Page 48 of Cueball & Double-Z (Alpha’s Rejects #5)

The three of us sat down at the kitchen table as Mom pulled down mugs and dessert plates from the cabinet. Then she grabbed several forks from the drawer next to the dishwasher. “Oh, yes. I plan to retire in a couple of years, but I’m still teaching high school Spanish.”

“Good.” I wasn’t sure what to say about that. Mom and Dad weren’t wealthy people, but we lived a comfortable life. My brother and I learned the value of hard work through our parents. “And… Hugo?”

Mom froze, her back to me, her fingers gripping the countertop. The news wasn’t going to be good. “He knows you’re back. He’s… angry.”

I suspected as much. Cole and Gio sat on either side of me, both grabbing my hands to comfort me. “It’s okay, Mom. I expected that. I’ll do what I can to fix things with him.”

“He’ll come around, Marco. I just know he will.” She turned around with a small smile on her face, looking at my guys. “Would you like some coffee and cinnamon rolls?”

Cole smiled back and nodded. Gio mumbled a “No thanks,” looking as awkward and nervous as I felt. If Cole felt the same, he didn’t show it.

I had no idea what she thought about me having two men in my life.

Young men. Much younger than me. Age hadn’t been an issue between us at all until now.

Now I was worried about how my mother felt about it.

At least she was polite to them, as I thought she might be.

Dad wouldn’t be as comfortable, but he should be courteous, too.

He’d had a harder time when I came out, but eventually, he let it go and accepted me.

“Marco?”

“Just coffee. Thanks, Mom.”

She set a plate and a mug in front of Cole, who signed his thanks.

“Oh, can he not hear? And here I am speaking to him.”

“Cole can hear. He just can’t speak.”

She smiled at him affectionately, which was surprising.

But then again, it was easy to be drawn to Cole.

He was inviting and warm. My mom was incredibly patient.

She always had been, which made her a great teacher.

Or perhaps she learned patience because she had to, dealing with teens day in and day out.

When she set my mug in front of me, she sat down with her own cup, cradling it on the table with both hands. “It’s hard to know where to start,” she said.

I nodded and sighed. “Yeah… It’s been a long time.”

Before I could finish, more like begin, Dad walked in. He was tall and broad like me, except he had more weight on him. His dark brown hair was thinning and had more gray in it than it used to. He also wore a short beard. That was new, at least to me.

I stood when he stepped into the kitchen, his dark brown eyes pinned on me. “Marco,” he breathed, his face morphing into pain, but unlike my mom, he held back his emotions, coughing them back.

I stepped up next to him, waiting to hug him, but I was afraid to.

Afraid he wouldn’t hug me back. But to my surprise, he pulled me into a bear hug and held me in silence, and I held him back, so fucking relieved he still loved me.

Maybe he hadn’t forgiven me yet, but that proved his love was unconditional. A well that never ran dry.

The road to repairing our relationship would be a long one, but I was prepared for the work, as long as Cole and Gio were by my side.

“I’m so sorry, Dad.”

He coughed back his emotions again and squeezed me tighter. “We will always love you, Marco.”

With that, I knew we would definitely fix things. Maybe they wouldn’t be the same, and things would be strained for a while, but I would do my damndest to make them happy again.

“I’m so sorry I hurt you both.”

When my dad sat with his coffee, he looked strangely at Cole and Gio. I had to introduce them and explain that they were mine, and I was theirs, but not with those words.

Please accept us , I begged in my head. If my parents didn’t like it, nothing would change. They would just have to adapt. Gio and Cole weren’t going anywhere. No way was I going to give up my chance to fall in love again. To find happiness, companionship, and peace. They needed me too .

“I’m not going to lie, it’s strange for me to see you with two younger men, especially after not seeing you for years,” my dad said before looking at Gio and Cole. “No offense to you.”

I nodded and took a sip of my coffee before setting my mug down. Cole was happily eating his cinnamon roll as Gio had his hand under the table, resting on my thigh. I was tethered to him—a constant reminder he was there by my side.

“It kind of just happened,” I explained.

“Gio and Cole came into my life when I needed them the most. To be honest, I’m not sure I’d be here if I hadn’t met them.

” I looked at the two men who’d so quickly become my life.

“You can thank them. It’s these two special men who opened my heart again, allowing me to forgive myself. ”

My parents reached for each other’s hands across the table, watching Cole and Gio. Cole was now resting his head on my shoulder, looking up at me, and Gio was holding my hand under the table.

