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Oscar knew his mum would kill him for this, but he hadn't spent the last six months scouring through every bit of Facebook information and deep diving into MySpace - something no fourteen year old should ever do - to not tell him.
He'd just got home from school, dumping his blazer on the table alongside his rucksack, "Mum? Promise not to get angry with me... I invited dad over."
"...what?" Freddie looked over at him from the kitchen, setting down a potato he was scrubbing. "Love, what are you talking about? You don't have a dad, darling."
"I do though, obviously," Oscar was smiling, this was how things went in films, right? "I found your old account and there's dozens of pictures of you and some guy from before I was born, and he looks just like me."
"...who? Who did you invite?" Now Fred looked nervous. "Oscar-"
"You had him as Brimi in all the old posts, but I found him on Facebook a few months ago," Oscar told him, "Brian May, he's my dad, right?"
"Oh my..." Freddie held his head in his hands. "Oscar..." What had he done?
"It is then." Oscar nodded to himself, going towards Freddie - he was already the same height as him, "This is great, isn't it?"
"You are in big trouble," he told him flatly. "Get upstairs and get washed up. Leave your phone on the counter."
"What?" Oscar frowned, this wasn't what he'd expected, "Come off it, really?"
"Do what I told you." He went back to the potatoes. "And I better not hear you gaming. You've lost touch with the internet for a while.'
"It's Friday, what am I supposed to do?" Oscar huffed, "All I did was talk to my own parent, what's wrong with that?"
"You went behind my back about it, it's still not okay, Oscar. Things are the way they are for a reason. Now go."
"He's coming tomorrow morning, mum, you really can't do anything about it," Oscar grabbed his bag and headed towards the stairs, picking up one of the cats as he went, "God you're unfair."
Freddie groaned and leaned on the counter. Having a teenager was hard, but he hadn't expected THIS kind of trouble. He should've known. His fault, really. How was he going to handle this?
Oscar decided to just ignore his mum, going straight onto FIFA. Clearly his mum hadn't exactly been a golden child, he was a teen mum for starters, and from the looks of the photos he'd been on the wilder side back then.
Freddie gave up on the big dinner - he'd have messed it up anyway. Oscar probably wasn't going to join him, so he'd just heat some leftovers and his son could help himself to those later. He'd leave a kit kat on the counter as a Grace offering, deciding to spend the evening in his room, to give him space.
Oscar wasn't really that angry with him, just huffy - all he wanted was to make his mum happy, and everyone loves a classic family get together. The next morning rolled around too quickly for some, but Oscar was up early to make breakfast for Freddie, a sort of apology.
Freddie came downstairs, looking ready to go for a run or something. He walked into the kitchen, finding him working. "Look at you, my petit prince."
"Pancakes the way you make them," He smiled, "Sorry about yesterday."
"It's today that I'm concerned about," he told him. "When is he supposed to be here?"
"He said eleven," Oscar told him, "He doesn't seem particularly angry... Was he nice?"
"Yeah. We spent a summer together before he went to uni and I was meant to go to college." He leaned on the counter. "Your place of origin, not far from your grandparents' place in Feltham. I should take you there sometime."
"I'd like that," Oscar nodded, "We could go as a family."
"Hold your horses, mister, me and Brian have a lot to talk about." He sighed softly. "He's gonna despise me.'
"He won't, mum, he'll probably still love you. He's not been in a relationship for at least five years, no other kids, lives twenty minutes away. It's perfect."
"You're a stalker and I don't know if I like it." He shook his head. "It's gonna be a mess, love."
"It's not stalking it's finding out where half of my DNA comes from," he corrected, "I just want to meet him, if he's a prick I'll block him online."
"Wow, how ballsy. Not like he'll know where you live." Freddie straightened up. "I'll be back shortly. Keep the pancakes warm.'
Oscar rolled his eyes, of course Freddie was making it seem a bad thing.
Freddie headed out, getting some nerves out with the run. He came back and showered, then had breakfast with him, but he was thinking about Brian quite a bit.
