The Things You Give

Part 9

A few days had passed since Jackie found out and things were going surprisingly well and as for Steven's dad—well, Kitty tried but would chicken out.

Y/N sat with her mom at the kitchen table, trying to convince her to tell Steven when he got home, which was in ten minutes.

"Mom, he has the right to know," Y/N said. "You need to tell him now."

Kitty fiddled with her coffee mug. "I know, but I don't know how to tell him. He's gone through a hard time already. I don't know if this will make things worse."

Y/N gave her a deadpan look. "Mom. I'm serious, this could make his life better!"

Kitty sighed. "I don't know. I gotta figure out a way to let him know gently."

"Have Dad help you!" Y/N suggested.

"Help you with what?" Red asked, entering the kitchen.

"Can you help Mom tell Steven about his real dad?" she asked and got up to stand next to him. "She doesn't know how to tell him and I thought since you're so good at telling people things, you can be the one to do it."

Red opened the drawer, rummaging through it. "What makes you think I can tell him?" He continued to rummage through the drawer. "Kitty, where are the damn keys?"

"On the counter in front of you," Kitty answered nonchalantly.

"Oh," he said and grabbed them.

"'Cause you don't care about people's feeling and is the most blunt person I know," Y/N said, returning Red to the conversation.

Red stood straighter, looking at his daughter. "You're right. I am."

"Please, Daddy," Y/N begged, giving him the puppy eyes that she knew worked on him—only when it was reasonable. "It would really help me and Mommy out. You don't have to say anything, you can just be there for support."

"Oh, damn," he said exasperated. "How do I always get dragged into this?"

"Because you love us," Y/N said and kissed her dad's cheek. "Thank you, Daddy."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he grunted, trying to hide a smile.

"Steven should be home any minute," Y/N said. "I wonder how he's going to take it."

"Take what?" Hyde asked suddenly, coming through the sliding door.

"Oh, Steven, honey, you're home," Kitty said, jumping out of her chair.

"Yeah, I'm home," he said, confused. "What's going on?"

"Uhm... take a seat," Y/N said, pulling a chair out from the table and moving it in front of her parents. "There's something we need to tell you."

Hyde's stomach dropped at the thought of what was going to happen. They know, don't they? Oh, God they know. Hyde studied Red's face, but instead of fire and smoke coming out of his ears, he wore his usual annoyed expression. So, if that's not it, then what is it?

"Steven," Kitty started. "There's no easy way to tell you, but um, when you fell off the water tower a few days ago, I looked into your file and well, um," she looked at Hyde's face and knew that she couldn't tell him. "Red, you tell him."

"Oh, for cripes sake," he mumbled and turned to Steven. "Steven, who we thought was your father isn't your father. We found out who your real dad is."

It felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. "What?"

"His name is William Barnette and he lives in Milwaukee," Kitty said. "I understand that you may have a lot of feelings and emotions. Maybe you want to cry." Kitty pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head, almost with a hopeful expression on her face. "We won't tell him if you cry."