"Is nice, no?" dad asks as he pulls up to the valet at the Paradise Palms resort.
"It is very nice. I think mom will love it," I tell him.
We're scouting a location for their wedding. This is something should have done years ago, before mom even got pregnant with me. Dad could have applied for citizenship and he never would have had to go back to Saudi Arabia. Now they are trying to fix it.
"Welcome," a chipper hispanic lady in a nice suit tells us when we walk inside. She leads us around the resort, past the pool and the fountains and all the desert scenery one expects from Arizona.
"This room is perfect," dad says when she shows us the small chapel they use for ceremonies.
"It's not too small? It only seats 100 guests. Are you sure you wouldn't prefer the larger one? We have capacity for 500 in that one." She is trying to upsell us on the room, but dad waves her off.
"No, no. It will be small. We do not need a grand space, only a beautiful space," dad says.
"Why don't you two make yourselves comfortable here? We'll bring in some samples from the menu items and you'll need to select a cake from the three options your bride chose. Settle in and I'll have them sent in," she tells us.
There is seating for 50 arranged on either side of the center aisle. At the back there are five large, round tables that each seat ten guests for the post-wedding meal. Dad and I choose the one by the window. It looks out over a green lawn with craggy mountains behind.
"Your mother tell me you spoke with this Tank boy. What happens there?" dad says when we settle in.
"He came to the fence. He told me he's come every night, but didn't have the nerve to speak. I went out every night to check, dad! I can't believe he was there. I thought I was talking to nothing," I tell him.
"And?" Dad prods for more.
"He said his parents aren't in love with the idea of him liking boys, but they said they just need time. He was so happy they weren't disowning him. Who would disown their son for liking guys? That's so effed." I shake my head.
"In most of the world this is exactly what happen. My parents do not even approve that I find your mom when I was in college here. They had so much trouble to accept it. I was scared for losing them, little one. Is why I am so accepting of you. I never want that you feel as I do back then. I worry I will have to choose so I choose your mother. I was so unsure to choose her or choose them, but then she tell me she is pregnant." Dad shakes his head.
"You stayed with her for me?" I ask. He's never opened up about this before. It makes my heart race wildly.
"No, my precious boy. Is that when she tells me she is pregnant with you it make my mind to instantly have to decide. Is like someone puts gun to my head, and right away my brain screams 'Lisa! Of course Lisa! Always her!' So that make the choice. The fact that I will have a baby with her is another reason, but is more that it force me to choose and when there is baby to my head I choose her and you and this," he says.
"That's really sweet." I blush. Anyone spending more than two minutes with my parents can see how much he loves her.
"She deserve the best and you deserve the best. I worry for this boy. Is my Hayden putting his heart out to be crush? Will he hurt my little one?" Dad looks at me with concern.
A waiter brings out a tray of small plates. He lays them out in a line then sets down a card for us to select what we want. There is chicken and lamb and lots of side dishes. Dad grabs the lamb and brings it between us.
YOU ARE READING
Hayden's Shelter
Teen Fiction[BoyXBoy] - Not-Quite-16 year old Hayden Davis finds himself seeking shelter in the Arizona desert with his mom after his dad's deportation and the fall of the Orange County business Empire his parents had built. He's working with his mom to get th...
