"Che, I made breakfast."

Simple best words spoken by the single best person. I opened my eyes and met a pair of very yellow ones.

"It's gonna get cold."

I nodded and sat up, stretching my arms over my head. Nathan padded back out into the kitchen and I hurried to get ready. He had been practising forever on making omelettes and I'd be a total dick if I let them get cold.

He had set the table really nicely with the tablecloth Nat had given us for Christmas and some candles.

"What's all this"?

"Anniversary," he said and smiled. He poured me a cup of coffee and nodded at the table, urging me to sit down.

"What anniversary? We weren't married in March, babe."

"No, but... It's 15 years since we first met."

The fact that he remembered that made me fall in love with him all over again. I smiled and sat down, receiving a kiss from my hubby before he sat down opposite of me.

"I tried to make the omelettes right." He poked his omelette with his fork.

It was so important for him I liked this, it wouldn't matter if I did or not. I would've lied if I didn't like it, but fuck it was really good.

Nathan always tried to not smile when he got compliments. His cheeks turned a little darker and he'd look down at his fidgeting hands. It was adorable and it never got old.

It was nice. Nathan talked about the store and how Javier wanted to maybe expand it a little. I thought it sounded like a nice idea. Nathan was amazing at doing things with his hands, so if he was to help with the expansion, Javier's store was in good hands – literally.

"Have you considered the interview?" I asked after a while of pleasant silence. Because I had to ruin shit.

He rolled his eyes. "Che, I'm not doing interviews."

"But this is important. They're naming the law after you."

"And yet I'm still a wanted criminal in the US. It's all bullshit. I don't want a law. I want to be able to leave Chile. I want to visit home."

I swallowed hard and nodded. "I thought this was home."

He sighed deeply. "That's not what I meant."

I shrugged a shoulder.

"Che, I... I wanna visit my mum's grave."

I met his gaze and he smiled a small sad smile.

"I just wanna put some flowers on it."

"I know," I breathed. I cut a piece of the omelette and shoved it in my mouth. "This could be the first step to be able to do that though."

He rolled his eyes again and leaned back in his char. "How?"

"Show them you're not the monster they wanna portray you as."

He cracked his jaw and shook his head, meaning he was locking down on me now. Only one thing to do now. I rose to my feet and pulled him out of his chair, pushing him back against the counter. I bent down and kissed him. He immediately kissed me back.

"Please," I murmured against his lips.

"No." He pulled back and looked up at me. "Che, all they'll see is a grown man who hasn't moved on from what happened when he was a kid. I don't wanna give them the satisfaction."

"They'll see a fierce man who's not afraid of them." I took his face in my hands. "I can't fight this on my own anymore."

"I never asked you to fight. Just stop. Go to uni, teach and do some research."

I groaned loudly. "That's not enough!"

"Why?!" he growled back. "Why is it never enough for you? Why do you always wanna fight? We fought all this shit, we fled and now we're finally fucking free! We're old, Che! We're not teenagers anymore."

"Because it's my country, Nathan!" I threw my arms out to the side. "It's Aidan's country. It's the twins' country! And believe it or not, I wanna go home too one day."

He ran his hands over his face and started scratching the scar on his cheek. I wrapped my fingers around his and stopped him.

"They'll all stare," he whispered.

"Let them. They did this to you."

He shook his head and leaned his forehead against my chest. "I can't do it."

I didn't wanna push him more. I had utterly ruined breakfast and I felt fucking awful about it.

"I'm sorry," I murmured and kissed the top of his head. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

He shook his head, took a deep breath and looked up at me. "It's okay."

"Did you convince him?" Aidan asked and smiled at Ryan running past him. Soccer practice was always a hit with the boy.

"Nope," I sighed. "He says, everyone is gonna stare at him."

Aidan sighed too and glanced at me. "So he's not ready?"

"He doesn't care, Aidan. He just wants to work in the store, hang out with the twins and make omelettes."

"Well, he has been wanting a normal life since he was a kid. He never had that, Che. It's not that weird he doesn't want anything to potentially ruin what little peace he has now."

I nodded and waved at Ryan as he ran past us again. That kid could run laps for days.

"I get that but it's not like I'm asking him to pull out the heavy artillery and go fight anyone. I just asked him to do an interview."

"I think he'd rather fight than speak publicly."

I snorted and nodded again.

Ryan came running back towards us, all fangs and smiles. "Did you see it, Dad? Did you see my goal?"

"I did!" Aidan said very enthusiastically. "And I think we gotta go get a soda to celebrate, huh?"

