Well, well, well! Another chapter so soon! I'm on a role! And I'm quite pleased with myself! And THANK YOU FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL REVIEWS! They mean the world! And I'm glad you all think that John and Rose adopting is a wonderful idea! And well... I've held it off for a few chapters but the time had come to introduce you all! :) Enjoy!

14. Jealousy

"There we go." Pete placed Tony's box of toy cars and trucks on the floor of the living room where everyone was gathered. Tony rushed over to the box and threw the lid off and began to play with his toys straight away.

John felt a small tug on his trouser leg and looked down to see Darren looking up at him. John knelt down so he was just a little higher than the child he and Rose had fostered. The four year old boy had blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a jumper that was really worn out and his small red converse trainers (that John had saw in town and fell in love with them and just had to get them for the little boy) were on his feet.

"What's up?" John asked with a smile.

"Can I play?" Darren asked in a small whisper. John beamed and nodded as he gave the small boy a gentle nudge towards the toy box in the middle of the room.

Darren was clutching a brand new truck (that Jackie had given him as a welcome to the family present) as he slowly made his way over to Tony and Tony's toys. John smiled at Rose who was stood at his side and when she smiled back, he placed an arm around her waist and pulled her close. Rose snuggled her head into John's shoulder as they watched their foster child reach into the big red box and pull out a car.

But as Darren went to play with it, the small blue car that he had been holding was snatched out of his hands.

"It's mine! Not yours! So don't touch my stuff!" Tony snapped at the boy. It was very un-Tonyish, but they had been warned by the social worker that there might be a little bit of jealousy.

Darren began to sob and Rose rushed forward and lifted him up onto her hip. She dried his tears with the back of her hand and smiled at the boy.

"Tony!" Pete's voice was stern but he didn't yell. You could hear in his voice that he meant business. "Give it back!" Pete very rarely got angry, but when he did, he was not one to mess with. Except Tony liked to try his luck.

"But it's my stuff! He's got his truck! And I've got mine!" Tony, who was due 7 in a month, argued.

"Tony! Give Darren back the car. Now!" This time it was Jackie that spoke. And she didn't sound pleased either.

John could see a storm brewing in Tony's eyes and stepped forward.

"Come on Tony. I always said it was nice to share." John tried. But this made the boy worse. He threw the little blue car back into his box where it made a giant crashing noise, making little Darren jump.

"Right." Jackie stood and walked over to Tony. "Up." She stated. She wasn't yelling but she sounded furious. When Tony was stood she pointed out of the room. "On the naughty step!" Tony looked appalled by this order and opened his to argue but a look from his mother silence him and he slumped out the room. "And no moving until I say so!" Jackie called after him. She turned to John, Rose and Darren. "Sorry." She mumbled.

"Don't worry." John placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll talk to him later." He smiled. Jackie nodded before she took her seat back on the sofa next to Pete. John turned round to see Rose placing Darren back on the floor where he dived straight for the blue motor that he had, had before.

John sat in the armchair he was stood beside and Rose did the same, only opposite him. All four sets of eyes were trained on Darren as he pushed his new truck around with the blue car riding in its trailer.

John bent down and scooped Darren up gently and quietly. They had finished tea half an hour ago and then Rose had placed Darren in front of the TV to watch cartoons under John's supervision as she went for a bath. John had watched as Darren had curled up on the sofa with his teddy (that apparently he had, had a while) and fell asleep watching SpongeBob. John could remember when Tony used to fall asleep on the sofa watching TV.

As carefully as he could, John carried Darren up the stairs, into his new bedroom and led him on the bed. Now for the tricky bit, John thought. He slowly took Darren's red converse off and placed them at the end of the bed. He then removed the boys socks and, as best he could (without waking the sleeping child) took the jumper off him. He then pulled back the covers on the bed and tucked him in nicely.

John brushed a few blond strands of hair out of Darren's closed eyes. He then bent low, placed a light kiss on the boy's forehead and left, switching the light off and closing the door.

As he turned around, Rose was exciting the bathroom drying her hair with a towel.

"Alright?" She asked. John placed a finger to his lips. "Sorry." She mouthed. John walked closer to her.

"He fell asleep. So I put him to bed." John told her brushing his fingers on her cheek. "He has had a long day."

"Yeah. Better tell mum, dad and Tony to keep it quiet though." Rose mumbled. John lowered his hand.

"Yeah, I'll do that now."

He alerted Jackie and Pete about the sleeping boy before making his way up to Tony who was sat on his bed with a stuffed giraffe in his hands.

"Hi Tony." John said as he entered the room.

"Go away." Came the reply.

"Don't be like that Tony. I only came to talk." John sated closing the door and making his way over to the bed and taking a seat. "Also, be quiet. Darren's gone to bed okay."

"I hate him!"

"That's not very nice! You don't know him"

"But everybody loves him! And not me! I wish he'd just go away." Tony's eyes filled with tears. John pulled him into a hug.

"Tony, Tony, Tony. What am I going to do with you eh?" He looked down at his crying godson. "You're always loved. And we thought you knew that. But we had to show Darren that we loved him too." He looked at Tony seriously. "Do you understand?" He asked softly. He had to make it clear to Tony that everyone still loved him, but Darren had grown up not really knowing love.

"He took my toy." Tony stated, ignoring John's question. But it sort of answered it for him. "He has his stuff, but mum and dad told me off anyway!" The door creaked open and John could tell by the sound of the footsteps that it was Rose, coming to investigate.

"Well, you think about that Tony." John said as he looked up at Rose slightly. Tony dried his eyes and looked back at the giraffe that was still in his hands. "What do you have in life?" John asked.

"My toys, my bedroom and my friends." Tony mumbled. Just to name a few, John thought.

"And you have a mum, a dad, a sister and me. And we all love you very much." John started. "And what do you think Darren has?"

"His truck. His… his… teddy. And his mum and dad too." Tony stated.

"See Tony, that's where you're wrong." Rose cut across John. "Darren doesn't have a mum or a dad. He doesn't have any brothers or sisters."

"Why doesn't he have a mum or dad?" Tony asked.

"His Dad left before he was even a baby." John stated, putting it in terms Tony would understand. "And his mum was only 16 when he was born. So special people took him away from her because they thought she was too young. And she had been doing some really bad things."

"But why?" Tony asked.

"No-one knows." John lied; he didn't want to be going into details about it with Tony. Not at the moment at least.

"But…" Rose placed a hand on Tony's shoulder. "You think about everything you've got and then think about Darren who's got nothing but his teddy bear and clothes. He doesn't have a mum to kiss him goodnight at bedtime. He doesn't have a dad who will play football with him."

"And we're helping him by telling him that he can and will be loved." John finished. "But we need your help. We need you to show him that you can play together and have fun together. Me and Rose will do the hard part." John smiled. Tony nodded.

"I'm going to tell him I'm sorry." Tony said determined.

"Not at the moment. He's sleeping. Do it tomorrow okay?"

The next morning, John and Rose woke Darren up and gave him breakfast. Tony followed behind 10 minutes later. Rose was cutting a banana up for Darren as Tony entered the kitchen. John was stood watching the scene with a cup of coffee in his hand. He watched as Tony walked up to Darren.

"I'm sorry." Tony said.

John smiled. This was going to work out just fine.

Well there you have it! I hope you liked that. Drop a review down to let me know your thoughts? And I know there wasn't a lot of explaining in this chapter as I imagined Darren's first day going something like this. I know his background and everything and all will be reviled soon (I don't know whether it'll be in the next chapter or not!) But I do love him! Anyway, please review and let me whether you like Darren!