Page 267 of Seasons of Love
"Since I moved to Lisbon, I've been wondering about my family. I never expected to see my brother again, but then again, I never expected to be back in Lisbon, either, so seeing him was a shock. I won't deny that.
"There is something I haven't told you that explains my reaction. It's no excuse, because I should have listened to you."
Vítor put both his hands on my face and ran his thumbs up and down my cheeks. I wanted to lean into his touch so badly, but I was too afraid.
"When I met Dri, he told me he had a son. He introduced me to Mateus when we'd been together a couple of months and he knew we were serious about each other. It was love at first babble for me because Mateus was the most adorable child I'd ever seen. That was the day I became a dad.
"When Dri died, Mateus helped me sort out the paperwork in the office. It was something we did together to be closer to each other and Dri. Mateus came across a birth certificate. His birth certificate. There was a name for the mother, but no name for the father.
"We were both in shock because we didn't know what it all meant. We went to the registry office, and after going through all the hoops, we found out that the name on the birth certificate was of Dri's sister. I didn't know much about her, only that she'd committed suicide. She suffered from depression. I only knew this because Dri told me once when he got drunk after Mateus' fifth birthday. He never mentioned it again, so I figured it was a painful memory he wanted to forget.
"Mateus didn't believe me when I said I'd had no idea. I still don't know why Dri didn't tell me he was raising his nephew as his son. You see, Dri was bisexual, something he told me when we met. He'd been with women before, so I'd assumed Mateus was the fruit of a previous relationship."
"I understand that's why you couldn't forgive me for keeping from you that I knew who you were. I lied, too."
"Tiago, why did you go to Porto?"
I gasped. How did he know I'd been to Porto?
25
VÍTOR
"I didn't know you'd been to Porto at first, if that's what you're wondering. I thought it was strange that Dri had two bouquets of daisies, but I thought Mateus had stopped by and left them."
"How do you know then?"
"My son told me."
"Mateus?"
"David."
Tiago's eyebrows shot up in confusion.
"David came to see me in Porto, and we had a long conversation. That's when I realized he was my son. Trust me, it took me by surprise as much as it did him. But we can get to that later. I want to know why you went to Porto."
He looked down, almost defeated, so I angled his head up so his eyes met mine, and I kept my hands where they were.
"I went to fight for us and for your family. I realized there were a lot of things about them you didn't know, so while I did lie to you, I didn't want you to live the rest of your life without knowing how they felt."
"And us?"
He tried to look away again, but he was unable to, so he closed his eyes instead. A small tear escaped his eyes.
I placed my lips on his gently, and he let out a cry but thankfully didn't try to stop me. I deepened the kiss when his hands came around my waist and gripped my shirt. He tasted like warmth and sunshine, and it was just what I wanted to wake up to every day for the rest of my life, so I reluctantly stopped the kiss so I could tell him.
His cheeks were flushed and the fear he had in his eyes was now replaced with lust. Good.
"Baby, I am tired of living in the past. There are many wonderful things in the past I want to remember, cherish even, but I don't want to dwell on the sad times or the missed opportunities."
I took the small bouquet of dried flowers from my jacket pocket and placed it back in Tiago's hands. He looked at me inquisitively.
"This bouquet was given to me by an old Gypsy woman. When she stopped me on the street, I thought she wanted some money, but all she did was give me these dried flowers and an insight into my future, which at the time I chose to ignore. She told me that I can have more than one great love in my lifetime. Later that day, I met you. I don't know if there is more significance to the bouquet or if we were always meant to meet, but I don't care. I love you, and all I want is to spend the rest of my life loving you and letting you love me, if you feel the same way."
"But the kiss… I saw you with a guy. You two looked so comfortable with each other like you belonged together."
"Luís has seen me drunk more times than I care to remember, he babysat Mateus whenever we needed some time off, he's been there through my grief more than any of my friends, and even when I was determined that what me and you had wasn't that strong, he still told me I needed to see you. He's my best friend and a brother. What you saw was a comforting kiss. We've done it so many times I don't even think anything of it, but I can stop it and ask him to not do it anymore."
