The Unexpected

Chapter 7

Adam padded into the kitchen, both Holden and Lily sat at the table each devouring a bowl of cereal, "hey little Ruzek's" he smiled as he kissed each one on the head.

He looked up at Kim, "our guest still sleeping?"

She pulled the spoon from her cup of coffee and let it drop into the sink, "Just checked on him, still out cold" she motioned to the children at the table, "we should tell them"

Lily looked up from her bowl, "tell us what?" She asked excitedly.

Adam sat beside her, "Someone spent the night here last night"

"Who? Someone fun I hope" Lily asked him.

Adam smiled at her enthusiasm, "He's the little boy of someone I used to know and he needed a place to stay until his dad can get here"

Lily shrugged, "Oh....great another boy" she huffed, "he'll leave soon...right?"

Kim wanted to scream that he'd never leave that she wouldn't allow it, he was Adam's son and he should know that.

"Yeah" Adam told her, "he will be here another day maybe two..tops"

"Good" Lily replied as she put her bowl in the sink, "because one boy in this house is enough"

Adam smiled, "I'm gonna sit outside for a little bit" he found the house to be suffocating, everything felt as if it was closing in on him.

He could feel Kim trailing behind him, he knew he had gotten off easy when she allowed him the last word last night.

"So, that's it?" Kim asked her hands on her hips, "you've made up your mind?"

Adam leaned against the deck railing, "Kim, is it fair to blow his world apart?"

He had a valid point and she didn't have much to counter with it, "Shit...Adam none of this is fair to anyone, not to you, not to Jake and certainly not Luke" she clutched his waist, "but he should know, he should know about you and his siblings. Adam our kids should know about their big brother"

"At what cost though?"

Kim wanted to throttle Wendy, "I don't know....this whole situation sucks"

He kissed her forehead, "that it does, I wish I had the answers."

She huffed, "the only one with the answers is lying in a coma--"

"Don't Kim, please" he knew what she was going to say, he could see the fire in her eyes, "she's not worth it"

The ground grew closer as he watched from the window, so much had changed in the last few weeks and now he was about to lose the last thing that he held dear.

His son.

Lucas was the light of his life, had been since the day he was born. He was the perfect baby, and then the toddler years hit and he kept them on their toes.

In the best way possible, he was a little spitfire and full of life. His smile made those around him happier, without any effort on his part.

As he grew, so did the joy he brought into his heart, and now he had to say good bye to that joy.

It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he couldn't keep the truth from Luke, couldn't keep him from his father.

Adam paced the arrivals terminal, Luke watching the gate waiting for his dad, the  kid begged to go with him and Adam couldn't tell him no.

On the drive over he wouldn't shut up, he went on and on about the beach and surfing and how much he missed his friends and his dog.

It further cemented Adam's belief that he had to keep the truth from him, he couldn't pull the rug out from underneath the kid.

It pained him, but he needed to put his son's needs before his own, even it if killed him to do so.

"Dad!" Luke yelled and Adam's head whipped around and realized that Jake must have appeared amongst the crowd.

Luke took off, nearly knocking his father down as he jumped in his arms, "I've missed you dad, so much. Mom's hurt, it's bad" he said solemnly.

Jake looked up at Adam and back down at Luke, "I know bud" he gripped his shoulder, "you remember what my suitcase looks like, right?"

"Yea"Luke replied.

Jake pointed to the luggage carousel, "why don't you see if you can grab it, while I talk to Adam, okay?"

Luke smiled, hugged his father once more and took off to find the suitcase.

"Jake Taffani, nice to meet you"he extended his hand to Adam.

"Adam Ruzek"

A few moments of awkward silence between the two men, both father to the same boy.

"Found it dad!" Luke returning much quicker than Jake had anticipated.

She pushed the door open and slowly went inside, nothing had changed in the past few days.

The optimism the doctors had shown earlier was slowly waning, things didn't look good for Wendy, that even if she somehow managed to come out of it she'd never be the same.

Kim thought it was exactly what she deserved, she didn't want her to die.

Dying would be too easy of a punishment. She wanted Wendy to be trapped in her own body, she wanted her to suffer.

Her feelings shocked her initially, but the more time she spent with Luke the angrier she became. The longer she watched Adam struggle with wether or not to tell his son the truth.

It seemed everyone had Luke's best interest at heart except for Wendy, she didn't know how a mother could fail her child the way she had failed Luke.

Kim pulled the chair alongside the bed and sat down, her knees wobbly her anger was palpable.

"I never met you, and I'm certain I'm not your favorite person" she started, "I know you think Adam and I had something going on while you two were engaged, we didn't it" why she felt the need to defend herself to the woman she didn't know, "that's not why I'm here...I don't care what you think of me or Adam for that matter" she was seething, she spoke from behind clenched teeth, "You bitch!" She spat, "You kept Adam's son from him, you lied to him. Was this some kind of punishment for Adam? How could you lie to your son?" She wiped her eyes, "you're a coward, one who couldn't face the consequences of their own actions. I will do all I can to make sure you never see your son again, I promise you that. You're a shit mother, Luke deserves so much more. I will see to it that he gets it"

She took one last look at the woman before storming out.

Sadly, she didn't feel any better.

Jake couldn't help but notice the resemblance between Adam and Luke, he glanced at Adam as he drove, Luke happily listening to his iPod in the back seat.

"He looks like you" Jake said.

Adam wasn't sure how to respond, "My little boy looks a lot like him, it's wild" he said softly, "too be honest I'm shocked Luke hasn't noticed"

Jake nodded, "This is going to be hard for me...I hope you'll let me remain in his life, I don't think I can handle it if you cut me out"

Adam briefly took his eyes off the road, "Jake, I don't know if telling him is in his best interest"

"We have to tell him Adam, he deserves to know the truth. I can't have him finding it out on his own, and hating me for it"

Adam nodded, "Listen, let's drop him off back at the house and go grab a few beers and see if we can't figure this out, yea?"

"Yea, sounds good. Plus, I won't lie I could really use a drink"

---NOTE--

Gonna try and wrap this up soon.

Thanks for reading!!