"Yeah!" Ryan glanced up at me. "You coming to get a soda, Uncle Che?"

"Of course, buddy," I said and ruffled up his hair.

He growled at me and started fixing it. He looked so much like Nathan, he could actually pass for Nathan's kid. He even moved like him too. They were nothing alike though. Aaron was the one who was exactly like him but looked nothing like my hubby. Well, okay, the twins were identical just like Nat and Nathan were, but I swear I could see clear differences between them.

With the kid stuffed in the back, me behind the wheel and Aidan next to me, we set off to meet up with Nat, Aaron and Nathan at home.

"You're gonna get fat if you keep drinking all those milkshakes," Ryan said and smiled sarcastically.

"So?" Aaron shot back. "With these genes, I'll never get fat."

"That might actually be true," Nathan said and snorted.

"See?" Aaron looked almost triumphant but I knew he was too modest to be triumphant like that.

Nat shot her boys a tired look and turned back to Aidan.

They were discussing mortgages. Nathan and the boys kept talking about weight supplements and working out. I wanted to scream. I wanted them all to realise we had a chance at doing something here but none of them looked like they even thought about it. The Creed Law was a big fucking deal. No youngster under the age of 18 could be considered legally feral. Therefore no feral rehabilitation centres.

The boys were 13 years old and they could easily be labelled ferals just because they looked so awfully much like cats. Just like Nat and Nathan.

"You okay?" Nathan asked and smiled at me, putting his hand on top of mine.

"I want the future to be better, Nathan."

Everyone looked a little baffled at me. Nathan sighed and patted my hand, looking down at his own. It was filled with small light scars. A big one was on the back of his hand, going over the bones.

He didn't say anything, just kept looking down at his hand. The kids were silently casting looks at each other. Nat was looking at her brother and Aidan was frowning at me.

"Don't you?" I asked after a too long and cringe-worthy silent moment.

"I want to be left alone," Nathan said very quietly.

"Do you want the kids to be left alone?" I asked.

"Che," Aidan murmured.

"Because they won't be left alone. Not in this world. You've said it yourself a hundred times, if you didn't walk, talk and look like a cat, you probably wouldn't have been taken. But you do and so do they. They could be taken tomorrow. And you just wanna be left alone." I rose to my feet. "You have a chance to do something good, but you can't get over the fact that yeah, someone will look at that fucking scar."

He rubbed his cheek.

"Che, can you not talk to my brother like that?" Nat chimed in.

"Why?! We're on the brink of actually doing something right now and all we do is sit here and do nothing!"

"What exactly do you want him to do? Be a freedom fighter? Do public speeches about how the system is sick?" She frowned up at me.

"Doing that interview would-"

"Change nothing," Nathan interrupted. "I'm feral in the US, Che. Why the hell would they start listening to me now?"

"Because they're naming the fucking law after you!" I yelled so loudly there was actual echo out on the street, my voice bouncing between the buildings.

Nathan rose to his feet and stopped right in front of me. "Fine. Let's do the fucking interview. You win. I'm fucking done arguing with you." He strolled past me and went out on the balcony. Probably to smoke.

Nat was shooting daggers at me with her eyes and I got sick of that after two seconds. I joined Nathan on the balcony. He was slumping in his chair, smoking. He glanced up at me and then looked back at the house across the stress.

"You don't get it," he said and handed me a cigarette.

"Then explain it to me." I sat down next to him and took his free hand in mine.

"They branded me. In my face. When I look in the mirror, I see that. Only that. I see people staring at it all the time. You, Nat, Birdie and the twins are the only ones who don't stare. Why go on TV if all people will see is a talking 'F'?"

"I doubt that is the only thing they'll see." I squeezed his hand in mine and he snorted. "I mean it. I'm not just being nice here. When you start talking, people listen. You don't get how powerful you are when you talk about something you're passionate about."

"I think you're literally the only person who thinks that." He smiled a little at me and then leaned against me. "I don't want to be a joke."

"You won't be a joke." I put my arm around him and kissed the side of his head.

"They always make fun of me for being short, you know."

"Well, fuck them. The same magazines make fun of me for being a fag."

"You're bi." He frowned.

"Still married to a dude." I shrugged and pulled him into my lap. "To a very hot dude too." I smiled up at him and he smiled back.

"Amazing how you always succeed in pissing me off and then making it all good again within minutes."

"Amazing how you keep forgiving me," I murmured and kissed him.

"We should go back inside. It must be getting awkward for them."

"Take your time!" Nat yelled from inside.

We both snorted and kissed again before going back inside.