“Then, I suppose, we owe you our thanks,” Mom said to them. “Thank you for bringing Marco back to us.”

Gio’s face bloomed red as he stared down at the table and mumbled, “I didn’t do nothin’…”

“You did. You and Cole saved me,” I insisted.

‘You saved us, too,’ Cole signed.

“What did he say?” Dad asked.

“He said I saved them, too. Look, I know how it looks, but I hope you eventually see how special they are.”

Mom smiled softly, looking at my dad, then back at me. “If you care about them, then they must be special. You wouldn’t accept anything less, Mijo.”

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I assumed they’d be accepting, but people can change a lot in a few years. I know I had.

It would take time to know and learn each other again, but I was confident we’d eventually be a happy family again. Next up was getting my brother to forgive me.

When we arrived at the cemetery, I turned to face Cole and Gio, taking each of their hands in mine. “Thank you for being there for me today, and for taking care of me as I reconciled with my parents. I can’t tell you what it means to me.”

“Of course we’d be there. We’ll always be there,” Gio said in a moment of rare sweetness.

I loved how he became more so with time.

And I was grateful he no longer hid behind anger and self-loathing.

He just needed a little love and a little luck.

That was it. Gio never asked for much, but he deserved the world. As did Cole.

Cole just squeezed my hand in acknowledgement.

“Now I’d like a moment alone with Shane, if you don’t mind. It’s time I let him go.”

Gio pressed his free hand to my face, not showing much on his face, but his touch was enough to show his support. “Go to him.”

Cole hugged me and let me go before waving me off.

I turned around, shoved my hands into my jeans, and headed toward Shane’s tombstone.

I hadn’t talked to his parents since his funeral, either.

But it’d been so long, I wasn’t as comfortable approaching them and apologizing for my absence.

We’d been close, but they weren’t my parents.

Maybe I should just suck it up and do it.

Or perhaps it was best just to leave them alone.

I didn’t want to disrupt their lives if they’d moved on from their grief.

I hadn’t been there since they put Shane into the ground, but even after over seven years, I knew exactly where he was laid.

The ground .

It was one thing to have a funeral with him in his coffin.

But being put into the ground? There was a finality to it.

Once they lowered the casket into the ground, that was it, wasn’t it?

That was the moment I was crushed the hardest. I locked myself away for three days after that.

Eventually, I locked myself away for years and years.

My eyes watered as I squatted in front of his simple engraved stone, pulled out the dead flowers from the provided metal vase, and replaced them with the flowers I’d bought. They seemed too inadequate compared to the years I’d been gone, not visiting once.

“Hey, Shane,” I said, my voice trembling in my ears as the tears instantly spilled.

“I’ve been doing a lot of apologizing lately, and I have a lot more to do.

My grief and guilt have left behind a lot of hurt and pain in their wake.

I was so wrapped up in it that I stopped caring or thinking about how it made others feel. God, I’m such an asshole.”

I pulled out a wad of tissues I brought, knowing I’d get like this, and blew my nose.

“I don’t know if you can hear me. If you even exist in another world.

I hope so. The world is less bright without you in it.

You were my everything, and I failed you.

Well… I’m trying to come to terms with that.

I need to do a Cole and just accept it. Or finally admit that maybe it wasn’t entirely my fault.

I still feel like I should’ve done more. Maybe that will never go away.”

I sat my ass on the ground and crossed my legs before looking back at Cole and Gio, leaning against a tree, watching me intently. Then I turned back to Shane.

“Thank you for sending them to me. I’d still be on my old path had you not. I don’t really know whether you sent them, but I’d like to think so. It’s a nice thought, having you watch over me.”

A cloud parted from behind the sun, brightening the landscape and over the two of us. I smiled at that, as if Shane confirmed he sent them to me.

“I miss you every fucking day, but with them, it’s easier to breathe. It’s nice to love again and have someone love me back. Even better, it’s wonderful to have two men who see and hear me despite all those walls I’d built. I promise not to squander this gift.”

I stood, wiped off the back of my jeans, and touched the stone. “I love you.”

With that, I walked back to my men, waiting with worry. When I stood in front of them, I pulled them both close to me and cried, no longer afraid to show them my pain. They did that for me. They held me back in silence, letting me get it out without words or platitudes.

I pulled away and wiped my face. “Let’s go home.”