The Boy From Mars
Title: The Boy From Mars
Chapter: 5
Summary: AU. Allison won the title of American Idol. Adam is the runner up. While on tour, Adam finds out that he has a son named Kris. Adam is still gay.
Thanks to artchess for giving me the inspiration to write this.
Chapter Five
(Opening intended for Ch. 4)
“Adam, are you happy?” Leila asked on their way home from the reading. Neil had to be there earlier than the rest of the family, so Leila and Adam drove separately. Looking over towards her son in the passenger seat, she was met with a confused look.
“What kind of question is that, Mom?” Adam turned back to look out his window. His hand gripped the door handle harder as he continued. “I mean, who asks someone that?”
“I was just…Adam, do you have a girlfriend?” Leila asked the question she already knew the answer to and prayed that Adam understood where she was going with the questioning.
“No.” Adam turned again to face straight forward. He could feel his pulse radiating in his hand from his grip on the door.
“Do you want one?” Leila asked gently. Stopping for a red light, she took in the sight of her son and hoped that this would be it. No more secrets.
Shaking his head ‘no,’ Adam turned to face his mother and waited for the next question with anticipation. 'Was this finally happening' Adam thought to himself.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Leila gave a half smile looking into her son’s eyes. She knew then that Adam was going to tell her the truth.
“No.” Adam took a deep breath and forced himself to continue to look at his mother.
“Do you want one?” Leila’s smile increased. Seeing the light turn green from the corner of her eye, she ignored the honking behind her and kept her foot on the brake.
“That would be nice.” Adam felt the release run through his body and his hand dropped from the door. “But, you already knew that, didn’t you?”
Leila simply nodded ‘yes’ and moved her foot to the gas petal. “I knew, but it was nice to hear you tell me.”
“How did you know? When did you know? Why didn’t you ask sooner?” Adam felt a new sense of being come over him and he realized that he had been waiting thirteen years to have this conversation with his mother.
“I was waiting for you to come to me with it. Your father too. Adam, we love you so much and want the world for you. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable by just blurting it out, but that story. Adam, that will never be you. Never.” Leila wiped a tear from her eye as she pulled into the driveway. “You can come to us with anything, always.”
“I know.” Adam reached across and squeezed her hand. “I wanted to. I planned it out so many times, but it was never right. But I always knew that it didn’t matter.”
“You were always my boy from Mars.” Leila laughed and placed her other hand on top of her son’s. “I use to tell your father that if I didn’t give birth to you, I would swear you were from a different planet. You argued with me on your first day of Kindergarten about wearing a top hat and a cape. You said you had to make a grand entrance on your first day. I gave in and you wore that cape for another month before you become obsessed with something else. You always had your own way of doing things.”
“Well, I always liked making a statement with my outfits.” Adam smiled back before looking down. Shaking his head, Adam pulled his mother into a tight embrace and whispered into her shoulder. “I’m not happy.”
“Oh honey.” Leila wrapped an arm around her son and reached down with the other to undo her buckle. Free from the restraint, she pulled her son closer and rubbed his back.
“I feel like I’m missing something Mom. And not just someone to love, but something. Something is missing and I feel like I need to do something or I will never be happy.”
“Adam, you have so much to give the world. You will find what is missing; your time will come.” Leila felt her son’s shakes and wished she could take every doubt away. Adam always held back from the world, he had the talent but not the confidence in himself. “Share yourself. Take a chance.”
********
(Opening for Ch.5)
"I don't care." Jon mocked as he shouted through the phone. "No one really has money to go out, but we all choose to ignore that fact and have a good time."
"I just got a check from my father so I can keep a roof over my head. When I say 'I don't have the money to go out,' I really mean that 'I have ten dollars to my name until next Friday.'" Adam sat down on his bed and sighed. "I want to; trust me. So save your breath for going down on whatever twink you find at the club."
"You know twinks are more of your thing." Jon laughed into his ear. "I also know that you have the perfect outfit in your closet for tonight and that if you bat those intense blue eyes at someone you can probably get a free drink. Come and just hang. I haven't seen you in forever."
"And by forever, you mean a week." Adam glanced towards his closet; his mind was already putting together what he was going to wear. He had used the leftover money from his father's check to buy a new shade of eyeshadow; telling himself that he really didn't need to eat. The money spent on eyeshadow would last longer than food anyway. "Fine. But I'm only staying for one free drink and then I need to leave before I'm tempted to spend money."
Sitting on a large white couch at the latest craze in Hollywood, Adam took in the sights around him. He never thought he would end up with friends that understood where he was coming from. If his mother thought he came from Mars, then West Hollywood was home.
His view was blocked when a half dressed man threw himself into Adam's lap. The feathers on his boa went flying as the man settled down into his lap.
