Page 178 of The Home Game

Antoni nodded. “Sure. I can field that one.”

“Please.” Catherine gestured for him to continue.

“This past April, I lost my best friends,” Antoni said, proud of the way his voice only wavered a little. “They died in a car crash on the 401 and …”

By the time he finished talking about his friendship with Bethany and Corey and the custody uncertainty, he was a little hoarse.

“And then I met Matty,” Antoni said with a smile, reaching out to take Matty’s hand. “And he was my miracle. He gave us a place to stay and our first shot at stability. A chance for the kids to grow up with two loving guardians.”

“So the rumors that you and Matty have a fake marriage are false?”

Antoni hesitated. They’d talked about this but he wanted to be sure he got the wording exactly right.

“Truthfully, when we got married, I was afraid of trusting anyone,” he admitted. “I was afraid of loving anyone. I was so focused on the kids I didn’t really take the time to think about what I wanted. So the reasons I married Matty were—were complicated. What I felt for him was complicated.”

“And now?” Catherine asked, her tone curious.

“And now, I’m so glad I took that leap. I’m so glad that I met Matty, that I moved in with him, that I married him. He’s the most wonderful man I’ve ever met. The most caring, the most generous, the most unabashedly good. It hurts me to see the things people are saying about him because they don’t really know who he is. They know what they see in skewed little sound bites and video clips but I know what he’s proven to me and the kids, day in and day out.”

“And what is that?” Tad asked.

“That he loves us,” Antoni said, his voice a little thick. “That we’re important to him. That he would fight for us.”

“It’s that fight that has caused the most controversy,” Tad said. “The argument with the children’s grandparents.”

“Yes,” Antoni agreed.

“Matty, what do you have to say about the people who are accusing you of taking that protective role too far?” Catherine asked.

Matty winced. “I’d say they’re right. I was upset and I was trying to protect the people I love but I should have thought before I acted.”

“Your new coach, Michael Gilbert, benched you for two games after. How did you feel about that?”

“I think Gilly was right to do it,” Matty said. “As an alternate captain, I should have behaved better. He holds me to a high standard and he should.”

“So no arguments there?”

“No,” Matty said firmly. “I respect him and his decision.”

“Do you regret what you did?”

Matty hesitated. “I wish I’d handled it differently but I don’t regret speaking up for my family.”

“The issue is over Eli being non-binary?” Catherine asked.

There was nothing malicious in her tone or her expression, but Antoni frowned at her wording. “No. Eli is not at fault here. The Swansons are. The issue is they are trying to bully their grandchild into being someone they aren’t.”

“You don’t think blood relatives should have a say in how kids are raised?” Tad pressed.

“In this case, no,” Antoni said. “Not when Bethany and Corey made it abundantly clear how they wanted their children to be raised and it’s clear Corey’s parents won’t honor their wishes. There was a reason my friends named me guardian in the will, not Corey’s parents.”

“Do you think your friends would have approved of Matty?”

Antoni smiled. “They would have adored Matty. They’d have loved that he’s been here for me and the kids with unwavering support from day one. And honestly, if you think Matty lost his temper in the parking lot, you wouldn’t have wanted to see Bethany in that situation.”

He managed a small laugh. “She would have ripped into the Swansons and I honestly wouldn’t have put it past her to throw a few punches. She was one of the kindest people I’ve ever met but she was fiercely protective of her children and she would have been cheering Matty on for standing up for Eli.”

As Antoni pictured the scene, tears welled up, and he had to blink them back. “Sorry, I, uh … it’s hard, you know? Losing people like that.”

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