Brotherly Love

"I love you dad," Thomas said, hugging his father tightly. "I love you too son," Bandit said while hugging his son back. Thomas broke his hug with his father and looked up at him. With tears in his eyes he looked down to the ground. Bandit then made his son look at him. "Hey mate, it's going to be okay," Bandit said softly while kneeling down to a son's level. Thomas then jumped into his fathers arms again and lightly cried into his fur. "Last call to Brisbane Australia," the flight attendant said over the intercom. "Honey, it's time to let your dad go," Emily said softly. Bandit kissed the top of son's head and then let him go. Thomas took a step back and stood next to his mother. "I'll call you when I get a chance mate," Bandit said as he started to go to his plane. Thomas nodded as he watched his father leave on the plane. Bandit, now heartbroken from leaving his son behind, sat in his seat and looked out the window as the plane started to take off. Bandit sighed as he looked at his phone staring at the screen with a picture of himself and Thomas from the time they went to Seattle. "I love you son," Bandit said while shedding a tear.

(Hours later…)

Bandit gets off the plane and sits outside of the airport waiting for Rad. Unfortunately an hour went by and Bandit knew his older brother forgot about him. "Thanks mate," Bandit muttered to himself as he flagged down a cab. With in no time Bandit got in the cab and went to his old childhood home. As the cab drove up to the driveway Bandit noticed his brother was on the roof of the house working. Bandit rolls his eyes as he gets out of the cab and grabs his suitcase. "Hey mate," Bandit said looking up at his brother. "Bandit! I thought you weren't coming until Friday?" Rad said, looking at his brother. "It is Friday mate," Bandit said while crossing his arms. "Oh, I'm sorry mate I guess I got caught up with the house I forgot about it," Rad confessed. "Right, do you need a hand?" Bandit asked while putting his suitcase down. "No, I was about to go to lunch, come with me?" Rad asked, now getting down from the roof. "Sure, I as long as you don't forget me at the restaurant," Bandit said Sarcastically. "Haha," Rad said as he grabbed his brother in for a hug.

The two brothers hugged for a moment then went off to lunch. While waiting on their food, they sat and talked. "So how are you doing mate? Like really?" Rad asked sitting back in his seat. "I… it's been hard… being divorced and saying goodbye to my son," Bandit explained with a sad look on his face. "I bet mate, how is Thomas doing?" Rad asked. "He's taking it the hardest," Bandit answered. "I bet he is… I'm sorry Bandit," Rad said softly. "Are you though?" Bandit asked, looking at his older brother. "What?" Rad asked, a little confused by Bandit's reaction. "You barely know my son, you only met him once when he was a year old ," Bandit said with hurt in his voice. "Bandit, let's not do this here," Rad said, trying to get his brother not to make a scene. "No, let's!" Bandit said, raising his voice. "You're the only uncle he doesn't know and you're the brother who is important to me, you and Stripe are both important to me," Bandit said, still hurt in his voice. "I know, but I thought it would be best to keep my distance from you and Emily," Rad confessed. "Why would we want that?" Bandit asked. "Because I still had those feelings for her!" Rad raised his voice. Everyone in the restaurant start to look at the two brothers until they started to talk normally with indoor voices. "All this time… you still cared about her," Bandit said, a little shocked. "Of course I did Bandit, she was the first everything for me and seeing her happy with you and having a son with you… hurt a lot," Rad explained. "So that's why you left that morning without saying a word to us," Bandit said looking down from his brother. "Yeah that's why I left," Rad added.

(Flashback)

Rad took a deep breath as he knocked on the door to his brother's apartment. "Hey mate!" Bandit said while opening the door. "Hey little bro," Rad said while coming into the apartment. "Nice little place you have here," Rad said while looking around. "Yeah, it's home for now, we're hoping to move into a house soon," Bandit said while shutting the door. "Are you ready to meet him?" Bandit asked with a smile. "Ready as I'll ever be," Rad nervously. "Good," Bandit said softly. "Babe, Rad's here!" Bandit called his wife. Emily then came out of the bedroom with Thomas in her arms. Rad felt nervous as his ex walked out with her son. "Meet your uncle Rad," Emily said to her son as she handed Rad her son. Rad took the young Heeler mix in his arms and held him. Thomas made giggling noises while he held by his uncle. "Hey mate, I'm your uncle Radley but you can call me Rad when you get older," Rad said softly while bouncing Thomas up and down.

