Lucky Mr. Peters
Chapter 82
Diego introduced his wife, Carla, and his young son, Emilio, to everybody and I smiled when I saw Carla immediately gravitating towards Julia. Just moments later, Pietro burst into the room and walked over to hug his uncle, aunt and nephew.
I’m not sure how they knew, but within minutes a few of the boys appeared and whisked Emilio away, enticing him with games to play. Pietro immediately served our new guests drinks, and I was sure Emilio got a similar treatment down in the game room.
I was about to sit down on the couch when Allejandro jumped up and ran past me, causing me to turn around. My first glimpse of my future mother-in-law was when she almost squished Allejandro after pulling him into her arms for a bearhug. I felt my stomach turn into a knot watching the mother and son reunion, and suddenly realized how much Mrs. Lizana looked like my own mom who’d passed away only six years earlier.
The hug lasted for about a minute, then, after Allejandro made the introduction, it was my turn to get squeezed. She congratulated me before, in a very soft voice, thanking me for taking care of her boy. I didn’t quite know what to say, but luckily Allejandro intervened and began to introduce his mother to the other guests. It didn’t take long for Mrs. Lizana, Carla and Julia to group together, chatting about things that I guess women need to chat about. I did notice, however, that Allejandro’s mom did regularly look at him and the weirdest thing was that I could see both sadness and relief on her face.
Bernardo’s mom showed up a little later but told me that she couldn’t stay for long. She’d just come by to congratulate me and to have a chat with ‘her little boy’. After just half an hour, she said her goodbyes and left. I couldn’t help but wonder when Johan and Karim would be showing up, as it turned out, Allejandro had no idea either. Ultimately it was Pietro that informed me that they wouldn’t be coming over until after dinner.
It was a strange sensation, but I felt quite comfortable in the presence of people that I hadn’t known for more than a year, with the exception of Allejandro and Diego. The occasional talk with Allejandro’s mother was a bit awkward at first, but she seemed to accept her son’s sexuality and choice. Carla, on the other hand, turned out to be a breath of fresh air and at some point even confided in me her suspicions about Emilio being gay.
“Oh, don’t worry. Diego has fully accepted Pietro and when the time comes, he’ll accept our Emilio, too,” she whispered to me conspiratorially.
“I’m glad to hear that. Too many boys don’t get the support they need and either end up in the streets, a shelter or dead,” I commented softly, eliciting a sad nod from Carla.
“I do hope you’ll invite us to your wedding. Whether Emilio turns out to be gay or not, he needs to learn to accept people as they are, without the usual prejudices,” Carla stated.
“Well, the three of you will be more than welcome, of course,” I replied and continued to tell her about the preparations that had already been underway.
I somehow lost track of time, until Mauricio, around a quarter to five, reminded Allejandro’s mother that it was almost time for him to take her back home. It was a grim reminder that she had to keep her visit a secret from her callous husband, Allejandro’s father.
Saying goodbye to Camila, which she’d told me to call her, was bittersweet, especially for Allejandro. At the same time, Diego announced that he and his family also needed to ‘get going’, since they had dinner reservations. It meant calling up Emilio from the game room, which caused a bit of a stampede with all the other boys coming up, too. Allejandro immediately took the opportunity to quickly introduce his mother to her future grandsons, causing her to get rather emotional. Next thing I knew, Carlos and Damarion each got picked up and almost flattened from the hugging they received. Both of them were definitely embarrassed by the show of affection as they tried to catch their breath.
“If you want to, I’d like you boys to call me grandma,” I heard Camila whisper to them affectionally.
The boys didn’t respond, but as they nodded, I had a hard time to keep from crying. Camila then simply walked off, followed by Mauricio as the rest of us took our leave from Carla, Diego and Emilio.
“What about you two?” I asked Julia and Ronaldo.
“Don’t worry, Rudee, I’m not one to give up on a free meal,” Julia laughed, making Ronaldo blush.
