As Leo approached the other two men, Stefan seemed to notice him and waved at Leo. Well, it seemed like his father recognized him at least. Now the question was what exactly was their relationship now.
"Hey, your swim session went well, Leo?" Stefan asked. Now looking at him closer, Leo was now sure that his father was now in better shape than when he entered the gym. Maybe even slightly younger. Just what was going on here?
"Uh, it was fine," Leo almost forgot to respond to Stefan with so many distracting thoughts swimming in his head. "Pretty good pool and is not too far from home. Probably will come back here again. What about you? How did your workout go?"
"Oh, it went great, especially when I ran into your uncle Luis here." Stefan wrapped around the Hispanic man's shoulders. They looked like they were very close, maybe a bit closer than what Leo had remembered them being before. Then again, perhaps his father was just clinging to anyone to take his mind off of the divorce.
"Yeah, before I found him, he looked like a deer in headlights," Professor Tenorio added, "I taught him how to use the machine around here, but your Dad still has a long way to go." As soon as his professor said that, Leo mentally sighed in relief. Good, his dad was still his dad. He wouldn't know what to do if they were complete strangers or even just friends. It was then, however, that Leo realized something. He thought of Luis as his professor. Was he a college student now?!
"We're planning to come back here tomorrow. Are you going to come, too?... Uh, Leo?" Stefan asked. Once again, Leo was lost in thought, but this time he did forget to respond.
"Oh! Uh, yeah. I hit the weights tomorrow training anyway," It was still amazing how his brain could come up with these new details of his life. "Sorry, I was thinking about... Macros."
Leo almost said he was thinking about a girl that he had met, but he realized he didn't want to reveal that to his father just yet. Less he starts teasing him or asking questions on when he can expect grandchildren. Anyway, the three men made plans to meet up tomorrow, then Stefan and Leo said goodbye to Luis and headed home.
The rest of the day was a surreal experience for Leo. It was felt like his daily life but different. For example, he was eating dinner with his father like usual but instead of eating anything in front of him, he was now carefully counting calories and nutrition values for his diet. He had to eat right for swimming, after all. Plus, instead of elementary school-level homework, Leo was now doing college-level homework. Specifically for his business classes. Looks like Leo was now studying to take over his father's business someday. The odd thing was just how natural this all felt. Part of him wanted to find a way for things to go back to normal, but the other part of him really did not want to go back to being a kid. After all, he was an adult now and could generally do whatever he wanted. Not to mention he was so strong and hot now that going back to being a scrawny kid was really unappealing. Oh, what was he going to do now...
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The next day the father and son arrived at the gym again, with Leo recalling just how different this situation was compared to yesterday. Yesterday he was a dumb kid excitedly dragging his father along, but now he was walking side by side as an adult. Once they entered, they found Professor Tenorio was already there to greet them.
"Come on, Stefan, we got to get rid of that belly!" Luis said as he patted Stefan's belly. Stefan responded by playfully slapping professor Tenorio's hand away.
"Hey, it's not like you're free of fat either," The two men proceeded to laugh, and Leo smiled. It was nice seeing his father so happy. In fact, this was probably the happiest Leo had seen his father since the divorce. You know, perhaps the changes that were happening to him and his father weren't so bad, Leo thought. If his father was happy, then who was he to complain.
At least, he hoped that was the case.