by Trina Solet
As they thanked him again and walked away, Trevor seemed subdued rather than hopeful.
"I can't believe we found that guy Milo," Diego said.
"I can't believe he turned religious."
"That might be a good thing. He might want to help," Diego said, looking on the bright side.
"I don't know. A self-made preacher helping a gay guy?" Trevor said. He was not one to look on the bright side.
"It does happen. Let's just hope he remembers," Diego said.
The soup kitchen wasn't hard to find. It was a hole in the wall place with a hand painted sign that said Soup & Salvation. Underneath that a well-meaning but misspelled message read, "Every body Wellcome".
The door had been propped open with a brick. Inside they saw empty chairs and tables and a man behind the counter. He had long, stringy, gray hair and a beard and wore a cross around his neck.
"Hello. Hello. Welcome. I am Milos Slezak. You dress too good to be here for food. You want to donate?" He held out a donation jar. "Or you want to write check?" He said to them in rapid-fire, heavily accented English.
"I'll stick some cash in there," Diego said and got out his wallet.
Trevor got right to the point while Diego stuffed some bills in the donation jar. "Actually I'm here to ask you about something that happened more than fifteen years ago."
"Ahh. The bad old days. Many lives ruined. Much regret," Milos said and lowered his head solemnly.
"Back then I used to live with my father at number 9337, the gray building they're fixing up right now. My dad's name is Bruce Yeager. He used to buy drugs from you. One time he tried to exchange me for drugs or money, both I guess. He said you could take me and sell me. Do you remember that?" Trevor asked. He was remarkably composed as he talked about what his father did. Diego would have been gnashing his teeth.
"Remember? Of course I remember," Milos said. "Your no good father has a bad leg that time. He call me and say, 'I have money, Milo, come over.' I go and he has no money. I call him piece of crap liar. Excuse my language. He says, 'Take the boy. Sell him. Make good money.' You were out of door like a bullet from a gun. For small boy, you had fast little legs. Smart boy. It's good to know when it's right time to run. But I wanted nothing to do with the selling of little children. I tell him, 'Get me money. Cash money!' I curse at him. Sorry. Your father was no good."
Diego was practically giddy to hear this, but once again, Trevor was cautious with his optimism. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind making an official statement about what you remember," Trevor said.
"Is it for revenge? Forgiveness is better than revenge. Everybody deserve second chance, specially family," Milos preached. Maybe Trevor was right not to be too optimistic.
Trevor stayed calm as he explained himself. "It's not for revenge. It's for him." He showed Milos a picture of Zane, which was his screen saver. "He's my little cousin. He's an orphan. My father might try to get custody of him. I don't think he can be trusted with him after what he tried to do. That's why I need you to make an official statement."
"Such a small orphan. It's a sad thing," Milos said and frowned at the phone.
"Will you make the statement then?" Trevor asked him.
But Milos still wasn't ready to cooperate. "I don't know. I hate to see family fighting and not forgiving."
For the first time Diego butted in. "You only need to tell the truth, nothing more. Isn't it up to God to make the final judgment, right?" When Milos didn't say anything, Diego looked at Trevor apprehensively. Now he was worried that he might have overstepped and said the wrong thing.
Milos thought for a moment then nodded slowly. "It is wise to do it like you say. I will make statement. Speak the truth."
Diego breathed a huge sigh of relief while Trevor got Milos' contact information so his lawyer could get in touch with him.
Trevor was extremely quiet as they walked to Diego's car. He had already relayed the information to the lawyer, but the tension of the day was still pressing down on him. That's why Diego didn't push him to talk. He just drove them home.
"Thank you," Trevor told him as they got on the highway.
"I didn't do anything. You did all the hard work," Diego pointed out.
Trevor moved over and leaned his head on Diego's shoulder. "You made me realize I needed to go back there so I could remember what happened. I was so focused on my dad's wife, since she's the one behind this."
