Chapter 3
Chad had never shaken so many hands in a two minute period before. The board completely backed his foundation idea and his financial plan. It all felt like Abby had been watching over him the entire time, helping him, guiding him to what his purpose was for after their life together. A genuine smile came across his face as he exited the room and took a breath. He couldn't believe he had actually done it.
"We did it, baby." He clutched his hand to his chest and thought, "There's just one more thing that would make this day better."
He picked up his phone and texted Lucas to see where they were. He needed to see Thomas. Thomas was his light, he was his driving force, he was his everything, because he was theirs. Seeing Thomas' little smile would only be the cherry on top of his day.
Lucas responded quickly that they were at the park playing in the sandbox. Chad made a quick detour, he left the hospital and decided to pick up something special for his boy. He was getting bigger every day and it seemed like Chad was constantly trying to figure out what the next size Thomas would need would be or what toys were now "age appropriate". It didn't help that Thomas was crawling all over the mansion and Chad was now starting to feel like he had to keep up with his baby.
The day Thomas crawled for the first time Chad was so shocked and proud. Without a second's hesitation he called out for Abby, thinking she was just in the next room. "Baby! Baby! Come here Thomas is…" And the realization had sunk in before he finished his sentence. A small amount of liquid started to form under his eyes as he continued to watch his son scoot his little body across the mansion floor.
Chad shook himself out of his daze as he came out of the infant clothing store. The shirt that he had found would be so incredibly cute on his son. Chad was absolutely NOT a shopper. That was always Abby's thing. She picked out the outfits and arranged the photo sessions and kept the men in her life looking handsome and dapper. Since she wasn't able to do that job anymore, Chad had decided that he would not let them look anything less than what Abby would have expected. He'd also get to have a little fun as well.
He finally found Lucas and Adrienne in the park. Thomas was gripping the sand in his fist with a big cheesy smile on his face. He could see the bottom two teeth popping through Thomas' gums. "Da." Thomas mumbled.
In his brain Chad knew that Thomas wasn't really saying, "Dad", but his heart told him otherwise. "Hey!" Chad greeted.
Lucas and Adrienne sat casually on the bench nearby, keeping an eye out. "Hey Chad!" Adrienne greeted first.
Chad set his bag down next to the engaged couple. "Whatchya got?" Lucas inquired. He wouldn't ever truly admit it to himself or to Chad, but part of him was relishing in helping to take care of Thomas. He didn't really get to do that with Will since at the time, he believed that Will was Austin's son and his nephew. It was just one of many things that he had ultimately forgiven Sami for in their twenty plus year friendship. To see Thomas take these first big moments was something Lucas would always treasure.
With a sneaky smile on his face, Chad pulled out the sweat shirt hoodie that he had purchased in the town square. It was black and had a Batman symbol on it. Lucas smiled and Adrienne laughed.
"Oh my goodness!" She squealed. "That is adorable!"
"It's a 12 month so I'm hoping it will fit him for a little bit. Might be a bit too big for him now, but he'll grow into it. With the winter coming up I thought it would be perfect."
"Oh he sure will!" Adrienne gushed as she smiled brightly.
As they were conversing, Brady Black came walking by with his son Tate. He noticed Adrienne, Lucas and Chad sitting over on a bench and asked if he could join them.
"Hey guys!"
"Hey Brady!" Chad greeted, shaking hands with him. Brady wasn't someone that Chad had a lot of history with. They had a few run-ins since Chad had come back to town, most notably when Chad inquired about effects of drinking too heavily and the blackouts he was experiencing during Ben's murder spree. Abby had had some sort of friendship with him through Jennifer, but, Brady kind of kept to the Kiriakis clan and Theresa.
Adrienne tapped Chad on the shoulder, "Chad, sweetheart, is it alright if Lucas and I go for a walk?"
"Oh yeah! Thank you so much. I got him from here."
"Okay." She kissed Chad on the cheek and ruffled his hair a little. "Bye Brady." She waved at Brady. Brady returned the sentiment and set Tate down next to Thomas and let his son enjoy the wonders of the sandbox.
Brady took a seat next to Chad on the park bench. Both men sat there, silently, awkwardly, letting the weight of their family's history suffocate the air. That is, until Brady finally broke the ice. "It's kind of amazing isn't it?" Brady ominously stated, his eyes fixated on the two children in front of them.