"I have been giving you 'the look' for the last half of an hour. At first I thought you were not interested and then I figured out that you must be blind. So, I decided to come closer so you can take a better look." The man smiled sweetly at him as he batted his brown eyes. "Now that I'm in your lap, do you like what you see?"
"Subtlety is lost on you, isn't it?" Adam laughed as the man gave him a look of pretend shock.
"Well, I never have had a problem being direct." The man's eyes looked down at Adam's body and then scanned it over on the way up. Stopping to stare into his eyes, Adam felt himself being taken in. "You look tall, dark, and delicious; just how I like my men."
"Delicious? That is a new one." Adam leaned in closer and whispered. "And the dark isn't real."
"Well, this is Hollywood, what is real around here?" The man stayed close enough so Adam could feel his breath on his lips. "I can read people, want me to read you?"
"Sure." Adam raised his hands to rest on the man's hips. His hands could almost circle around his waist. "Tell me my darkest secret."
"I have to warm up for that. Let me start with some basics about you." Raising his hands to Adam's face, the man drew them down his face to rest on his chest. "You knew you wanted men the first time you saw David Bowie. You are an entertainer with a serious talent for stopping the show, but you don't believe in yourself no matter how many people tell you you are great. And something about a brother..."
Adam shifted in his seat under the man's glaze. "Like you said, this is West Hollywood, you just described half of the men here."
"You want more?" The man flirted with him. Leaning in closer, he continued. "I can give you more. I was just getting started. You have a biblical name, you spent most of your life envying your brother for having it so easy, and you are an Aquarius. I'm a Libra, we are a perfect match."
"How did you know that?" Adam sat back startling the man who had to grab Adam's shirt to keep from falling backwards.
"Jon gave me some information on you." Adam could see the amusement on the man's face and he started to push him away.
"I really did spend the whole night trying to get your attention." The man wrapped his hands around Adam's wrists to stop him from pushing him off of his lap. "Jon just wanted to help get your ass laid. Though really, you don't need any help with that. Especially with me."
"I'm going to kill Jon." Adam scanned the room looking for his friend but couldn't find him. "He really should have told you that I don't sleep with people on the first date and you wouldn't have wasted your time."
"I'm not wasting my time. I have a feeling that we could be epic. It is all in our cards. I was serious before, Aquariuses and Libras are meant for one another." Taking Adam's hand, he wrote in his palm. "My name is Brad. This is my number. If you don't call me by Wednesday, I'm going to use the number Jon gave me."
********
“Daddy, no.” Kris pushed Brad’s hand away and ran towards his father. “Don’t be mad. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, hey.” Adam unwrapped Kris’s hands from around his knees and pulled him up into his arms. Holding the boy close, Adam looked around the room. Realizing his little temper tantrum scared the small boy, he sat down on the bed with Kris in his lap. “Daddy shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry if I scared you.”
“You were loud. Not singing loud, but mean loud.” Kris looked down at Adam’s shirt tracing a button. “You said a bad word.”
“I’m sorry. I will only be singing loud from now on.” Adam looked over to his mother. “We need to find the number for Kris’s grandmother. She might be able to help us.”
“I will be good. Grandma said ‘be good.’ I won’t wet the bed anymore. I promise.” Covering his face with his hands, Kris buried his face into his father’s shirt. “I will be good.”
Wondering what he said, Adam rocked from side to side and wrapped both arms around Kris’s back. “You are good. Wetting the bed is just an accident; we talked about this.”
“But you don’t want me. You will give me back to Grandma.” Kris started crying behind his hands.
“No. Kris, I love you so much. I need to talk with your grandmother; that is all.” Looking at his mother and then Brad, Adam continued, “No one is taking you from me. No one.”
**********
After finding the information packet that Kris’s grandmother had given him on the first day, Adam found both Kim Allen’s phone number and Kris’s birth certificate among the various papers. Adam drew a sigh of relief when he saw his name listed under Father of Child.
The relief however was short lived. The number Kim Allen had given them had been disconnected and after talking with his attorney he learned that his listing on the birth certificate wasn’t enough to make Steven go away.
“So, even if I am listed, it means nothing?” Adam asked into his phone. Kris was leaning against him on the bed fighting to stay awake. He hadn’t left Adam’s side since Adam’s earlier outburst.
“Unfortunately, it means nothing. You weren’t there to sign the birth certificate when Kris was born, so it means as much as “unknown.” You need to get a judge to order a paternity test and go from there. That is, if this Steven Woods hasn’t already gotten a court order for the test.”
“And what if, what if the test shows that I’m not?” Adam looked down to Kris by his side. The boy had tightly wrapped his arm around Adam’s forearm before he fell asleep; almost as if anchoring him to his side. “What do I do then?”