"But your dad is the one with a claim to Zane. He's the key. I think this will have a big impact on his chances of getting custody," Diego told him. As he drove, he put his arm around Trevor's shoulders.
They drove home like that. When they arrived at their apartment building and got out of the car, Diego grabbed Trevor and hugged him tighter than he ever had before. "Sorry," he said to Trevor and his fierce hold on him eased a little. "I'm so glad that you escaped and that you're here."
"Me too, but now I'm even more scared for Zane," Trevor said.
"Zane has you and he always will," Diego told him as they stayed holding each other for a while.
Diego had been in touch with his mom and dad, getting updates while they took the kids all over the place. By the time Trevor and Diego got back, they found out his parents and the kids had gone to that field across from their apartment building.
Heading that way, they saw all four of them out there. They had the soccer ball with them, but they weren't playing soccer. There were a whole bunch of different balls on the field. One was a basketball, and there was a football, but the others were just random, colorful balls. Diego knew that had to be his dad's doing. Jamie was kicking at all of the balls at will, and with some help from Diego's' mom, Zane was too. Diego's dad was the goalie, trying to block the wild shots.
"Look at them over there," Diego said as he and Trevor crossed the street to join them. "They are having way too much fun."
"I see they reinvented the game. I can tell that you are related to those guys," Trevor said with a smile. The sight of the kids was already improving his mood.
"My boy!" Diego yelled and Jamie ran over to him, his little legs kicking. Diego hoisted him up and swung him around before giving him a big hug.
Trevor went over to pick up Zane and held him close for a long time. Diego's parents could tell right away that something was up. They gave Diego questioning looks, but he only told them everything was OK.
That night, Diego asked his parents to look after Jamie so he could sleep over at Trevor's. He didn't want him to spend the night alone after what he had been through. Once they were in bed, Trevor stayed awake for a while as Diego held him.
"Today, when I saw Jamie run into your arms, I felt like I was seeing a vision. You two are like looking at my dream for the future," Trevor said. "You give me so much hope."
Looking at him in the darkness of his bedroom, Diego saw that he was smiling. "Whatever puts a smile on your face," Diego said. He kissed him and held him all night long, feeling that Trevor was more precious to him than ever.
Chapter 24
Every day that brought Trevor closer to the court date when custody of Zane would be decided was more nerve-racking for Diego. He could only imagine how Trevor felt. Now that his parents' visit was over, Diego invited him and Zane to sleep over every night, but Trevor felt like he needed to be on his best behavior. He stayed at his own place and they both suffered for it.
In the morning, Trevor brought Zane over to Diego's, and just the sight of the two of them made him feel better. Trevor looked wiped though. He put Zane in the playpen and joined Diego in the kitchen.
"You didn't have a good night, did you?" Diego said.
"Zane was cranky. I was tense, so he is too. I don't know how I'll survive until the custody decision," Trevor said with a sigh.
"You know you're welcome to come over for a sleepover every single night," Diego reminded me.
"Aha." Trevor gave him a suspicious look.
"Not a sex sleepover," Diego said.
"
Aha," Trevor said as he watched Diego pour the last of his coffee in a cup so he could make a fresh batch that was to Trevor's liking.
As Diego started on a new pot, Trevor looked into his cup. "What did I get myself into? How can I love a man who likes his coffee lethal?"
"If that's my main flaw..." Diego started to say.
"I didn't say that," Trevor claimed, but Diego hadn't missed what else he just said.
"Trevor, did I hear you wrong, or did you just sneak in saying that you love me?"
"Maybe," Trevor said with his head down. Then he looked up bravely. "I do love you," he croaked and looked like he might cry. "You're my salvation. You make me feel like I can do anything. Now I think my heart is going to burst."
"Mine will too. I love you so much," Diego said feeling overcome. He took Trevor in his arms and vowed never to let him go.
Today Trevor's stepcousin was stopping by to give him the latest news. Diego was looking forward to meeting her. While keeping an eye on Jamie and Zane, he was finishing up his work in time for Trevor to get home. That's when he got a call from Trevor.
