Noah & Navid

Chapter 33- The Mothership

By the time Karim and the guys fired up the grill to make dinner for everyone, the older men had already gotten into the alcohol. 

Navid had recently discovered craft beers and was so into it that he'd filled half a shelf in our refrigerator at home. He had brought quite a few for others to try and was currently tasting his way through the San Fernando Valley's finest.

My dad showed up just before the food was ready. 

He had driven up to be there for my birthday. He came in with a nicely wrapped gift that he put on my growing pile of presents on a side table.

Dad gave Navid's bicep a squeeze with an admiring comment. Dad looked really good too. He'd gone back to the gym and was getting in good shape now that he was freed from his primary parenting responsibilities. 

He still didn't look like a man of his age. I was happy to see that he'd been taking care of himself. We were all each other had in this world.

"Wow Noah, I don't think I've seen a gift pile that big since your cousin Gina's wedding. That's very nice of everyone. You be sure and thank everyone," Dad commented with a proud smile.

I hadn't seen him as often since school was back for Spring semester and being Navid's houseboy was a full time job. 

We still talked for at least five minutes every day, but it wasn't the same as before when he was all I had. We were transitioning and I could tell it was as hard on him as it was on me. He held me a little tighter and a lot longer than usual. He kissed my forehead before letting me go, but then kept me under one arm as he greeted Navid.

Navid gave my dad a shorter hug, and then brought a beer for him to try. It was yet another thing the two of them had bonded over. 

I guess I was lucky that the two most important men in my life got along so well. Navid was the strong, athletic, successful type of son I'm sure my father would have wanted.

We sat and talked to my dad for awhile and he and Navid sampled the beers Navid preferred. It was interesting watching Navid switch back to the respectful mode he used when talking to my dad. 

He treated it like his most important business relationship. My dad seemed to have no objections to being charmed.

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"Happy Birthday, Noah. I hope this year brings you everything you desire. If not, then we can replace Navid with someone else for you," Karim joked as everyone sat down to eat. 

He'd made huge plates of BBQ'ed chicken and lamb with a big pile of fluffy pita bread from the good bakery in North Hollywood. Mike had made all sorts of interesting salad items to go with it.

"When I was Noah's age..." my dad started to say, but I cut him off.

"Aww dad, I don't think they want to hear this," I interrupted him. 

It was his tradition. Every year he'd tell me about what he was doing when he was my age and what he learned.

"I do. I want to hear this," Navid said and gave me a look that said I was being rude. Several others encouraged my dad to continue.

"Thank you!" Dad said with a smile of vindication and reached for my hand. "When I was Noah's age I was desperately trying to keep up with a very energetic baby boy who was just starting to crawl around. Noah got into everything and always seemed to find the one dangerous thing I'd forgotten to fix or cover." 

Everyone looked at me with an appreciative smile. My parents had gotten pregnant with me when they were in high school. 

"Every night I held him against my chest and paced around until he fell asleep and then I thanked god that I'd kept him alive for another day. I had so many doubts and fears that year... So many family members stepped in to show me how it worked... And I guess what I learned was that you never know what life is going to drop in your lap, but trust that it's there for a reason. You are the best kid I could have asked for, and I'm really happy that I kept you alive."