Bandit and Emily cuddled each other while watching Rad with his nephew. "I didn't realize how much he looks like you Bandit," Rad said looking at his brother. "Yeah but he has Emily's eyes," Bandit commented. "He sure does," Rad said as he looked at his nephew's eyes. Thomas then smiled at his uncle and snuggled close to Rad's chest. Rad's heart skipped a beat when feeling his nephew close to him. It almost felt like he was holding Charlie if he were to be alive. The adults then sat in the living room with Thomas playing on the floor with his toys. "So are you dating anyone, mate?" Bandit asked while sitting next to Emily placing his arm around her shoulder. "No, not at the moment," Rad said while sitting back in his chair. "I'm sure there will be someone, just give it time," Emily said with a soft smile. Rad looked at Emily and looked into her eyes. Knowing she was happy with his brother and having a son with him hurt his heart. Maybe it was a mistake to come and visit them.

"Yeah, I'm sure there will be," Rad said, forcing a smile. Thomas then crawled over to Rad and wanted up. "Hey mate," Rad said as he picked up Thomas. Thomas giggled while placing his small hands on Rad's muzzle. "Hey, that tickles mate," Rad said with a smile. Emily smiled seeing Rad bond with her son. Emily also couldn't help but to think about the possibilities of what if things were different and how things would'be have been if Rad would have been the father he was supposed to be. Emily then rested her head on her husband's shoulder. She was indeed happy with Bandit and wouldn't change thing but her worries about her ex was she hoped he would find someone he could love and be the best father he could be. "Has Stripe met him yet?" Rad asked while sitting Thomas on his lap. "Yeah he met him a couple times, and we're waiting for the right time to just spring a babysitting job on him," Bandit said with a chuckle. "Only you would do that to him," Rad said with a laugh. "But, we wouldn't mind if you also babysit him either," Emily added. Rad was flattered by that, knowing he would probably do a good job with his nephew. "Yeah, I could do that," Rad said with a smile. Emily smiled at that as she held Bandit's hand.

Later that night after dinner. Bandit was putting Thomas down for bed, Rad helped in the kitchen washing the dishes with Emily. "So how are you really?" Emily asked. "I'm okay," Rad answered. "Good, I just want to make sure you're okay," Emily said while putting the dishes away. "I'm glad you're here," Emily added. Rad was surprised by this. "You are?" Rad asked, confused. Emily stopped what she was doing and looked at her brother in law. "Yeah, I believe it's important for you to be in Thomas's life and maybe it'll heal what's in your heart," Emily said softly looking into eyes.

"Em…" Rad said knowing in his heart he still cared about her. "It's gonna be okay Rad," Emily said before leaving the kitchen. Rad stood there trying to fight his feelings towards Emily but knew what he had to do when everyone went to sleep. Once everyone went to sleep. Rad went into Thomas's room and looked at him one last time. "I'm sorry mate, it's not your fault that I messed everything up, but I'm glad you have a loving family that loves you," Rad said while rubbing the top of his nephew's head. "I love you mate," Rad said softly before walking away from the crib. After that night Rad kept his distance from his brother and his family.

(End of Flashback)

Bandit gets out of his brother's truck and slams the door angrily. "Bandit wait!" Rad said getting out of his truck. "How could you!" Bandit shouted. "I know what I did was wrong, but you have to understand that I was hurt," Rad pleaded with his brother. "We were years past that! And then you blamed my son!" Bandit said angrily. "I never blamed Thomas for not being with Emily, I blamed myself," Rad explained. "I wanted you so much to have a life with my son because you my big brother and I looked up to you," Bandit said feeling heartbroken. "You're right, I should have tried harder to be there for my nephew and now he won't know me as well as he knows Stripe or Prince for that matter and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Bandit," Rad said with tears in his eyes. Bandit also having tears in his eyes, now knowing his brother was hurting this whole time along with being away from his son has broken him and in many ways more than one. Bandit then walked over to his brother and hugged him tightly. "Don't keep things from me again mate, just talk to me," Bandit said while hugging his brother.

