Notes

"Shut up." The words surprised everyone in the room, and i didn't even know they had come from my mouth until Alex looked at me.
"Talen..." He whispered in shock and a little bit of warning.
"No, I want you to go to our bedroom. Now." I told Alex, and he knew I wasn't playing around. There wasn't going to be a chance in hell that i would let him stay in this room any longer with a man who continuously hurt him. I had- had enough of it in my own life, i would not stand around and watch his father degrade and embarrass him like this because that's what i always wanted. I always wanted someone to step in. Someone to save me from my parents harsh words. But it never came, and i learned i had to save myself. But i'd be damned if i just sat through and listened to this a moment more. When he was gone, i spun around on my heels towards the man who called himself a father.
"He is not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine, which you are far from. For you to come into his house, and make him feel like he's not good enough is unacceptable. He has tried his damn hardest to please you. He's lived his whole live trying to make you happy. Being Daddy's little soldier, doing everything you told him to. He's not a toy you can bend and mold at your hearts desire. He finally broke away from your unattainable, highly set standards, and he's happy. Can't you see that? The award for best parents would certainly not go to my own, so I wouldn't know, but isn't your one wish as a parent for your children to be happy? Isn't that what parents are suppose to want for their children? The sooner you start realizing he's not going to just drop everything for you anymore to be your perfect child, the sooner you'll get to see the amazing person he has become." I growled at his father, but even i heard the fondness that laced my voice at the end.
"I will not stand here and be yelled at by some imbecile." He said angrily.
"No. You will stand here, and you will listen to me." I said, and he turned back around to look at me, "That man in there? He is the most amazing, most perfectly imperfect man i've ever met. He's smart, he's funny, he's charming, and he's achieved so much. He's beautiful, and he's everything I'll ever want and ever need. And i'll be damned if i sit here another minute listening to you make him feel like he always has to do better, like he always has to make sure you're happy before he can take care of his own needs. He has tried so hard, for so long to make you happy, and nothing he ever does is good enough for you. You always want more. You always want bigger and better. When will you realize that he is perfect in his own way?" I asked.
"He woke up at five this morning trying to scrub this house spotless-"
"Well, he didn't do a very good job." He muttered.
"Would you listen to yourself? After all these years, after all of your hurtful words and impossible standards, he is still trying to please you. He scrubbed this house clean. He tore himself to pieces trying to make sure everything would be perfect for you. He tried to make everything to your liking so that for once he could see that you love him, that you're proud of him. That's all he wants. Just to know you're proud of who he's become. His biggest fear was not living up to your standards, not achieving your dreams. But you've pushed him so hard for so long... He gave up. He gave up on thinking that you would ever love him like you love them." I pointed to Faith and Kelsey, "Just because he's not becoming a doctor or he's not a lawyer or a child advocate or a cardiac surgeon doesn't mean he isn't as good as you. It doesn't mean he hasn't achieved as much as you. It doesn't make him any less of a person than you."
"I only wanted him to live up to his full potential." His father said softly.
"He has, don't you see that? He has. He's happy, and he's doing what he loves. He's become a beautiful person, with an incredibly big heart. He is the sweetest, most generous person i know. Mr. Ferrera... Your son is everything he can be because he's doing everything that he loves- he's living the life he wants. Just because he isn't some fancy lawyer working in a big law firm, or a articulate skilled surgeon, not that there's anything wrong with that, doesn't mean that he isn't living up to his full potential. You should be proud of who he's become. He's more than you think. If you could just see him in his element. You'd see just how amazing he was. He is and always will be good enough and far more than anyone can hope to be."
He stared at me speechless, along with the rest of them.
"Now, if you'll excuse me i have to go and try to convince your son, yet again that he's good enough. That he's loved, and wanted, and needed. And to tell you the truth, i'm getting real fucking tired of it always being you who makes him this way. He is such a strong man, and somehow you can break him down into a millio different pieces in less than a minute."