Oscar thought about trying to look smart for this, but decided casual was better. He'd always sort of wondered about who his dad was, Freddie claimed not to remember, but seeing the photos the other day - it had to be that guy, there was too much in common.
Freddie helped him tidy up the kitchen after. He went and got the door when Brian knocked, taking a deep breath before opening up.
Brian really hadn't known what to think, he had never forgotten that summer, but he'd moved his life on. Getting a message from a random kid that seemed to match potential dates and times, claiming to be his son was definitely a shock, but not as much as seeing Freddie just stood there looking as beautiful as before.
Brian had only improved. He looked very much the same, but the long curly mane looked quite handsome on him too. Freddie rubbed his arm gently, feeling quite shy. "...hey."
"Hey..." Brian echoed, taking a moment to let it all sink in, "Freddie... I-"
"Is that him?" Oscar came tumbling through, hiding a little behind Freddie.
"Yes, dear." Freddie stepped back. "Introduce yourself, kid."
"Oscar," he held his hand out, not sure what else to do. "Oscar Mercury."
"It's a pleasure," Brian nodded, he was originally going to ask if this was even his son, but he couldn't really deny it looking at him, "I guess I'm your father."
"Yes, sir." Oscar smiled a little. "Sorry, uh… sorry it had to be so strange, online and all."
"Doesn't matter, I'm glad I found out," Brian gave him a small smile, "Can I talk to your mum in private for a minute? This is a lot to take in."
"Yeah, yeah, of course." Oscar patted Freddie's shoulder and scrambled upstairs.
Freddie stood quietly for a moment. What a mess. "I… I never thought I would see you again."
"Ditto," he nodded, running a hand through his hair, "I mean I phoned a few times and emailed, I thought you'd just moved on. I never expected this."
"Different number. And I haven't used AOL in ages." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry about all this. Really. If our roles were reversed I don't think I'd be able to forgive me."
"I do forgive you though," Brian told him genuinely, "I'm not happy about missing out on most of his life, but I would like to be there for the rest of it. If you'll let me."
"Yeah, of course. It's your kid too, totally fair." Freddie nodded. "You're free to spend time with him. We just need to communicate about the when bits.'
"Thank you. I just want to make it clear I'm not trying to take any custody away from you, I really don't know how to look after myself, never mind a child," Brian told him, "But I'd like to get to know him, make up for some of the lost time at least."
"No, no, I totally get it, that's fine." He nodded quickly. "You're welcome to. That's why he did this."
"What's he like then?" Brian asked, sort of curious now, "I'm guessing this wasn't planned."
"He's apparently ready to start hacking," Freddie replied. "He's clever, but he can be lazy about it. Not incredibly athletic, prefers his xbox to most people… he's a lot like you."
"Didn't have your energetic genes then," he couldn't help but smirk, "He seems lovely."
"He is, nice guy." Freddie sat on the sofa. "You want some tea?"
"Sure," Brian nodded, "So what happened then, all these years. What've you been up to?"
"Not much. Teen parenting didn't leave time for a whole lot, I just worked wherever I could. Didn't end up going to uni."
"Shit, mate, I'm sorry," Brian said, "That can't have been easy."
He shook his head. "I managed. Ended up taking classes online. Got certified to work in illustration so that's got us taken care of."
"I can start to pay child support, I won't be able to pay back all the ones I've missed, but I can help."
"It's fine, Brian, don't worry about it," he assured him. "I've got things under control. Just being there for him is all you need to do."
"I just..." He was at a loss, "... Why didn't you tell me?"
.."At first I think I just didn't want to ruin all your plans too. I was already ruining mine. The more time passed, the more scared I was to tell you, and it's… it just snowballed from there."
"Makes sense, I think," Brian nodded, in some ways he was glad - he was able to get his career and youth, but he felt sort of guilty; Freddie hadn't had any of that and it was as much his fault, and he'd missed out on having a son.
"Yeah. Uh… but we can make up for it," he assured him. 'or you can, with him. We can set up some weekends or weeks with him soon as you want."
"I'd like that, really." Brian told him, "My flat has a spare room, I can let him decorate it if he wants to stay overnight. I promise I'm not a druggy or anything."
