Mike explained the issues with the car to his father, and the father and son duo spent the next hour fixing the car together, both of them ending up a bit greased up and dirty from the time but neither of them minding, having successfully fixed the car together.
However, during the experience, Mike couldn’t help but feel like something was off. It didn’t feel right to him that he had to teach his dad so much, and take care of things for him. The feeling began to gnaw at him.
“Why don’t you go inside and wash your hands, I’ll order us some takeout. Meet you out back?” Jeff said to his son. Mike nodded and handed his dad his credit card to pay for the food, which only increased his thoughts.
Jeff, meanwhile, began to feel off as well. ‘I shouldn’t be relying on my son so much… it doesn’t feel right,’ he thought to himself. He walked around the house as he ordered delivery on his phone using his sons card, and sat on the back patio, continuing to mull over the thoughts running through his head. When Mike finally joined him out back, holding a beer, Jeff could tell he had something on his mind, and his attention immediately turned to taking care of his son.
“Hey, everything okay, champ? You look like you’re thinking about something…”
“Um well, it’s just…” Mike thought about it for a minute, but didn’t want to worry his dad. “It’s nothing…”
“It’s not nothing if it’s bothering you. We got time before food gets here, so speak up.” Jeff used his new authoritative voice to his advantage, causing Mike to cave.
“Well, it’s just… I don’t feel like your son a lot. It’s more like I’m your dad, paying for things, taking care of driving, the house, getting you to school… I dunno, it just doesnt feel right.”
Jeff nodded. “Yeah, I get what you mean. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately too, actually. I want to take care of my boy, and it feels like the other way around sometimes…”
That’s when Jeff remembered that he could change that with one agreement.
“Mike, what if I told you we could swap that. Would you give me your adult responsibilities and rights, all that stuff? You’d have no more bills, no more adult stuff, it’d be like you were the teenager and I was the adult.”
Mike sipped on his beer and took a second to think about it. “That’d be awesome, but I don’t know if I’d want to go back to school.” Mike chuckled at himself. “But what if we try it? You do all the adult stuff, you get treated like the adult even, but I keep the job?”
Jeff thought about it. Was he missing anything in this…? “Yeah, I’ll agree to that.” He held out his hand and the two men shook hands as the agreement was made.
The patio furniture changed, turning from the wooden style that Jan had bought into a more modern black and grey aesthetic that Jeff liked more. The whole house shifted, the interiors becoming decorated by Jeff instead, as he’d decorate his house the way he’d prefer. Mike’s office shifted into a home gym Jeff set up a few years prior. Mike’s clothes shifted as his polo turned into a tank top with a video game logo on it. Jeff felt his wallet thicken in his back pocket as it filled with credit cards, insurance information, and cash. He took a swig of his beer, the same beer that was in Mike’s hand a moment ago, but now belonged to the 16-year old adult Jeff.
Jeff’s phone buzzed. He looked at it. “Foods here, you mind grabbing it?” Mike nodded and put his phone down and walked around the house to grab the food. Jeff noticed Mike’s phone buzz several times, and he glanced over and saw he had texts from Chase…
Jeff realized what he’d forgotten. If he had adult rights… that meant he couldn’t date a minor like Chase, but Mike could. Mike was now Chase’s boyfriend, and Jeff was a single gay dad…