Now Son I'm Only Telling You This Because Life Can Do Terrible Things

“Hey Dad.” Luke said softly as he entered the house, letting his schoolbag fall to the floor.

Alex looked up from his place on the couch, smiling as his 14 year-old son sat next to him, sighing and raking a hand through his blond hair. “Hey son. How has your day been?” He asked.

“You were right Dad, love sucks.” Luke said softly, looking distantly in front of him.

“It’s about Megan, isn’t it?” The father asked.

“Yeah, she broke up with me…” Luke said with a sigh. “I’m not even sure why.”

“You shouldn’t think that, son. Love is a beautiful thing. Girls are gonna break your heart and you’ll do the same with them but one day, you’ll find the one, you’ll see.” Alex explained.

“How can you be so sure? I haven’t seen you with anyone after, y’know… It’s been almost five years now.” Luke said, a little awkwardly, not wanting to bring up the event that seemed to break their family.

“I don’t have to. I already found the one. Your father was the one.” Alex said, smiling softly at the memory of his husband.

“How did you know?” The smaller boy asked, looking up at the man beside him. “How can you be sure he really was the one?”

“I don’t know, I just know. I’ve known before we even started dating. He was Rian’s drum tech so, him and Rian were close but he was really shy so he didn’t talk much to anyone else. I was kinda scared to talk to him at first but I watched his work. This was just one of my favorite things to do.
After a while, he stopped being so shy with us and we actually became close. I fell in love with him somewhere around that time. I just loved everything about him, his smile, his eyes, the way he was still kinda shy.
It took a while, but one day, I asked him out on a date. He seemed kind of surprised but he smiled and accepted immediately. At the end of the night, I drove him back home and, as cliché as it sounds, I walked him to the door and kissed him. At that moment, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. So, I told him that I had wanted to do this for so long; he said it was the same for him. A little while after, we were officially boyfriends.” Alex explained, getting lost in his memories of the smaller man. “When he told me he was pregnant, I almost didn’t believe him. I knew it had happened to other guys before but I didn’t think this could happen to us. A few months after, you were born and I couldn’t be happier. It was the family I had always wanted and, now, I had it. But tragedy struck out of nowhere.” The man said, becoming a little more somber. “A few days before your 8th birthday, he came back home from the doctor, crying. That’s when he told me he had cancer. He had a few months left to live. We’ve been lucky because he lived longer than he should’ve but our luck didn’t last long and he passed away after a little over a year of fighting it. Once he was gone, I knew that I wouldn’t find someone who could be my other half; he was and always will be my other half.” Alex finished, seeming to come out of a sort of trance.

“But, how do you live without your other half. If he’s not there, it’s like there’s a piece of you that’s missing.” The teenager asked, looking up at his father.

“Oh, but he’s here. He’s always gonna be here as long as you’ll be. It’s not the same but you remind me of him anyway. You have his eyes and his smile. Sometimes, I see him when I look at you, just because of a little thing that you do.” The older said, looking down at his son. “So love might suck for a little while but once you find your other half, you’ll realize how beautiful it actually is, you just have to surpass the obstacles life puts in your way.”