XFurubaX: Hello everyone 3! I'm so happy you enjoyed my last fan-fiction. Once again I thank all my subscribers and readers for the support! This story in particular focuses on Adam and Drew years later after they graduate Degrassi, Drew is 28, and Adam is 27. Semi- AU. I just hope you enjoy this story as much as my others. I wanted to expand this chapter out in detail so sorry if it's a little slow.
Wednesday July 17th, Drew was married this day to his girlfriend and later lover from his last 2 years of college Catherine Styron (now Torres). They were married at a beach in Long Island. Both he and Adam went to college there. However, Drew only attended a community college but majored in military and the JROTC program while Catherine majored in journalism. Adam attended New York University and was majoring in psychology. with one more year left. Drew was proud to say he proposed at the top of the Empire State building, as there was no way she could reject that. Sometime later the two settled down back in Toronto as it was both their hometowns.
Exactly 10 weeks after they were married, Cathy announced she was pregnant. Of course Drew thankfully lived through the mood swings and cravings. They found out they were having a little girl, then there was the naming problem. Cathy finally insisted they wait, saying a name will come to them the moment they see her. Catherine had somewhat dark skin like Drew, she had deep brown hair and green eyes, always wearing glasses however.
Of course 2 months after they found out it was a girl, she was born. Tuesday, May 22nd. They named her Emily.
Drew was sitting in the waiting room, waiting for Adam to walk in any minute. Adam would be graduating college in September but lucky for him, had the long weekend to finally visit. Adam walked in, looking for Drew. Drew smiled hugging him,
"You're a father now."
"Yeah, well you're an uncle." Drew smiled pulling away,
"Yes, and I'd like to meet my niece."
He took him into the room down the hallway where Cathy laid, she cradled Emily, only 15 inches long in her arms. She smiled at them when she heard the two walk in.
"Hey Adam."
He smiled and she kissed his cheek. He looked at Emily, dead asleep, fragile and tiny. She had a lot of hair for a newborn. Deep brown like Cathy's. He gently picked her up as not to wake her. He lost his ability to speak upon looking at her. She had such a pretty face. She couldn't figure out who she looked more like, her mother or her father.
"She's got her mother's lips." Cathy giggled, "And her mother's nose. The only thing left is the eyes." he whispered gently rocking her in his arms. He couldn't stop smiling, "She's so beautiful." Drew moved the pink blanket out of her face a bit, he kept asking himself who's eyes would she have. If she had everything else, she'd definitely have her mother's green eyes. Drew let out a charming grin,
"She does look like her mother." he grinned over at Cathy who was still smiling.
Adam was still holding her, gently smiling, "Well. Who knows, maybe you'll have-" Emily suddenly started crying, Adam sat down on the chair next to Cathy's hospital bed suddenly worrying "Oh no, ok ok…" he gently bounced her and shushed her. Cathy tried to lean over in the bed to see if she was alright but Drew picked her up,
"Let me see…" he whispered to her in a comforting tone. He held Emily, bouncing her to try to calm her down, "It's ok daddy's here-" suddenly he heard a gag and felt something hot on his shirt collar. He saw Adam's "Oh shit I'm going to laugh hysterically" face as Cathy laughed away. Emily spit up on his chest.
"Here," Cathy reached out, taking Emily. Adam looked at him, "I'm happy you took her Drew." Drew snickered although he was trying to wipe off the spit up with a tissue. Emily stopped crying however.
Cathy and Drew brought Emily home the next day and after two days of helping settle things out, Adam had another 3 hour flight back to school to finish up. Cathy hugged him goodbye, "You better come visit us."
"Absolutely!"
Drew then of course hugged him, "I'll see you around bro."
"You to." and he was off to the airport.
Not even a week after that, Emily opened her eyes. She laid in her play crib looking around the room, fascinated by everything there was to see. She had Drew's eyes. His deep brown eyes were the only trait he passed on to her. But she still couldn't look any more beautiful.