“If you are not the father and Steven Woods is, then you have one hell of a mess on your hands. I need to know more about his situation to give you an accurate predication of an outcome. If you both are found to not be the father, then you need to look into adoption. A judge would be able to help you with that as well.” Adam could hear Fred shuffling some paper work. “Let’s do this one step at a time. Get a judge and get a test. The results will take around a week to two weeks, so get on it.”
“Thank you.” Adam turned off his cell and let out a deep breath. Brushing some hair off of Kris’s forehead, Adam thought maybe it was a good time to get his hair trimmed. He had only been with him a short while and already his hair was grown an inch.
“I missed four birthdays. I missed his birth. I missed his first words and his first steps.” Feeling his mother sit down next to him, he turned towards her with unshed tears. “I don’t want to miss anything more. God, Mom, if he is not mine…”
“No. You were the one that told me about positive energy and watching what you put out into the universe. We put out there that he is yours and focus on that.” Cupping his face with her hand, she smiled with her own teary eyes. “Because by damn, he is yours and he needs you.”
Leaning down to rest his forehead against his mother’s, Adam took another deep breath. “Is Dad coming? And Neil? I want them here.”
“Your father is on a flight right now and Neil said he is working on getting a long term sub.” Resting her hand on the back of his neck, she continued. “Your father says that Steven has been on one of the morning shows already and is saying some pretty hateful things. He said it would be best to severely limit Kris’s television viewing.”
“What is he saying?”
“Positive energy, Adam.”
“Bullshit. What is he saying?” Adam pulled back from his mother’s embrace. “Is he talking about Katy?”
“Mostly about their relationship and how she kept him away from Kris. He also doesn’t believe that gay people should raise children and he is using a lot of your Rolling Stone interview against you.”
Looking around the hotel room, Adam noticed that Brad was missing. “Where did he go?”
“He said he had some calls to make and an errand to run. He will be back later.” Leila smiled at her son and attempted to change the conversation. “How did last night go?”
“We talked a little bit and then I fell asleep on him. Kris woke us up screaming.” Leaning his head back to rest against the headboard, he closed his eyes. “The nightmares are getting worse. His screams…he almost chokes himself on his tears. He thought I was going to give him away, Momma. How can I let anyone take him?”
“No one is taking him. Why don’t you take a nap? Today is your day off and things are only going to get more hectic after today.” Standing up, she gave Adam’s hand a squeeze. “I’m going to check on Neil and see when he can meet up with us.”
“Momma, no one is taking Kris.” Adam squeezed back and attempted a smile. “Thank you for everything.”
“Honey, it is what grandmothers do.”
Hearing the door click, Adam slowly slid down the bed until his head hit the pillows. Checking to make sure that Kris was still asleep, Adam closed his eyes and fell into a restless sleep.
******
Adam woke up to the sound of someone knocking at their door. Finding the time, Adam saw that he had slept for an hour and a half. Kris was awake next to him with a coloring book covering his lap.
“Daddy, I make you a picture.” Kris smiled over to him quickly before searching for the next perfect shade of green.
“That is very sweet of you.” Smiling back, Adam peaked at the page and saw random streaks of color drawn on an outline of Pluto. “I have to go get the door.”
“I come too.” Kris crawled along the bed to the side Adam got out from. “Who is it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe grandma, maybe Brad, maybe Lil. Could be anybody.” Picking Kris up, he made the short distance to the door and peaked through the hole to find his father standing on the other side. “Oh, it is someone special just to see you.”
“Who?” Kris moved his head to brush his father’s out of the way. “I see. I see.”
“Let’s let him in. He came along way to see you.” Adam moved back to open the door and smiled over to his father. “Meet your grandson.”
“Adam, he is so small. I don’t think you were ever this size.” Eber smiled back looking at Kris. “Hi.”
“I’m not small. I’m kick awesome.” Kris leaned his head against his father’s shoulder but keep his eyes on his grandfather. “You are my Daddy’s daddy.”
“Yup. I have been waiting a long time to meet you. Your daddy sent me some pictures.”
“Come in.” Adam stood back and motioned his father in. “Mom is across the hall; probably calling everyone she can think of to help sort this out. She said Neil was trying to come as well.”
“He is coming tomorrow. He called right before I got to the hotel.” Eber laughed as he sat down on the couch. “First couple days of work and he is already excited that he gets to take vacation time. The school understood; he was lucky.”
Sitting down with Kris in his lap, Adam watched Kris’s reaction to meeting his grandfather. Kris was being unusually shy.
Kris sat staring at Eber until Adam shook him a little bit to get his attention. “You okay there big guy?”
“He looks like you.” Kris whispered up to his father; although Eber heard him as well from the short distance away.
“Yeah.” Adam tickled Kris’s side but Kris only moved slightly to avoid his touch.
“It’s weird.” Kris tilted his head up to Adam. “I want to look like you.”
