Double Trouble (CC, AU, Adult) - Part 111 - 4/14/10
Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 11:14 pm
Earth2Mama: So your vote is: Maria shouldn’t go.
Yep, this really could cause a little trouble in Candyland. We will find out today what she’s gonna do. *duck*
Adam’s reaction was kinda expected, wasn’t it? There has to be a reason why Michael is like he is, lol. Genes… and we definitely will see some similarities with Brendan as well.
Sorry, no reunion for Adam and Maureen here. But we hope you’re gonna like the way we went as well.
begonia9508: Oh, we think you’re right.
Cardinal: Interesting… we’ll see how it goes.
Eva: You can count on a strong similarity between Adam and the twins.
Keep cheering! You know Maria isn’t gonna let things go.
lilah: Hmm… you could be onto something.
mary mary: Oh, they do. Adam’s wife, huh? Nicole would certainly be an interesting possibility.
Michael’s family is growing quickly. That would make for quite a party, wouldn’t it?
Alien_Friend: Ya think so, huh? You’re gonna find out more about Adam. There are a lot of similarities between the twins and Adam. Yeah, that’s just not a call he was expecting.
Yep, poor ol’ Spike just wasn’t fast enough on the getaway, lol. Kitty sounds smart.
His family’s getting bigger… and fast. There is an interesting similarity between Nicole and Maria, huh?
Here’s hoping that big brother Alex and the others are right!
destinyc: Oh, she’s Maria… the girl lives on the edge, lol!
kay_b: Well, maybe she should, but…
LOL, interesting speculation about Adam’s two youngest boys. Finding out that he has two more boys isn’t enough of a shock… Brendan just had to go and make the man a grandfather.
We’ll see whether Liz makes it back to Roswell.
As much as we’d like to answer all of those questions… there’s just no way to squeeze it all in one chapter.
April: Looks like we’re just gonna feed your drama addiction, lol.
Don’t give Michael any ideas… he’d probably like the idea of having his own country.
sarammlover: Hmm… you really think she’s gonna leave it alone? Nicole will be a big help. More drama to come!
Maiqu: Okay, share your clairvoyant abilities, girl! How’re ya gonna do that???
Michael and Adam can’t deny that they’re very much alike, huh? We’ll see how this goes once they realize it.
Kind of a Guerin/Smith invasion, huh? Yep, the family is growing fast.
We’ll see what Liz is gonna do about her family situation.
Part 111 – The Winds of Change
Nicole was in the kitchen peeling apples for a pie when the phone rang and she called out for her oldest daughter to answer it. She looked up when Callie ran through the house, feet pounding on the wood floors before she paused in the doorway, phone in hand. “Why are you running through the house?”
“There’s some lady on the phone lookin’ for Dad,” the 13-year-old announced loudly, bobbing her head maniacally to the tune of whatever obnoxious music she was listening to on her iPod.
Nicole winced and shook her head at her daughter as she washed her hands and turned to reach for a towel to dry them. “Did you ask her name?”
Callie frowned at the cordless phone she held. “Did you want me to?” she asked as she blew a bubble and then popped it.
“Could you be more like your father?”
The teenager smirked. “I could try.” She handed the phone to her mother and left the room.
“Dear Lord, give me patience,” Nicole muttered under her breath as she brought the phone up to her ear. “Hello?”
“Hi, I was calling for an Adam Smith,” a young woman’s voice said.
“May I ask who’s calling, please?”
“My name’s Maria. Maria DeLuca. My boyfriend called earlier today and I believe he spoke with… your husband?”
Nicole’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. She hadn’t expected this phone call. “Your boyfriend,” she mused quietly. “Yes, Adam did receive a call from a couple of young men this morning.” She paused a moment before continuing. “It was a rather upsetting phone call.”
“Yeah… they weren’t tryin’ to upset anyone; they’re just looking for answers.”
“And you think my husband has them?”
“I think your husband may be the only one who has them right now. Michael and Brendan need to talk to him and I was hoping I could speak with him and try to convince him to meet with them.”
Nicole laughed softly. “You’re never gonna convince Adam over the phone, Maria. I’m assuming you must be somewhere close to Carson City?”
“Safe assumption,” Maria said with a slight laugh. “We’re vacationing about an hour away from you.”
“Well, I tell you what, why don’t y’all come on out here and meet Adam in person? He’s a difficult, stubborn man at times, but he’s also fair. If you don’t mind coming out here, I promise you he’ll listen to what you have to say. I can’t guarantee you’ll get the answers or the response that you want, but he will listen.”
“Would it be alright if Brendan’s girlfriend and I came out to speak with him? Right now the last thing Michael and Brendan are gonna agree to is going out to meet Adam in person. But, if we can talk to him and at least find out if he’d be open to meeting the twins it would really help.”
“I can only imagine that if all of this is true and those boys are anything like Adam they’re not gonna be too happy if you do this without them.” She chuckled as a thought occurred to her. “On the other hand, if they’re like Adam they’re not gonna agree to meet him after that phone call earlier.”
“Sounds like there may be some common ground then.”
“Well, it can’t hurt to try then. Adam will be home in just a couple of hours, so if you girls would like to stop by around 2pm then you’ll have a chance to speak with him.”
“Thank you…?”
“Nicole,” she said with a smile. “I’m going to guess that you were able to locate Adam with the use of an investigator?”
“Uh, yes… their older brother’s lawyer looked into it for us.”
“Then you have our address?” She nodded when Maria recited it back to her. “That’s the one. I’ll look for you girls around 2pm.”
*****
“Okay, Caela should sleep for another hour and a half,” Karen told Max and Liz as she and Maria prepared to leave for Carson City.
“Um-hmm, you’ve told us about a million times now,” Max said and winked at her. “Don’t worry, okay? I’ve got a nephew back home; he’s about half Caela’s age and I’ve babysat for him on several occasions. We’ll be fine here and you’re not gonna be that far away anyway. Besides that, the twins will probably be home in a couple of hours.”
Karen nodded. “Okay, I’ll try to relax. It’s just hard, ya know?”
“Karen, are you comin’?” Maria called from the porch. “We should get going.”
“On my way,” she called back and let Max walk her to the door.
“I still think this’s a bad idea, ladies. You’re gonna be in hot water with the guys.”
“It’s a risk we’ve gotta take,” Maria told him.
He lifted his hands in defeat as the girls walked to the Navigator. “Just sayin’.” He watched as they climbed into the truck before he headed back inside. “So, whatcha wanna do until the squirt wakes up and gives us hell over the fact that her mommy’s not here?”
Liz glanced up from where she was sitting on the couch and shrugged. “There’s a stack of DVD’s… we could pick one to watch.”
“Yeah, why not?” He crouched down next to the TV to have a better look at their movie choices. “They’ve got Pulp Fiction, what about that? It’s a classic.”
