the world could be to their daughter who has done nothing but spread kindness. She was sunlight so there was a frustration when people still couldn’t feel the warmth.
Charlie stares back at the night sky, praying to any god or deity that they could hear his wishes. If our love is really a sin, please don’t let Willie pay for it.
They decide to take Willie on a picnic to the park.
It was a beautiful Saturday morning and the temperature was just cold enough for her to argue that wearing her poofy, pink princess dress was appropriate to this picnic. if anything, needed.
Wow Charlie, she really is your daughter.
It’s called “dress for success”, Knox. Wouldn’t know about it, would you?
They finally find a nice little spot under the shade of a tree and after eating sandwiches and running around, exhausted, Willie lies her head on her father’s lap. The constant cool, breeze contrasting with the heat of the sun and Knox running hands through her hair keeps Willie content and both men, relaxed once more.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, my love?”
“Am I a freak?” Knox freezes at the question and looks at Charlie who mirrored his facial expression. “Of course not, Wills. Why would you say that?”
The little girl shrugs her shoulders, obviously asking the question for the sake of asking a question. It was a throw away thought, which scared them even more. The minute it starts becoming second nature, then begins the problem. “Everybody thinks I am”
Knox find himself, without missing a beat, blurting out “Well, everybody’s wrong”, which made Willie turn to face her father. “You are the smartest, sweetest, most talented little girl the world has yet to see.” Knox praises. “And I can confidently say the prettiest one too”
Willie sits up “But everyone thinks I’m weird because I have a papa and a daddy.”
“Not everyone understands that it’s okay to have a papa and a daddy, Wills.”
“They said I need to have a mommy.”
“Do you think you need a mommy, Willie?” Charlie asks. Knox realizes that they’ve never really asked her what her opinion was in all this. Willie was a smart girl who inherited Knox’s sensitivity but Charlie’s courage. Charlie looks at her like the way Mr. Keating looked at them years ago.
Think for yourself. Strive to find your own voice!
She puts on her “thinking face”, (which is a curious look on her face with her finger on her chin) looks at Knox, and then to Charlie and back to Knox. A smile slowly forms which makes both men smile.
“Nope. I like my papa and daddy”
Saturday night, the boys decide to surprise Willie to the theatre uncle Neil works at.
(Neil really just asking the stage crew to keep the lights on for 30 more minutes after the last performance of the night.)
“Wills, guess what? Uncle neil is gonna bring you up on stage and we’re gonna have the mic there for you and you can present your art work to all of us!” Pitts says, which causes the child in his arms to smile and squeal in excitement. “Really?” she asks.
“Yup! Now go with Uncle Neil and bring your paper with you!” Meeks eggs her on as she runs to the front of the stage to where Neil was standing and they both disappear into the depths of the stage.
The other boys sit in the middle row of the theatre seats and Charlie argues why no one brought snacks to the “performance of a lifetime”. Cameron fidgets with the camera he set up to capture the event.
The curtains draw minutes later and everyone shushes each other and in the middle of the stage, Willie, with her bright yellow dress and curly hair standing out. She looked so tiny, like the stage could swallow her up whole.
She presents her work and even recites a poem she wrote on the back (“with the help of Uncle Todd” she explains afterwards) about her family, rhyming words and all. She then bows at the end and the boys give a roaring applause. Willie smiles and shyly bows again and waves to her parents who know have tears in their eyes. The boys, in unison then scream a deafening “YAWP” and Willies smiles even wider.
Hate spreads but fortunately, love does too.