Cathy and Drew had bought her a few baby learning toys and stuffed animals. Cathy had gotten back into her slim figure, and now wrote for a living while Drew was attached to a military base in the Middle East. However things had been going great since the riots ended and he was sure he and his troupes wouldn't be needed for a long time. Currently he worked as a day trader to pay the bills and rent and things couldn't be any better. Emily still laid around 3 months later however that wasn't a problem as she was now gurgling and giggling at her parents.
At age of 18, Drew was signed up into the military, as he had been talking about it for nearly 5 years. He was happy to know his mother was listening when she brought it up for the first time when he was a senior in high school. He went to 3 years of boot camp and learned targeting, drilling and memorized each type of gun and each type of range by heart. However once it was over the first thing he wanted to do, was go to college. Therefore, he did, joining Adam down in the big apple.
"Ok now open your mouth." Cathy was feeding her that night for dinner. Emily was just staring at the spoon full of mush. "Come on…" right as she dropped her jaw to make an incoherent baby noise, she got the spoon in. "Good job!" She didn't have teeth yet, but boy was she getting hair. Still short, she may have gotten her mother's thin, brown hair, she had her father's hair line. Drew walked in through the front door.
"It's about time you got home."
"Sorry late day." he snickered, he walked in kissing her cheek. "Is Emily eating?"
"Yes! Just missed her third bite…" she saw an envelope in Drew's hand. Opened.
"What's that?"
Drew was confused until he noticed she could see the letter, he crumbled it in his fist, "Nothing." Cathy stood up,
"What is it?"
He walked over to the trash, "Nothing important." Before he could toss it, she grabbed it and un crumbled it, reading it completely drawn into the words. Drew bit his lip as he saw concern grow in her eyes. She snatched it down from her eyes looking up at him with her jaw dropped.
"Nothing?"
He sighed, "Something."
"DREW THIS CAN'T BE!" Emily's head shot towards her parents, not understanding anything as she picked at her little dissolving snacks on her feeding table.
"Just calm down!"
"NO!"
"It'll only be for a little while-"
"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT-"
"Shh!"
Tears formed in her eyes, her face welted up. He held her, "Cathy," she started crying,
"Don't go. Please!"
Tears were in his eyes as well. Drew was drafted to Afghanistan. It was apparent that many Libyan people were trying to invade and overthrow Afghanistan and they were the only trained forces they had. He held her tighter,
"I have to. As much as I don't want to."
"But what about Emily? Huh?" she yelled forcefully, "She's only been in this world for 3 months and she's going to lose her father-"
"She might not!" he pulled back, "Remember, she might not." Cathy looked at him…the sorrowful, you don't know that look. Emily started wining, she dropped container of her little snacks and couldn't reach them. Drew walked over,
"Here you go sweetheart."
That's what she didn't want to lose. He looked back at her for a long time trying to give her a reassuring look and offered Emily some more of her snacks. The note said he was due in a week, the flight time was 13 hours, and Afghanistan was 8 hours and 30 minutes ahead of there time. He still had to figure out the flight plans due to as for the entire troupe getting there, it was everyman for himself. For the rest of the night, he held Emily tightly.
At 2 A.M. Drew finally decided to call Adam. He used his dorm number not wanting to use up Adam's cell phone minutes. He couldn't sleep, he kept sitting up and looking at the time wanting dawn to come so he could tell his brother. He finally decided to call him right then. Sneaking out of bed, past the nursery and downstairs where the home phone was.
Down in Manhattan, Adam and his roommate were dead asleep when the phone rang. His roommate jumped down from the top bunk, confused and aggravated as to who would be out of there minds to call someone at 2 in the morning. He picked it up quickly and whispered,
"Hello?"
"Hey, who is this?"
