The Daddy Project

To Leave... Or Not To?

Vlad stared down at his hands absently. He couldn't wait to finish what's left of his shift and go home. Every day with Andres was slowly becoming harder to stand.

"Daddy? Dad!" Gala's voice brought him out of his absent thoughts and he looked at the kid, not even trying to fake a smile for her.

"Are you okay?" She asked. She had Fyo in her arms and he was busy playing with his toy airplane, swishing it through the air noisily.

He glanced at the kid then back at her, "I am fine. Do you want to leave now?"

She opened her mouth but closed it back and looked away, leaning back on her seat. She said, "Caleb needs to come on then we can leave."

Vlad checked his watch. "My break ends by 1:00pm. Whoever he is better be on before zen."

The school was having a show for their Christmas Carnival and honestly, Vlad hadn't planned on going. If only Andres hadn't called him and begged.

The auditorium was crowded with kids and parents of the like. Vlad and his kids were somewhere in the crowd watching the students perform. He had watched a couple of eight graders recite Christmas poems they had written themselves and was now watching the tenth graders act How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

Vlad wasn't the least bit interested until he heard the cast list. One of Leon and Stuart's kids were in the play. At least teasing them would be enough fun until he had enough money to leave the bloody island.

"Do you know Faun?" Vlad asked Gala. Even though the four men had met, they hadn't officially introduced their kids yet.

Gala narrowed her eyes at him. "Why would you want to know?"

"He my friend kid."

"So you haven't met him?"

"Just find him on stage."

Vlad ignored her stare until she looked away to the stage. "Fine. You don't have to be so grumpy about it. Someone made you mad?"

Vlad didn't answer mostly because she wouldn't understand. How could he tell her he might actually be gay and may or may not be falling for Andres? Besides, she was already following through with the role of daughter, she couldn't go out of character and help him out.

"Can't find him. He's probably a tree or something."

Looking back at the stage, he could see a couple of kids were in costumes. Some dressed as a Christmas tree or presents. It was too adorable that Vlad couldn't believe tenth graders would do such a thing.

"Spasibo."

"Uh," She nudged his shoulder, earning his attention. "Did you just say thanks in Russian?"

He smiled at her, surprised she knew what he meant. "You know Russian?"

Gala chuckled at that, lowering her voice when the audience went still. "Not much. I had a Russian friend when I was in the orphanage. When she's arguing or angry, she goes straight back into Russian, forgetting that no one except her knew the language. I picked up a little."

"Really?"

"Yes, really." She did a terrible copy of his accent but he couldn't help laughing at that making her smile.

The audience immediately clapped, signaling the end of the drama. The host, a red haired woman in a very nice and appropriate suit, came back on stage and shone her pretty white teeth. "Wasn't that a blast. Our next performance is from our twelfth graders Caleb and Zoey."