Looking out, I could see that Pietro was already firing up the barbeque in preparation of our dinner. It seemed like we wouldn’t be having a huge group after all, which was really fine with me. The boys all disappeared down to the game room while the rest of us enjoyed a bit of quiet time with our drinks.
When Mauricio returned, he immediately disappeared into the kitchen to help prepare dinner. It wasn’t long after, that I could hear a clear sizzling sound, indicating that meats were being put on the grill. The other attendees heard it, too, and we all got up to see what was going on.
It quickly became clear to me that, despite the smaller group, my housekeepers stuck to the plan of using paper plates and plastic cutlery. I could also see that Pietro and Mauricio had distinctly different tasks, Mauricio attending the grill while Pietro brought out baskets of bread and other condiments. I had no idea when or how they’d set everything up, tables and chairs on the patio, but it looked quite inviting. It was definitely time for us to move outside and I asked Allejandro to give the boys in the game room a heads up.
Within no time, we’d managed to all find seats and were snacking on bread and tapas in anticipation of the first meats to be ready. A few of the boys were roaming around the barbeque with mouths watering, unable to sit still. With the hamburgers and hotdogs being done first, it caused a bit of a frenzy amongst the boys. It was a good thing that we had a bigger than average barbeque and Mauricio, who knew how to handle the thing. In fact, I was amazed by how fast he managed to get us all serviced. I could predict we’d be having more cookouts in the near future as the boys were definitely loving it.
“Papi, do you know when Emilio will come over again?” Russel suddenly asked as he sat down next to me.
“Well, I’m sure he’ll be here again with his parents for the wedding,” I replied.
“But that’s over a month from now,” Russel complained.
“There’s nothing to keep you from calling him before then, if you’d like,” I smiled, feeling there was more going on than met the eye.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure he even likes boys,” Russel said dejectedly.
“I can’t help you there, Russel. Maybe you could talk to Pietro, he’s his nephew after all,” I said.
With that, Russel perked up a bit and I watched as he walked off, clearly in search of Pietro.
We were still enjoying our meal when the bell rang, announcing the arrival of Johan and Karim. It was Pietro who hurried to let them in and lead them out back to join us on the patio. I gracefully accepted their congratulations and looked on as they simply joined Johan’s cousin Hugo and the rest.
The evening progressed quite pleasantly until it was really time for the adults to move back inside. Of course, the boys had already found their way down to the game room by then. That’s until I saw the different pairings making their way up the stairs as time progressed. It was actually getting close to midnight when Julia, Ronaldo, Johan and Karim took their leave. They told us that we’d see them again Monday evening, as Fernando had invited them earlier. Aidan and Jordan had already left a little earlier and Pietro and Mauricio had also mysteriously disappeared.
“It will be just the two of us tonight,” Allejandro whispered as we finished our last glass of wine.
By the time we reached our bed and laid down, we were both pooped and I was more than happy, falling asleep, holding on to the one person I loved above anyone else.
Waking up the following morning, we made the best use of our one-on-one situation before we made our way downstairs. The experience made me seriously reconsider the wisdom of having either John or Russel with us.
During breakfast, I knew something was up, as I noticed a few of the boys whispering to each other and doing a poor job of hiding their snickers. When the boys all stayed in their seats afterwards, my suspicions were confirmed as the door to the kitchen opened and I saw Pietro carrying in a rather large birthday cake.
“We couldn’t give it to you yesterday, but we still wanted you to have one,” Carlos whispered to me with a sly smile on his face.
I didn’t exactly count the candles, but I was fairly sure that all 52 of them were there. With a little help from Allejandro on my right and Carlos on my left, I managed to blow them all out, causing a loud cheer to go up. I admit that the moment was emotional as I looked at all the smiling faces of my boys around the table.
The candles were quickly removed and within no time the cake was cut up and shared. It didn’t take long for Pietro’s masterpiece to disappear completely, I don’t think even a single crumb was left. I did breathe a sigh of relief when the boys then started to leave the room as it meant there’d be no more surprises.