Liz wrinkled her nose in disgust.
Max snorted at her reaction. “So, that’s a no on classics then. Okay, what about National Treasure? Ever seen it?”
“Only like half I think, but I’m good with that.”
“Cool. It’s pretty cool how they tied so much history into the movie, isn’t it?”
“Um-hmm,” she mumbled absentmindedly.
“Hey, what’s on your mind?” Max asked when he noticed her lack of interest.
“Huh?” She looked at him, knowing he had asked her something but she wasn’t sure what it was.
“You’ve got somethin’ goin’ on in that pretty head of yours.” He crossed the floor on his knees and braced his arms on the couch beside her. “What’s on your mind?”
She shook her head. “Just my crazy parents… again.”
He rested his chin in his left hand as he looked up at her. “You got your phone on you?”
“Sure. But, calling them? I don’t know, Max.”
He shook his head. “Call the airlines an’ see if we can catch a flight back down there.”
“You sure? I mean, that’s gonna mean more traveling.”
“Girl, this’s makin’ you crazy. If more travelin’ is what it’s gonna take to give you some peace of mind then that’s what we’re gonna do.”
“I’m just scared it’s only gonna make everything worse.”
“We’re gonna have to do somethin’ one way or the other to figure it out, darlin’.”
“Can you call the airlines?” she asked him as she pulled her cell phone out of her pants pocket.
Max accepted the phone, staring down at it thoughtfully. “When ya wanna go?”
“Well, if we’re gonna be back in Long Beach for New Years’ Eve we should probably go as soon as possible.”
He nodded and called Information for the number, opting to let the operator connect him directly. “Did I tell you Jack wanted to get my sister a new car for Christmas and she said no?” he asked while he was on hold with the airline.
“Really? Why? Her car was… awful.”
Max snorted. “She’ll drive that P.O.S. until the wheels fall off.”
“My car sucks too, but even it’s not that bad.”
“Nowhere near as bad, but I think it’s a sentimental thing.” He rolled his eyes and grinned.
Liz shrugged. “Yeah, maybe…”
He pressed his index finger to his lips, indicating that she needed to be quiet because his call had finally been answered. He stood up and walked to the window. “Hi, I’m lookin’ for…”
Liz couldn’t hear the rest of the call because he walked out of the room and into the kitchen to get something to drink. She lifted her feet up onto the couch and wrapped her arms around her legs. She wasn’t really looking forward to going back and seeing her parents again, but she needed to fix things… or at least make them more bearable. The fact that her parents weren’t talking to her even though the holidays were nearly over bothered her and she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
She glanced up when he came back into the living room as he was ending his call. “Alright, thanks, I appreciate your help.” He hung up the phone and handed it back to her. “I’m sorry, darlin’, but we’re not gonna get on a flight in the next couple of days; they’re booked solid.”
“Oh…” she said, feeling relieved and sad at the same time.
“I did reserve us a flight on the second of January, but that’s the earliest flight we’re gonna be able to catch. Unless you wanna drive down there…”
She shook her head. “No, Max, we’re not gonna sit in a car for 10 or 12 hours just to see my parents. I mean, we don’t even know if they’re gonna be receptive to us…”
“Hey,” he crouched down in front of her, “spendin’ the next few days worryin’ over this isn’t gonna be any good either.”
“We’ll go on the second then,” she told him, her voice determined. “I’m gonna suck it up now and we’ll deal with it next year.”
He grinned at her choice of words. “Just tell me if you change your mind, okay?”
She nodded. “But I won’t.”
“Sooo, wanna watch that movie now?”
“Hmm… I don’t know.” She trailed her fingers over his stubborn jaw. “Caela is still sleepin’, right?”
“Uh-huh.” He took her hand and brushed his lips against her knuckles.
“We could go upstairs,” she said with a wink.
“What a great…” he stopped when the front door was thrown open and the twins stumbled inside, laughing about something.
“Hey,” Brendan greeted the couple, well aware that they had just interrupted them.
“Hey,” Max pressed out. At least the twins seemed to be in a better mood now.
“Where’s Maria?” Michael asked after he had kicked his boots off and put his gear away.
“Um…” Liz knew the answer wasn’t going to be one the guys liked.
Michael glanced back and forth between Max and Liz, seeing the uncertain expression in their eyes, and he knew the answer without a single word. “Oh, no, she did NOT do that,” he growled.
“Did what?” Brendan asked when he came to stand next to his brother.
Michael glanced out the window and didn’t see the Navigator anywhere. “Why didn’t you do somethin’ to stop them?” he demanded, staring hard at Max.
“Hey, I told ‘em it was a bad idea.”
“Wait, are you sayin’ that Karen and Maria went to Carson City?” Brendan asked, suddenly catching on. “Where’s Caela?”
“Sleepin’ in her room,” Liz answered.
Brendan stormed across the living room to check on his daughter, muttering under his breath too quietly for anyone to make his words out. Not far away Michael was trying to control the urge to immediately call his girlfriend and yell at her.
Breathe, Guerin! he ordered himself.
*****
Adam frowned at the Navigator parked in the driveway next to the old Corvette he and Shane were restoring on the weekends. The boy had gone crazy when he had brought it home for them to work on as a father/son project and when it was finished it would belong to Shane. The boys piled out of the truck along with the pair of Black Labradors that were constantly underfoot.
“Hey, we got comp’ny!” Brian shouted when he saw the unfamiliar SUV sitting in the driveway. “Who’s here, Dad?”
“Wasn’t expectin’ anyone.” He waved at the house. “Let’s go find out!” He grinned when they whooped and hollered as they ran up to the house. “Shoes off at the front door, guys! Straight upstairs and wash up for dinner,” he yelled when they pulled the screen door open and headed inside. The game had ended more than an hour ago and they were filthy; covered in grass stains, mud, and a few small cuts and bruises.
He followed the boys into the house and his stomach rumbled when he smelled the apple pie cooking. He rolled his eyes when he heard his wife’s expected shout of “don’t run in the house!” as soon as the boys stampeded up the stairs.
“How long before that pie comes outta the oven, babe?” he shouted and nearly tripped over the dogs when they collapsed in the doorway to the kitchen. He quickly righted himself and froze when he saw the two young women sitting at the table with Nicole. “Sorry, were we expectin’ company today?”
“Adam Michael Smith!” Nicole chastised as soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth.
He shrugged, glancing between the two girls.
Maria stood up and wiped her hands on her jeans before she offered him the right one. “Hello, I’m Maria.” She hid her shock at hearing the man’s middle name.
He glanced at his wife as he automatically accepted the girl’s hand. “No need to introduce myself since my wife’s already done that for me.”
Karen followed Maria’s lead. “Hi, I’m Karen.”
