Legendary Daddy by Mia Monroe (each kindness read aloud txt) 📕

“No, please don’t be. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” he says. “And thank you for coming. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t have anybody else. The hospital is asking me all kinds of questions about what I want to do for a funeral and other things I just don’t know how to answer. My dad tried to prepare me for this stuff, but I guess I just didn’t deal with it.”

“That’s okay,” Bentley says. “We’ll figure it out together, right, Legend?”

“Yeah, exactly. I’ll do what I can. Maybe I can make some phone calls for you.”

Finn’s face lights up. “Really? You would do that for me?”

“Of course. I want to be helpful.”

“That’s why I brought him,” Bentley says. “He’s a good Daddy. He’ll take care of us.”

Jeez, no pressure. The three of us walk to the living room that hasn’t been cleaned in many days from the looks of it. There are empty food boxes, beer bottles, and soda cans strewn around. Dirty clothes lay in piles on the floor and the drapes are pulled. It’s musty as fuck in here.

Bentley doesn’t react. He simply shoves things off the couch to make a place for us to sit. I’m starting to wonder if it isn’t grief that makes his apartment look like this, but how it always looks. I’m not his Daddy, but if I were, he’d be cleaning this up as soon as his time of mourning was over.

I sit and listen as Finn reminisces about his dad and all the good things they shared. It’s a very sad moment, watching someone process a loss as deep as a parent. I feel for him and wish there was something I could say that would make it better. Instead I just offer silent comfort.

Bentley suggests that Finn take a shower and then a nap. He and I will look through the things the hospital gave Finn and see if we can make sense of stuff while he gets some rest. He shows us a box of papers his dad gave him before he died. Finn tries to put up a fight, clearly trying to be an adult, but both of us insist that he’s mourning and needs to rest and take care of himself. Finn finally gives in and shuffles off to his bathroom.

“Wow, that was hard,” Bentley says as soon as we’re alone. “I’ve actually never seen Finn cry before. But I guess if you’re going to cry, losing a parent is a good reason.”

“Yeah. I can’t say that I understand how he feels, fortunately, but it’s got to hurt. Especially because he doesn’t seem to have any other family.”

“No, he doesn’t. I think things are kind of strained with other family members because he’s gay, you know?”

“That’s unfortunate when that happens.”

“Unfortunate? It’s bullshit,” Bentley says with rare venom in his voice. “They were so nice to us both growing up until he came out, and then, all of a sudden, he wasn’t good enough for them anymore. Not his dad. His dad always treated him exactly the same. The way a dad should treat his son.”

“That’s good. I can also understand how much more that loss would be felt.”

“Exactly. How soon is too soon to tell him that I want him to move to Los Angeles?”

I shrug. “I don’t know, baby. You know him better than I do. If he’s as lost as you say he is, I’m guessing getting through the funeral is first, then maybe he’ll be ready to talk about moving.”

Bentley nods. “Yeah, that’s a good point. Funeral first. Well, let’s start looking at this paperwork and see if we can make sense of anything.”

An hour goes by as we figure out that Finn’s father wanted to be cremated and that the hospital is already taking care of those arrangements. All we have to do now is figure out if Finn is having a funeral, but based on what Finn has said about not having any family members, that doesn’t seem like something he would want to do.

Just in case, we set about calling a few funeral homes to find out what prices would be. It’s extremely expensive, but I’ve already made up my mind. If it’s important to Finn, and he doesn’t have the money, I’ll put the money up, no matter that the kid will likely argue with me. After figuring out that stuff, and finding a small life insurance policy with Finn as the beneficiary, I start cleaning up the apartment.

“Is it always like this?” I ask.

Bentley nods. “Yeah, he’s one of those people who always seems disorganized and disheveled. He makes a resolution every year that he’s going to figure out how to get organized and clean up his apartment, but as you can see, it doesn’t stick.”

“How does he live like this? It’s a disaster. I’m not judging him, but it feels like life would be a lot easier if it wasn’t like this.”

“I know. We’ve talked about it before. You know how I like to clean things, but he didn’t like me to clean his apartment for him.”

“Okay, well, you could always blame it on me because I’m not leaving it like this. Especially if he’s going to be moving soon. It needs to be organized so it can be packed up and brought out to Los Angeles with us.”

Bentley smiles at me. “You’re such a good Daddy. He’s not even your boy and you’re taking care of him.”

“I care about you so that extends to him too. I want you both to be happy and healthy.”

“I know, Daddy. That’s why you’re so perfect.”

I chuckle. “I’m not perfect, Bentley.”

He grins at me. “Perfect is as perfect does.”

I just laugh. “You’re too good for my ego, boy.”

“No, Daddy, I’m not too good for you. I’m perfect for you. You said so yourself.”

“You’re right. You got me.