“You look like your momma. Some kids only look like one of their parents.” Adam tried tickling him again and smiled when Kris laughed.
“I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to see this day given your brother’s track record. I thought maybe you would adopt later or something, but this was a shock. I’m so proud of you Adam. He really is kick awesome.” Eber smiled over to his son and grandson. “Where are your manners? I’m parched.”
*******
After a long evening of phone calls and talks with his parents, it had been decided that it was best to do the paternity test as soon as possible. His attorney was arranging a meeting with a judge in their next tour stop and was also working on contacting Steven Woods. Adam was advised to not speak to the press about the matter and he assured his attorney that he never planned on issuing one word to the feeding frenzy.
His phone buzzed with a message from Brad soon after his parents left to go to their respected rooms. The message read that Brad had a surprise and asked if Kris was asleep.
As he was writing the message back, he heard a slight rap on the door and abandoned the message to open the door for Brad.
“Is he asleep?” Brad whispered with his hands behind his back.
“He only took a short nap and my parents kept him up until about ten minutes ago.” Adam tried to peak over Brad’s head but Brad took a step backward.
“No, no. We should wait a few more minutes; make sure he is asleep for the night.” Brad smirked up at him.
“You have been gone all day; please tell me you didn’t invite anyone over.” Adam met his smirk and pulled him into the room by his shoulders. Seeing what Brad had hid behind his back, he shut the door. “No one is coming to help us drink that, is there?”
“Nope, just us.” Brad craned his neck toward the beds and found Kris fast asleep in Adam’s bed. “How is he?”
“Exhausted. He knows something is up, but hasn’t asked yet.” Adam took the bottle and turned it around in his hands. “Do you know that I haven’t had a drink in forever? Literally, forever. No drinking policy while on tour. Remind me again why I am doing this?”
“International fame and fortune. A house in every trendy spot in the world, including a few scattered throughout the country when you want to get away from the trendy spots.” Brad took the bottle back and went searching for cups. “Oh, and to be loved and adored by millions.”
“Oh, yeah, that.” Adam laughed and stopped himself. “I can’t get drunk with Kris sleeping in the same room.”
“No one said you needed to get drunk. Just take the edge off and forget about everything for a minute. Your bus leaves tomorrow at nine, we got plenty of time.” With cups in his hands, Brad took Adam’s arm with his own and dragged him toward the bathroom. “And to further ease your conscience, we will take this party to the bathroom.”
“Parties in bathrooms just call for disaster.” Adam laughed as he pulled the door closed leaving a small gap. He wanted to be able to hear Kris if he started moving around in his sleep. Maybe he could stop the nightmares if he woke him up before they got bad.
“Most likely an STD.” Brad sat down on the floor and waited for Adam to follow him down. Sitting with his back against the cabinets under the sink, he stretched his legs out and bumped Adam’s. “Give me the booze, Freckles.”
Adam sat back against the bathtub and smiled over as he handed over the bottle. “Remember, just a little bit.”
“Just a little bit.” Brad smiled before taking the bottle. “Promise.”
Two hours later, the bottle sat half gone between them as the pair lay on their backs against the cool tile of the floor. Laying inches away from one another, both had let the comforting silence take over for the last twenty minutes.
“Hey, you never asked me what I said.” Brad dropped his arm down from stretching it up towards the ceiling to fall against Adam’s chest.
“What did you say?” Adam giggled taking Brad’s arm. “What are we talking about?”
“When your mother asked me if I wanted children, you never asked what I said.” Brad turned and rested on his side on one arm. His eyes were glossy as he stared into Adam’s. “Ask me what I said.”
“I did.” Adam moved to copy Brad and ended moving them closer together. “Goddamn, you are beautiful even when you are drunk.”
“And you are so smooth when you are drunk.” Shaking his head to keep focused, Brad tried to keep his eyes away from watching Adam’s mouth. “I said that I never seriously thought about it before, but seeing you with Kris made me realize how fucking amazing it must be.”
“I thought about it before. Kinda of. More like a, ‘what would it be like fifteen years down the road’ type of thing though.” Adam raised his hand to trace Brad’s chin. “I thought about it when I was with you. I thought about so much back then.”
“Me too.” Brad tilted his head back as he closed his eyes from Adam's touch.
Leaning down before he could stop himself, Adam captured Brad’s bottom lip between his own and quickly pulled back to see the reaction.
“This is cool and all, but what are we doing?” Brad’s brown eyes only looked up briefly from Adam's mouth.
“I don’t know.” Adam moved his body closer on the floor and leaned back over so he was millimeters from Brad’s lips. “I didn’t want to think about it. I have been thinking too much.”
“Then don’t think. Just do.” Brad’s warm breath hit Adam’s lips seconds before Brad’s tongue slid through them.
