Mr. Carad knew that he would have to deal with his darling boy, Alex, dating other boys eventually when Alex decided to confess to him and his wife that he was bisexual earlier that year. But he didn't expect it to come so soon and in such a bizarre way.

Mr. Carad, while confused and shocked at first, eventually accepted it. After all, Alex was his only son and he would accept him no matter what his sexuality was. And it was the same for his wife. All Mr. and Mrs. Carad wanted was for their darling boy to be happy. That's all. It didn’t matter if it was in the embrace of another man.

To be honest, it might be a little naive of Mr. Carad but he actually expected his son to stay single until he graduated from college. Or maybe longer than that.

While he love Alex, he was actually aware of how his son acted. Which was to say easy to irritate, grumpy, temperamental and loud. But with a soft and romantic heart.

And he had never said anything or indicated anything to him or his mother that he was attracted to anyone.

So it was a natural reaction to be a little shocked when Alex brought home his first boyfriend.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Mr. Carad was in the garden, sipping tea, when his phone suddenly rang out. He opened it and asked who it was, a moment later he realized who was calling him when he heard the voice of his son.

"Dad? Are you there?" His son asked from the other side.

"I'm here," Mr. Carad was confused but he still answered his son just like usual.

"Are you free? Are you busy?" Alex asked straightforwardly. His voice was rushed.

"What's the matter, Alex?" He answered with a confused expression, pressing the phone against his ear. "I'm free actually. I don't have anything lined up for me to do today."

"Ahhhmm... Nothing really, Dad. I was just asking. I will come visit in a little bit. I'm just calling early to tell you so that I wouldn't disturb you later if you were actually busy," Alex said in a hurried tone and with a slight stutter to his words which made it clear to his Dad that he was hiding something from him. He straightened his back as he narrowed his eyes.

He raised Alex so he knew that his son was acting suspicious.

"Alex-" Mr. Carad started but he was cut off by his son before he could continue.

"Bye, Dad!" Alex shouted before ending his call.

Alex's Dad stared at his phone before shrugging and going back to his tea. An hour later, and his tea finished, Alex finally appeared. And with him was a short, cute and good looking boy close to his age. Maybe his age or maybe a year younger.

"Dad," Alex nervously started. "This is Michael. He's a...'friend' of mine," There was a subtle inflection in his tone when he said the word friend.

With a charming smile, Michael greeted the older figure. "Nice to meet you, Sir. Alex has told me many wonderful things about you," There was a worried look on his face but it was very faint.

"Oh? Has he?" Mr. Carad gave a slow nod before fixing his confused eyes on his son before returning it back to the other boy. He had a faint suspicion niggling behind his mind as to the real relationship between the two. Friendship, huh. "Nice to meet you too, Michael. If you don't mind me from asking, how did you two meet?" He asked, not even masking his suspicious tone.

“I don't mind, Sir. Actually, I met him during a basketball game,” Michael gave a nervous smile to Alex's Dad before glancing back at Alex. "He accidentally sent the ball flying to me and the rest is, as they say, history. We got to know each other after that, Sir."

"I see," Alex's Dad smiled but it didn't reached his eyes though it was at least half genuine. His son and this Michael boy were together-together. He could clearly see it because Alex stared at his him with pursed lips and narrowed eyes while Michael got more nervous, sweating slightly on his brows.

"Dad..." Alex called out as he pulled out a sit for the both of them. His Dad sighed as they sat down.

"How long have you two known each other?" Mr. Carad asked with a raised brow.

Michael opened his mouth to answer but it was Alex who answered the question a second faster than Michael. "We've known each other for about 2 weeks now, Dad."

Michael had no choice but to close his mouth. This wasn't lost to Mr. Carad. He couldn't help but tilt his head slightly to the side in question, still observing like a hawk the interaction between the two.

"I see..." Mr. Carad suddenly noticed something. He saw that Alex and this Michael boy were standing a little bit too close with one another. This made his suspicion look more real now.

Mr. Carad made some small talk with his son and his 'friend'. At some point, Michael excused himself to go to the bathroom. It was quite obvious to Mr. Carad that this was an engineered situation. After giving some directions to him and just as he got out of earshot, Alex and his Dad looked at each other.

"Alex."

"Dad."

"Are you and that Michael kid...? Is there something I should know?" He asked but he was pretty sure he knew all that he needed to know at that point.

Alex bit his lips with lowered eyes before looking eye to eye with his Dad. "He asked me to a date on Saturday. I said yes."

"Okay," Mr. Carad didn't say anything more to that. He just wore a blank poker face.

"Michael is a good person, Dad," Alex added defensively.

"He is. I've noticed," Mr. Carad said before reaching out to tap Alex’s shoulder a few times. "But... Just... You haven't known each other for long and he might not be what you want. And you might not be what he want," It was Mr. Carad's subtle way of hinting that they may not be compatible with each other with both of them being bottoms.

And yes, Mr. Carad knew about tops and bottoms. When he learned about his son being bi, he researched about male to male relationships. He didn't need to research about male and female relationship. He has a son, that's all the answer needed for that question.

Michael returned and after half an hour of talking and eating snacks that Mrs. Carad prepared, Alex and Michael finally left. Alex grabbed the keys to his car and waved at his parents in goodbye.

"Mom, Dad, we're off then," Alex said to his parents.

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Carad," Michael followed after Alex's cue.

"Be careful out there," Mr. Carad nodded at them.

"Are you gonna be home before or after dinner, dear?" Mrs. Carad asked.

Alex shook his head. "Michael and I were planning on eating out."

His Mom nodded. "Okay. Have fun then, dear!"

After one final wave, Michael and Alex walked out the door. A minute later, Alex's parents heard the noise of a car driving off.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Later, Mr. Carad learned from his son that it didn't work out after all between him and Michael, and that Michael was now dating some other person. That answered the question that was on his mind on why Alex never brought up Michael again after that first meeting and that supposed first date (dinner) of theirs.

A minus with a minus can never work. It takes a zero and a one to tango.