11
Betrayal/ Forgiveness
Rating: PG:13ish
Summary: Fifteen years ago, Bam met Ville. They had a whirlwind affair, and Bam left Ville alone and knocked up. Nine months later, Ville had twins. Fifteen years later, they are coming to West Chester.
Disclaimer: This is fiction, never happened, and I don't make money from writing it.
Authors Notes: Late again, so sorry. I'm kinda getting back on track now, I promise. One way or another, this story will be finished. As always, thanks to my awesome friend chelseatoddx, for betaing this for me.
“Uncle Lily? What's going on with you and Isa?” Anja finally broke the silence in the car. They had been sitting for ten minutes already, silently. Although the twins already knew what had happened between their father and uncle, it was important that they act oblivious. Lauri's plan depended on it.
“Nothing... we’re just having a tiff,” Linde said quietly, not looking over at Anja. A tiff. He hoped that was all it was, but... He didn't know if Ville was serious or not about wanting Linde to leave. The brunette had been asleep by the time Linde came home at four in the morning. And he had been gone when Linde woke at seven to take the kids to school.
“Are you sure? You seem really upset, and Isa wasn't supposed to go into work until ten today, so why wasn't he home?” Lauri joined the questioning now.
Linde sighed. He was getting a migraine, something that hadn't happened in years. “Its fine, guys. Don't worry about it.”
The car lapsed into silence again, with all three staring out of the windows until Linde finally turned into the drive of the school. “Have a good day guys.”
“You too, Uncle Lily... We love you,” The two spoke in unison, making Linde crack a small smile, the first of the day.
“I love you too,” with that, the twins headed towards the school building, and Linde drove away.
Lauri and Anja walked slowly into the school building. They stopped in the large front foyer. Standing silently, they looked at their options. The school went in a sort of 'v' shape. The left hall would take them to the cafeteria, where all the kids were supposed to wait for the bell. The right hall took them to the English hallway. The two exchanged a quick look, and went right.
A teacher stopped them almost immediately, positioned in the hall for just that purpose, “Where do you think you're going?”
“We need to go to Mr. Smith's class,” Anja said calmly, giving the teacher her best innocent look. “We had some trouble with the homework last night; we want to get some help on it before we take the test today.”
The teacher looked at her for a minute, then sighed and nodded, and the twins quickly walked passed her. Lauri led the way, heading up the stairs towards Mr. Smith's class. At the top of the stairs, though, he cut a right instead of a left and picked up the pace, walking quickly.
“Let’s get out of here, before we get stopped again,” Anja stage-whispered, and Lauri nodded. At the end of the hall, they took another right and by the time they hit the exit door, they were running. They ran down the flight of stairs, taking them two at a time. At the bottom, they paused, looking around to make sure the coast was clear. Then they started running again, away from the school as fast as they could.
They were four blocks from the school before they stopped running. For a moment, the two stood still, to catch their breath, before Anja looked at her younger brother. “Where to?”
“The Green Cafe... It's by the skate park, remember?” Lauri started walking, leading Anja. It was just ten blocks to the skate park, a walk they had done many times already. The boy walked quickly, forcing his sister to do the same. He wasn't paying any attention to her, though. His thoughts were preoccupied by his plan. They were coming closer to their goal with every step they took, and he wasn't sure if he should be nervous or excited.
“How could I not? It's lime green, kinda hard to miss.” Anja grinned, falling in step beside her brother. He ignored her, concentrating on walking. He knew his sister was nervous; it wasn't often that he was the one to take the lead on their adventures. And the past few times he had, hadn't exactly ended well. In fact, the last time ended with him getting jumped and spending the night in the hospital. He grimaced at the memory.
“Lauri, what if Isa finds out were doing this? I mean, were already grounded...” Anja dropped her playful act, letting her worry come out into her voice for the first time. She wasn't usually the voice of reason, that was always Lauri's job, but she was scared. She knew her father would be extremely angry if he found out what they were doing - possibly the angriest he had ever been at them.
“I don't care. We've got to do this, Anja. Fuck what Isa thinks.” Lauri spoke bravely, but the look in his eyes showed that he was scared of his father's reaction as well. However, he wasn't about to let that stop him from doing this.
The rest of the walk was quiet. Lauri got more excited with every step he took, and Anja couldn't help but get excited right along with him. Finally, the green building came into view, and Lauri was bouncing with every step as they walked inside.
They both stopped, looking around for a second, until they saw Ryan's shaggy blonde hair at a table, and headed his way. Ryan looked up right before they got there and smiled.
“Hey Anja, hey Lauri! Come on, sit down.” Ryan greeted them with a smile, trying not to show how nervous he was. How could he not be? If Lauri's plan didn't work, then Ville and Bam's relationship was most likely screwed - and his and Linde's as well.