"Hi. Stephanie just let me know that she's running a little early. Do you mind if she visits with Zane and hangs out at your place? I'll be over there soon."
"Of course. Have her come up," Diego told him.
Opening the door a few minutes later, Diego found a cute girl with spiky, pink hair on his doorstep. She was about Trevor's age, petite with baby-blue eyes.
"So you're Stephanie, the famous stepcousin spy," Diego said and offered her his hand. "I'm Diego."
"Nice to meet you, and I see Zane over there," she said and waved to him.
"Jamie, you want to meet a stepcousin?" Diego asked him.
Jamie ran over then looked from him to Stephanie questioningly.
"A stepcousin is a special kind of cousin and her name is Stephanie," Diego told him. "And this is my son, Jamie."
"I like your hair. Lance made our hair pointy too," Jamie said and pointed at his own head, which just had his regular hair.
"This Lance must be a cool guy," Stephanie said.
"He is a cool guy," Jamie agreed. "You want to watch a cartoon with me and Zane?" Before she could answer, Jamie was taking her hand and leading her to the middle of the floor.
"I guess I'm watching cartoons," she said as she looked back at Diego helplessly. Maybe Jamie thought she was just a bigger kid because she was kind of small.
They settled on the floor to watch an episode of Gumball. After the show was over, Stephanie was playing with Zane and Jamie came over to talk to Diego.
"Can she babysit me?" Jamie asked.
"You're going around recruiting babysitters now?" Diego asked him.
"I don't know," Jamie said probably because he didn't know what recruiting was.
Smiling at Stephanie, Diego told her, "I guess you made a good impression."
"I'm not sure how," she said. She was tossing a toy between her hands while Zane tried to grab it.
Jamie had the answer. "She knows how to watch cartoons."
"That is important," Diego said and looked over at Stephanie, but she only shrugged. Guess she couldn't explain her special cartoon watching talent.
After she put Zane in his playpen, Diego asked her what she wanted to drink. He had finished up with work so they hung out in the kitchen and watched the kids through the serving window.
"I think it's really great that you're helping Trevor. I know it means a lot to him to have you on his side," Diego told her. "And I'm really grateful too."
"Of course I'm on his side. But for a while there, I was really worried with Trevor being so young and not having a full time job," she said. "On paper, my aunt and Trevor's dad might look like the better deal, but no way. Aunt Corinne is horrible. When she first heard that Bruce had a son, she was dying to reunite them. Then she found out Trevor was gay, and she wanted nothing to do with him. Just as well for Trevor's sake, but it shows you what kind of person she is. She rejected me too. Won't speak a word to me."
"How do you get information from her then?" Diego wondered.
"Through my mom. Aunt Corinne tells her everything then Mom tells me everything," she said with a grin.
Diego noticed that she seemed pretty cheerful. He took that as a positive sign. She probably had good news for Trevor, but Diego didn't ask her about that.
There were other reasons to be optimistic. They got lucky with the statement that Milos guy gave to Trevor's lawyer. Milos didn't just repeat what he told them when they spoke to him. It turned out he heard from some other lowlives that Trevor's dad tried to put his kid on the market a bunch of times. Milos even knew about that bald guy who chased Trevor and that he got mad when he couldn't catch him and ended up giving his dad a beating. It wasn't proof, but it still helped Trevor's case.
When Trevor arrived, he greeted Zane and Jamie first then he wanted to hear the news Stephanie had for him. Diego decided that they should talk in his office. From there they could still keep an eye on the kids, but they wouldn't have to be as worried about being overheard.
"So what happened?" Trevor asked Stephanie. Diego could tell that he was anxious.
"They withdrew from the case," Stephanie stated simply. "My aunt and your dad are giving up on getting custody of Zane."
Trevor smiled with relief and let out a loud breath. "Good. My lawyer called to tell me the same thing. I was afraid you were going to tell me something different."
