Divorce.
Dylan and Danielle Walker knew it was coming; what with their mounting debt and the tension-laced arguments about their toddler Camden’s well-being. The two had been high school sweethearts, but those days were over now. All they could do now is pick up the pieces of their lives and move on separately.
The divorce came and went; an amicable custody agreement for their young son soon followed. Dylan went about his life in the lower income area of Queens, mounting legal debt from custody hearings and divorce agreements piled atop sky-high medical bills. Meanwhile, Danielle chased her dreams of a life of luxury in the Upper East side of Manhattan – right into the arms of a new man - an investment banker named John who wasted no time in stepping in as Camden's new father. Both Danielle and Dylan were unemployed – however, the matter seemed only to affect Dylan as he struggled to keep himself afloat.
Soon, the two would be back in court over Camden's custody; but this time, the same old song and dance was different. Dylan found himself fighting an ever-increasing battle just to maintain weekend, holiday and school break visits; John and Danielle argued that such a poor man couldn’t be a fit father figure. Dylan won that fight, somewhat…but the real sting of the argument was still to come. As time went on, Dylan watched before his eyes as Camden grew from a happy, sweet young boy into a bratty, privileged adolescent whose caviar tastes weren't satisfied by what little Dylan had to offer. Before he knew it, the fight that had cost him everything had been adopted by his son: even he didn’t want to be around the poor old man Dylan had become. Still, ever hopeful, Dylan kept plugging along: resorting to selling his body to medical testing to keep a roof suitable in the court’s eyes for his son’s begrudging visits. Dylan treasured every one.
It takes but one desperate post on Craigslist offering a couch to sleep on to completely de-rail Dylan’s life in the best way possible. A nice young conman with no baggage and money in hand walks into Dylan’s life – and the haggard father is forced to reflect on the life he’d been treading water for. Jason, a couch-drifting hopeful bakery shop owner, spins the best lies. Dylan is suddenly not alone after years of silence; and the tell-tale feelings of romance shatter his self-image as devoted straight father. But really, becoming a devoted gay father didn’t feel much different at the core?
Just when life seems to be settling, Camden begins spending more and more time with the pair. Mercifully, one summer, it looks as if Dylan might have an entire week with is boy! Not that Camden was too excited, trapped here in this small apartment with none of his expensive belongings with his disabled father and “his friend” that the boy had come to suspect was actually far more than that. No one knew that their saga were just about to take a turn no one saw coming, and the moment of carefree summer fun was not to last.
If We Had Everything emphasizes a man's ceaseless love for his only son, and the struggles faced by lower-income men who simply want what all fathers should want: time with their children. Medical debt and a lifetime of court battles somehow pave a path for a now-spoiled young boy to follow his heart and come to find a loving – but different – family. With the teamwork of a reluctant and somewhat childish step-father, this is a tale to prove that even boys like Camden can shed his past immaturities to start his own story that leads him to a place he never expected to be.
Camden wasn’t sure what his path was meant to be. By all intents and purposes, it seemed to him that he was just meant to be unlucky. For a long while, it lead to self-hatred and an absolute struggle at school. New surroundings and new friends didn’t help much: but as the years tore on, it clicked: nothing will return to the way it was before. This is how his life is. And if he wants to make his life (or anyone’s life for that matter) better, he must do something about it.
No one was coming to save him. He had to save himself.
Jason always had said that the only real path to success is to dig one in: and so that’s exactly what Camden did. With the hardworking nature of his father Dylan and the lighthearted sensibility of Jason, the young boy rolled up his sleeves and shocked the entire school. Graduation was tearful for the family – finally, at long last, Camden felt as if he could start paying back the man he tormented as a child. Dylan still struggled with long-term pain and medical bills that were easier to understand now that Camden could count the opened red letters all over the kitchen table. Something had to be done about it: and even Jason’s relative success wasn’t enough.
Driving into the parking lot of his new school filled with luxury cars and polished shoes, his $10 haircut and scuffed Nikes surely drew attention. Sitting in a class full of opened Macbooks and impolite stares would have sent most young men running: and in a way, it did – it became all the paramount that Camden achieved his dream. He ran for the finish line!
It would be Camden’s fourth year of this struggle, pretty red school loan debt letters to accompany his father’s medical bills on the kitchen table, before the worst thing that could happen to a student happened: a long term relationship. Aiden came sauntering into Camden’s life, breaking apart a lighthearted relationship with a current boyfriend just to obliterate any sane choices that Camden had made up until this point in his life. Wrecked BMW’s, tearful apologizes, and wild goose chases: yes, it appeared that their relationship had all the turmoil and drama that the young hopeful Camden had tried so hard to leave behind. A furious Dylan and oddly understanding Jason in the background did nothing to remedy the situation.
Aiden, just as Camden had in the past, has a choice to make: he can continue his path of recklessness, roping in other men as he had in the past – or, he could swallow his pride and begin to heal. Unfortunately, with a pride that large: who knows if he’s up to the challenge. After Camden finds good intern work with, as it turns out, Aiden’s father; the two are either destined to fall apart or pull it together. Only time will tell as the If We Had Everything crew finally pull the numerous moving parts together; but is it a masterpiece after all?