“What happened to you?” Anja questioned, immediately noticing the black eye and bruising on Ryan's face. She and Lauri sat across from Ryan.
Ryan hesitated for half a second. “I got into a fight with a door. I think the door won.”
Both kids laughed at him, and Lauri opened his mouth to ask another question. He never got the chance, though. Ryan suddenly looked passed them, and a small smile came over his face. “Bam, over here!”
Lauri and Anja spun around and jumped to their feet at the same time. Bam walked slowly across the restaurant, never taking his eyes off the two. He stopped a couple feet in front of them, his mouth open as he tried to figure out what to say.
Ryan finally had to break the ice for them. “Bam, this is Anja and Lauri. Guys, this is your dad.”
The three of them stared at each other for a moment longer, before Lauri suddenly catapulted himself forward, grabbing his dad into a big hug. Bam let out a gasp, hugging him back tightly, and reaching out to pull Anja into the hug as well.
“Oh god, I can't believe it. I can't believe I'm finally meeting you... God, I'm so fucking sorry. I'm so sorry.” Bam's voice was a whisper as he held his children for the first time. He wasn't even ashamed when his voice cracked, or when a few tears trickled down his cheeks.
Anja and Lauri hugged him back, holding on tightly as a few tears of their own slipped out. After a long moment, they realized people were starting to stare, and broke away and sat down.
Lauri spoke first, still trying not to cry. “Why did you leave?”
Bam sighed softly. He should have known that was coming. “I don't know. I just freaked out. I didn't know that Vil- that your father could get pregnant, you know? I just got scared, I guess. By the time I realized I had made a mistake, I was too scared to go back, because I thought Ville wouldn't forgive me.”
The twins exchanged a glance, before they both nodded, deciding to accept that for now.
Anja spoke this time, “Ryan said you wanted to meet us... Why? Do you actually want to be our father, or what?”
Bam nodded quickly, almost violently, “I do. I really do. And I know I've been a shitty one so far, but I really want to know you both. I want to be able to be there for you.”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “Teaching them bad words isn't going to score you any points, Bam.”
Bam pushed Ryan lightly, “Oh, shut it Dunn.”
Lauri giggled at the two of them, “What about our Isa? Do you want to be with him again?”
“Isa?” Bam asked, confused.
“It’s Finnish for father. All Isa would tell us about you is that you were American, so we decided to call you 'dad' and him 'Isa', so we wouldn't get confused,” Anja explained
“Oh... Well, I don't know. I still love him, I think... But, I don't know if he'd ever forgive me for leaving him. From what Dunn's told me, he doesn't speak highly of me... And he was pretty willing to go to any length not to see me.” Bam frowned deeply, thinking of Ville.
“I think he still loves you, he's just mad and scared,” Lauri offered softly, seeing Bam's frown.
“I wish... Anyway, I can't change that right now, but I can get to know you two better. What are you guys into?” Bam smiled at his kids. He couldn't believe that he was finally meeting them for the first time, and he wanted to learn everything about them.
Lauri and Anja both grinned, and the four began talking, quickly loosing track of time.
…
“Hello?” Ville snapped into his phone. He dropped the picture he was holding onto his desk in annoyance.
“Mr. Valo?” A woman's polite voice came from the other end of the phone.
“Yes?” Ville rolled his eyes, sitting down on his stool.
“This is Mrs. Anderson, from West Chester High School. I noticed Lauri and Anja are absent today, are they sick by any chance?”
Ville's jaw dropped. “They're not there?!”
“No Sir. They were marked absent this morning.” The woman spoke calmly.
“Oh, fuck” Ville mumbled, hanging up on the woman. He dialed Linde's number by memory, swearing to himself in Finnish all the while.
Linde bit his lip, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket. He peaked at it and groaned when he saw the caller ID. Ville. He quickly escaped to the bathroom, answering the phone on the last ring. “Ville, I'm at work, dammit!”
“Linde, did you drop the fucking kids of at school?!” Ville growled into the phone.
“What? Of course I did, Ville.” Linde frowned.
“Well, they're not fucking there now!” Ville almost yelled.
“Were the fuck did they go?” Linde questioned out loud, quickly growing worried.
“I don't fucking know, Linde! We've got to fucking find them! And I've got to finish this fucking project... Oh fuck!”
“Calm down, Ville. I'll take off work and look for them. My boss won't care. I'll call you as soon as I find them, or not, okay?”
“Okay, Linde, just hurry,” Ville hoped his friend would find them quickly. Despite the things he had said the night before, he knew that Linde loved the kids and would be just as worried as him until they were found.
Linde hung up and left the bathroom, quickly going to find his boss. A second later, he was on his way out the door, forgetting to even grab his jacket, and running as fast as he could to his car.