"I trust you," he told him. "And I'm sure it'll be fine. You can talk to him about it, we can make sure he gets to know you."
"Yeah," Brian nodded, "Christ. This isn't how I expected this week to go. I've got a kid."
"Mmhmm." Freddie sat back a little. "I'm still surprised he dug you up. Guess he's at the age of not believing."
"What did you tell him anyway?" Brian asked, "He must've asked about his dad, or was there a step dad or something?"
"Never a step dad," he told him. "I just told him I didn't remember most of the time."
"I can't criticise, I don't know what I'd have done in your place," Brian nodded, sitting back awkwardly, "...So you're single?"
"Mmhmm." He nodded. "I've only dated a few guys, nothing that lasted."
"Same, more or less. I'm married to my work nowadays." Brian admitted, "Haven't had time for anything serious since that summer."
"You would call that summer /serious/?"
"I was properly in love with you, so yeah," Brian admitted, trying not to sound as nervous as he was. In reality he didn't really get over Freddie completely, but he'd grown up. "Didn't date at uni or anything."
"And what did you end up doing?" He straightened up a bit. "I forget what you were planning to go for, but people change it all the time."
"I'm a professor now," Brian told him, a smile playing on his lips, "Astrophysics."
"Nice." Freddie smiled. "Quite impressive stuff. A touch boring but I can't pretend that colouring monsters for kids books is that great."
"I just enjoy the job," Brian shook his head, "We should really get Oscar back, this is about him and he's been upstairs most of the time."
"As if he hasn't been listening in or something." Freddie got up. "Oscar, c'mon down, darling."
"I wasn't listening in,' he defended, far too quickly and far too close to the door, "I was just curious."
"Of course." He gestured to the sofa. "I'm gonna make some tea. You catch up."
"So..." Brian looked at him, struggling for something to say, "I see you ended up with the mop hair."
"You think I should cut it?" he asked, sitting down and rubbing his neck.
"No, no I meant it just looks like how mine used to be," Brian shook his head, "It's quite eerie seeing you - not in a bad way."
"I understand what you mean. Most people meet their kids when they're all squishy and dribbly and indiscernible.'
"Big word that," Brian - who admittedly didn't know how much a fourteen year old should know - was impressed, "Freddie tells me you're clever."
"I'm a solid B student," he replied with a shrug. "Maybe more like B- but whatever. School's just something to finish.
"You'll miss it once it's done." Brian told him, "You could always do an apprenticeship or something after, depending what you want to do "
"Don't know yet," he replied with a shrug. "I don't think it matters that much. As long as I can make money and have enough free time."
"It's a goal," Brian agreed, "As long as you're happy I am."
"Thanks." He shifted a little. "So no brothers and sisters for me then."
"Not from me anytime soon," Brian sat back, "Unless you could a pet cactus called Steve."
"Oh wow, brilliant."
"Exciting stuff," Freddie added, bringing the tea in.
"Do you want to start trying to organise a day out or a movie day?" Brian asked, hoping that might work, "Just to get to know you, whenever you want."
"That sounds fun," he told him. "Whatever you feel up for. Can't really get to know someone over a movie, though, no talking."
"Don't tell me you're like your mum; completely silent during films," Brian huffed playfully, "Every time we watched a film I thought he was going to hit me for talking."
He shook his head. "I'm not that bad - you just happened to have memorised all the nerdy stuff. But still, movies are for watching, or I'd watch the commentary. We can do something else.'
"If you play any instruments I've got a few," Brian offered, "I could teach you a few bits and pieces if you're interested."
"Oh, that's cool." He nodded. "I'd really like that, mum tried to teach me guitar but he only knows three chords and one of them is wrong"
"I can go through it in order for you," Brian smiled, "I've got a bunch of vinyl if that gives you any inspiration."
"Mm. Mum plays Hendrix a lot, and Mott, that's the sort of stuff I like."
"This boy steals my hats and shirts and long coat to try be like the folk from the band's he likes," Freddie grinned, "He did that thing you used to do with the brill cream to look like a teddy boy."