Allejandro and I were enjoying a cup of coffee in the living room when Jordan showed up and made straight for the game room. The boy was still a bit of an enigma to me. I was fairly sure that he loved Aidan but hadn’t quite come to terms with his feelings yet. With Allejandro being only a few months older, I tried to talk to him about it, but he proved to be as clueless as I was. Of course, I knew Jordan had gone through a rough time, having been homeless and living out on the streets for almost two whole years.
I decided it was best to let it rest for now as I’d realized we had another little problem. In three days Fernando would have his birthday and we still didn’t have a present for him. Most stores would be closed today as it was Good Friday, so we’d only had tomorrow to get him something. On Sunday, all stores would definitely be closed because of Easter, which was an important holiday in Spain.
I talked to Allejandro about it and he suggested we could get some ideas from the Internet, or simply ask him what he wanted. I thought the Internet would be a good starting point and while Allejandro got us each a fresh cup of coffee, I went into the office to start up the computer. As soon as Allejandro had joined me, we started brainstorming and looking things up. We knew that Fernando liked tennis, but there wasn’t really anything that came near to be interesting as a present. We were still busy, when Aidan suddenly came into the office.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” I asked, surprised to see him. “I thought you were at work.”
“Well, I was ‘at work’, but at home. The office is closed today. I sent Jordan here because he was distracting me,” Aidan snickered. “So, what are you two up to?”
“Monday is Fernando’s birthday and we’re trying to come up with a present because we haven’t any for him yet,” Allejandro replied before I could.
“Oh guys, you really should start paying attention to what’s being said around the dinner table. He practically handed what he wants on a platter to you, excuse the pun,” he smiled.
I think Allejandro was as baffled as I was because I had absolutely no idea what Aidan was referring to.
“He’s been talking about some of the outings you guys have been taking, like the Caminito del Rey, and how it was such a pity that he didn’t have a camera,” Aidan explained.
“A camera? I didn’t know he was interested in photography,” I queried.
“Well, maybe getting his picture taken last week sparked his memory of this specific interest. He even mentioned some school project that he could use a camera for,” Aidan elaborated.
“I guess if he really wants a camera, we could easily get him one,” I shrugged.
“Great, I’ll come with you and I can get him a tripod to go with it,” Aidan laughed.
“Sure, and the other boys could get him SD cards or one of those special camera cases instead of more games,” Allejandro added.
I had to smile as it looked like all of a sudden, things were starting to come together. Of course, I still had to be sure and I knew the easiest solution would be just to ask Fernando himself. I asked Allejandro to call him up from the game room and send him to me, while he and Aidan waited in the living room.
“Did I do anything wrong?” was the first question coming out of Fernando’s mouth after he’d closed the door.
“No, don’t worry, you didn’t,” I replied. “I just wanted to talk to you about your birthday on Monday.”
“What about it? I’ve only invited Julia and Ronaldo and Johan and Karim to come over,” Fernando stated.
“Well, it’s actually more about your present. Allejandro and I didn’t really know what you wanted, but Aidan said that you might want a camera,” I commented, slightly stumbling.
“You guys didn’t know, but Aidan did? I’ve been giving you clues all week,” Fernando almost screamed.
“Yes, yes, Aidan told us, but I guess we weren’t really paying attention, sorry,” I apologized.
“So, will I be getting a camera then?” was his next remark, slightly softer.
“Of course, we’ll get you a camera, if that’s what you truly want,” I said reassuringly.
“Yes!” Fernando then truly screamed, throwing his arms up the air.
It only took moments for Allejandro and Aidan to burst into the office as I got up from my chair. The moment I did, Fernando lowered his arms and then threw them around my waist.
“Thank you, papi. You’re the best,” he whispered, pushing his head against me.
I just held him for a moment, before kissing the top of his head and letting him go.
Fernando looked up at me and said, “Oh, I’ve got to let Roque know,” then turned around and stormed out of the office.
Aidan and Allejandro managed to get out of the way just in time and started to laugh. I grinned rather sheepishly as I picked up my now lukewarm cup of coffee and walked past them out into the living room.