"What is?" Chad replied, watching the two boys play as well. Thomas didn't really know what he was doing, but he grabbed a sand shovel in his little hand as best as he could and dropped it in front of Tate so he could play with it.
"That the two of them are the future of our families. They know nothing about the feud, they know nothing of the world around them and their innate sense is to be kind to each other."
Chad agreed whole-heartedly. He better than anyone knew that family history and past mistakes did not determine one's future. It was a choice he made every day to not give into his darker nature. To not just give in to Stefano's way of thinking and plotting and manipulating the people and the world around him. That wasn't who Abby fell in love with and that certainly wasn't the man she married. He fiddled with his wedding ring.
Brady must have taken notice and commented. "This might not be my place, but, you're doing a good job from what I can tell Chad. I have definitely suffered my fair share of loss in life, just like you. Arianna, Madison, my mother. I can't tell you how scared I was when I was about your age and I thought I was going to lose Chloe to leukemia. She was my whole world, my love, my life… and just like you I fought with everything to save her. The love of a good woman will make you see this whole other side to yourself. I was so angry at the world. Hell, we both were. But, through everything, we found hope in the world through each other. At the thought of losing that…"
Chad definitely knew a thing or two about being angry at the world. He was not the nicest or the best person when he found out who his father truly was. Abby, since the moment he met her in the Java Café, had this light around her that just called to his soul. With her, he saw that light at the end of the dark tunnel he had been on. And now that light was gone. "That worked out though. I mean, Chloe is very much alive and well."
"Yeah it did and even though she and I didn't work out, I thank God every day that it did. But even with all of that loss and when I did think that I lost her forever at one point… My point is, don't lose sight of you. You're doing everything that you can for Thomas and that's great and that's what a good parent should do. But don't forget about yourself either. Don't be afraid to love again. If I had stopped living after all of the bullshit I've been through, I wouldn't be here, with Theresa and our son."
Chad let Brady's words sink in. "Thank you."
"Anytime." He patted Chad's shoulder as he went to get up.
"Hey Brady," Chad started, unsure of how he wanted to continue this sentence. The Kiriakis' and the DiMera's were not known to be friendly, with the exception of himself and Sonny. Brady and EJ sure as hell had a bitter feud over business and Nicole Walker. Stefano and Victor's hatred dated back decades with no one really understanding what it was about to begin with. Justin was a stand-up guy but obviously couldn't let his own disdain for the family go when Chad was falsely accused of being the Neck-tie Killer. No one on the planet trusted or, hell, even liked Andre. Chad could only imagine it was a similar feeling with this Deimos character he'd heard about for the Kiriakis family. "We ah, we actually have a lot in common, don't we?"
"In life or…?"
"Yeah, in life. In family duty. What it means to be looked at as 'the next generation of…'"
"I guess we kinda do." Brady hadn't really thought about it because he honestly hated the DiMera's. With his history with EJ and Kristen and Tony, he knew not to trust them but, as he looked at Chad, all he saw was a broken man trying to be a good dad to his son. He didn't see anything that he didn't recognize in himself at some point in his life.
"You know if you and Theresa ever want to have a date night, I'm sure Thomas would love to have a playdate." Chad slyly offered.
Brady smiled and nodded. "I will discuss it with Theresa and if that's something she's comfortable with, I'll have her give you a call."
Brady scooped up Tate from the sandbox and Thomas started to cry. Chad came over and picked up his son to comfort him. "It's okay Thomas. You and Tate can maybe play another day."
Brady had Tate wave goodbye to Thomas and it seemed to make the little Deveraux calmer for the moment. Chad did the same and said goodbye as Brady and Tate continued on their walk.
Chad gathered Thomas' stuff that Lucas and Adrienne had left for him. "Come on little man, let's get you home."
As Chad and Thomas left the park, AJ came out from the trees behind the park bench and watched as Chad strolled through the town square to take his son home.
"Don't worry Chad. I know you miss me. I'm still here baby. It's just not the right time yet. I'll explain everything. I promise." And with that declaration to only God and herself, AJ aka Abigail Johanna DiMera watched her family walk home with no knowledge as to who she really was.
