The Way Back to You

Chapter 21

"Adam, the last time you sat us down like this, you told us you got engaged," Audra said, looking at her younger son. "Since I know no one's pregnant, what's wrong?"

Adam sighed and looked at Fiona, who was standing next to him. "There's a doctor in New York who does gender reassignment surgeries," she began slowly.

"I saw his website," Adam added. "There's post-op pictures of his surgeries. He's amazing."

"Adam could have an opportunity to get chest surgery done this summer."

Audra sighed. "We talked about this."

"I know," he said softly. "But now we're talking about one of the best surgeons in the world."

"Kitchen," his mother said, standing up. "Now."

"No." Adam stood where he was, holding onto Fiona's hand. "You can say whatever you need to say in front of Fiona."

"Adam," Omar said warningly.

"Go," Fiona whispered. "I'll be upstairs."

He nodded and kissed her cheek quickly before she walked away. He turned back to his parents.

"Adam, we talked about this," Audra said. "We don't have the money right now. Not with Drew going to university next year and…"

Adam shook his head. "Fiona said she'll pay for it."

"Of course she did." Audra rolled her eyes. "How long are you going to be riding her coat tails?"

"What? I'm not… she wants this for me, Mom. She wants me to be happy."

"And the way she makes you happy is by throwing her money around?"

"No! She's not throwing anything around. She knows we can't afford it and…"

"We're not a charity case, Adam."

He blinked. "Why are you twisting everything I say around? There's this saying, what's hers is mine."

"That's true for married people."

"We're engaged. Close enough."

"Oh, really, Adam. Don't get me started on your engagement to that girl."

He crossed his arms. "What? What about it?"

"Let's start with that ring, the one I noticed she no longer wears."

"She took it off when we broke up and…"

"How exactly did you pay for that ring, Adam? You hardly have ten dollars to your name."

"Declan paid for it," he mumbled. "I'm paying him back."

"Of course. Another Coyne proving their worth."

Adam rolled his eyes.

"You are not ready to be married, Adam."

"Isn't that kind of up to me and Fiona?"

Audra sighed. "If you want your marriage to end in divorce, be my guest. Don't say I didn't warn you."

He shook his head. "We aren't gonna get divorced."

"You've hardly known that girl a year and…"

"Fiona!" he yelled. "Her name is Fiona! Use her name."

Audra simply rolled her eyes. "You cannot promise yourself to Fiona after only a year."

"I can. And I did. And we're not gonna get divorced. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. It's that simple."

"Well, I can tell you, it's not."

Adam rolled his eyes. "We're not you and my dad. I'm not gonna leave her with a five year old to run off with my secretary." He knew it was a low blow, bringing up her failed marriage to his biological father, who went to work one day and never returned. However, at the moment he didn't care.

"Go to your room," Omar told him.

Adam opened his mouth then closed it again, unable to form words.

"Get out of my sight, Adam," Audra said. "Right now."

Adam slowly turned and walked up the stairs to his room. Fiona was on his bed.

"You look exhausted," she noticed as he closed the door.

He sighed and sat next to her. "It seems like every time I try to talk to my mom about something that involves you, we end up fighting."

She nodded. "I heard the yelling."

"Yeah. It was definitely a proud moment for me." He slowly turned his head to look at her. "My mom doesn't think we should get married."

She nodded again. "I heard. My mom pretty much said the same thing."

"Do… do you want to wait?"

"I want to marry you, Adam," she told him. "I've never wanted anything more."

He smiled. "That's good to know."

She put her arms around his neck, propping her chin on his shoulder and kissing him softly on the cheek.

"Fi, you know I'm not doing this because of your money, right?"

"I know. But we wouldn't be talking about getting married if I didn't have money."

"That's not true," he said quickly.

She nodded slowly. "It is. We might be talking about going to university together, maybe living together. We wouldn't seriously be planning a wedding."

He shook his head. "No."

"Adam, think about it. If I didn't have money, we wouldn't have a leg to stand on if we were on our own."

"What are you trying to say?" he asked, his voice low.

"I'm not… I'm not saying anything. I'm just trying to see things from their point of view. Really, if someday our child wanted to get married right out of high school, would you be perfectly fine with it?"

He shrugged. "If they're happy…"

"Adam, really."

"Ok, maybe I wouldn't be overjoyed but I'd accept it. It's their decision. Just like this is ours."

"Really? You'd be fine with it?"

He sighed and turned to look at her. "What answer will make you happy, Fiona? Seriously, what do you want me to say?"

"I just want you to be honest with me."

"I was being honest. Why is that not good enough for you? It seems like I can't do anything right anymore. I mean, I do something to make you happy but it pisses my mom off."

"Adam," she sighed, touching his back, he quickly moved away from her. "It's ok.

"You don't want to get married," he said quietly, looking at the wall.

"I do," she told him. "I told you, there's nothing I want more."

"But?"

"But… good things come to those who wait."

"Perfect," he mumbled, laying on the bed, turning his back toward her.

"Why are you mad?"

He groaned and turned onto his back so he was looking at her again. "Why do you suddenly want to wait to get married?"

"I just… I think it might be a good idea. You can get a couple years of university under your belt and your surgeries will probably be all done by then."

"So that's what this is about? You don't want to marry me until I'm physically a guy?"

She blinked and shook her head. "What? No, Adam, I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to," he whispered, turning away from her again.

"Adam."

"Just go to sleep, Fiona."

To be continued…