Big thanks to everyone reading! I wanted to make sure this story could stand alone so there is a lot of 'relationship building' and backgound in these first few chapters, stuff already done in Gym Class Heroes, though we'll be moving to the fun stuff soon enough. Also, I do have Romy in GCAH but at the moment I'm confined by Chellerbelle's story as I don't want to give away the juicy stuff before it actually happens (she's done the same for me later on). Once I move out of GCH I can do more my own thing and I have some great Romy stuff in store, but this story will always be a Jonda fic.

Chapter 5

Saint-John was a simple man who enjoyed simple pleasures.

Before long it was Pyro's birthday. Normally he didn't do too much because his dad, while usually sending a pretty awesome gift, would be unable to make it due to his other obligations. Contracting doesn't contract itself, you know.

Usually he'd sneak some way too sugary baked goods and Remy would buy him a fancy lighter and a questionably risqué card. This year Wanda got him a new notebook, a nice fancy leather bound one from the bookstore.

But overall not a lot of fuss, not a lot of whoopla, and he was perfectly okay with that. The simple fact that people actually remembered his birthday and wished him Happy 18th during the day was enough for him.

"Dad!" he shouted as he made his way into Xavier's office as he'd been instructed to.

"Heya, kid," Wade was grinning like a fiend, "Surprise!"

He couldn't express how happy he was that his foster dad managed to make the time to be there for his birthday. Sure, he would have been perfectly happy with just a phone call, so when he did get more than he expected, it really was special.

It was then that John noticed the two Coaches and Mr Lensherr standing off to the side, only one actually looked happy.

"How does this sound," Wade held his hands out like he was a director of a major motion picture, "you, your friends, and the little people, with the run of Andy B's this Saturday!"

John blinked for a second, Andy B's was this big party place on the outskirts of town. It had everything from race cars to bowling to putt-putt golf to laser tag. He'd been there on the rare occasion Xavier decided to have a 'field trip' that didn't involve a museum. "Really?!"

"Would I kid about that?" his dad gave him a wink and a grin.

"You will be supervised," Xavier gestured to the other three men in the room, "but as Wade has so graciously fitted the bill, and it is your birthday, I can't see why not to allow this extracurricular trip, just so long as the parents sign a permission slip."

Best. Birthday. Ever.

The next two days were a buzz of the trip. The X-Men and the Brotherhood were both invited with the coaches playing chaperone with Mr Lensherr as backup.

Saturday morning came and everyone gathered at the buses, Wade joining them and somehow getting the group to sing 'the wheels on the bus go round and round'.

"Dude," Todd was hanging over the back of his seat, "your dad is awesome."

"I know," Pyro grinned where he was sitting next to Wanda towards the back of the bus.

"Your dad is a twelve year old," Remy corrected from the next seat with a laugh.

"I know," he laughed in return.

Once they got to Andy B's the two buses unloaded, the Coaches taking a moment to say a few words about what areas were public and which were bought out specifically for the Xavier kids. While Howlett talked about being respectful and taking turns, Creed mostly expressed that if they were to find themselves up against the X-Men in any way, that they should crush them.

After that it was minor chaos.

The go carts were the most popular, Remy driving just short of a maniac and able to beat any X-Man that tried to go against him. Wanda triumphed at the miniature golf, the balls always managing to slip in when for others it would hover at the edge. Jean was fairly good at the golf as well, she would get rather animated and say things like 'a little father' or 'left, left' and the ball seemingly did as it was told. Scott was the bowling champ though, he had singular vision when it came to being able to get the bowling ball to strike down the middle. Wade was banned from the laser tag as he slaughtered everyone in seconds.

At noon they had pizza, lots and lots of pizza, and then they were back at it again.

It was getting late and Xavier did insist that the kids have a healthy dinner at the school, so reluctantly they piled back into the buses and left Andy B's behind. They were chatting aimlessly and excitedly the whole way.

"It's kind of embarrassing when your girlfriend wins you a stuffed animal," Pyro frowned as he held up the stuffed Batman that Wanda had gotten out of the claw machine.

"Hey, you got us there," Wanda took his hand interlaced their fingers, "it was the least I could do."

John laughed and looked down at their hands, loving the warmth and softness her fingers presented, though there was the rough edge from all her time horseback riding, grooming her horse and her Cello playing. Glancing forward and seeing Mr Lensherr was distracted, John leaned into Wanda and gave her a kiss.

This time when he opened his mouth it wasn't nearly as awkward but he kept it quick anyway, knowing he would at least draw attention from Remy and the last thing he wanted was to get ribbed by the very experienced man for his lack thereof. Wanda was beaming when he pulled away and he liked that, liked the way it made her cheeks crease and her hair framed her face.

Just over her shoulder he could see Remy giving him a thumbs up.

"Alright, punks," Creed shouted from the head of the bus as it came to a stop, "you got thirty minutes to clean up, then get to dinner."

As they descended the steps, Wade pulled John to the side and he told Wanda he'd join her at dinner.