"Uh…it's Jeff." Drew had been told about Jeff, he'd been Adam's roommate for the past 6 years. Not a bad kid but Adam told Drew about his recklessness at times. Especially on their adventures…
"Oh, listen I'm Adam's brother, I need to talk to him now."
"Now?"
"Yes."
Jeff was hopelessly confused but he walked over to the bottom bunk where Adam was still dead to the world, he shook his shoulder,
"Adam."
He stirred, he shook harder.
"Adam."
"What?" he asked, sleepy and irritated and hoping it wasn't another one of his "Friday night adventures."
He held the phone out, "It's your brother."
Adam turned to his other side, "Yeah right."
"No! I'm serious he says he has to talk to you now." He sat up, taking the phone from him as Jeff crawled back up to the top bunk,
"Hello?"
"Adam!"
He was shocked, that was definitely Drew's voice.
"Drew?"
"Listen…something's happened. I need you to come down for…I don't know how long."
"Drew, I graduate in a month."
"I know but I need you!"
"What could possibly be that important?" Oh how he wanted to be asleep right then.
"Look…Adam, I have to go to Afghanistan."
Adam winced in confusion, then it hit him , "Funny Drew-" he always tried to deny bad news at first.
"Now Adam, I need you to help Cathy take care of Emily."
"Drew, you can't be serious-"
"I am. Please, I don't care if it's tomorrow, I don't care if it's next week, I don't care if its next MONTH! Just get your butt down here because I HAVE to go."
Adam was still in denial, "I…I don't believe this."
"Yeah, me neither. Just, please…help take care of the baby, that's your sister-in-law and your niece."
Adam sighed, it was either the sleepiness or the shock that was taunting him to say this, "And that's your wife and your daughter."
Adam swallowed thickly, regretting those words but knew how to make up for them, "I'll talk to my professor and see what's the quickest I can come…ok?"
"Thank you."
Adam rubbed his eyes, waiting to fall back out, "Ok. Good night-"
"Adam!"
It was the sleepiness that was saying this, "WHAT?"
"I know I don't tell you this enough but…your…the best brother I could ever ask for…I wouldn't ask anyone else to do this."
Adam stopped…that really was something Drew never said.
"Thanks…I'll let you know when I can come down." He hung up. Now he knew he wasn't going to get back to sleep. He laid in his bed, staring at the bottom of the top bunk. Jeff fell asleep a little too quickly for Adam's liking. He tried to fall back asleep but tossed and turned for the rest of the night. As did Drew in his own home.
The next morning, Cathy woke up to see Drew was out of bed. She almost had a heart-attack until she heard Emily's giggles from downstairs. She put on her glasses and walked down to find him feeding her breakfast. Cathy walked into the kitchen from behind, she noticed the way Emily always smiled when she saw her father. It wasn't the same when she smiled at her. She knew her father when she saw him. She snuck up behind Drew,
"Morning!"
He just turned to her and smirked, she should've known Drew was hard to scare. She kissed his cheek then let Emily wrap her tiny hand around her index finger.
"Did you get any sleep last night?" she asked trying to keep a smile in front of Emily. He slowly slid the spoon into her mouth, feeding her the second to last bite.
"Yeah. I slept fine."
She crossed her arms in suspicion, "Really? Then why are you up?"
He scooped up the last of Emily's baby food as he found himself caught. "It's my turn to feed Emily." He fed her the last bite.
"Every morning for the past year that we've been married, your always dead asleep next to me. What makes you an early bird all the sudden?" As if she didn't know.
He put the now empty container into the trash bin and the baby's spoon into the sink. He sighed, "I called Adam, late last night and asked him to help you take care of Emily while I'm gone."
"You called Adam?"
He grabbed the nearest box of cereal he could from the cabinet, "Yeah." She didn't think this was a bad idea, but was still confused.
"But what about his school? Doesn't he get his masters degree in a few weeks?"
He got two bowls from the cabinet, "Want some?"
