He had practically raised your kid. They had never called him "dad" or any label of that kind. He was just "Frankie" or "Francisco" to your kid. He never really minded it, although he did wish sometimes that they'd consider him their dad too.

Lately your kid had been acting up, teenager stuff. But it got under Frankie's skin on a day when he was in no mood to deal with bullshit. A comment during an argument was the last straw and Frankie lost it.

"Oh yeah? Well you're not even my kid to begin with."

Frankie's words echoed in the air. Your kid stared at him after that.