"Hey." Adam stuck his head in the room. "May I?"

Jordi was curled up in the middle of the bed, the covers tucked up around him.

"What are you reading?"

"To Kill a Mockingbird. It's for school."

"Always liked that one. Liked the movie too."

"So that went, well?" Jordi smirked.

"Yeah, it was awesome." Adam laughed. "awesomely uncomfortable."

"They seemed kind of mad."

"Yeah. But not at you. They're mad at me because I didn't tell them. Honesty is a big deal with my parents. I used to get into worse trouble for lying than whatever I'd been up to."

"Somehow I can't see you doing anything that awful."

"I might look like a mature and upstanding adult but when I was your age I got into my fair share of mischief.

"Seriously, Jordi. I know some things were said that weren't all that nice. And I know you heard all of it. I'm not going to pretend that I believe you really came back in here."

"Your father doesn't like me."

"My father doesn't know you. He can't like or dislike you until he does."

"Sure didn't sound that way."

Adam shook his head. "Jordi, my father's an investment banker. Every thing in his life is like the next investment and every investment has to be weighed carefully, the pros and the cons. This is not the first time I've been on the other side of the argument. And tonight was nothing like when I told him I didn't want to go to Yale and business like he did, I wanted to go to Harvard and study medicine."

"How'd you convince him?"

"I didn't really. I just told him I was doing it and he didn't have to support it. I was lucky enough that I was a smart kid and I had been offered several scholarships so I wasn't real worried about the money. Which was really the only thing he could try to use against me. I mean med school is not cheap."

"What did your mother say?"

"My mother has always been very good about staying out of our discussions, as you might have noticed. Which isn't to say that she's weak or anything. She's not. She's a powerhouse. My mother might be the one person in my life that could go toe to toe with Jackson and have a real shot at winning. My mother just picks her battles more carefully, makes her moves more quietly. That's why she said the thing about us not saying something either of us would regret. Thinking before you speak is her biggest tool. When my med school aspirations came up, my mothers only comment was to ask my father to weigh the pros and cons of having me hate him for not supporting me. Was he ready to risk a major loss for selling out on an investment."

"Sneaky."

"That's my mother." Adam laughed. "Seriously don't worry about it. This isn't about you. It's about me. It's about not telling them what I was up to before now. I had plenty of chances, I talk to them every week."

"Why didn't you?"

Adam shrugged. "It didn't feel like something that should be told over the phone. I wanted to sit down with them, tell them, let them meet you and see how cool you are. Not 'hey mom, hey dad, how's the weather in Boston, I've decided to adopt a patient'. Just didn't feel like that was the way to go."

"Probably not."

"But I will tell you this. I know there's been a few missteps"

"Like sleeping with my mom."

"You know about that?"

"Everyone knows about that."

"In my defense, I didn't know she was your mother at the time."

"It's cool."

"Thanks. And as I was about to say before I was so snarkily interrupted, there have been a few missteps and things that didn't turn out the way either of us hoped, but I have no regrets. I know most folks would agree with my father that getting emotionally attached to a patient is a very bad idea. It's really hard not to when you work peds. You have to condition yourself not to get attached, not to bring your work home or it can eat you alive. Making your work part of your home, that's just walk.

"But missteps or not, I'm glad I said yes. I don't think we're doing so bad. I think we're doing okay just you and me."

"And Leo, Dash, Emma"

"Kara, Charlie"

"Nurse Jackson."

"Can't forget Jackson."