She waved a hand. Not really caring, "Yeah, yeah but how is he going to do that?"
He poured two bowls, "He said he was gonna talk to his professor."
She was starting to get irritated, "Are you not paying attention to the conversation at all?"
Drew sighed, caught in his shenanigans again, he turned around, "I'm trying to pretend none of this his happening right now." he commented with a serious tone, "So please, lets not discuss it the moment we get up."
Cathy looked at him, now worried. It finally came to her he hated it just as much as she did. She uncrossed her arms, "Ok…lets have breakfast." Drew nodded and smiled, liking that plan. Out of no where, Emily began to laugh and giggle. Cathy smiled adoringly and picked her up out of her seat,
"What? What's so funny?" she hugged her.
Back in New York University, Adam was in the middle of a 95 minute class with Professor Xavier. He was pretty strict about keeping people's mouths shut while he was lecturing and making sure everyone had all the notes. Adam had no problems with him. Straight A student and people always came to him for help on the study guides. It was high school all over again. Today however Adam kept getting distracted about Drew. He knew he was going to wait until after class to talk with him but he kept staring at the clock every few seconds although he was trying to focus on the power point. Then at one point he wandered off while writing and found the word "Afghanistan" on his notes.
Right as the power point was coming to an end, the bell rang and the 65 students in there left eagerly to the cafeteria all the way across campus. Adam wasn't among them as he was walking from his seat in the middle section to the professor's desk.
"Professor Xavier do you have a minute?"
He had sat down in his seat, grabbing a few un-graded papers. "Yes. What is it?"
"This is sort of, complicated to explain but…" he tried to laugh, but it came out more as a sign of crying.
"You need a seat?" He pulled out a chair from next to him,
"Yes thank you." he sat down dropping his bag, "Uh, my older brother, who lives in Toronto…he's." he had to pause, he was still in denial, "He's been drafted to Afghanistan."
Xavier's eyes widened, he took off his glasses in a sign of sympathy,
"Yes and, 3 months ago my niece was born. He's asked me to move in with his wife for a while…until things are over and he wants to know the soonest I can get there-"
"Go." Xavier exclaimed, straight and without hesitation. Adam winced in confusion however,
"What?"
"You said he needs you, so go. I can talk to your other professors."
Adam was still confused, "But, as appreciated that is sir," he uncomfortably sat up in his seat, "Graduations in a week and…if I don't get my diploma I wont-"
"We can mail it to you."
Adam was still confused, "Y-you can?"
"Yes. Now then…go."
Adam nodded, smiling, "Ok I will thank you so much!" he grabbed his bag and walked out of the building. He headed to his dorm, taking out the key from his pocket. He rushed in, throwing his bag down and grabbing a suit case from his last visit, he began to look through his closet for clothes to bring until he heard something shift in the top bunk, making him jump a little,
It was Jeff.
"Adam?
"Hey…" he had no idea why Jeff wasn't at lunch…nor why he hadn't gone to his classes but shrugged it off for the time being.
Jeff sat up from under the bed sheets, "What are you doing? Why are you here?"
He grabbed about 10 shirts, ripping the hangers out and shoved them into the baggage, "I can ask the same thing."
Jeff hopped down, "Why are you packing?"
"Happy graduation Jeff, I have to go to Toronto for a really, really," he strained his voice reaching for a second suit case as he was running out of room, "Long time."
Jeff grabbed a shirt that had been thrown on the desk and threw it on although it was inside-out, "Why? What the hell's going on?"
Adam was throwing some more clothes in, as well as putting his tooth brush and other hygiene products in a plastic bag. "My brother's going to Afghanistan, I'm helping my sister-in-law take care of my niece."
Jeff got a spark of memory back, "Oh yeah little Emily. I remember."
Adam smiled upon thinking of her.
"You nervous about him going?"
Adam stopped, he shrugged, "Not really."
Jeff nodded, unconvinced, "Oh ok. Need a ride to the airport?"