Chapter: 5
Summary: AU. Allison won the title of American Idol. Adam is the runner up. While on tour, Adam finds out that he has a son named Kris. Adam is still gay.
Thanks to artchess for giving me the inspiration to write this.
Chapter Five
(Opening intended for Ch. 4)
“Adam, are you happy?” Leila asked on their way home from the reading. Neil had to be there earlier than the rest of the family, so Leila and Adam drove separately. Looking over towards her son in the passenger seat, she was met with a confused look.
“What kind of question is that, Mom?” Adam turned back to look out his window. His hand gripped the door handle harder as he continued. “I mean, who asks someone that?”
“I was just…Adam, do you have a girlfriend?” Leila asked the question she already knew the answer to and prayed that Adam understood where she was going with the questioning.
“No.” Adam turned again to face straight forward. He could feel his pulse radiating in his hand from his grip on the door.
“Do you want one?” Leila asked gently. Stopping for a red light, she took in the sight of her son and hoped that this would be it. No more secrets.
Shaking his head ‘no,’ Adam turned to face his mother and waited for the next question with anticipation. 'Was this finally happening' Adam thought to himself.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Leila gave a half smile looking into her son’s eyes. She knew then that Adam was going to tell her the truth.
“No.” Adam took a deep breath and forced himself to continue to look at his mother.
“Do you want one?” Leila’s smile increased. Seeing the light turn green from the corner of her eye, she ignored the honking behind her and kept her foot on the brake.
“That would be nice.” Adam felt the release run through his body and his hand dropped from the door. “But, you already knew that, didn’t you?”
Leila simply nodded ‘yes’ and moved her foot to the gas petal. “I knew, but it was nice to hear you tell me.”
“How did you know? When did you know? Why didn’t you ask sooner?” Adam felt a new sense of being come over him and he realized that he had been waiting thirteen years to have this conversation with his mother.
“I was waiting for you to come to me with it. Your father too. Adam, we love you so much and want the world for you. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable by just blurting it out, but that story. Adam, that will never be you. Never.” Leila wiped a tear from her eye as she pulled into the driveway. “You can come to us with anything, always.”
“I know.” Adam reached across and squeezed her hand. “I wanted to. I planned it out so many times, but it was never right. But I always knew that it didn’t matter.”
“You were always my boy from Mars.” Leila laughed and placed her other hand on top of her son’s. “I use to tell your father that if I didn’t give birth to you, I would swear you were from a different planet. You argued with me on your first day of Kindergarten about wearing a top hat and a cape. You said you had to make a grand entrance on your first day. I gave in and you wore that cape for another month before you become obsessed with something else. You always had your own way of doing things.”
“Well, I always liked making a statement with my outfits.” Adam smiled back before looking down. Shaking his head, Adam pulled his mother into a tight embrace and whispered into her shoulder. “I’m not happy.”
“Oh honey.” Leila wrapped an arm around her son and reached down with the other to undo her buckle. Free from the restraint, she pulled her son closer and rubbed his back.
“I feel like I’m missing something Mom. And not just someone to love, but something. Something is missing and I feel like I need to do something or I will never be happy.”
“Adam, you have so much to give the world. You will find what is missing; your time will come.” Leila felt her son’s shakes and wished she could take every doubt away. Adam always held back from the world, he had the talent but not the confidence in himself. “Share yourself. Take a chance.”
********
(Opening for Ch.5)
"I don't care." Jon mocked as he shouted through the phone. "No one really has money to go out, but we all choose to ignore that fact and have a good time."
"I just got a check from my father so I can keep a roof over my head. When I say 'I don't have the money to go out,' I really mean that 'I have ten dollars to my name until next Friday.'" Adam sat down on his bed and sighed. "I want to; trust me. So save your breath for going down on whatever twink you find at the club."
"You know twinks are more of your thing." Jon laughed into his ear. "I also know that you have the perfect outfit in your closet for tonight and that if you bat those intense blue eyes at someone you can probably get a free drink. Come and just hang. I haven't seen you in forever."
"And by forever, you mean a week." Adam glanced towards his closet; his mind was already putting together what he was going to wear. He had used the leftover money from his father's check to buy a new shade of eyeshadow; telling himself that he really didn't need to eat. The money spent on eyeshadow would last longer than food anyway. "Fine. But I'm only staying for one free drink and then I need to leave before I'm tempted to spend money."
Sitting on a large white couch at the latest craze in Hollywood, Adam took in the sights around him. He never thought he would end up with friends that understood where he was coming from. If his mother thought he came from Mars, then West Hollywood was home.
His view was blocked when a half dressed man threw himself into Adam's lap. The feathers on his boa went flying as the man settled down into his lap.
