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Antonio laughed as he got up from the table he and some of his fishing buddies sat, excusing himself. He can't remember who, but one of their friends called for an impromptu meeting to have a few drinks and catch up. He used the restrooms, and contemplated buying another round of drinks for his friends when he noticed something odd.
He saw a small child with a plushy wandering around aimlessly, being ignored by all the adults around him. The Latino scanned the bar, to see if any parents were looking around for the small boy. Antonio started walking over when he noticed no one took notice of the child after he got bumped into every time someone walked past him.
“Hey there.” He greeted and crouched down to the boy's level. He was given a timid look and a small, shy wave. “Are you lost?” Antonio asked the boy, who simply shrugged. “Where are your parents?” he asked instead.
The boy looked at his shoes shyly, “D-d-daddy at school.” He mumbled. Antonio nodded, assuming the boy came with his mother then.
“What about your mommy?” He asked. The boy looked around before the Latino received another shrug. “Don't worry, we'll find your mommy.” He assured the child, “I used to get lost all the time as a kid.” He said, smiling at the child. Then leaned into the boy to whisper, “This one time, I ended up swimming with the penguins at the zoo.”
The boy giggled as he stared at Antonio. “Cold?”
Antonio laughed, “Yeah, it was very cold! I got in a lot of trouble.” The boy seemed to relax slightly.
“Who's your little friend?” Antonio asked, pointing to the stuffed dog in the child's hands.
“This Inu!” he said proudly, “Bestest friends.” he stated, hugging the canine to his chest tightly.
“I used to have Pulpo as my best friend when I was your age.” He told the boy.
“Pulo?” The kid questioned, tilting his head in confusion.
“Pulpo, it means Octopus in Spanish. Sorry, I speak a lot of Spanish sometimes.” Antonio explained, the kid stared at him in awe.
“Like Diego?” he asked curiously, referring to the cartoon.
“Yes, like Diego.” He smiled, even using the Spanish pronunciation for the name, making the child bounce in excitement, “But my name is Antonio.”
“An-to-no-ni-no.” The child tested it out, “Me Aiden!” he beamed.
“Nice to meet you, Aiden.” Antonio smiled. “And you too, Inu.” he directed at the stuffed dog in the kid's arms, to which Aiden beamed happily.
Antonio was about to suggest they go look for the kid's mother when a ruckus near the bar interrupted them. A couple was screaming at each other angrily. Aiden startled by the loud noises, jumped and ran into Antonio to hide his face into his shoulder, whimpering, nearly toppling the Latino over. He wrapped his arms around the kid to console him after finding his balance again. He stood up straight as he picked up Aiden, who by now had his arms wrapped tightly around Antonio's neck. “It's okay, buddy.” he said, rocking the boy back and forth. He could feel his shirt getting damp.
The couple at the bar had stopped screaming by now, the girl, a pretty blonde with bright blue dip dye, having turned back to her drink on the bar, the guy, a handsome looking brunet, was coming over to them for some reason.
“Aiden!” the guy called out, relief washing over his face. Said boy turned around in Antonio's arms, tears running down his face.
“Daddy!” The boy cried, reaching his arms out.
“Oh, thank God!” the brunet exclaimed as Antonio handed him his son. The guy took Aiden in his arms, enveloping the boy in his arms, pressing his face into his son's hair. “I'm so sorry.” he whispered, “I'm so sorry, baby.” he kept apologizing over and over again.
Antonio noticed the blonde slowly walking over now, stumbling a bit.
Father and son pulled back from each other as the brunet put Aiden down, the kid now smiling again with red-rimmed eyes. The guy was looking over the boy, “Are you okay?” he asked his son. Aiden nodded, smiling at his father.
“Inu keep me safe!” he grinned, holding up the plushy, “I made friend too! This Anto-no...nino!” He introduced the Latino, hesitating over the second half of his name. The guy looked over at Antonio, giving him a somewhat suspicious glance. Before either of them could say anything a voice piped up.
“Told ya the stupid midget was 'round.” The blonde said, slurring, as she stood behind the guy. Antonio watched as absolute fury washed over the brunet's face. He stood slowly, making sure his son stayed behind him. He turned to the blonde with fury.
As a precaution, Antonio reached over to Aiden and cupped his hands over the boy's ears. The boy looked up, surprised. Antonio simply smiled and winked at him.
“What did you just call our son?!” The brunet exclaimed loudly, gaining the attention of other patrons, “You know what? I'm sick of your shit, Danielle! This is the fifth fucking time this week!”
“So what?” She drawled, rolling her eyes in exasperation. “Kid's fine.”
“No thanks to you!” The brunet was shaking with rage, “I ask you to watch him for four hours, four, is that so much to ask?! Is it so hard to stay sober for just a few fucking hours?!” he screamed, the blonde, Danielle, seemed about to reply, “Y'know what, don't answer that!” The guy interrupted her. She just stared at him indifferently, like she's just waiting for him to be done so she can go back to her drink. Which seemed to only piss off the guy even more.
The guy took a deep breath, as if to resume their screaming match from before. Instead he held it for a second, before slowly exhaling. “Okay, I'm done.” He stated in defeat. Danielle shrugged and turned around to head back to the bar, “You have three days to clear out of the house.” the guy stated calmly, stopping her in her tracks, “I don't give a fuck where you go, I want you gone. And don't you dare show your face to either of us, ever again. I want you out of my son's life.”
“Your fucking son? He's my fucking son too!” She screamed, “You can't get rid of me, I'm his mother! And if you deny me my son I'll sue your fucking ass so hard you'll be out on the streets in no time! He's mine!”
“Three days.” the brunet said firmly, “I'm also filing for sole custody.” He added.
