KISS: In The Band

Ch 26: On The Rocks Again (Ace)

"Mm...I raise," I said, tossing a chip to the center of the table. "Fold," Peter said, setting down his cards with a sigh. "I see your raise and I raise it again," Frankie said, face completely expressionless. I raised an eyebrow but threw another chip into the center to match him. JoJo frowned, staring at his cards, before tossing three chips into the center. "I raise."

Peter turned over another card and I tried not to show how excited I was. I was being set up perfectly for a straight flush if everything went my way. "You know what? I'm gonna go...all in," I said, pushing my pile of chips into the center. Frankie raised an eyebrow before silently matching what I had done. Ooh, either he was bluffing or I was fucked. 

"Yeah hell no, I fold," JoJo grumbled, setting down his cards. Peter turned over the last card and I did my absolute best to bite back a smile. Straight flush, bitch, I had this one in the bag. "Alright. Let's see 'em," Peter said. 

Frankie turned over his hand which was just a seven and a three. "Yeah I was bluffing," he said sheepishly. "Ahah I win!" I said gleefully, setting down my cards. "Straight flush!" He let out a groan, burying his face in his hands. "Dammit! That's not fair! You're gay, you can't get a straight flush!" Peter burst into laughter as I punched Frankie in the arm. "Shut up! This is my home, I won't tolerate this kind of disrespect! Go to your room, young man!" 

Laughing, Frankie jumped to his feet, ruffling my hair before giving me a hug. "Aw, goodnight Danny, you know you're my favorite older brother." Shaking his head with a grin, JoJo also gave me a hug. "Night Ace! You're also my favorite older brother!" "Hey!" Frankie protested as I flipped him off. "Goodnight JoJo, you're my favorite younger brother! Franklin, you're grounded, go think about what you've done." 

"Goodnight Peter!" they said. Still laughing, the two of them headed for the guest room since it was past 1 in the morning. Peter picked up the cards as I started to put away the chips. "It's fun having your brothers here," he said after a pause. I nodded, smiling faintly. "It really is. I missed them. We should have them over more often. Ooh, we should do like a family dinner with my side of the family! Wait no we should do a family dinner with both sides of our family! I can invite my parents and brothers and you can invite your grandparents!" I said eagerly. 

Peter gave me a smile, setting down the cards in favor of wrapping his arms around my waist and leaning against me. "That sounds like it would be fun! Now come on, I'm sleepy, let's go to bed too," he said through a yawn. 

The next morning, the four of us sat around the table eating cereal, all of us a little too tired to bother talking. Peter looked at his phone before rising to his feet with a sigh, setting his bowl in the sink. "Hey I gotta run and meet up with my drum tech since my bass drums have been kind of out of wack. So hey Frankie and JoJo, if I'm not back before you guys are gone, it was really fun having you two over for the weekend! You're welcome to stop by any time!" he said, before giving me a kiss and heading out the door. 

We fell back into our comfortable silence, the only sound really being the soft clinking of spoons on bowls. JoJo gave me a curious look after a pause. "Hey Ace, whatever happened to you adopting a kid?" I felt my face growing hot and shrugged, setting my bowl in the dishwasher and loading up theirs too. "Good question. We're still working on that." 

"That sucks. You were so excited to adopt one," Frankie said absentmindedly. "Damn, rub salt into the wound why don't you," I muttered, before heaving a sigh. "Nah, we're gonna adopt a kid. Just a matter of when. We're still trying to...figure some stuff out." 

They exchanged glances before shrugging. "I hope it works out! You'd be a fun dad! And Peter too. It was fun spending the weekend with you guys, even if it does suck Mom and Dad still don't trust us at home because of you," Frankie teased. I rolled my eyes. "Oh, shut up. Technically, that's not my fault. I didn't ask for them to be super extra toward you guys." 

"Gosh, you just really fucked it up for us," JoJo said with a grin. "Hey! Watch your fucking language!" I said, pulling open the door as someone knocked, giving Mom a smile. "Hi Mom! How was your weekend?" I asked. She gave me a hug. "Oh, it was fantastic! How were your brothers?" I grinned. "It was fun! They're welcome to come over any time!" 

After a few more goodbyes and some good-natured teasing between me and my brothers, they had all left and I was alone waiting for Peter, thinking about what Frankie and JoJo had said. Peter got home after a few hours, giving me a kiss. "Hey love! Get everything with your drum kit worked out?" He nodded, returning the kiss. "Yep!" 

"Babe can we just go ahead and adopt a kid?" I blurted out. 

He froze, looking at me in surprise. "What?" "Can we just adopt a kid? I really want to have a family, a family with you! I'm tired of waiting and all this back and forth!" He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Ace, come on, why do we have to have this conversation right now?" "I'm tired of not having an answer! I want a kid, why can't we just adopt one!" 

"Ace, look, I don't want to talk about this right now," he said crossly. "You never want to talk! You never want to talk to me about things that I care about! Please, can we just sit down and talk about adopting a baby?!" I begged. He shook his head, moving away from me. "I don't want to talk about it right now." 

"Just admit you don't want one and we'll be done with it!" I shouted, before storming into my room and slamming the door shut behind me. Taking a deep breath, I shook my head, sitting on the edge of our bed with a sigh. Maybe we weren't as perfect together as we had originally thought.

Maybe this marriage wasn't meant to keep going.