"I have been giving you 'the look' for the last half of an hour. At first I thought you were not interested and then I figured out that you must be blind. So, I decided to come closer so you can take a better look." The man smiled sweetly at him as he batted his brown eyes. "Now that I'm in your lap, do you like what you see?"
"Subtlety is lost on you, isn't it?" Adam laughed as the man gave him a look of pretend shock.
"Well, I never have had a problem being direct." The man's eyes looked down at Adam's body and then scanned it over on the way up. Stopping to stare into his eyes, Adam felt himself being taken in. "You look tall, dark, and delicious; just how I like my men."
"Delicious? That is a new one." Adam leaned in closer and whispered. "And the dark isn't real."
"Well, this is Hollywood, what is real around here?" The man stayed close enough so Adam could feel his breath on his lips. "I can read people, want me to read you?"
"Sure." Adam raised his hands to rest on the man's hips. His hands could almost circle around his waist. "Tell me my darkest secret."
"I have to warm up for that. Let me start with some basics about you." Raising his hands to Adam's face, the man drew them down his face to rest on his chest. "You knew you wanted men the first time you saw David Bowie. You are an entertainer with a serious talent for stopping the show, but you don't believe in yourself no matter how many people tell you you are great. And something about a brother..."
Adam shifted in his seat under the man's glaze. "Like you said, this is West Hollywood, you just described half of the men here."
"You want more?" The man flirted with him. Leaning in closer, he continued. "I can give you more. I was just getting started. You have a biblical name, you spent most of your life envying your brother for having it so easy, and you are an Aquarius. I'm a Libra, we are a perfect match."
"How did you know that?" Adam sat back startling the man who had to grab Adam's shirt to keep from falling backwards.
"Jon gave me some information on you." Adam could see the amusement on the man's face and he started to push him away.
"I really did spend the whole night trying to get your attention." The man wrapped his hands around Adam's wrists to stop him from pushing him off of his lap. "Jon just wanted to help get your ass laid. Though really, you don't need any help with that. Especially with me."
"I'm going to kill Jon." Adam scanned the room looking for his friend but couldn't find him. "He really should have told you that I don't sleep with people on the first date and you wouldn't have wasted your time."
"I'm not wasting my time. I have a feeling that we could be epic. It is all in our cards. I was serious before, Aquariuses and Libras are meant for one another." Taking Adam's hand, he wrote in his palm. "My name is Brad. This is my number. If you don't call me by Wednesday, I'm going to use the number Jon gave me."
********
“Daddy, no.” Kris pushed Brad’s hand away and ran towards his father. “Don’t be mad. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, hey.” Adam unwrapped Kris’s hands from around his knees and pulled him up into his arms. Holding the boy close, Adam looked around the room. Realizing his little temper tantrum scared the small boy, he sat down on the bed with Kris in his lap. “Daddy shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry if I scared you.”
“You were loud. Not singing loud, but mean loud.” Kris looked down at Adam’s shirt tracing a button. “You said a bad word.”
“I’m sorry. I will only be singing loud from now on.” Adam looked over to his mother. “We need to find the number for Kris’s grandmother. She might be able to help us.”
“I will be good. Grandma said ‘be good.’ I won’t wet the bed anymore. I promise.” Covering his face with his hands, Kris buried his face into his father’s shirt. “I will be good.”
Wondering what he said, Adam rocked from side to side and wrapped both arms around Kris’s back. “You are good. Wetting the bed is just an accident; we talked about this.”
“But you don’t want me. You will give me back to Grandma.” Kris started crying behind his hands.
“No. Kris, I love you so much. I need to talk with your grandmother; that is all.” Looking at his mother and then Brad, Adam continued, “No one is taking you from me. No one.”
**********
After finding the information packet that Kris’s grandmother had given him on the first day, Adam found both Kim Allen’s phone number and Kris’s birth certificate among the various papers. Adam drew a sigh of relief when he saw his name listed under Father of Child.
The relief however was short lived. The number Kim Allen had given them had been disconnected and after talking with his attorney he learned that his listing on the birth certificate wasn’t enough to make Steven go away.
“So, even if I am listed, it means nothing?” Adam asked into his phone. Kris was leaning against him on the bed fighting to stay awake. He hadn’t left Adam’s side since Adam’s earlier outburst.
“Unfortunately, it means nothing. You weren’t there to sign the birth certificate when Kris was born, so it means as much as “unknown.” You need to get a judge to order a paternity test and go from there. That is, if this Steven Woods hasn’t already gotten a court order for the test.”
“And what if, what if the test shows that I’m not?” Adam looked down to Kris by his side. The boy had tightly wrapped his arm around Adam’s forearm before he fell asleep; almost as if anchoring him to his side. “What do I do then?”