Before anyone could even blink a loud smack resounded through the bar. Antonio stared in shock as the guy stumbled back a bit. “HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!” The blonde screeched. “HE'S MINE! FUCK YOU, SON OF A FUCKING BITCH!” She screamed as she lunged at the guy, clocking him right in the face.
“DADDY!” Aiden screamed, dropping Inu as he tried to move to his father, but Antonio grabbed him around the waist and tugged him back, holding him against his chest. Holding the struggling boy back as the bar's manager was called and the bartender and a few customers tried to pry the lunatic blonde off of the brunet.
By the time they succeeded the guy had a bruised eye, a split lip, and a bloody nose. Aiden kept screaming and crying for his father as Antonio held him. The manager was seeing to it that the blonde was kicked out and was to never return, as one of the patrons who helped separate the two made the brunet sit down on a nearby chair.
An elderly lady then looked the guy over, claiming she was a nurse. Antonio set Aiden down at this point.
“DADDY!” He called as he ran and jumped onto his father, sobbing violently.
“Aiden.” He cradled the boy in his arms, holding him tightly, “I'm so sorry, little lion.” he mumbled.
“Mommy gone?” the boy asked quietly.
“Yes, Mommy's gone.” he replied.
“Forever?”
“Yes, forever.” he forced out the words.
It was painful to see for Antonio and the old lady, when the boy seemed to sag in relief at his father's words.
“Mommy mean...” Aiden mumbled. “Love you more, daddy.”
“I love you, too, little lion. So, so much.” The guy said, holding his son closer.
“Son,” The lady addressed Antonio, “Grab me a bunch of napkins, please?”
“Sure.” Antonio said and ran to the bar quickly, grabbing the stack the bartender held out.
“Thank you, dear.” she said with a kind smile. “Now, sir, I'm going to have to touch your nose to see if it's broken, okay?”
Antonio grabbed Inu from the floor and crouched next to the trio, “Hey buddy, you dropped something.” he said, trying to distract the boy so he wouldn't notice his father's pain.
“Inu!” The boy exclaimed and jumped from his father's lap to reach for the plushy.
The brunet hissed when the lady pressed her fingers against the side of his nose gently. He gave Antonio a grateful look when he distracted Aiden long enough for the lady to examine him. “Thank you ma'am.” he said during her examination.
“Please, Ma'am makes me feel old, I'm Elizabeth, but call me Elly.”
“Thank you, Elly. I'm Jayden.” He replied, as she smiled at him. Just then, the manager came over.
The brunet turned to the older man, “I'm so sorry about this sir.”
“That's quite alright. I'm more concerned about you and your son, are you two okay?” the man asked.
Jayden glanced over at his son, who spoke animatedly with the stranger. “We'll be okay, sir. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.” The manager quickly dismissed the apology, claiming it wasn't his fault but the blonde girl's fault, before he left to tend to other matters.
“Okay, honey, your nose seems to be broken.” Elly told him, “I'm gonna have to re-set it before it starts healing. And I'm not gonna lie, it's gonna hurt.” Jayden nodded at her, bracing himself. “Young man!” She called to Antonio.
“Yes?” he and Aiden looked up at the woman.
“Come here.” she said, handing him some of the napkins she had him fetch before. “After I reset his nose, I'm gonna need you to hold it steady so I can tape it up, okay?” He nodded at her. “Now,” she said, turning back to Jayden, “This does not mean that that's the end of it, you still need to go to the hospital for this, young man, so be sure to do that, alright?”
“Yes, Ma'a- Elly.” She smiled at him. Telling him to brace himself. She counted to three before she tugged it back into place, making Jayden let out a pained grunt. She directed Antonio to take over, telling him where to press his fingers and for him to wipe away the overflowing blood from the brunet's nose. Elly turned to the first aid kit someone had brought over and grabbed some cotton, gauze and tape and began to work.
After Jayden was patched up he turned to Antonio, “Thank you.” The Latino blinked at him in confusion, “Thank you for helping my son when-” He cut himself off, trying not to think of his now ex-girlfriend. “And for holding him back and distracting him when you did. I can't tell you how grateful I am.”
“No problem, mi amigo.” Antonio grinned, “I'm Antonio by the way.”
Jayden chuckled, “So that's what he said. Jayden.” he said extending his hand as he stood up from the chair. Only to wobble and nearly drop to the floor if it wasn't for Antonio grabbing him.
“Woah, dude, you okay?”
“Yeah, must have gotten up too fast.” He groaned, his head spinning.
“Oh dear, are you okay?” Elly asked when she noticed Jayden's stumble.
“Just a bit dizzy.” The brunet answered.
“Hmmm...” she hummed as she looked at him carefully, “I think it's best you go to the hospital right away. It could be the blood loss. Do you have anyone who can take you?”
“I-”
“I'll take you.” Antonio stated, cutting off the brunet. When the blond was about to protest Antonio cut him off, “Save it. I'm taking you. C'mon.” He extended a hand to slowly help Jayden up. “Did you drive here?”
“No, I walked.” Jayden simply replied, the fight leaving him.
“Alright, one sec.” Antonio said, excusing himself as he approached his friends' table, “Yo, Ricardo, you still have those booster seats for your nieces?”
“Yeah.” the man replied, already fishing into his pocket. “Just take em with ya, Charlie's gonna come pick me up anyways, you can give me back my keys tomorrow.” he said, tossing them to Antonio.
“Gracias!” He grinned at his friends and bid them farewell. He returned to Jayden and Aiden and ushered them outside. He grabbed the booster seat from Ricardo's car and helped both Jayden and Aiden into his own car. Once everyone was seated, he started the car and headed to the hospital.