Ch. 6, Part 3: Voice of an Angelo

(Continued from Part 2.)

Angelo was actually at a bit of a loss when his older brother moved out. The two of them had spent a lot of time together, and now that Kaidan had moved out, he wasn't sure what to do.

He didn't know how to be the "big brother" in the house, given three of his siblings were older than him.

But believe me when I say he tried.  He did his best to be a good brother to Cortana, even if their games of playing tag left him at least a little winded. 

At least once, he admitted to me he wished he didn't have asthma. I told him that it's a part of his life. It was a sucky one, but he had to work with it. And it wasn't like he was alone in all of it. 

He had me and Shark, and his siblings. Sometimes, he visited his older brother after school. 

And that's where he met his nephew, Willie. 

Angelo took a shine to the little guy. Sometimes he babysat him, whenever Kaidan and Lynnette went out somewhere. 

Personally, I would've named him something different, but hey, it was their kid.  

It seemed as though seeing Willie led Angelo to wanting a kid of his own. I told him, 'we'll see when you're older, and settle down.'

I was never entirely sure if Angelo was "parent material". He was a good kid, just a little... out there. He'd always think up some hair-brained scheme or idea, and share it with Cortana. 

Cortana didn't seem to mind too much. She always loved listening to her older brother. Whatever he told her, she would just politely listen to him. 

She told me and Shark that she'd be sad to see him go, which was sooner than I'd have liked. I wasn't sure if my younger son was ready to go out into the world on his own. 

You know, what with his asthma and all. He told me not to worry, though. He found someone to take care of him should he have an attack. 

In fact, he told me to put out two birthday cakes for this other person.

(Cortana never really was one to wear pants...)

Angelo honestly didn't know what to wish for. He told me, when he visited one time, that he just randomly wished for the first thing that came to mind. 

Next thing I know, he was married and getting his own house. I asked who he was marrying, and he told me, it was 'just an old boyfriend'. 

When he asked if it was all right that he was marrying another guy, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. 

Angelo had been adopted by two guys, and his sister was a lesbian. Of course it was okay. Didn't bother me none. 

What did bother me was, he left just as quickly as his older siblings. And apparently, he went through on his desires to have a kid. 

One time, he called the house to tell us that he might have adopted a child, and that he might have mistakenly said our address instead of his. 

Well, he did. Social Services ended up dropping off a little girl, which Angelo named Mason, at our place. Angelo was calling us to keep an eye on her until he picked her up. 

Of course, it gave me a chance to bond with her a little.

It really hit me that this was the little baby my son and his husband adopted. This was my granddaughter. 

I realized how lucky I was to even be holding her. So many years ago, I worked in one of the worst professions you could think of. 

And now, here I was, holding my newest grandchild. When Angelo came to get her, I almost didn't want to let her go.

But I knew I had to. Shark and I already adopted our kids. I did my best to be a good father, and I want to be a decent grandfather as well. 

Still didn't make things easier. I realized that we only had one kid left in the house now, and apparently, Shark did, too. 

Cortana hadn't left quite yet, but Shark was already feeling the effects of Empty Nest Syndrome. He'd always get upset whenever he had to walk by the baby stuff our kids used. 

I did my best to remedy the situation. We didn't have to get rid of all this stuff. We could just give it to our kids, and have our grandkids use it. 

That helped him brighten up a little. Then, while he was wiping his tears, he told me to get dressed and get in the car, and we'd go somewhere.

As it turns out, one of the things Shark wanted to do was visit our dead relatives. He just felt compelled to tell his grandparents, DeAndre, and the cats about how our life was going. 

Then, on the way to the store, we ran into Angelo, and his daughter. 

It turned out she was older than I thought, since when he was holding her, she'd gotten bigger. 

I guess he really had matured. He made small talk with us, told us how his life was, how happy he was in his new job and raising his little girl. 

Then he asked me if Shark had gotten me my birthday cake yet. And once again, I was reminded of how old I was getting.

Apparently, it was supposed to be a surprise for me, but I guess Angelo didn't know that. But ruined surprise or not, I was still about to feel the effects of aging.

Knowing it now probably softened the blow, but not by that much.

I didn't have to worry about it until the next day, but still. 

Shark and I waited until Cortana went to school in order to do the whole party thing. The whole time, all I could think of was that this was it. I'm finally going to get old. 

To know it was coming, I tried my best to think of a good wish. That, or I couldn't stop staring at Shark in that outfit of his. 

But as soon as I blew out the candles, it was only a matter of waiting until the ravages of age punched me in the face.

Then I turned into...what you see now. 

I'll admit, I wasn't a happy camper when I saw how I looked. I kept thinking, 'well, now I can't do most things anymore.' 

Not to mention, I was worried about how Shark would react. I told him not to look until I was ready, so he hadn't seen old me yet. 

But when he finally saw me, he said I aged pretty damn well. 

He also told me I looked charming with silver hair.

I was flattered he'd say that, but it still came as a shock for me. Seeing as how I'd been a lifelong redhead, suddenly going gray was hard to get used to. 

And of course, there was one last thing soon going to happen, before we left that house for good. 

(A/N: Chapter 6, completed.)