Chapter Text
Rodney doesn't look like a Trotter. That doesn't mean anything outright. He could take after Joan's side of the family. That's what the family said when he was young.
Albert guessed it's probably why the older he got, the more he looked like Freddie the Frog's spitting image was why Ted and Del stopped bringing Rodney to family events.
Because people would no longer be able to come up with a comforting lie to why he looked so different. He's sure Del knows, but doesn't want to.
Albert wished Ted were alive, he'd love to ask his thoughts about it. Not that Ted would speak to him. Even when they were at the same family events Ted had acted like he hadn't existed.
In his youth Ada had been worth the loss of his brother, love and lust can really blind a man. Now, he was older and Ted was gone he'd give anything to make up.
He and Ada never had children. Either he couldn't or she couldn't, they never found out. Maybe if they had they'd still be together. Then again they might have had a child like Reggie. He was a horror as a child. A lazy, drunken thug as an adult. Albert understood perfectly why Joan would fall for someone like Freddie.
No, Albert will never get to be a father or a grandfather. But he could be an Uncle to Del and Rodney now. So Rodney wasn't a Trotter. What did it matter?