"I'd like to stay longer," Wade gave him a frown, "but I have to get to South America."

"It's cool," he smiled at his dad, "I'm so glad you came, this was the best present!"

Wade gave him a confused look, "I haven't given you your present yet."

"Oh," now John was confused, "then what was that?" he pointed at the bus.

"Just a bit of fun," the man grinned, "I wanted to see if I could get Logan on a miniature golf course, I had a whole list of shorty jokes I was planning to make."

John shook his head, he believed him.

"Anyway," Wade scratched the back of his neck, "I didn't actually get you anything for your birthday."

"It's okay," he quickly assured the man, just him being here was enough for John.

"You're eighteen now," his dad went on, "and I was wondering, well," for the first time in the years John had known the man, Wade actually stumbled and seemed a little unsure, "you're a legal adult now, you don't need me anymore technically, but I thought, maybe, dunno, if you wanted to, I could adopt you? Make this all legal like?"

John's eyes went wide at what he was saying, that Wade Wilson wanted to make himself John's father for real, legit and everything.

Uncharacteristically of himself, John flung himself forward and wrapped his foster dad in a big hug.

"Ah," Wade tried to play off, "don't get all mushy on me," but he could hear the emotion in his voice.

Unable to voice just how much this meant to him, John kept holding on, hugging his dad tightly.

"It will take a few months for the paperwork to go through," Wade laid his hands on his shoulders, "but I can get my assistant Al to start on them. If this is what you want?"

"Yes, dad," John managed to pull back, his voice unsteady, "yes, I want to be your son."

"Well then," Wade smiled, "I guess I'm going to have to start acting like an adult then."

The two of them laughed so hard it could be heard two buildings away.

…

"What do you mean he kidnapped you?" Remy let his poker face drop for once while Wanda and Marie were slack-jawed.

John was filling out the paperwork Wade had sent him in regards to the adoption process as they sat in Marie's kitchen at what was to be a study group session. "Well, technically."

He continued to fill in the little spaces until he realized that it had gotten really quiet, he glanced up and saw his friends where still staring at him blankly. "What?"

Wanda was the first to speak, "You don't just say something like your foster dad really isn't your foster dad, that technically he kidnapped you, and then expect us to just shrug and go on."

Sighing, John sat his pen down and decided what best to say. They already knew about the scars, the beatings, so in reality explaining the rest of the situation shouldn't have been that big a deal. The thing is, he hadn't told anyone or even said the words out loud since they happened. Xavier knew, Wade had told him when he brought him to the school, and he suspected Miss Munroe might have known something, but otherwise, it was just something that happened, enough said.

But obviously not enough said, his friends wanted more and he supposed he couldn't exactly blame them, he did leave them with a bit of a cliffhanger.

"I told you my dad beat me, right," it wasn't really a question, just a way to work his way into what he wanted to say, "well, he's an important businessman in Australia and everyone knew he had a temper he took out on me but ignored it because he was too well connected."

His friends didn't say anything, no pity words, just gentle attentiveness.

"He ended up contracting Wade for a job," he thought back to that day a few years ago, "and you know Wade, just comes and goes as he pleases, and he came to the house when dad was in a right mood," he shivered involuntarily and he could swear the scars on his back were starting to itch and burn, "he hit me with a fire poker right in front of Wade, taking out his anger at Wade's petulance on me."

John paused, his hand was shaking and he couldn't figure out why, he wasn't asking it to, he couldn't even make it stop, it was like his body wasn't connected to his brain. Wanda reached over and gently took his hand, giving him comfort of a touch that wasn't inflicting pain.

"Next thing I know," he continued, "my real dad is lying on the floor and Wade has me over his shoulder, taking me to the hospital."

"Wade didn't," Remy cleared his throat, "you know… kill him?"

"No," and for some reason he was glad about that, not because he cared about his real dad, but if Wade had killed him then he wouldn't have gotten away with what he did next. "I got patched up, there was a little back and forth between him, my dad, and the cops, but in the end, he took me and we went to Madripoor."

"He took you," Marie was blinking, "just like that?"

"Yeah," John nodded, "apparently the police weren't too inclined to cross either Wade or my real dad and figured I was better off where I was. As far as I know, I've not actually been listed as missing or abducted."

He gave the group a few minutes to wrap all that around their brains before continuing, "We traveled around for a bit," and John learned how to be in a familial relationship that wasn't based on abuse, "then he brought me to New York and enrolled me at Xavier's. It was easier to just say he was my foster dad."

"And now he wants to adopt you," Wanda gave his hand a little squeeze.

"Yeah," John smiled at that thought, "he's been a better dad to me than my real dad, even though I don't get to see him that often. Why wouldn't I want to be able to call him dad and it actually mean something?"

"I think it's great," his girlfriend returned his smile.

"You do realize," Remy said in all seriousness, "that you're the adult in the relationship, right?"

John laughed, "I had my suspicions."

Yes, his eighteenth birthday had indeed been the best birthday ever.

Continue onto Chellerbelle's Gym Class Heroes – Chapter 29