He nodded as he shook her hand. His gaze moved over the girls for several minutes as he tried to figure out who they were and why they were there.
“You all take a seat,” Nicole insisted and placed a cup of coffee in front of her husband.
Adam didn’t know what was going on, but he was pretty sure whatever it was he wasn’t gonna like it.
Nicole took a seat next to him and placed one hand on his shoulder. “They’re the girlfriends of the boys that called earlier today.”
His entire body tensed and his hand tightened around the coffee mug. “Where are they?” he grated out.
“They don’t know we’re here right now,” Maria said and made a face. “They’ll probably be totally pissed at us as well.”
“They have every right to be pissed.” He shook his head and stood to pace, feeling too restless to sit still.
“We’re not here to cause any trouble,” Karen tried.
Maria stared at the man, amazed by the similarities. It wasn’t just the physical similarities though, she mused silently. His mannerisms, his attitude... she could see both Michael and Brendan in him.
“I don’t know what kinda sick joke you and your friends have cooked up, but I have exactly five kids and they’re all under this roof.”
“Sorry, but I think you’re wrong,” Maria said, pulling a picture of the twins out of her bag and pushed it across the table; it had been taken recently at Alex’ birthday party.
Adam stood frozen to the spot as he looked at the photograph from several feet away. It wasn’t just a matter of similar features... the boys... He moved closer and his hand shook slightly as he reached for the picture and picked it up. “This’s me... 20 years ago.” His free hand came up and he scratched his neck as he took a couple of steps back to lean against the counter. “Holy hell,” he muttered.
“And you just did the Brendan move,” Karen realized aloud with a soft smile.
He paused and lifted his head to look at the dark-haired girl. “The what?”
“Scratching your neck like that. Brendan does it all the time,” Karen explained.
Maria nodded. “Yeah, and Michael does the same thing with his eyebrow.”
“Nervous tics,” Nicole said with a fond smile.
Maria nodded. “Yeah.”
“The boys just found out that you’re their father, Adam.” Karen said softly as she watched him stare at the picture. It was obvious that he knew the truth now that he had seen the twins.
“She had to have known,” he whispered gruffly. “Good God, they look just like me. That bastard husband of hers had to know... why lie to them their whole lives?”
“She knew... and Hank knew as well,” Maria said.
“I didn’t know... damn, I never would’ve left my kids with that man. I didn’t like the thought of Alex bein’ around him either, but there was no proof that he had ever been a physical threat to them.”
“Hank is a fuckin’ bastard,” Maria pressed out as the memory of Thanksgiving came to her and she wanted to slap that man again and again. “But we know it’s not your fault. You couldn’t know about them ‘cause Maureen never told you or anyone else.”
He set the photo on the counter and his hands fisted at his sides. “Did he hurt them?” He had known the possibility of Hank turning physically violent was there even before the man’s threats had come at him directly.
Maria stared at Adam, but couldn’t say anything. She was pretty sure that he already knew the answer though.
He nodded and sighed. “21 years. They’re grown men.” He looked at his wife. “What do I do now?”
“First you should sit down again,” Nicole told him and took his hand.
He picked up the photograph once more and did as she suggested, sitting in the chair next to her. “I have two more boys, Nic... how crazy is that?”
“Very,” she admitted.
“You wanna be alone for a while?” Maria asked.
Adam looked at the girl. “You’re stayin’ here in Carson?”
“Um, no, we’ll be going back to Lake Tahoe when we leave here.”
“You live there?”
“No, we study in Long Beach. We’re just here for the holidays. And Karen,” she looked at the girl next to her and smiled, “is about to move out to California as well.”
“You’re their...” He glanced at their hands, trying to remember how his wife had introduced them. “Wives? Girlfriends?”
“Girlfriends,” Maria said quickly.
“Okay.” He grinned crookedly. “So no one’s made me a grandfather yet.”
“Um...” Karen said.
“Yeah, actually...”
“I’ve got a grandkid?”
Nicole laughed at him. “Old man,” she teased him affectionately.
“Yeah. Her name’s Brenda Michaela and she’s 18 months old.”
“Brenda Michaela... you named her after both of them? Which one’s the father?”
“Brendan,” she pointed at the picture in front of him. “That’s him.”
He tipped his head to the side as he studied the twin that looked like he was probably the calmer of the two. “I’ll bet she looks a lot like him, doesn’t she?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Um-hmm, strong genes,” he said proudly.
“It’s true,” Nicole agreed. “The kids all look like him; there’s no denying he’s their father.”
“How old are your boys?” Maria asked.
“Shane’s 15, Brian’s 9 and Ty’s 5. And then I’ve got two girls, too. Callie’s 13 and Antonia’s the baby, she just turned 3.”
Nicole rolled her eyes at him. “They’re always yours when they’re behaving or when you’re bragging about them.”
He just grinned.
“Wow, I’m surprised it’s so quiet in here with all those kids,” Maria joked.
“I’m sure you heard them stampeding upstairs like a herd of cattle when we got back a while ago. Callie’s probably listening to music and IM’ing half the country and the little one...” He glanced at his wife. “Is probably up to something if she’s this quiet.”
“The little one is napping,” Nicole reassured him.
“So, would you agree to a meeting with the guys?” Maria asked.
“You know them better than I do... do they want that? Do you think they’re really ready for that?”
“They wouldn’t have called you otherwise. And believe me it was really hard for them just to pick up the phone. They just found out about you shortly before Christmas and they both agreed that they wanted to find you.”
Adam nodded. “I guess hangin’ up on them probably didn’t go over too well.” He looked at Karen when her phone rang and she shifted to pull it out of her pocket.
“Brendan?” Maria asked, almost sure she was right.
Karen cleared her throat. “Yes... as usual, the man has no sense of timing.” She flipped the phone open and lifted it to her ear. “Hello, Bren.”
“Where are you?” he barked into the telephone without even bothering with a greeting.
“Oooh, his temper’s showing through,” she whispered to Maria as she covered the mouthpiece for a moment. “Bren, I want you to calm down before we talk about this.”
“What the fuck are you doin’, Karen? This’s between Michael, me and HIM, and I don’t want you to get involved in this.”
Oh, yeah, this was the side of Brendan that very few people would even suspect existed. “Listen to me, Brendan. If you would just take a second or two to calm down – “
“I won’t calm down,” he interrupted her furiously. “I have every right to be pissed. WE have every right to be pissed. Tell Maria Michael says hi and he’s dumpin’ her ass on the couch tonight.” With that he hung up and left Karen speechless for several seconds.
“That didn’t go very well, huh?” Maria asked carefully.
“Well, let’s just say you won’t have to worry about Michael stealin’ the covers tonight.”
“Guess we’re in trouble. Can we stay here tonight?” Maria joked.