“If you are not the father and Steven Woods is, then you have one hell of a mess on your hands. I need to know more about his situation to give you an accurate predication of an outcome. If you both are found to not be the father, then you need to look into adoption. A judge would be able to help you with that as well.” Adam could hear Fred shuffling some paper work. “Let’s do this one step at a time. Get a judge and get a test. The results will take around a week to two weeks, so get on it.”
“Thank you.” Adam turned off his cell and let out a deep breath. Brushing some hair off of Kris’s forehead, Adam thought maybe it was a good time to get his hair trimmed. He had only been with him a short while and already his hair was grown an inch.
“I missed four birthdays. I missed his birth. I missed his first words and his first steps.” Feeling his mother sit down next to him, he turned towards her with unshed tears. “I don’t want to miss anything more. God, Mom, if he is not mine…”
“No. You were the one that told me about positive energy and watching what you put out into the universe. We put out there that he is yours and focus on that.” Cupping his face with her hand, she smiled with her own teary eyes. “Because by damn, he is yours and he needs you.”
Leaning down to rest his forehead against his mother’s, Adam took another deep breath. “Is Dad coming? And Neil? I want them here.”
“Your father is on a flight right now and Neil said he is working on getting a long term sub.” Resting her hand on the back of his neck, she continued. “Your father says that Steven has been on one of the morning shows already and is saying some pretty hateful things. He said it would be best to severely limit Kris’s television viewing.”
“What is he saying?”
“Positive energy, Adam.”
“Bullshit. What is he saying?” Adam pulled back from his mother’s embrace. “Is he talking about Katy?”
“Mostly about their relationship and how she kept him away from Kris. He also doesn’t believe that gay people should raise children and he is using a lot of your Rolling Stone interview against you.”
Looking around the hotel room, Adam noticed that Brad was missing. “Where did he go?”
“He said he had some calls to make and an errand to run. He will be back later.” Leila smiled at her son and attempted to change the conversation. “How did last night go?”
“We talked a little bit and then I fell asleep on him. Kris woke us up screaming.” Leaning his head back to rest against the headboard, he closed his eyes. “The nightmares are getting worse. His screams…he almost chokes himself on his tears. He thought I was going to give him away, Momma. How can I let anyone take him?”
“No one is taking him. Why don’t you take a nap? Today is your day off and things are only going to get more hectic after today.” Standing up, she gave Adam’s hand a squeeze. “I’m going to check on Neil and see when he can meet up with us.”
“Momma, no one is taking Kris.” Adam squeezed back and attempted a smile. “Thank you for everything.”
“Honey, it is what grandmothers do.”
Hearing the door click, Adam slowly slid down the bed until his head hit the pillows. Checking to make sure that Kris was still asleep, Adam closed his eyes and fell into a restless sleep.
******
Adam woke up to the sound of someone knocking at their door. Finding the time, Adam saw that he had slept for an hour and a half. Kris was awake next to him with a coloring book covering his lap.
“Daddy, I make you a picture.” Kris smiled over to him quickly before searching for the next perfect shade of green.
“That is very sweet of you.” Smiling back, Adam peaked at the page and saw random streaks of color drawn on an outline of Pluto. “I have to go get the door.”
“I come too.” Kris crawled along the bed to the side Adam got out from. “Who is it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe grandma, maybe Brad, maybe Lil. Could be anybody.” Picking Kris up, he made the short distance to the door and peaked through the hole to find his father standing on the other side. “Oh, it is someone special just to see you.”
“Who?” Kris moved his head to brush his father’s out of the way. “I see. I see.”
“Let’s let him in. He came along way to see you.” Adam moved back to open the door and smiled over to his father. “Meet your grandson.”
“Adam, he is so small. I don’t think you were ever this size.” Eber smiled back looking at Kris. “Hi.”
“I’m not small. I’m kick awesome.” Kris leaned his head against his father’s shoulder but keep his eyes on his grandfather. “You are my Daddy’s daddy.”
“Yup. I have been waiting a long time to meet you. Your daddy sent me some pictures.”
“Come in.” Adam stood back and motioned his father in. “Mom is across the hall; probably calling everyone she can think of to help sort this out. She said Neil was trying to come as well.”
“He is coming tomorrow. He called right before I got to the hotel.” Eber laughed as he sat down on the couch. “First couple days of work and he is already excited that he gets to take vacation time. The school understood; he was lucky.”
Sitting down with Kris in his lap, Adam watched Kris’s reaction to meeting his grandfather. Kris was being unusually shy.
Kris sat staring at Eber until Adam shook him a little bit to get his attention. “You okay there big guy?”
“He looks like you.” Kris whispered up to his father; although Eber heard him as well from the short distance away.
“Yeah.” Adam tickled Kris’s side but Kris only moved slightly to avoid his touch.
“It’s weird.” Kris tilted his head up to Adam. “I want to look like you.”
