Once upon a time, Vincent would have given anything to have a life filled with love, laughter and family. He would have done anything to have true friends and people who had an active interest in his life. To know that there were people out there that thought about him, and even sought him out to actively converse with was something he had once desperately wanted.
Today, however, he would have given anything to go back to the days where he could skulk off and be left in peace.
"And just when I thought 'Hey, I've got a normal kid,' it turns out that he's even weirder than you."
How his father had managed to find him, Vincent didn't know, but the man had unceremoniously invaded his personal space and plonked himself down on the park bench right beside where Vincent was sitting. The only greeting he had given his son was a grunted "S'up?" before he launched into what he actually wanted to say.
Needless to say, the content Alex chose to use had Vincent narrowing his eyes at him. "And what, may I ask, is wrong with me?"
Alex faltered, chuckling awkwardly to himself. "Well...Err...You're...You know," and he swayed his head from side to side. "And you're also...Y'know," he added, waving one hand in the air.
"I'll never know which one you think is weirder: that fact I'm gay or the fact I'm a werewolf," Vincent replied. "I had originally thought that you didn't hold a dislike for either, but that you were more....apathetic...to my entire situation of being interested in a guys and about once a month I grow in size, grow fur and generally lark about in the shape of ferocious animal."
"So does this mean I'm automatically on Team Werewolf and we hate Team Vampire, right?"
"I'm not a character out of Twilight. Most of the vampires at school would laugh themselves hoarse if you went about comparing any of them to anything to do with Twilight." He would have said 'half to death', but that metaphor didn't really work when vampires were concerned."Just because I don't like the majority of them doesn't mean you have to dislike them too - and if you ever insinuate that I am part of 'Team Werewolf' I will personally come and stalk you during a full moon."
"But won't you worry about biting me?" Vincent had informed Alex that he wasn't exactly in a normal and sane state of mind whenever he was forced to change under the light of the full moon. Vincent was finding some control, but it was hardly enough to protect his father from the primal urges that still lingered in his heart.
Vincent let out a heavy sigh and sunk to his elbows resting on his knees. "You're annoying sometimes." Giving up arguing with his father, Vincent tilted his head to look up at Alex. "So what did you want to complain to me about while insulting me?"
"What do you think of Jesse?"
"I tried to attack him when I first came in contact with him," Vincent pointed out. Alex hadn't been there to witness the scene, but as they all sat in Yumiko's sunny yellow kitchen he'd been told what had happened in the cafeteria. Jesse then explained everything. Vincent hadn't liked the fact that there was another family before his that Alex had abandoned, but he hadn't actually abandoned Jesse - he hadn't even known about Jesse's existence. He would have gone on never knowing about Jesse if the man hadn't decided to just turn up one day with nothing more than to just say 'By the way, I'm your son'. He hadn't skirted around telling Vincent they were half brothers. "There's something...unnerving...about him. Kind of like the feeling you get when there's a vampire in the room, only not quite the same." He shrugged, unsure himself of the explanation. "I don't hold any malice towards him anymore. He gets on quite well with Yumes though. They were handing out cupcakes and condoms the other day. If it wasn't for the fact she'd hit him with a frying pan I'm sure he'd try and use her in one of his Sex. Ed lessons."
"I saw him the other day....Only it was him not being him."
"Is he...y'know?"
"I think he might be, but that's not the point. He was...Well...He was her."
Vincent shrugged nonchalently. "So he likes cross-dressing. You're only his father by genetics, he doesn't need you to be his Dad and fret or worry or generally bother about what he does in his spare time. Just because your guilt compells you to doesn't mean you have to make up for all those years you didn't even know you missed. Focus more on the kid you're going to have rather on the one you never knew existed."
"You didn't involve yourself in that statement."
With a heavy sigh Vincent sat back, bringing his feet up onto the seat of the bench and wrapping his arms around his legs. He pushed his chin into the the space between his knees and allowed his eyes to close. His nose worked better when his eyes were shut, and he could smell the anxiety Alex held, and how guilty about everything he felt. If he had never met Yumiko Vincent wondered if Alex would feel the same level of guilt and shame as he did now. He was good at hiding it around everyone, but to his werewolf nose Vincent could still trace the scent on him. It was lessening now, as he slowly came to terms that he couldn't change what he had done and focusing on not being the same man he had once been for his baby.
Maybe it was more than just Yumiko affecting him though. There was Uncle Julian, and to some certain extent, Vincent's own presence was buffing that resolve.
"I like what we have now," he admitted. "We never had that father-son relationship you see on T.V. and in the movies when I was a kid. When you were there you were never really there. It's nice that you're trying to be a proper Dad with me, but I much prefer us being as we are now." He lifted his head and gave his father a small, brief smile. "You may be my Dad, but I quite like you being my friend, even if you do say the wrong things sometimes."
"But still...Jesse sometimes is a She! And he said he wasn't...Nnnnn, you know...like that!"
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