“If they’re like Adam that would only throw fuel on the fire,” Nicole laughed.
“Yeah, well, we already knew that they’d be mad at us,” Maria said.
“They sound a lot like you, Adam. That’s just amazing considering you’ve never even met.”
“So is there anything ya wanna know?” Karen asked Adam.
“How long will you be stayin’ in Tahoe?”
“We’ll probably leave the day after tomorrow. We wanna spend New Years’ Eve on campus with our friends and it’s the twins’ birthday on New Years’ Day.”
“So, they’re turnin’ 21 on the first?”
“Yeah.”
He shook his head, still trying to process the information. “I need to talk to my family, but I...” he looked up when Nicole squeezed his hand. “We want to meet them, but it probably wouldn’t be the best thing for us to just show up.”
“We’ll talk to the boys and then call you again,” Karen offered.
Nicole rubbed Adam’s shoulders as she stood up with the girls. “I’ll walk them out and be right back. Make yourself useful and take that pie out of the oven.”
“Thanks for listening to us,” Maria said. “You wanna keep this?” she gestured to the picture on the table.
Adam’s fingers brushed over the edges of the photograph. “Yeah, if you’re sure you don’t mind.”
“Nah, I’ve got it saved on my laptop.”
He nodded, his gaze locked on the image of... his boys. “Thanks.”
Maria smiled slightly when she saw that Adam was staring at the picture with a lot of emotion visible in his features. He would’ve been a good dad, she was sure of it.
“Just so you know, the boys aren’t looking for any financial help or anything. They just need...” she shrugged, “a real dad who actually gives a damn about them.”
“Just gimme a little time to get used to the idea... I can only imagine the damage that Hank did and I don’t wanna add to that.”
“Alright, we’ll leave ya alone now. We need to deal with the boys at home.”
He nodded wordlessly as he leaned back in his chair and reached up to scratch his neck again.
“Bye,” Maria and Karen both said and followed Nicole to the front door.
Nicole closed the door once the girls pulled out of the driveway and she rolled her eyes when she turned and nearly tripped over one of the dogs. “Damn it, would you stop lying down behind people?” The dog just thumped his tail lazily before flopping over on his side and sighing contentedly. She walked back into the kitchen and hurried to take the pie out of the oven before it could burn.
Adam glanced up. “Oh... sorry.”
“No problem... you like the crust a little crunchy, don’t you?” She smiled, letting him know she was teasing him.
“I just...” he rubbed his hands over his face after he had put the pic aside, “I can’t believe this.”
“Adam, you made it a point to ask if Hank had hurt the boys... Maria didn’t answer your question.”
“She didn’t have to,” he told her sadly.
“I know you suspected that he was capable of abuse...” She bit her bottom lip, knowing that he wouldn’t easily deal with the knowledge that two of his children had been abused.
“If I had known, Nicole...” his voice cracked.
“Oh, Adam,” she rushed to put her arms around him, “you didn’t know. How could you?”
“It’s just not fair. Can you imagine how their lives have been?” He took his wife’s offer and let her take him in her arms to comfort him.
“It sounds like they’ve got a couple of good, strong girls to help them, Adam. Those girls love them, you can see it.”
He nodded quietly and leaned back to look at her. “How do you feel about it? I mean, I don’t just expect you to be totally okay with me having children with someone else...”
Nicole shook her head at him. “They’re your children, Adam. It’s not like you cheated on me and got some woman pregnant... we can’t change the past and I told you years ago that I don’t live in the past anyway. These boys are a part of you and it sounds to me like they could use a positive father figure in their lives... especially if there’s a history of abuse there.”
“I think I wanna meet them. How could I not now, huh?”
“We’ll need to talk to the kids, let them know what’s going on. This is pretty big and if things go well then they’re gonna be very curious about their half-brothers.”
“Why don’t I help you with dinner and we’ll figure out what we’re gonna tell them.”
Nicole smiled and leaned down to kiss him. “I’m gonna put you on potato duty,” she teased.
Adam groaned when she motioned for him to get moving. Five kids went through a lot of potatoes, he thought. But he accepted the mindless chore, needing some time to get his thoughts together and figure out what they should do next.
*****
The miles passed without a word spoken between the two girls as they drove back to Lake Tahoe. Maria had tried to call Michael but he hadn’t answered his phone and a quick call to Liz had let her know that he was there. She turned the radio down after hearing about the winter storm warning yet again and she glanced at her silent companion. “Still no luck getting Brendan?” she asked when Karen finally threw her cell phone in one of the cup holders.
“No, he’s punishing me by ignoring me.”
“Yeah, I’m getting the silent treatment from Michael too.” She wrinkled her nose. “I knew he’d be pissed, but if it brings him some peace with his real dad then it’ll be worth it.”
“I just hope you’re right, girl.” Karen stared out of the window while Maria was driving.
“That makes two of us.” Maria glanced at her. “Were you surprised by the similarities?”
“I kinda expected it. Just didn’t think it’d be that obvious.”
“Really? I didn’t expect them to look so much like him.” She grinned. “Jeez, do you realize the man’s in his early 40’s and has seven kids? Can you imagine having that many kids?”
“Oh, hell, no. I have my hands full with Caela right now.”
“Damn, his kids are 3, 5, 9, 13, 15, and two that’re about to be 21. I’d be insane!”
“Yeah. I can’t imagine that. It’d be too crazy. What about you? Any future family plans?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know about havin’ seven kids! On the one hand it’d be cool to have a large family, but on the other... damn, when would you sleep or have any time for yourself?”
“True. And how’re ya gonna actually have time for each other, ya know? Adam and Nicole seem to be very happy though.”
“True.” Maria snickered. “They must find the time somewhere though... five kids!”
Karen laughed. “You are gross, girl”
She just grinned. “C’mon, tell me you haven’t wondered if you and Bren would still be hot for each other like 20 years down the road.”
“I’m sure we will be,” Karen told her with a smirk.
“Gross,” Maria mocked.
Karen shrugged. “I know he’s the right guy for me.”
“You think he’ll be mad long?”
“I don’t know. This’s new to me too. Brendan doesn’t really get mad that often.”
“Well, I certainly can’t say the same for Michael.” She checked the mirrors before changing lanes. “I wouldn’t put it past him to try to leave my ass on the couch tonight.”
“That bad, huh? Well, the Michael I knew would never ever talk to you again, but he has changed a lot.”
“Oh, he’ll talk to me again whether he wants to or not.”
“He will. Loudly,” the other girl tried to joke.
Maria smirked. “That’s okay. I can take him screaming and shouting at me. It’s when he gets all silent that he worries me.”
“Oh, yeah, a silent Guerin isn’t a good Guerin.”
