Another Chance at My Promise

Stutter - CHAPTER 15

"I missed you as well."

Once the two arrived at the cafe, they picked their snacks up quickly before heading back out to the park where they then sat on one of the picnic benches and began eating.

"S-So does your family have like... a b-big book of family recipes?" Remi questioned.

"Ahhh, I see where this is going. You wanna steal our recipes, don't you?"

"No, no, no." Remi giggled. "I'm just curious."

"I'm just messing with you," Marcelo fixed, adjusting his position on the bench. "Yes to your question. When my ancestors migrated here from Scotland, they began to search for ways to make money. Therefore, they all collected their best recipes and combined all of said recipes into a big book of recipes. The Reid Recipes. And I guess as time went on, the book was went from generation to generation, eventually landing in the hands of my father, hence me and my siblings now being able to work in the cafe."

"S-So only you and your siblings are allowed to work in the cafe?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, y-you said that the recipe book landed in the hands of your father which is th-the reason why you and y-your siblings work in the café." Marcelo nodded. "So does th-that mean that your... cousin f-for example can't work in the café?"

"Not necessarily. They could if they chose to but since there are so many of us in my immediate family, we don't really need anymore people in my outer family to work."

"Ohhh."

Marcelo nodded again.

"But, enough of my chaotic family. I wanna know about Remi's family. What do you have goin' on?"

Remi's face fell a bit and he looked down at his hands. Marcelo looked at his expression more thoroughly and caught that Remi wasn't very fond of his family. He was about to tell Remi that he didn't have to talk about it, but Remi soon looked back up and opened his mouth to speak.

"I don't... I don't know where m-my family is."

"You don't know?"

Remi shook his head, no.

"What happened?"

Remi bit his bottom lip just as his nose began to turn red. He looked Marcelo in the eyes and saw a worried look. A concerned look. A caring look. A look that was opposite of the ridiculing look that he thought he'd see. That's what gave him the motivation to open up.

"My parents d-dropped me off at a foster care facilit-ty when I was 11."

Marcelo's face fell just as Remi's had earlier. He hadn't known what to expect, but it definitely wasn't this. He leaned forward and put his elbows on the bench table, ready to listen and/or bring comfort to Remi if needed.

"That was around the time that I uh... I-I started my period. My dads were uneducated. They initially wanted a baby boy, but of course, I'm inters-sex. They didn't know how to raise a... girl practically. And I guess when I g-got my period, that was the l-last straw for them. One night, they woke me up out of my sleep and told me that we w-were gonna go somewhere and that we'd come right b-back. I was tired, so I fell a-asleep in the car. The next time that I woke up, I was on a bed in a room full of other k-kids.

"I just remember being s-so confused. I thought that I-I was dreaming at first so I a-asked one of the ladies that watched over us if I could go home. Sh-She told me that I was home, and I protested. I went on to ask h-her where my d-dads were, and she said that they were gone. That th-they'd dropped me o-off a couple of h-hours before and that they wouldn't be back. I haven't seen them since."

Remi looked down at his hands again. Marcelo was flabbergasted. He would've never thought that something this drastic had happened to Remi. Remi was always such a ball of sunshine, never rude, never grumpy. He was a real, kind, genuine soul. But this, this was awful.

"To make s-sure that I, quote on quote, didn't get sent from one family to another once they found out that I was intersex, I was literally categorized a-as intersex on my files. Therefore, no one ever w-wanted me. I traveled from facility t-to facility, some more strict than o-others. Some friendly, others a-abusive, leading to me develop-p-ping a stutter. That's why I-I hate it so much, and I hate w-when you call it c-cute because it reminds m-me of that time of my life."

Guilt immediately flooded Marcelo's face knowing that he'd called Remi's stutter cute numerous times. He hated that he'd constantly reminded Remi of something that he obviously wanted very much to forget. Something that he didn't want to be put through again. Marcelo wished that he could take it all back, but the damage was already done.

"I'm so sorry, Remi. I didn't mean to do that to you. I would've never continuously said that about your stutter if I knew the context behind it. I'm so, so sorry."

Sniffling, Remi nodded and fidgeted with his fingers. The two were quiet for a while. Marcelo was debating on whether or not he should change the subject or if the mood was ruined. He watched Remi take a bite of his snack and look at everything else but him. He thought of something to say. Something to ask. This led to him asking, "So, how did you end up in this big city?"

Remi finally looked at Marcelo. Although Marcelo's tone was slightly playful, Marcelo still wore a look that proved that he cared.

"I e-eventually aged to 18, and I g-got thrown out of the foster f-facility. I needed m-money to take care of myself since no o-one else wanted to, and I figured th-that the city was the best place to do that. I got my first job a-at the pet store just down the s-street. That's where I a-adopted Pax," Remi looked down at Paxton who was asleep in his lap and smiled slightly, rubbing his fur. "Then, I picked up my second job at the library where I-I currently work at.

"I made Mrs. Callum aware of m-my situation, and she gave m-me a hefty amount of freedom when it came to what I c-could and couldn't do. She arranged my library schedule around my work schedule a-at the pet store, and she even l-let me sleep at the l-library whenever I needed to which was p-practically everyday. She's a l-lifesaver for sure."

Marcelo smiled as an image of the sweet Mrs. Callum popped into his mind.

"Damon was a b-big help too. He would sleep at the library along with m-me sometimes to make sure that I would be okay."

"Yep, that's Damon. The guy has a heart of gold."

"Y-Yeah, he does," Remi nodded. "After a few years of very, very hard work, I m-made enough money to purchase my first apartment, the apartment th-that I live in now. It isn't much, but it's d-definitely an upgrade from sleeping in the library, and I am more than g-grateful for it. I ended up being able to drop my j-job at the pet store since I was making e-enough at the library. And here I am now."

"Remi... that's... whoa. That's really amazing. I would've never guessed that you went through what you went through."

"Is that a g-good thing?" Remi chuckled.

"Of course it is. It shows how far you've come. I just... I still feel terrible. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that. I'm gonna try my best to be the one to fill your mind with better memories," Marcelo said as he reached across the table and grabbed Remi's hand, squeezing it in his. Remi blushed a tad. He would never be able to get over the attention that Marcelo gives him.

"You p-promise?"

"I promise."