*ADOPTED*

*ADOPTED*~Fourteen~

I pulled up in the Preschool's parking lot, and after I got all of AJ's things gathered I walked up to the front of the building with him...he was scared and very shy for his first day and was clinging to my leg like a lil leech. That was until he saw Criss and Johnny coming down the sidewalk. He let go of me very quickly and ran right up to Criss squeaking out daddy and Johnny! I looked blankly at the picture I was seeing for a moment, then when he came up to me, I sarcastically said daddy? Criss pulled me away from the small crowd and explained it to me, and that it was all AJ and Johnny's idea and he had absolutely nothing to do with it...and that he was a victim of circumstance.

I knelt down to my son and told him he knew that Criss wasn't his dad, and it didn't look right him doing that in front of all the other kids' parents. But he ignored me like I was on an island all to myself and asked if daddy was going to come to pick him and Johnny up after school. I gave a lil glare at Criss and told him to help out in this situation. Criss gave a discouraged sigh but he knelt down to AJ and his son and just when I thought he was going to tell my son that he wasn't his daddy, and only a friend...he did a 360 on me and said he sure would be here to pick them both up after school, then he kissed them both and told them to have fun today.

I grabbed him and pulled him off the sidewalk and asked him what in the hell was that! Because that was the exact opposite of what I asked him to do! Criss looked down for a moment, then he told me straight out that he wasn't about to break that boy's heart just because I didn't like the idea of my son calling him daddy. I blew raspberries at him and told him that he wasn't AJ's dad as I argued the point over with him...but somewhere in between arguing I must have said something that hit a tender cord with him and he spun around and said he knew he wasn't his real daddy, because he was more of a man than AJ's real dad could ever hope to be...then he added hotly that I wouldn't know what to do with a REAL MAN! The wouldn't abandon and cheat on his wife and son and trade them in for sex and drugs with two-bit whores.

I looked down at my feet for a moment, really wanting to cuss his ass out...but why should I, after all he was telling the truth. So instead of pressing the argument further I simply walked away as I told him he was right. Klayton saw the last part of the argument and told his son to go to school, then he ran over to me and asked if I was ok. I quietly brushed the tears of anxiety away and told him that I was fine. But he wasn't in the mood to believe me, and he went over to his old buddy and asked him what in the hell was that all about making me cry for! Criss saw the look on Klayton's face and he knew that his old buddy had the hots for me. Criss told him that he couldn't help it if my son loved him so much that he decided to adopt him and Johnny and call him daddy, and Johnny his brother...then he added very quickly, that he wasn't about to break a kids heart just so that the kids' mom would be happy. Then Criss jumped in his car and spun out of the driveway not even looking at either of us as he peeled out.

I went over to Chloe's car and slid in behind the wheel and was just about to leave when Klayton came back over to me and asked me what Criss meant by all that. I leaned back in the car's seat and told him that my son all on his own took it upon himself to adopt Criss and Johnny as his daddy and brother a couple weeks ago, and no matter what I say to AJ, he won't change his mind and as far as he was concerned Criss was his new daddy, and I had no idea on what to do or how to fix the problem, and Criss made it clear that he wasn't going to help me with it, but instead he was making things more difficult for me by not only allowing it...but he was fucking playing along with it!

Klayton put his hand on mine and asked if I found a new place to stay yet because if I didn't, he found one that was right across the street from his house that was available and at a decent price. That way AJ would be away from Criss's house, and he could maybe get more used to him and Pheonix instead. I was interested in finding a place of my own, so just out of my own personal irritation I asked him to show me this available house after I take Chloe's car back to her, so she could go to work. Klayton followed me to her house, then I hopped in his car with him and he took me to his house and parked in his driveway, then held onto my hand and walked me across the street to the very nice and empty house. I looked in the front window then walked around the house to look at the property. But when I got to the porch I told Klayton that it was indeed a dream house, but there was no way I could afford it.

Klayton smiled at me as he said uh-huh without much enthusiasm and reached into his pocket for a key, then he unlocked the door and asked me if I'd like to look inside the house. I looked up at him and asked him what all this was, he smirked at me and said that this house belonged to his grandpappy that passed away and it was just gathering webs and dust, and for just a little bit of rent a month he would let me and AJ live there with no strings attached...I looked thru the house as I asked him how much rent was he thinking about...when we both walked out of the doors and out into the yard again he said $50.00 along with the promise of being his girlfriend and it would be a done deal, then he added very jokingly that it was a total steal. I giggled at him, but I told him I would have to think about it...but it was very tempting because it was a very beautiful house.