“No, silent means he’s hurtin’ and pullin’ away from me.” She took a deep breath as they neared their exit, hoping that the risk they had just taken worked out the way she wanted it to.
Yep, this really could cause a little trouble in Candyland. We will find out today what she’s gonna do. *duck*
Adam’s reaction was kinda expected, wasn’t it? There has to be a reason why Michael is like he is, lol. Genes… and we definitely will see some similarities with Brendan as well.
Sorry, no reunion for Adam and Maureen here. But we hope you’re gonna like the way we went as well.
begonia9508: Oh, we think you’re right.
Cardinal: Interesting… we’ll see how it goes.
Eva: You can count on a strong similarity between Adam and the twins.
Keep cheering! You know Maria isn’t gonna let things go.
lilah: Hmm… you could be onto something.
mary mary: Oh, they do. Adam’s wife, huh? Nicole would certainly be an interesting possibility.
Michael’s family is growing quickly. That would make for quite a party, wouldn’t it?
Alien_Friend: Ya think so, huh? You’re gonna find out more about Adam. There are a lot of similarities between the twins and Adam. Yeah, that’s just not a call he was expecting.
Yep, poor ol’ Spike just wasn’t fast enough on the getaway, lol. Kitty sounds smart.
His family’s getting bigger… and fast. There is an interesting similarity between Nicole and Maria, huh?
Here’s hoping that big brother Alex and the others are right!
destinyc: Oh, she’s Maria… the girl lives on the edge, lol!
kay_b: Well, maybe she should, but…
LOL, interesting speculation about Adam’s two youngest boys. Finding out that he has two more boys isn’t enough of a shock… Brendan just had to go and make the man a grandfather.
We’ll see whether Liz makes it back to Roswell.
As much as we’d like to answer all of those questions… there’s just no way to squeeze it all in one chapter.
April: Looks like we’re just gonna feed your drama addiction, lol.
Don’t give Michael any ideas… he’d probably like the idea of having his own country.
sarammlover: Hmm… you really think she’s gonna leave it alone? Nicole will be a big help. More drama to come!
Maiqu: Okay, share your clairvoyant abilities, girl! How’re ya gonna do that???
Michael and Adam can’t deny that they’re very much alike, huh? We’ll see how this goes once they realize it.
Kind of a Guerin/Smith invasion, huh? Yep, the family is growing fast.
We’ll see what Liz is gonna do about her family situation.
Part 111 – The Winds of Change
Nicole was in the kitchen peeling apples for a pie when the phone rang and she called out for her oldest daughter to answer it. She looked up when Callie ran through the house, feet pounding on the wood floors before she paused in the doorway, phone in hand. “Why are you running through the house?”
“There’s some lady on the phone lookin’ for Dad,” the 13-year-old announced loudly, bobbing her head maniacally to the tune of whatever obnoxious music she was listening to on her iPod.
Nicole winced and shook her head at her daughter as she washed her hands and turned to reach for a towel to dry them. “Did you ask her name?”
Callie frowned at the cordless phone she held. “Did you want me to?” she asked as she blew a bubble and then popped it.
“Could you be more like your father?”
The teenager smirked. “I could try.” She handed the phone to her mother and left the room.
“Dear Lord, give me patience,” Nicole muttered under her breath as she brought the phone up to her ear. “Hello?”
“Hi, I was calling for an Adam Smith,” a young woman’s voice said.
“May I ask who’s calling, please?”
“My name’s Maria. Maria DeLuca. My boyfriend called earlier today and I believe he spoke with… your husband?”
Nicole’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. She hadn’t expected this phone call. “Your boyfriend,” she mused quietly. “Yes, Adam did receive a call from a couple of young men this morning.” She paused a moment before continuing. “It was a rather upsetting phone call.”
“Yeah… they weren’t tryin’ to upset anyone; they’re just looking for answers.”
“And you think my husband has them?”
“I think your husband may be the only one who has them right now. Michael and Brendan need to talk to him and I was hoping I could speak with him and try to convince him to meet with them.”
Nicole laughed softly. “You’re never gonna convince Adam over the phone, Maria. I’m assuming you must be somewhere close to Carson City?”
“Safe assumption,” Maria said with a slight laugh. “We’re vacationing about an hour away from you.”
“Well, I tell you what, why don’t y’all come on out here and meet Adam in person? He’s a difficult, stubborn man at times, but he’s also fair. If you don’t mind coming out here, I promise you he’ll listen to what you have to say. I can’t guarantee you’ll get the answers or the response that you want, but he will listen.”
“Would it be alright if Brendan’s girlfriend and I came out to speak with him? Right now the last thing Michael and Brendan are gonna agree to is going out to meet Adam in person. But, if we can talk to him and at least find out if he’d be open to meeting the twins it would really help.”
“I can only imagine that if all of this is true and those boys are anything like Adam they’re not gonna be too happy if you do this without them.” She chuckled as a thought occurred to her. “On the other hand, if they’re like Adam they’re not gonna agree to meet him after that phone call earlier.”
“Sounds like there may be some common ground then.”
“Well, it can’t hurt to try then. Adam will be home in just a couple of hours, so if you girls would like to stop by around 2pm then you’ll have a chance to speak with him.”
“Thank you…?”
“Nicole,” she said with a smile. “I’m going to guess that you were able to locate Adam with the use of an investigator?”
“Uh, yes… their older brother’s lawyer looked into it for us.”
“Then you have our address?” She nodded when Maria recited it back to her. “That’s the one. I’ll look for you girls around 2pm.”
*****
“Okay, Caela should sleep for another hour and a half,” Karen told Max and Liz as she and Maria prepared to leave for Carson City.
“Um-hmm, you’ve told us about a million times now,” Max said and winked at her. “Don’t worry, okay? I’ve got a nephew back home; he’s about half Caela’s age and I’ve babysat for him on several occasions. We’ll be fine here and you’re not gonna be that far away anyway. Besides that, the twins will probably be home in a couple of hours.”
Karen nodded. “Okay, I’ll try to relax. It’s just hard, ya know?”
“Karen, are you comin’?” Maria called from the porch. “We should get going.”
“On my way,” she called back and let Max walk her to the door.
“I still think this’s a bad idea, ladies. You’re gonna be in hot water with the guys.”
“It’s a risk we’ve gotta take,” Maria told him.
He lifted his hands in defeat as the girls walked to the Navigator. “Just sayin’.” He watched as they climbed into the truck before he headed back inside. “So, whatcha wanna do until the squirt wakes up and gives us hell over the fact that her mommy’s not here?”
Liz glanced up from where she was sitting on the couch and shrugged. “There’s a stack of DVD’s… we could pick one to watch.”
“Yeah, why not?” He crouched down next to the TV to have a better look at their movie choices. “They’ve got Pulp Fiction, what about that? It’s a classic.”
Liz wrinkled her nose in disgust.