"Let's see if we can get you the instruments to match," Brian smiled, "Could bring your mum along too if you want."
"I don't want to interrupt the bonding," Freddie told him. "I'll let you two have your space."
"We'll have to reconnect some other way then," Brian decided, "If you want to that is."
"I'm always up for tea. I that wouldn't be too much for you." He sat back and nibbled a bit of biscotti.
That sounds good," Brian nodded, "...I really don't know anything about teenagers, I mean, what does it eat?" He poked at Oscar, trying to get at least someone to laugh.
Oscar smiled a little, squirming a bit. "Not mashed peas or anything like that. I'm a human being, dad, taller than mum.'
It caught him off guard, he really hadn't thought Oscar would bother with the whole 'dad' thing, but he'd play it off in case it was a mistake. "It's not exactly difficult."
"Oi." Freddie squinted at him. "I'm not at all short."
"Course you're not, love," Brian grinned, "Vertically challenged."
"I could knock you sideways in a giffy," he replied flatly, shaking his head. "Careful what you say."
"Like a tiny dog, all bark," Brian laughed, "I'm guessing Oscar will wind up a decent height too."
"How much taller am I supposed to get?" Oscar looked over at him. "I'm about level with you already.
"You've still got a bit to go, I reckon," Brian guessed, "Might end up taller."
"Yeah, it didn't make it very easy when he was trying to stretch around those limbs before he was born." Freddie elbowed him gently. "He came out eleven pounds."
"That's massive, the hell were you eating for nine months?"
"Not as much as you probably think, considering I was having to feed myself while also getting an apartment, baby supplies, necessities for myself, and not having had a job till after I'd figured that bit out." He shrugged. "I blame the prenatals. He'd probably have been shrimpy without the supplements.'
Brian looked down, Freddie really had gone through the wringer because of him, and if it wasn't for Oscar contacting him he never would've known. "I'd love to see some baby photos."
"No," Oscar said quickly, but Freddie was already getting up.
"I've got tons."
"Brilliant," Brian smiled again, giving Freddie the same face Oscar did when he was in a good mood, "I can't wait to see 'em."
Freddie carried a box over, with several albums in it. "The first five years are in here. And a few other odds and ends.'
"You haven't changed much since then, one or two added tattoos," Brian commented, "But really the same."
"You just lost the bad haircut and stopped doing up your top button, I'd have recognized you anywhere." Freddie sat beside him, opening one of the albums.
"Let's have a look then," Brian leaned into him a little, "See all the things I've missed."
"There's the little squish, just born here." He pointed him out in his little bedside cot. "Still slightly gooey, this is after I got to hold him for skin to skin."
"What's his date of birth? We were together all of sixth year before that summer," Brian asked, it could be anything from January to May.
"He came in April, the 26th. I didn't know I was pregnant till after Christmas." Freddie turned the page. "He's more tidied up here, all swaddled."
The photo sent a pang through him, it was a moment he'd never get. Even if he had kids in the future it wouldn't be the same. "He's beautiful."
"Mmhmm. He may have been a bit hefty, but he was still my tiny boy." The next picture on the opposite page had Freddie in it, holding the little guy. He looked just as Brian left him, besides the whole glow and just delivered look.
"I would've been there, if you'd asked," Brian admitted
"I know. That was part of the reason I didn't tell you. Didn't want to distract you with it all."
"You did a good job with me, though," Oscar told him. .
"He did yeah," Brian agreed, "You raised him like a charm. You're both brilliant."
"Thank you, dear." Freddie smiled. "We did our best. He was a very good kiddo.
"He still is," Brian told them, "I know it won't mean much coming from a stranger, but I'm proud of you both."
"You won't be a stranger for long," Oscar told him. "We'll catch up in no time."
"I hope so," Brian nodded, "I've very much like to get to know my boy, and his mum "
"Not too much has changed, I promise," Freddie told him. "You'll catch on quickly to what has."
"A lot's changed for me, love," Brian pointed out, "But not in a bad way."
He smiled softly. "Good to know."