He felt like he had just had the wind knocked out of him. He couldn't breathe. He turned around and left the room.
"Fuck," Holden said, going after him. "BODHI WAIT!"
He found him at the end of the hallway. He had his hands against the wall and his head down. Breathing deeply, trying to keep from passing out. Holden was now about three feet from him when he spoke.
He held his hand out to stop him. "Don't fucking come near me, Holden. I swear to God."
"Bodhi, let me explain."
"There is no explanation that would justify keeping my sons, my blood, my babies away from me. Unless you thought I was dead or in combat overseas and had no way to contact me, there is no explanation or excuse!"
Bodhi stood up and headed through the restaurant and into the parking lot. Holden went after him.
"Bodhi, stop!"
He was about to get into his BMW when he stopped and looked at the man who had used to be his closest friend.
"I don't even know what to say. We've been talking again for the last six months. I don't remember you saying a word. No one did. How could you keep something so important from me? My kids, Holden. My two beautiful, smart, funny kids. My bloodline." He slammed the door shut and approached the other side of the car.
"Look, the only person who knew I knew, the only one who still had contact with you was Jake. Everyone else knew, but Perri begged them not to tell you."
"Does my father know?" Bodhi asked.
"No. He moved to Arizona with Monica before they were born. We couldn't risk it getting back to you."
"So, let me get this straight. Not only have you denied me what? Almost five years with my children, you have also denied my father his Grandchildren. God, You people are fucking assholes. Did you think I would never find out? I live right down the road from you, Holden! Twenty-five minutes. Jesus Christ, Holden! I have been that close to my sons!" He was so angry and amped up he punched his passenger side window, and it shattered into a thousand pieces.
Holden held up his hands like a hostage negotiator and walked towards him slowly. Bodhi had started pacing the parking lot like a caged animal.
"I know. That's why I set this up. I thought you had the right to know. We talked to her all the time about telling you. On their birthday, we had an intervention. She's my little sister, Bodhi. I had to remain faithful to her request. But when I knew you were here and that you were divorced, I made an executive decision."
"FIVE FUCKING YEARS TOO LATE!" he bellowed. He saw Jake coming out of the restaurant. Bodhi pointed to him and shouted.
"AND YOU! I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON BETWEEN YOU AND PERRI, BUT I DON'T WANT TO EVEN LOOK AT YOU!"
He looked at the broken window. "Bodhi, you need to calm down before someone calls the cops," Jake said.
"You're right. So, I am going to get the fuck out of here before I do something I really regret." He opened the car door and went to get in.
She watched him walk out of the party room.
"Persephone, are you okay?" Jake asked.
She was rendered speechless. All the color had drained from her face.
"Okay. Time for you to take a seat." Jake helped her over to the table where the boys were.
"Did you know? Who knew? Who knew he was going to be here? What did you ambush me? Who thought this was a good idea?"
Jake squatted in front of her. He held her hands. "This was something that needed to happen."
"Why?"
"Because the boys have a right to know, and so did Bodhi. And he lives twenty-five minutes from you. You were bound to run into him somewhere. I know he shops at Trader Joe's. Did you really want to see him in the frozen food section for the first time? Apparently, you would have passed out."
"So, that's the reasoning? You didn't want me to faint in the frozen food section?"
"It was more important for the boys to meet their father. Holden can only do so much."
"Does Holden realize the Pandora's box he has opened."
"He had the best of intentions."
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions, Jake." She looked at her boys. "Boys. When you met the giant, did he say anything to you?"
"He asked how old we were. He said he liked our hair. He asked if I liked the Black Bears."
"Did he say anything else?"
"I don't know, Patrick. Did he say anything else?"
"You told him that your favorite team was the Black Bears because there was a player with the same name as you. And then Uncle Holden called us to come fill our pie holes."
"And Uncle Holden called you by your first and middle names."
"Yeah."
"He heard their names, Jacob. He knows they are his boys. He knows that I hid them from him. I can't do this, Jacob. I need to go home."
She started crying. The adrenaline that was coursing through her had dumped, and now she was crying. The boys looked at her.
"Mom, you, okay?" Bodhi asked. "Uncle Jake, what's wrong with mom?"
"She's just not very happy right now. Let's take her home."
"I agree," Patrick said. "Let's go get a pancake to go Bodhi."
The boys ran off to the buffet table.
He saw her exiting the place, holding hands with the little boys. Each had a pancake in their free hand. She looked at Bodhi. He could tell she had been crying.
God, she is more beautiful even after all these years later. Seeing her mothering my boys, our boys, makes me want to bust a nut and fill her pretty cunt with my seed. WTF Bodhi! You are angry.
"UNCLE HOLDEN! YOU ARE IN BIG TROUBLE!" Patrick yelled across the lot.
"YOU MADE MOM VERY ANGRY! IF MOM ISN'T HAPPY, NOBODY IS HAPPY!" Bodhi hollered.
"Get in the car, boys, and buckle in." The boys scaled the SUV and climbed into the backseat.
Bodhi slammed his car door and swiftly walked toward the vehicle. "I want to see them Persephone! I want to see the boys!"
"BODHI YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN! YOU'RE GOING TO SCARE THE BOYS!" Holden called after him.
"STAY OUT THIS HOLDEN! YOU AND I ARE NOT IN A GOOD PLACE RIGHT NOW!" He was breathing deeply through his nose, trying to calm down.
One look at her and his intense anger turned to devastating sadness. His muscles loosened, his eyes became soft, his jaw unclenched, and his fists unfurled.
He spoke with pain in his voice. "How could you do this? How could you deny me, my sons? Did you think I wouldn't be a good father? Did you think I wouldn't have wanted them? I told you that I wanted us to have kids with you. Marry you. Be a family." His eyes were growing red.
She said nothing. Uncertain of what to say, she played and pulled at the hem of the sweatshirt.
"Were you ever planning on telling me?" A tear started to roll from his eye, and he quickly wiped it away. "I don't know if I should love or hate you right now."
She gave him an empathic look. "Bodhi, let me explain---"
He started to get angry again. "Explain? You want to explain? You mean like you let me explain that night you threw me out of your house? About Janessa? You have no idea what happened, and I wanted to tell you. But, no. You just yelled and pushed and hit me. You don't think I felt horrible for what I did? You told me you didn't believe in my love for you. I think my heart stopped for a few seconds. The pain was excruciating."
She dropped her eyes. "I'm sorry about that. I regret not letting you explain. But I was so hurt and angry. I wouldn't have believed a word you had to say. I knew you loved me. I just couldn't comprehend what you did and why you did it."
"Hurt and angry? You were hurt and angry? What the fuck do you think I was going to feel like when I found out. If I ever was going to find out!"
"Bodhi. Please. I need to get the boys home."
"Who's listed on the birth certificate? As their father?"
She mumbled something.
"I'm sorry I couldn't hear you."
"I said it lists the father as unknown."
His eyes opened wide. "Unknown? You just erased me? Were you ever going to tell my sons I was their father? I have no rights to my children. How could you have done this? Did you hate me that badly? You were that made at me?"
"What was I supposed to think of you? You went back to England, and two months, two fucking months later, you were on the front page of newspapers and magazines and YouTube and Instagram with your new wife. It tore my heart into a million fucking pieces when Holden told me you were marrying her. I died a little that day. I was six months pregnant. And I hated you. Even more than I did at my graduation party."
"You don't know the situation."
"I would never have let my sons anywhere near that woman. Part of me wanted to tell you, but there was just no fucking way. And by the time you got divorced, it was years later. You were starting your job with the Black Bears, and I didn't want you to have the