“Do you think papa Berto can come home today?” Timo asked while we were having dinner.

“Well, that’s what he said, but no one could really be sure when it comes to missions. It can end in an hour or stretch for as long as five years.” I replied.

“How come he haven’t even called?” asked Rico.

“It’s a safety precaution. He can’t contact anyone unless it’s a safe line. That means he’s still in the field.”

“How come?” Timo asked with a frown.”

“Because someone might trace it back to us,” I told them, “you know very well that your papa Berto’s info is highly confidential since there are a lot of people after him. He’s the top secret weapon of the Gender Police, after all.”

The table went quiet as the two played with their food.

“Then... how do we know that he’s okay?” asked Rico.

“Silence means he’s okay,” I assured them. “If anything does happen, we’ll be one of the first to be informed about it.”

That seemed to lighten the mood.

We spend the rest of the week like any other. Sunday came and went, and come Monday, the kids were excited to tell me about a new Science teacher they got in school.

“He’s so cool, papa Will!” said Timo, “Can you believe, we actually dissected a whole pig during our first class!?”

“It was a piglet,” Rico corrected him, “and he asked me to do the first incision!”

“But he made a wrong cut and the pig started bleeding all over the place!” Timo continued.

“The dead pig started to bleed?” I asked with a laugh.

“Yeah, Mr. Antonio said it was fresh from the farm!” said Rico.

“You should have seen the girls! They were so disgusted that one of them actually fainted!” said Timo.

“Yeah, so we had to cut the dissection short and send her to the clinic, then the Principal came in and told him to start on something small, like a frog or somethin’ instead.”

“Yeah, girls can be real drama queens sometimes,” said Timo.

“Hey, there were guys who felt sick too, you know,” Rico frowned at him.

“Ha-ha, well, anyway, you two go up and wash yourselves, I’ll get dinner ready.”

It was a good distraction, since there was still no news about their papa Berto. All I got was a message from the doc telling me that someone will get in touch with me during the week.

I finally got to meet that someone when I picked the kids up that Wednesday.

“Mr. Willows?”

I turned around and was face to face with a man in his 30’s. We were roughly the same height, about 6 feet 5, with light brown eyes and hair that fell to his shoulders. He had a day old stubble and dark rings around his eyes and smelled of stale coffee from a stain on his brown coat.

“Papa Will, this is our Science teacher Mr. Antonio, the one we told you about!” Timo said happily as I got off our car.

“He said he wanted to meet you,” said Rico, “he wants to invite us to a Science camp!”

“Oh, is that so?” I smiled at him, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Antonio.”

“Same, same,” he said, rather grudgingly. “Anyway, is there somewhere we can talk privately?”

His English was good and his features made me wonder if he’s Asian or of Hispanic origin like me and the kids.

“Well, we can go to a restaurant nearby...” I said with a smile.

“I said privately,” he said with a frown. “Haven’t the Spider contacted you yet?”

The smile on my face disappeared.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Doc Webb sent me.” He looked at the kids, then back at me.

“The name’s Nathan.”

I felt a chill run up my spine.

“Nathan Antonio.”

“Please come in, make yourself at home.”

“Nice place....” said Nathan as he looked around our flat. “Do you own this place?”

“Dome does. I guess it’s one of the perks of being a DOME.” I looked at Rico and Timo who both fell quiet as soon as they heard their teacher’s first name. “Go upstairs and change, I’ll get dinner ready later.”

“Okay, papa Will,” answered Timo.

“So,” I turned to face Nathan. “are you really the ‘Nathan’?”

“What do you mean?” he asked with an eyebrow raised.

“The famous Nathan, Dome’s pair,” I said with a grin.

“Oh... so he’s been talking about me...” he mumbled.

“Nah, we just get to hear your name ev’ry once in a while when Dome has nightmares.”

“Is that so?”

I saw a crooked smile play at the edge of his lips.

“So, why did the doc send you here?” I asked, trying to act friendly. “To tell you frankly, you’re not really what I expected.”

“Hell if I know,” he answered rudely, slumping on the sofa in our den. “He just came out of nowhere and dragged me out of my room and told me to come here. Didn’t he say anything to you?”

He looked irritated.

Well, that makes both of us.

“Well... it is true that Dome is still suffering from withdrawal... it gets worst ev’ry day... at least, now that you’re here...”

I look at Nathan and notice him staring at me wide eyed.

“I mean... you’re his fated pair, right?”

He didn’t answer. He simply snorted, and started laughing.

“So, he’s reaping what he sowed, huh?” he said, then mumbled something in tagalog. “Nakarma rin ang putangina.” (the son of a bitch got his karma)

“Look, I have no idea what happened between you two, and I don’t mean to take Dome’s side, but I want you to know that he’s been suffering for three years.”

“Suffering...” he looked around our den and snorted, “Right...”

I was about to say more when the door to the den opened and in came Timo and Rico carrying a tray of food.

“Papa Will, we brought some snacks for you,” said Timo.

I watched as the sarcastic look in Nathan’s face quickly disappeared and was replaced by a goofy smile.

“Ah, thank you, Rico, Timo.”

He took a glass of orange juice and started to drink it.

“So, Mr. Antonio, are you really Nathan? Are you really papa Berto’s fated pair?” Rico asked him.

“Yup, that’s me!” he took a slice of cake and took a big bite. “So, when’s your papa Berto coming back?”

“We don’t know yet,” Timo said with a frown.

“We haven’t received any news from him since he left two weeks ago.”

“Ah, then I guess there’s no need for me to stay any longer...”

“Please, stay for dinner!” Rico said before their teacher could put his fork down.

“That’s right, Mr. Antonio, papa Will is a great cook! You should stay longer and have dinner with us!”

The two looked at me expectantly after inviting their teacher.

“It’s okay, right, papa Berto?!” they asked with puppy dog eyes.

“Haa, okay then, come help me in the kitchen to get the food ready.

It was late that night when Dome finally called, saying that he would need to stay another day or two. He was ecstatic when he found out that Nathan came to visit.

He sounded so happy that I couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

But then again, I was just a handy hole after all.

He was never mine.

And now that his real partner has arrived, I guess it’s time to let go.

---

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