"That's great news," Diego said.
"I wanted to tell you in person," Trevor told him and they hugged. Then he turned to Stephanie. "So what got them to decide to give up?"
"They were already spooked when they heard you had some dirt on your dad. Then I gave them a little push. I played double agent and reversed the flow of information," Stephanie said, looking proud of herself.
"What does that mean?" Trevor wondered.
"I hinted to my mom that you probably hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on your father, and that your lawyer might have a whole bunch more people lined up to testify about the kinds of things your dad did when he was on drugs. My mom passed the word to my aunt. Your dad got scared about what might come out and told Aunt Corinne they had to drop the custody case. When Aunt Corinne got a load of how scared he was, she got worried too and decided the whole thing wasn't worth it. She claimed it was all lies, but she just didn't want her name dragged through the mud."
"Thank you. You're incredible," Trevor told her.
"Whatever it takes to keep her mitts off Zane," Stephanie said with a modest shrug.
"OK. Now I hope you're hungry," Diego told her. "I ordered in from Slim's BBQ in your honor."
"You don't need to go to any trouble for me," she said.
"Of course I do. You bring us good news," Diego told her.
When the food arrived, Diego laid it all out on the dining table. Trevor came back with some plates and then just gaped at what he saw. "Diego?"
"What? It's just some barbeque and cornbread, and a few other things," Diego said.
"Wow. Do you have more people coming?" Stephanie asked.
"He always goes overboard," Trevor said and shook his head at Diego, who shrugged innocently.
"It's not my fault. This is just their barbeque sampler. It's every kind of meat they have," Diego said and rubbed his hands, then he froze and turned to Stephanie. "Now please tell me you're not a vegetarian."
"No. Vegan," she said then she grinned. "Kidding."
Diego breathe a huge sigh of relief, but Trevor thought he got off too easy. "You shouldn't have put him out of his misery so fast."
"I should have asked before now," Diego admitted. "But I was looking for an excuse to order a barbeque feast, so I got a little ahead of myself."
They all sat down and made a mess of themselves to give Zane a run for his money. Stephanie was a big hit with Jamie, and Diego liked the sisterly way she acted toward Trevor. He deserved to be surrounded by people who cared about him.
After Stephanie left, they shared the latest news with their friends and Diego's parents, then had a quiet evening at home. Diego talked Trevor into staying over. Once the kids were in bed, they got a chance to talk again.
"It's still not a done deal," Trevor said.
"In a few days it will be." Diego was more sure than ever that Trevor would get permanent custody of Zane.
As for Trevor, he was still dreading what the judge might decide. "If I wasn't right here with you, I would be such a wreck right now. I would spend the whole night pacing the apartment, filled with worry that I might still somehow lose Zane."
"It's good that you're here then," Diego said and he kissed him and hugged him.
Trevor managed a small smile. "You make me believe that good things will happen."
"That's what I want to do for you," Diego told him and kept hold of him. Trevor was still tense. He was the kind of guy who didn't know he deserved good things, but he did, more than anyone. "Take a cue from Zane. He's happy as long as he gets to take things out of a box, put things in the box, take them out again and so on and on. And I'm happy as long as I'm with you." Another kiss followed and Trevor quieted, gazing at Diego lovingly.
"I'm glad I already told you I loved you, now it's easier to say it again."
"How long were you holding it back?" Diego wanted to know.
"I don't know. It kind of sneaked up on me," Trevor admitted shyly.
"I was holding back too," Diego said. "That's why I was skipping forward to us getting married. Not telling you I loved you was driving me crazy. I had to find some way to let you know how much you mean to me."
"Now you'll stop that, right?"
Diego laughed. "Not on your life. I'm just getting started."
Chapter 25
Trevor had been thinking about Diego and the date he planned for them all day long. The date had been in the works since Diego's parents had come for a visit. Now that the custody case was decided, Trevor could finally put his plan into action.