Max snorted at her reaction. “So, that’s a no on classics then. Okay, what about National Treasure? Ever seen it?”
“Only like half I think, but I’m good with that.”
“Cool. It’s pretty cool how they tied so much history into the movie, isn’t it?”
“Um-hmm,” she mumbled absentmindedly.
“Hey, what’s on your mind?” Max asked when he noticed her lack of interest.
“Huh?” She looked at him, knowing he had asked her something but she wasn’t sure what it was.
“You’ve got somethin’ goin’ on in that pretty head of yours.” He crossed the floor on his knees and braced his arms on the couch beside her. “What’s on your mind?”
She shook her head. “Just my crazy parents… again.”
He rested his chin in his left hand as he looked up at her. “You got your phone on you?”
“Sure. But, calling them? I don’t know, Max.”
He shook his head. “Call the airlines an’ see if we can catch a flight back down there.”
“You sure? I mean, that’s gonna mean more traveling.”
“Girl, this’s makin’ you crazy. If more travelin’ is what it’s gonna take to give you some peace of mind then that’s what we’re gonna do.”
“I’m just scared it’s only gonna make everything worse.”
“We’re gonna have to do somethin’ one way or the other to figure it out, darlin’.”
“Can you call the airlines?” she asked him as she pulled her cell phone out of her pants pocket.
Max accepted the phone, staring down at it thoughtfully. “When ya wanna go?”
“Well, if we’re gonna be back in Long Beach for New Years’ Eve we should probably go as soon as possible.”
He nodded and called Information for the number, opting to let the operator connect him directly. “Did I tell you Jack wanted to get my sister a new car for Christmas and she said no?” he asked while he was on hold with the airline.
“Really? Why? Her car was… awful.”
Max snorted. “She’ll drive that P.O.S. until the wheels fall off.”
“My car sucks too, but even it’s not that bad.”
“Nowhere near as bad, but I think it’s a sentimental thing.” He rolled his eyes and grinned.
Liz shrugged. “Yeah, maybe…”
He pressed his index finger to his lips, indicating that she needed to be quiet because his call had finally been answered. He stood up and walked to the window. “Hi, I’m lookin’ for…”
Liz couldn’t hear the rest of the call because he walked out of the room and into the kitchen to get something to drink. She lifted her feet up onto the couch and wrapped her arms around her legs. She wasn’t really looking forward to going back and seeing her parents again, but she needed to fix things… or at least make them more bearable. The fact that her parents weren’t talking to her even though the holidays were nearly over bothered her and she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
She glanced up when he came back into the living room as he was ending his call. “Alright, thanks, I appreciate your help.” He hung up the phone and handed it back to her. “I’m sorry, darlin’, but we’re not gonna get on a flight in the next couple of days; they’re booked solid.”
“Oh…” she said, feeling relieved and sad at the same time.
“I did reserve us a flight on the second of January, but that’s the earliest flight we’re gonna be able to catch. Unless you wanna drive down there…”
She shook her head. “No, Max, we’re not gonna sit in a car for 10 or 12 hours just to see my parents. I mean, we don’t even know if they’re gonna be receptive to us…”
“Hey,” he crouched down in front of her, “spendin’ the next few days worryin’ over this isn’t gonna be any good either.”
“We’ll go on the second then,” she told him, her voice determined. “I’m gonna suck it up now and we’ll deal with it next year.”
He grinned at her choice of words. “Just tell me if you change your mind, okay?”
She nodded. “But I won’t.”
“Sooo, wanna watch that movie now?”
“Hmm… I don’t know.” She trailed her fingers over his stubborn jaw. “Caela is still sleepin’, right?”
“Uh-huh.” He took her hand and brushed his lips against her knuckles.
“We could go upstairs,” she said with a wink.
“What a great…” he stopped when the front door was thrown open and the twins stumbled inside, laughing about something.
“Hey,” Brendan greeted the couple, well aware that they had just interrupted them.
“Hey,” Max pressed out. At least the twins seemed to be in a better mood now.
“Where’s Maria?” Michael asked after he had kicked his boots off and put his gear away.
“Um…” Liz knew the answer wasn’t going to be one the guys liked.
Michael glanced back and forth between Max and Liz, seeing the uncertain expression in their eyes, and he knew the answer without a single word. “Oh, no, she did NOT do that,” he growled.
“Did what?” Brendan asked when he came to stand next to his brother.
Michael glanced out the window and didn’t see the Navigator anywhere. “Why didn’t you do somethin’ to stop them?” he demanded, staring hard at Max.
“Hey, I told ‘em it was a bad idea.”
“Wait, are you sayin’ that Karen and Maria went to Carson City?” Brendan asked, suddenly catching on. “Where’s Caela?”
“Sleepin’ in her room,” Liz answered.
Brendan stormed across the living room to check on his daughter, muttering under his breath too quietly for anyone to make his words out. Not far away Michael was trying to control the urge to immediately call his girlfriend and yell at her.
Breathe, Guerin! he ordered himself.
*****
Adam frowned at the Navigator parked in the driveway next to the old Corvette he and Shane were restoring on the weekends. The boy had gone crazy when he had brought it home for them to work on as a father/son project and when it was finished it would belong to Shane. The boys piled out of the truck along with the pair of Black Labradors that were constantly underfoot.
“Hey, we got comp’ny!” Brian shouted when he saw the unfamiliar SUV sitting in the driveway. “Who’s here, Dad?”
“Wasn’t expectin’ anyone.” He waved at the house. “Let’s go find out!” He grinned when they whooped and hollered as they ran up to the house. “Shoes off at the front door, guys! Straight upstairs and wash up for dinner,” he yelled when they pulled the screen door open and headed inside. The game had ended more than an hour ago and they were filthy; covered in grass stains, mud, and a few small cuts and bruises.
He followed the boys into the house and his stomach rumbled when he smelled the apple pie cooking. He rolled his eyes when he heard his wife’s expected shout of “don’t run in the house!” as soon as the boys stampeded up the stairs.
“How long before that pie comes outta the oven, babe?” he shouted and nearly tripped over the dogs when they collapsed in the doorway to the kitchen. He quickly righted himself and froze when he saw the two young women sitting at the table with Nicole. “Sorry, were we expectin’ company today?”
“Adam Michael Smith!” Nicole chastised as soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth.
He shrugged, glancing between the two girls.
Maria stood up and wiped her hands on her jeans before she offered him the right one. “Hello, I’m Maria.” She hid her shock at hearing the man’s middle name.
He glanced at his wife as he automatically accepted the girl’s hand. “No need to introduce myself since my wife’s already done that for me.”
Karen followed Maria’s lead. “Hi, I’m Karen.”
He nodded as he shook her hand. His gaze moved over the girls for several minutes as he tried to figure out who they were and why they were there.