I was happy that we had that little problem solved. But, of course, it created a new one, as now we had to devise a way to have the other boys buy their presents. With the sheer number of boys involved, it would easily take two trips to the store. And then there was the matter of coordinating who’d buy what, so Fernando wouldn’t end up with a bunch of SD cards, but no case to put them in. After some discussion, we came to the conclusion that it was best to talk to them after lunch.
With life having returned back to a sense of normalcy, I was surprised to see it was already getting close to 11 o’clock. We simply went on chit-chatting and drinking coffee until Pietro told us that lunch was ready.
There was a lot of chatter going on and it was quite clear that the whole group knew about Fernando’s present. A few of the boys mentioned the need to go shopping, but I held off, telling them we’d talk about it later. I wasn’t really looking forward to the logistical nightmare of it all, but that couldn’t be helped. As soon as lunch was over, I thought it best to take charge and asked Fernando if he would please go down to the game room.
“Roque should go with him, too. He’s his boyfriend after all and will tell him everything,” Rafael then interjected.
“No, I won’t,” Roque protested, followed by a wave of snickering around the table.
“Damarion, too. He’ll spill the beans to his brother,” Julio piped in, earning him a dark look from Carlos.
Unsurprisingly this all lead to an argument, going back and forth between the entire group. My plan was unraveling so fast that my head almost started to spin. The squabble quickly got out of hand and didn’t stop until Aidan slammed his fist on the table. It was enough to get everyone’s attention as the room suddenly fell silent, some boys looking at Aidan wide-eyed.
“It’s clear that the only two people here who can keep a secret are the adults. That’s Rudee and me for those of you who are wondering,” his voice almost boomed.
“But you could tell Jordan or papi could tell Allejandro,” Carlos protested weakly.
A slight glare from Aidan around the table nipped another round of protests in the bud. With the opposition crushed, the boys ultimately went along with the plan that Aidan and I would do all the shopping and make sure there’d be plenty of presents. None of them would know what they were going to give until Fernando opened the present in question. A potential disaster had been averted and I was quite happy with Aidan’s intervention. Some of the boys were still grumbling, but they all left for the game room, except Allejandro, as usual.
With the weather being quite nice, we decided to enjoy a cup of tea out on the patio. While Aidan and I discussed our strategy for our shopping trip, it looked like Allejandro was quite happy to catch some rays. Of course, I knew he was listening to every word we said, but I didn’t think that was a problem.
I wanted Fernando to have a decent camera, but not one that would be too difficult to handle. After all, he was only turning 14. It also made me think about the interests that some of the other boys might have, besides playing video games, tennis, or even swimming. I knew it was important to stimulate those interests as it developed personality.
I realized I didn’t really know a lot about what or how the boys were doing at school. When asking Allejandro about it, he told me that rounds of parent-teacher meetings were usually planned in mid May. My mind started to boggle. I had 13 boys at the school, 12 if I didn’t count Jordan, and I wondered about how all those individual talks could be combined. I thought it best to give Mr. Gutiérrez a call about it on Monday.
“A penny for your thoughts,” Aidan commented, taking me out of my momentary reverie.
I told him and that I was sorry as he started to smile, saying that such were the burdens of parenthood. We laughed and I could even hear Allejandro snicker. I needed to relax and stop worrying about things that I just couldn’t control. I took a deep breath and then asked Allejandro to go and fetch us a bottle of wine and three glasses.
Enjoying the rest of the afternoon without making things unnecessarily complicated worked quite therapeutically for me. By the time Mauricio announced that dinner was ready, I was fairly relaxed. I was happy to see that the boys were in a better mood also, with no discontent that I could discern. The day’s turmoil was over and after dinner, the herd moved back down to the game room.