Adam snorted, "We live in New York. I'll take a cab." He struggled to zip the second suitcase. Jeff watched as Adam struggled to remember what he was doing, "Crap! I need to buy a ticket, fuck what times are they?" he walked over, turning on Jeff's laptop.
"Hey man, if you need an extra buck, allow me to do the honors."
Adam looked back at him, this day just kept getting more confusing, "Really?"
"Yeah."
He just wanted him out of there so he could have his own room he thought, but in an emergency like this, he had to accept any offer he could get. "Thanks Jeff, I-I really owe you-"
He pushed Adam out of the way and logged on to find flight times, "It's nothin', just remember me by the adventures we had together…remember Times Square in our sophomore year?"
Adam didn't want to remember that. It was the first year Adam had a dorm with Jeff and he insisted they go for a little 'Friday night fun". Adam thought he meant go to Brooklyn and get pizza but by midnight they ended up in a chase with a coupler of ramblers.
They were admiring everything at Times Square when Jeff started picking on Adam for being a 'pussy'. To prove a point, Adam said he and Jeff should cut through a back alley to avoid crowds. Boy did he learn his lesson as did Jeff.
Never go through a back alley in New York, and never call Adam a 'pussy'.
X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X
Adam's flight left at 10:30 in the morning and he arrived at about 1:50. However it cost him an extra 20 minutes as the plane had to find a free docking area to unload. Drew was supposed to pick him up there but Adam insisted he take a cab. The whole New York thing really rubbed off on him. They dropped him off at the neighborhood gate and he walked around for five minutes trying to remember which house was Drew's.
He had a warm welcome, as he hadn't seen his new family in 3 months. They mainly spend the rest of the afternoon talking about their college memories. Emily was napping when Adam arrived but the moment they found her awake, Adam picked her up. She immediately spit out her pacifier and started giggling. Adam laughed with her as he playfully bounced her,
"She's gotten so much hair."
Drew was standing in the room with him, "Notice anything about her?"
Emily made a grab for Adam's front bangs as he gently moved her hand away, "Besides the fact that she's a social butterfly?" Adam continued to playfully lift her in the air as she squealed in delight. Drew smirked, laughing to himself.
"What?"
"Look at her eyes Adam."
He held her in his arms, looking at them, he realized what Drew was trying to say, "There brown like yours." he marked unable to stop smiling at her. Drew walked in, Adam handed her to him, Drew cradled her in his arms, rocking her. Emily looked right back into his eyes…for some reason the giggling stopped as Drew began to frown. As if she knew what he was thinking. She knew he was sad about something. Adam's smile faded as well, looking at the floor,
"You know…this isn't easy for me either…" his eyes wandered into the crib, her red and white blanket and baby pillow along with a small kitten stuffed animal laid in there. "I'm actually really scared." he looked back up. Drew seemed tranced as he looked at Emily. She stared right back in silence. Even though he wasn't saying anything, he knew what Drew was thinking. He didn't want to leave his new family either. Adam found himself watching Drew look at Emily…as Emily stared at her daddy in wonder.
Later that night Adam had gotten settled and would sleep in the guest bedroom, Drew woke up in the middle of the night when he heard Emily crying. Cathy was asleep next to him, tired. He walked into the nursery to find that her night light went out. The dark for some reason made Emily intensely uncomfortable. Most likely due to the fact she was just a baby. He saw it was plugged in, meaning it blew. He reached in and picked her up. He gently rocked her and shushed her until she calmed down. He found him in a position that seemed like she was hugging him. Her tiny arms barely wrapped around his neck. He wasn't going to leave her in the dark. He carried her into him and Cathy's room, laying her down in between their heads. He let her suck on his index finger for a short time but eventually fell out before she did, not even realizing she was still doing so. She didn't fall asleep until an hour later.