“You all take a seat,” Nicole insisted and placed a cup of coffee in front of her husband.
Adam didn’t know what was going on, but he was pretty sure whatever it was he wasn’t gonna like it.
Nicole took a seat next to him and placed one hand on his shoulder. “They’re the girlfriends of the boys that called earlier today.”
His entire body tensed and his hand tightened around the coffee mug. “Where are they?” he grated out.
“They don’t know we’re here right now,” Maria said and made a face. “They’ll probably be totally pissed at us as well.”
“They have every right to be pissed.” He shook his head and stood to pace, feeling too restless to sit still.
“We’re not here to cause any trouble,” Karen tried.
Maria stared at the man, amazed by the similarities. It wasn’t just the physical similarities though, she mused silently. His mannerisms, his attitude... she could see both Michael and Brendan in him.
“I don’t know what kinda sick joke you and your friends have cooked up, but I have exactly five kids and they’re all under this roof.”
“Sorry, but I think you’re wrong,” Maria said, pulling a picture of the twins out of her bag and pushed it across the table; it had been taken recently at Alex’ birthday party.
Adam stood frozen to the spot as he looked at the photograph from several feet away. It wasn’t just a matter of similar features... the boys... He moved closer and his hand shook slightly as he reached for the picture and picked it up. “This’s me... 20 years ago.” His free hand came up and he scratched his neck as he took a couple of steps back to lean against the counter. “Holy hell,” he muttered.
“And you just did the Brendan move,” Karen realized aloud with a soft smile.
He paused and lifted his head to look at the dark-haired girl. “The what?”
“Scratching your neck like that. Brendan does it all the time,” Karen explained.
Maria nodded. “Yeah, and Michael does the same thing with his eyebrow.”
“Nervous tics,” Nicole said with a fond smile.
Maria nodded. “Yeah.”
“The boys just found out that you’re their father, Adam.” Karen said softly as she watched him stare at the picture. It was obvious that he knew the truth now that he had seen the twins.
“She had to have known,” he whispered gruffly. “Good God, they look just like me. That bastard husband of hers had to know... why lie to them their whole lives?”
“She knew... and Hank knew as well,” Maria said.
“I didn’t know... damn, I never would’ve left my kids with that man. I didn’t like the thought of Alex bein’ around him either, but there was no proof that he had ever been a physical threat to them.”
“Hank is a fuckin’ bastard,” Maria pressed out as the memory of Thanksgiving came to her and she wanted to slap that man again and again. “But we know it’s not your fault. You couldn’t know about them ‘cause Maureen never told you or anyone else.”
He set the photo on the counter and his hands fisted at his sides. “Did he hurt them?” He had known the possibility of Hank turning physically violent was there even before the man’s threats had come at him directly.
Maria stared at Adam, but couldn’t say anything. She was pretty sure that he already knew the answer though.
He nodded and sighed. “21 years. They’re grown men.” He looked at his wife. “What do I do now?”
“First you should sit down again,” Nicole told him and took his hand.
He picked up the photograph once more and did as she suggested, sitting in the chair next to her. “I have two more boys, Nic... how crazy is that?”
“Very,” she admitted.
“You wanna be alone for a while?” Maria asked.
Adam looked at the girl. “You’re stayin’ here in Carson?”
“Um, no, we’ll be going back to Lake Tahoe when we leave here.”
“You live there?”
“No, we study in Long Beach. We’re just here for the holidays. And Karen,” she looked at the girl next to her and smiled, “is about to move out to California as well.”
“You’re their...” He glanced at their hands, trying to remember how his wife had introduced them. “Wives? Girlfriends?”
“Girlfriends,” Maria said quickly.
“Okay.” He grinned crookedly. “So no one’s made me a grandfather yet.”
“Um...” Karen said.
“Yeah, actually...”
“I’ve got a grandkid?”
Nicole laughed at him. “Old man,” she teased him affectionately.
“Yeah. Her name’s Brenda Michaela and she’s 18 months old.”
“Brenda Michaela... you named her after both of them? Which one’s the father?”
“Brendan,” she pointed at the picture in front of him. “That’s him.”
He tipped his head to the side as he studied the twin that looked like he was probably the calmer of the two. “I’ll bet she looks a lot like him, doesn’t she?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Um-hmm, strong genes,” he said proudly.
“It’s true,” Nicole agreed. “The kids all look like him; there’s no denying he’s their father.”
“How old are your boys?” Maria asked.
“Shane’s 15, Brian’s 9 and Ty’s 5. And then I’ve got two girls, too. Callie’s 13 and Antonia’s the baby, she just turned 3.”
Nicole rolled her eyes at him. “They’re always yours when they’re behaving or when you’re bragging about them.”
He just grinned.
“Wow, I’m surprised it’s so quiet in here with all those kids,” Maria joked.
“I’m sure you heard them stampeding upstairs like a herd of cattle when we got back a while ago. Callie’s probably listening to music and IM’ing half the country and the little one...” He glanced at his wife. “Is probably up to something if she’s this quiet.”
“The little one is napping,” Nicole reassured him.
“So, would you agree to a meeting with the guys?” Maria asked.
“You know them better than I do... do they want that? Do you think they’re really ready for that?”
“They wouldn’t have called you otherwise. And believe me it was really hard for them just to pick up the phone. They just found out about you shortly before Christmas and they both agreed that they wanted to find you.”
Adam nodded. “I guess hangin’ up on them probably didn’t go over too well.” He looked at Karen when her phone rang and she shifted to pull it out of her pocket.
“Brendan?” Maria asked, almost sure she was right.
Karen cleared her throat. “Yes... as usual, the man has no sense of timing.” She flipped the phone open and lifted it to her ear. “Hello, Bren.”
“Where are you?” he barked into the telephone without even bothering with a greeting.
“Oooh, his temper’s showing through,” she whispered to Maria as she covered the mouthpiece for a moment. “Bren, I want you to calm down before we talk about this.”
“What the fuck are you doin’, Karen? This’s between Michael, me and HIM, and I don’t want you to get involved in this.”
Oh, yeah, this was the side of Brendan that very few people would even suspect existed. “Listen to me, Brendan. If you would just take a second or two to calm down – “
“I won’t calm down,” he interrupted her furiously. “I have every right to be pissed. WE have every right to be pissed. Tell Maria Michael says hi and he’s dumpin’ her ass on the couch tonight.” With that he hung up and left Karen speechless for several seconds.
“That didn’t go very well, huh?” Maria asked carefully.
“Well, let’s just say you won’t have to worry about Michael stealin’ the covers tonight.”
“Guess we’re in trouble. Can we stay here tonight?” Maria joked.
“If they’re like Adam that would only throw fuel on the fire,” Nicole laughed.
