KISS: Road Trip

Ch 54: I Know But Like...(Peter)

Gene shook his head, sitting on the couch with a sigh and stroking Rags as he jumped into his lap. "Dude kids are just...kids can just be so dumb sometimes. Nick threw a fit this morning because I wouldn't let him get in the washing machine with his clothes. Like damn, sorry I'm trying to keep you alive, I'll just let you drown next time I guess," he said, rolling his eyes.

I laughed, accepting the soda Ace tossed me and cracking it open. "Hey, you wanted a kid. You knew what you were getting into when you had one." "Yeah no I wasn't told that my kid would try and drown himself in the wash. That wasn't a part of the parenting handbooks," he muttered.

"I could've told you kids do stupid shit all the time," Ace said with a grin, handing Gene a soda and sitting on my lap. "I mean hell, Frankie and JoJo were absolute handfuls when they were younger. Like oh my gosh this one time when JoJo was like two I was supposed to be watching him but I had to deal with Frankie trying to swim in the toilet so anyway I walk into the kitchen and JoJo had literally dumped flour all over the floor and himself. Like he was completely white, it was a nightmare."

I slipped an arm around his waist, giving him a squeeze. "And you want to adopt a kid why exactly?" "Because even though they can be a handful at times they can also be really sweet and adorable." "That is true. Nick is literally the cutest baby, no cap. Like does he do stupid things like try and eat literally every inedible thing in our entire house? Yes. But does he do the cutest things and does it melt my heart whenever he calls me dad? Also yes," Gene said, smiling fondly.

Ace gave me a pointed look and I smiled. "Alright, alright, point taken. We'll have to talk about it later." "Yeah, it's important to be on the same page about having a kid. I literally would not be able to handle Nick without Shannon, she's an amazing wife and an even better mother."

Later that night, I snuggled up against Ace, resting my head on his chest. "Hey Ace I wanna talk to you a bit about having a kid," I said softly. I could feel his heart immediately start to race as he nodded, running a hand through my hair. "Yeah, what's up?" I let out a sigh, pressing closer against him. "Babe I know you wanna have a kid, and I do too, and I know we've both been working on getting ourselves together and I know you've had experience with kids, like I know you helped raise your brothers but...Ace, a lot of my childhood was a mess. And I'm afraid...that I won't know how to raise a child, that I won't be any help to you."

Ace shook his head, sliding an arm around my waist and holding me against him. "I know you had it rough sometimes and I'm sorry you had to go through that. But I also know you're not your parents. You're a good man and a great husband and you'd be a great father. But if you don't want to have a kid, that's fine too," he said quietly, and I could immediately tell he was heartbroken.

"I just...I'm sorry babe, I really am, I want you to be happy! More than anything! I'm just scared that I won't be a good father!" I cried, on the verge of tears. Ace shook his head again, giving me a hug. "It's okay. We can wait until you're ready, I don't want to do anything if you're not on the same page as me. We can wait, don't worry."

"Yeah. It just sucks that you have to wait," I mumbled. "Peter, no. I just want you to be happy, that's all!" I nodded, closing my eyes and resting my head on his chest again, feeling the steady rise and fall as he breathed. "I know I won't be like my dad was to me. I'm just afraid I won't be a good parent." "What do you mean?" he asked, stroking my hair. I sighed, pulling the blankets a little closer around us.

"I just...my grandparents getting custody of me saved my life. And so did you and Gene and Paul. Meeting you guys at school was what I really needed. And I know that's not how our kid's life will be, not even close, but I guess...I don't know, I guess I'm just scared that I won't be able to...to be a good parent because I wasn't raised by good parents."

"Peter, you're not your parents. You're not. You won't do what they did because you're not like them. And I'll be there to help you because we'll be a team. But like I said, like I said babe, because we're a team we're not going to do anything if we're not on exactly the same page," he said, kissing me on the forehead.

I gave him a fond smile, kissing him back. "I know. Thanks for listening to me and...and to be honest babe, talking with you now has made me think that uh...that maybe we are ready? Maybe though, I don't want to rush it. I mean let's say we do adopt a kid. Are we thinking like a boy or a girl? If we have a choice, you know how it can be."

Ace shrugged, squeezing my hand. "I mean I'd love to have a little boy but I don't really care!" I nodded, frowning slightly. "Okay, how about age? It's always hard to adopt babies but older kids are usually easier to adopt." "Again, I'd love to have a baby but all I really want is a kid. What about you though? We gotta be on the same page about this."

I just shrugged, giving him a quick smile. "I really don't care either way! Maybe not a teenager though, because I don't know if we're responsible enough for that." He laughed, kissing me. "I 100% agree. But are you okay with it? With having a kid, I mean."

Chewing on my lip, I nodded. "I think. But but I want to have at least one year with you, just married, just the two of us. Gene's talked about it, how he misses being able to just go on dates with Shannon and it just be the two of them and I just wanna...I just wanna be able to have it just be you and me for a bit."

Ace grinned, kissing me again, for a bit longer this time. "Oh, absolutely. A year or two or three maybe. Just the two of us," he purred, pulling me on top of him with a laugh. I wrapped my legs around him, arms encircling his shoulders as I kissed him. "Just the two of us," he murmured, and I grinned.