As he was laying there however, he kept asking himself "What kind of father am I? Leaving my wife and daughter to something that I could lose my life to? Worse, putting my brother in this weird position." He woke up that morning but his wife and Emily were out of bed. He could hear her and Adam talking downstairs and Emily's gurgling. He walked down and Cathy offered him coffee. He saw Adam wiping Emily's mouth,
"You fed her already?"
Adam snickered, "Yup."
"What time is it?"
Cathy looked at the clock on the oven, "9:30, you were definitely sleeping last night."
Drew grinned, taking the coffee cup from her and kissing her on the lips.
"I could here you snoring from all the way down here." Adam mocked, having not lost his enjoyment for making fun of Drew when he can. Drew rolled his eyes. He walked over to Emily's high chair, smiling as he sipped his coffee, ticking her chin as she giggled.
Adam sipped his, "You know for 3 month old, she laughs a lot."
"I guess she must be a happy child."
Adam lost his grin, "Do you think she'll still be like this when you leave?"
Cathy paused on stirring the cream into her coffee as Drew lost his smile.
"I hope so." he forced down the rest of his coffee with the bottom up. He set the cup in the sink before walking into the laundry room.
In it were some unpacked suit cases from when he and Cathy left New York. He grabbed one that he shoved in one of the cabinets above along with other miscellaneous junk. He opened up with one thing in it, his camouflage army suit from boot camp. It still had the same dirt stains from almost 6 years ago. He hadn't touched it since. He closed the door, locking it.
About 15 minutes he was in there, Cathy left Adam with Emily as she knocked on the door.
"Drew?"
"Yeah?" he was pinning on the badge the sergeant gave him after he finished.
"What are you doing?"
He opened the door, fully dressed in his suit. Cathy scanned him in awe, once again realizing it really was happening. Drew looked at her, unable to muster a smile. She realized the pin he had been struggling to put on was falling off. "Here,"
She put it on properly, Adam walked by with Emily in one arm and a toy of hers in the other, also shocked to see Drew in his suit. He nodded at Adam, "Want to go for a ride?"
Adam breathed in, "You mean… to the airport?" he mumbled unable to hear himself.
Drew nodded. "Yeah…" Adam still couldn't take it.
It was now dusk, Drew had packed everything he needed and was hugging and kissing Cathy goodbye. He rubbed Emily's head as she smiled at him with her mouth wide open. He picked her up from her play area and held her closely. The smile on Emily faded. Adam watched from the front door as Drew built tears in his eyes. He couldn't let her go, he's only known his daughter for 3 months. However if he didn't he'd miss his flight. He heard her babble out baby noises as he tried to hold his tears back,
"I love you." he held Emily out, a single tear escaped as he smiled at her. He set her back down to play as she hugged Cathy one last time, tears pouring out of her eyes. Adam still couldn't look at it. He slowly turned away looking at the car outside, knowing it was his turn to cry later. After about 3 minutes, he felt a hand on his shoulder,
"Lets go." he whispered walking to the car. Adam could see the tears drying on his face. The drive there however seemed like an eternity, neither one of them talked. Adam didn't even glance at him. Not even as Drew handed in his ticket and checked his baggage in.
Adam sat next to him waiting for the announcement for Drew's flight. He stared at the ground, he realized his hands were shaking.
"Adam?"
Adam finally mustered up the strength to look at him, "Yeah?"
"You're gonna take great care of them I know it." he reassured with a smile.
Adam finally felt the tears coming, he smiled, "Thanks…"
They called, flight 27 now boarding it said, repeating once. He stood up. Adam held him in a tight embrace. Tears slowly falling out he took a heavy breath,
"I love you Andrew."
Drew held him out, showing him a deep smile, "I love you to." He slowly slid his hand out of Adam's as he walked into the plane, looking back at him for the longest time until he was finally gone. Adam sat back down, forcefully wiping the tears away and stayed until his plane took off.
However on the way back he started up all over again…