“You look like your momma. Some kids only look like one of their parents.” Adam tried tickling him again and smiled when Kris laughed.
“I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to see this day given your brother’s track record. I thought maybe you would adopt later or something, but this was a shock. I’m so proud of you Adam. He really is kick awesome.” Eber smiled over to his son and grandson. “Where are your manners? I’m parched.”
*******
After a long evening of phone calls and talks with his parents, it had been decided that it was best to do the paternity test as soon as possible. His attorney was arranging a meeting with a judge in their next tour stop and was also working on contacting Steven Woods. Adam was advised to not speak to the press about the matter and he assured his attorney that he never planned on issuing one word to the feeding frenzy.
His phone buzzed with a message from Brad soon after his parents left to go to their respected rooms. The message read that Brad had a surprise and asked if Kris was asleep.
As he was writing the message back, he heard a slight rap on the door and abandoned the message to open the door for Brad.
“Is he asleep?” Brad whispered with his hands behind his back.
“He only took a short nap and my parents kept him up until about ten minutes ago.” Adam tried to peak over Brad’s head but Brad took a step backward.
“No, no. We should wait a few more minutes; make sure he is asleep for the night.” Brad smirked up at him.
“You have been gone all day; please tell me you didn’t invite anyone over.” Adam met his smirk and pulled him into the room by his shoulders. Seeing what Brad had hid behind his back, he shut the door. “No one is coming to help us drink that, is there?”
“Nope, just us.” Brad craned his neck toward the beds and found Kris fast asleep in Adam’s bed. “How is he?”
“Exhausted. He knows something is up, but hasn’t asked yet.” Adam took the bottle and turned it around in his hands. “Do you know that I haven’t had a drink in forever? Literally, forever. No drinking policy while on tour. Remind me again why I am doing this?”
“International fame and fortune. A house in every trendy spot in the world, including a few scattered throughout the country when you want to get away from the trendy spots.” Brad took the bottle back and went searching for cups. “Oh, and to be loved and adored by millions.”
“Oh, yeah, that.” Adam laughed and stopped himself. “I can’t get drunk with Kris sleeping in the same room.”
“No one said you needed to get drunk. Just take the edge off and forget about everything for a minute. Your bus leaves tomorrow at nine, we got plenty of time.” With cups in his hands, Brad took Adam’s arm with his own and dragged him toward the bathroom. “And to further ease your conscience, we will take this party to the bathroom.”
“Parties in bathrooms just call for disaster.” Adam laughed as he pulled the door closed leaving a small gap. He wanted to be able to hear Kris if he started moving around in his sleep. Maybe he could stop the nightmares if he woke him up before they got bad.
“Most likely an STD.” Brad sat down on the floor and waited for Adam to follow him down. Sitting with his back against the cabinets under the sink, he stretched his legs out and bumped Adam’s. “Give me the booze, Freckles.”
Adam sat back against the bathtub and smiled over as he handed over the bottle. “Remember, just a little bit.”
“Just a little bit.” Brad smiled before taking the bottle. “Promise.”
Two hours later, the bottle sat half gone between them as the pair lay on their backs against the cool tile of the floor. Laying inches away from one another, both had let the comforting silence take over for the last twenty minutes.
“Hey, you never asked me what I said.” Brad dropped his arm down from stretching it up towards the ceiling to fall against Adam’s chest.
“What did you say?” Adam giggled taking Brad’s arm. “What are we talking about?”
“When your mother asked me if I wanted children, you never asked what I said.” Brad turned and rested on his side on one arm. His eyes were glossy as he stared into Adam’s. “Ask me what I said.”
“I did.” Adam moved to copy Brad and ended moving them closer together. “Goddamn, you are beautiful even when you are drunk.”
“And you are so smooth when you are drunk.” Shaking his head to keep focused, Brad tried to keep his eyes away from watching Adam’s mouth. “I said that I never seriously thought about it before, but seeing you with Kris made me realize how fucking amazing it must be.”
“I thought about it before. Kinda of. More like a, ‘what would it be like fifteen years down the road’ type of thing though.” Adam raised his hand to trace Brad’s chin. “I thought about it when I was with you. I thought about so much back then.”
“Me too.” Brad tilted his head back as he closed his eyes from Adam's touch.
Leaning down before he could stop himself, Adam captured Brad’s bottom lip between his own and quickly pulled back to see the reaction.
“This is cool and all, but what are we doing?” Brad’s brown eyes only looked up briefly from Adam's mouth.
“I don’t know.” Adam moved his body closer on the floor and leaned back over so he was millimeters from Brad’s lips. “I didn’t want to think about it. I have been thinking too much.”
“Then don’t think. Just do.” Brad’s warm breath hit Adam’s lips seconds before Brad’s tongue slid through them.