I’d already finished my wine, so I opted for a cup of coffee as Aidan, Allejandro and I returned to the living room. When we’d finished our drinks, Aidan decided to go back home and used the intercom to tell Jordan. I was slightly surprised and had to smile when the boy was up from the game room in less than a minute and the two of them left together. Before closing the sliding door, Aidan confirmed that I’d be seeing him the next morning around 10 for our planned shopping trip.
As it was still relatively early, only 7:15 PM, I thought it would be fun to watch something down in the movie room. I remembered having an old series about feudal Japan, called ‘Shogun’, that could be interesting for the boys. As it was from the 1980’s, I was pretty sure none of them had ever seen it, so I retrieved it from my collection. Of course, after a full day of playing video games, the group was ready for some diversion, so I started the first episode.
With bathroom breaks and supply runs included, we managed to watch the first two of five episodes and the boys were quite thrilled. By then, it was getting close to 11 and the herd was ready to go to bed. As they went up to their bedrooms, I pretty much knew what would be on the playbill for at least the next evening. Allejandro, John and I had our usual nightcap, before we also retired upstairs.
Saturday morning, we went through our usual routine and after breakfast I waited for Aidan to show up. I was happy to see he was well on time as I’ve always hated waiting. Since it was just going to be Aidan and me, Allejandro announced that he was going down to the game room along with Jordan. I thought it would actually be good for him as at his age, he still needed to ‘play’.
“If it’s all the same to you, could we take the SLS out?” Aidan asked as we approached the garage.
“Sure,” I replied, “It’s not like the purchases are going to take up a whole lot of space.”
Of course, I also realized that it would likely be the first time for Aidan to be in a car like that. Another advantage was that it would probably be far easier to find a parking spot for it if we needed to. I could see the grin on Aidan’s face as he got in on the passenger side, closed the door and buckled up.
We’d already decided the previous day that our best shot would be at the largest store in town, El Corte Inglés. It was relatively close, had its own parking garage and sold pretty much everything one could think of. The only downside was that it usually was also the busiest store in town, with lots of tourists that were there just to gawk.
We had also formulated a plan B if El Corte Inglés was too packed. FNAC was a bit out of the way but specialized in electronics and as such would more likely be far less crowded.
As we made our way through town, I was quite surprised by how busy traffic was. Mentioning it to Aidan, he started to snicker and reminded me that tomorrow was Easter with all its usual parades. Local churches would parade relics through the streets, attracting hordes of tourists and regular spectators. This didn’t bode well for our visit to El Corte Inglés and our suspicions were confirmed when we saw the row of cars that awaited admission into the parking garage.
I took a quick turn and shifted gear as I was definitely not up for waiting in a cue. Within seconds I switched my navigation to point me the way to FNAC and we were on our way there. We actually made surprising headway as we could use a 6-lane highway for the most part, which sped things up. I could tell that Aidan was loving it as he was audibly humming.
I’d never been in this area before, but I was very happy to see that there was actually a huge parking lot there. I found a spot quite near to the store’s entrance and turned off the engine. After exiting the car, we made our way into the store and easily located the area where cameras were on display.
We were rapidly approached by one of the store clerks who kindly offered his assistance. I told him we were looking to buy a camera for a 14-year-old boy and when I mentioned the price range I had in mind, his eyes lit up. The young man was quite helpful in explaining the pros and cons of different brands and models of cameras. I definitely wanted Fernando to have one that he could expand on in the future with different lenses and such.
Ultimately, it took us almost an hour to put a package together that would allow for all the boys to give presents. The base camera from me and Allejandro, two lenses, an extra battery, a very nice case, two filters, a power-bank, just in case, and a good number of SD cards. Aidan finished off the package with a good tripod that came with its own case. The dent in my credit card was extensive, but I thought it would be well worth it. It seemed to make the store clerk quite happy, enforcing my hunch that he was getting commission.
After putting the purchases in the trunk of the car, we decided we’d earned a cup of coffee at the nearby lunchroom. I was actually quite happy to get off my feet for a while and checking out the menu, the apple pie also looked inviting. We both ended up with a cup of coffee and a slice of pie, chatting a bit about the boys.
TBC