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Uncomfortable Revelations

Venti was speechless, his mouth agape as his brain struggled to comprehend the information his father delivered.

They knew each other. His biological father, the man who gave him up at birth, knew his adoptive father since the tenth grade.

"You two are best friends," Venti finally said once his muzzle caught up to his brain.

"We were," Earl said. "We haven't spoken to each other in twenty years."

Venti blinked as he did the math. "You mean you've been in touch with Sam until I turned fifteen?" Art gripped his forearm tightly, though the jackal didn't feel the pressure. "I can't believe you never told me the truth, Dad."

"In my defense, son, you never asked," Earl said calmly, almost too calmly. Did his father expect him to storm out of the restaurant? Probably; he did have a temper at the best of times, and a very bad temper at the worst of times. "You even said when you were sixteen that you didn't care where you came from, that your family was us."

"Just because I never asked doesn't mean you couldn't have told me the truth," said Venti. "And yes, I'm fully aware of how hypocritical that just sounded."

"I asked them not to, Reginald," Sam said before gesturing at the empty seat. "Mind if I sit down?"

Venti glowered at the older jackal. "Go ahead, because you two have a lot of explaining to do."

"Thank you," Sam said as he sat down. "Every time I asked them how you were doing, they said you were happy. That you were well adjusted and excelling in school. You never even once questioned why you were so different from Earl and Sandra."

"That's because I'm not an moron, Sam. I've known I was adopted since I was six. I had black fur, red eyes a red mohawk, and golden fleshy bits and claws? I didn't look anything like them."

"Fair enough."

"This is anything but fair."

"I'm sorry Sandra and I never told you, son, but would it have changed anything?"

Venti looked into his father's eyes, then looked at the man who abandoned him at birth. He then returned his gaze to Earl. "I might have, but I don't know. Maybe I would have been curious to know why he gave me up, though I already know that thanks to our little meeting not too long ago." He shook his head. "Alright, so I just found out my two dads have been best friends since the tenth grade. That's not as shocking as meeting my bio dad for the first time in over thirty years." He looked again at Sam. "Now I'm curious as to why you stopped talking to our best friend. From the way Dad's acting, it was unexpected and sudden."

"It was," Sam said.

When the older jackal grew quiet, Venti rolled his eyes. "Oh, for God's sake, just spit it out or I'm taking my boyfriend with me and walking out of here."

Sam's eyes grew wide, and Venti grinned at the reaction. "B-boyfriend?"

"Oh yeah, how rude of me." He placed his hand on Art's hand, the one that gripped his forearm even harder now. He was starting to feel the pressure. Damn, my lion's getting strong. "Sam, this is Art. Art, this is Sam. Now, why did you stop talking to your best friend?"

Sam cleared his throat, but never took his eyes off of Art. "I was in jail."