“Yeah, well, we already knew that they’d be mad at us,” Maria said.
“They sound a lot like you, Adam. That’s just amazing considering you’ve never even met.”
“So is there anything ya wanna know?” Karen asked Adam.
“How long will you be stayin’ in Tahoe?”
“We’ll probably leave the day after tomorrow. We wanna spend New Years’ Eve on campus with our friends and it’s the twins’ birthday on New Years’ Day.”
“So, they’re turnin’ 21 on the first?”
“Yeah.”
He shook his head, still trying to process the information. “I need to talk to my family, but I...” he looked up when Nicole squeezed his hand. “We want to meet them, but it probably wouldn’t be the best thing for us to just show up.”
“We’ll talk to the boys and then call you again,” Karen offered.
Nicole rubbed Adam’s shoulders as she stood up with the girls. “I’ll walk them out and be right back. Make yourself useful and take that pie out of the oven.”
“Thanks for listening to us,” Maria said. “You wanna keep this?” she gestured to the picture on the table.
Adam’s fingers brushed over the edges of the photograph. “Yeah, if you’re sure you don’t mind.”
“Nah, I’ve got it saved on my laptop.”
He nodded, his gaze locked on the image of... his boys. “Thanks.”
Maria smiled slightly when she saw that Adam was staring at the picture with a lot of emotion visible in his features. He would’ve been a good dad, she was sure of it.
“Just so you know, the boys aren’t looking for any financial help or anything. They just need...” she shrugged, “a real dad who actually gives a damn about them.”
“Just gimme a little time to get used to the idea... I can only imagine the damage that Hank did and I don’t wanna add to that.”
“Alright, we’ll leave ya alone now. We need to deal with the boys at home.”
He nodded wordlessly as he leaned back in his chair and reached up to scratch his neck again.
“Bye,” Maria and Karen both said and followed Nicole to the front door.
Nicole closed the door once the girls pulled out of the driveway and she rolled her eyes when she turned and nearly tripped over one of the dogs. “Damn it, would you stop lying down behind people?” The dog just thumped his tail lazily before flopping over on his side and sighing contentedly. She walked back into the kitchen and hurried to take the pie out of the oven before it could burn.
Adam glanced up. “Oh... sorry.”
“No problem... you like the crust a little crunchy, don’t you?” She smiled, letting him know she was teasing him.
“I just...” he rubbed his hands over his face after he had put the pic aside, “I can’t believe this.”
“Adam, you made it a point to ask if Hank had hurt the boys... Maria didn’t answer your question.”
“She didn’t have to,” he told her sadly.
“I know you suspected that he was capable of abuse...” She bit her bottom lip, knowing that he wouldn’t easily deal with the knowledge that two of his children had been abused.
“If I had known, Nicole...” his voice cracked.
“Oh, Adam,” she rushed to put her arms around him, “you didn’t know. How could you?”
“It’s just not fair. Can you imagine how their lives have been?” He took his wife’s offer and let her take him in her arms to comfort him.
“It sounds like they’ve got a couple of good, strong girls to help them, Adam. Those girls love them, you can see it.”
He nodded quietly and leaned back to look at her. “How do you feel about it? I mean, I don’t just expect you to be totally okay with me having children with someone else...”
Nicole shook her head at him. “They’re your children, Adam. It’s not like you cheated on me and got some woman pregnant... we can’t change the past and I told you years ago that I don’t live in the past anyway. These boys are a part of you and it sounds to me like they could use a positive father figure in their lives... especially if there’s a history of abuse there.”
“I think I wanna meet them. How could I not now, huh?”
“We’ll need to talk to the kids, let them know what’s going on. This is pretty big and if things go well then they’re gonna be very curious about their half-brothers.”
“Why don’t I help you with dinner and we’ll figure out what we’re gonna tell them.”
Nicole smiled and leaned down to kiss him. “I’m gonna put you on potato duty,” she teased.
Adam groaned when she motioned for him to get moving. Five kids went through a lot of potatoes, he thought. But he accepted the mindless chore, needing some time to get his thoughts together and figure out what they should do next.
*****
The miles passed without a word spoken between the two girls as they drove back to Lake Tahoe. Maria had tried to call Michael but he hadn’t answered his phone and a quick call to Liz had let her know that he was there. She turned the radio down after hearing about the winter storm warning yet again and she glanced at her silent companion. “Still no luck getting Brendan?” she asked when Karen finally threw her cell phone in one of the cup holders.
“No, he’s punishing me by ignoring me.”
“Yeah, I’m getting the silent treatment from Michael too.” She wrinkled her nose. “I knew he’d be pissed, but if it brings him some peace with his real dad then it’ll be worth it.”
“I just hope you’re right, girl.” Karen stared out of the window while Maria was driving.
“That makes two of us.” Maria glanced at her. “Were you surprised by the similarities?”
“I kinda expected it. Just didn’t think it’d be that obvious.”
“Really? I didn’t expect them to look so much like him.” She grinned. “Jeez, do you realize the man’s in his early 40’s and has seven kids? Can you imagine having that many kids?”
“Oh, hell, no. I have my hands full with Caela right now.”
“Damn, his kids are 3, 5, 9, 13, 15, and two that’re about to be 21. I’d be insane!”
“Yeah. I can’t imagine that. It’d be too crazy. What about you? Any future family plans?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know about havin’ seven kids! On the one hand it’d be cool to have a large family, but on the other... damn, when would you sleep or have any time for yourself?”
“True. And how’re ya gonna actually have time for each other, ya know? Adam and Nicole seem to be very happy though.”
“True.” Maria snickered. “They must find the time somewhere though... five kids!”
Karen laughed. “You are gross, girl”
She just grinned. “C’mon, tell me you haven’t wondered if you and Bren would still be hot for each other like 20 years down the road.”
“I’m sure we will be,” Karen told her with a smirk.
“Gross,” Maria mocked.
Karen shrugged. “I know he’s the right guy for me.”
“You think he’ll be mad long?”
“I don’t know. This’s new to me too. Brendan doesn’t really get mad that often.”
“Well, I certainly can’t say the same for Michael.” She checked the mirrors before changing lanes. “I wouldn’t put it past him to try to leave my ass on the couch tonight.”
“That bad, huh? Well, the Michael I knew would never ever talk to you again, but he has changed a lot.”
“Oh, he’ll talk to me again whether he wants to or not.”
“He will. Loudly,” the other girl tried to joke.
Maria smirked. “That’s okay. I can take him screaming and shouting at me. It’s when he gets all silent that he worries me.”
“Oh, yeah, a silent Guerin isn’t a good Guerin.”
“No, silent means he’s hurtin’ and pullin’ away from me.” She took a deep breath as they neared their exit, hoping that the risk they had just taken worked out the way she wanted it to.