He went straight to the skate park, hoping that the kids would be there. He parked and jumped out of the car, jogging into the park. A quick look around showed him that they weren't there. He groaned. Where could they be, he wondered.
He turned and looked around at the surrounding area. A grin lit his face as he saw Ryan's car. He moved quickly, striding over towards the green building it was parked in front of. Maybe Ryan could help him look. It couldn't hurt, right? And he might know some hang out spots for kids. Plus, he wanted to make sure he was okay after the night before.
Linde pushed the door open, and almost immediately spotted Ryan. And Bam. And Lauri and Anja. He stopped breathing for a long moment. Oh, he was so fucking dead when Ville found out. He was deader than dead. He was being resurrected just so he could be killed again.
He moved slowly, walking towards the table the four sat at. Hoping beyond hope that Lauri and Anja had just ran into Ryan, and that they hadn't figured out who Bam was.
“What the hell is going on here?” He spoke sharply, and spoke in Finnish. Two guilty children immediately looked up at him, along with a very wary Bam and Ryan.
“Uncle Lily, we just-” Anja started.
“Don't, Anja! What the hell is going on?!” Linde kept his voice low, and kept speaking in Finnish, leaving Bam and Ryan to exchange confused looks.
“We have the right to know who our dad is Linde!” Lauri exploded, speaking English and almost yelling. Several people looked over at him.
Linde paled. They did know. Oh god, and it was his fault. Ville was truly going to kill him. He collapsed in the seat next to Anja and Lauri, and put his head in his hands, muttering in Finnish.
“Oh, Ville is going to murder me when he finds out, I should have listened to him when he said not to go back out with Ryan. How could I be so stupid? He's going to be so pissed at me, he’s never going to let me see the twins again. Oh, and it's all my fault...”
“Hey, calm down, Linde,” Ryan said softly, reaching across the table to grab Linde's hand. “What's done is done.”
“How did you find out?” Linde whispered, clutching at Ryan's hand but looking at the twins.
“We heard you and Isa fighting... When we took off before, we went to see April, our grandmother... Then last night, Lauri stole your phone and called Ryan, and he agreed to meet us today.” Anja answered quietly, trying not to make Linde any angrier.
Linde shook his head slightly. “You knew the whole time?”
Lauri and Anja both nodded, and Linde let his head drop to the table in disbelief. Ryan squeezed his hand gently, trying to comfort the dreadlocked man.
“I've always wanted to know who our dad is, Uncle Lily... And he wants to be a part of our lives, too! Why can't we at least have a chance to get to know him?” Lauri spoke quietly, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
“But Ville...” Linde started, then trailed off, looking at the twin faces in front of him. He looked at Bam for a long moment, then sighed. “I don't know, Lauri. It's not my choice, you know that”
“Does Isa still love dad?” Anja asked suddenly, looking up at Linde.
“I think so. Why?” he questioned, seeing the unmistakable 'I'm-up-to-no-good' look on her face.
“Lauri and I like Dad, and he likes us. He loves Isa, and Isa loves him, so why can't we do something? At the very least get them to talk?” Anja pouted up at her uncle.
Lauri continued his sister's train of thought. “After all, if they just happened to bump into each other somewhere, it wouldn't be our fault, right? And Isa wouldn't be so mad at you, then, if he and Dad got back together... He wouldn't have to know that we found out about Dad until later...”
Ryan started laughing suddenly, causing everyone to look at him. He explained quickly, “That sounds just like something Bam would come up with.”
Everyone chuckled along with him for a few minutes.
“So, Linde? Will you help us set Dad and Isa up? Please?” Anja asked after the laughter died down.
Linde hesitated, looking at everyone.
“Linde, I'm not the same person who left Ville... I was young, and I was scared, and I've regretted it ever since. I don't expect him to take me back, although I would love if he did. I just want to be able to apologize and to be around my kids.” Bam looked Linde in the eyes as he spoke, trying to portray the honesty in his words.
“Please, Uncle Lily.... I want to be able to have a dad,” Lauri said quietly.
Linde slowly opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, his phone interrupted.
“It's Ville,” he mumbled, looking up at them before answering. “Hey Ville.”
“Did you find them?” Ville asked quickly, worry in his voice.
“Yeah, I found them. They're fine, Ville,” Linde answered.
“Where were they?” Ville demanded, a bit of anger returning to his voice once he realized that his children were okay.
Linde hesitated a moment before answering, looking at Anja and Lauri, “They were at the skate park.”
The other four broke out into silent cheers and hugs, hearing Linde's lie
“The skate park? Are you fucking kidding?! Well, take them back to school, and make sure they go to class this time. And tell them that they are dead once I get home. They're grounded until the end of the school year... Maybe longer. I can't fucking believe this...”
“Okay, no problem, Ville.” Linde hung up, letting out a big sigh. “The things I do for you kids. He's going to kill me when he finds out I lied.”