"I know and I promise I'll do everything in my power to talk to you when I need to," Rad said softly while hugging Bandit. The brothers then broke the hug and looked at each other. "It's gonna be a few months away before we get this house updated," Rad explained. "It's okay my new job set me up with a apartment new their location, so in the meantime we can work on the house together," Bandit said with a smile. "Sounds good to me little brother," Rad said while patting his brother's head. "Hey, I'm not so little anymore mate," Bandit said with a chuckle. "Your right mate your not so little anymore," Rad said while putting his arm around his brother as they walked towards the house. "Do you plan on dating soon mate?" Rad asked. Bandit laughed at that. "I just got divorced mate, I don't plan on dating for a little bit," Bandit said he and Rad started working on the house.

(Los Angeles, California 2:30 am)

It was a stormy night in California with thunder and lightning. Thomas tossed and turned while whimpering in his sleep. "No, dad," Thomas said while grabbing his blanket. Tears started to form in Thomas's eyes as continued with his nightmare. Thomas then shot open his eyes and screamed with tears in his eyes. "Dad!" Thomas shouted. Emily ran into her son's room and found him crying. "Hey sweetheart, it's okay mommy's here," Emily said as she sat down. "I want dad," Thomas said as he cried into Emily's arms "I know baby I know ," Emily said as she held her son tightly. "Does he still love me?" Thomas asked in between crying. "Oh baby of course he does, he loves with all his heart," Emily said while holding her son. "Then why can't we be with him," Thomas said, holding onto his mother. "Baby, things are complicated right now but you will see your dad I promise," Emily said softly. Thomas calms himself down and looks up at his mother. Emily looked down at her son and smiles at him. "You know, when you cry your colors of your eyes pop out more," Emily said softly.

"They do?" Thomas asked. Emily nodded. "They pop out like mine," Emily said softly. Thomas smiled at that. "It's okay to miss your dad," Emily said while putting her son back to bed. "Don't you miss dad?" Thomas asked while laying down. Emily was surprised by this question. Even though they had their fights and disagreements she did miss him and she missed him being the father of her child that would comfort him when she couldn't. "Yeah I do," Emily said as she kissed her son on the head. "Good night sweetheart," Emily's said as she started to leave the room. Thømas turned on his side and went to sleep peacefully. Emily went to her room laid down. She thought about her son's question and started to remember all the good things she and Bandit did when they were teenagers in high school and then young adults in college to getting married and finally being pregnant with their son. Emily then shed of her own as she laid in her bed while placing her hand where Bandit would sleep.

(Present day)

"I used to get night terrors a lot when my dad first moved away and I blamed myself for a while thinking I was stressing my mom out and maybe thought she'd just be better off without me," Thomas explained as Bandit placed his hand on his son's knee. "I see, and Bandit did Emily ever talk to you about your son being suicidal?" Marcus asked while looking at Bandit. "She told me that he was suffering from nightmares at night but she never told me anything about my son being suicidal," Bandit said while looking at his son. "I don't think she knew he felt that way," Bandit said, now looking at Marcus. "I never told her I felt that way and I don't think she picked up on it," Thomas said now looking at his dad. "Do you feel that way now?" Marcus asked. Bandit was worried about his son's answer and was getting prepared for the worst. "No, because I know I hurt my dad completely if I took my own life," Thomas said as he turned and looked at his father. Bandit smiled softly with a tear in his eye while looking at his son. "I love you so much mate," Bandit said softly while placing his hand on his son's shoulder. "I love you too dad," Thomas said with a smile.

The End.

Kodiwolf321 A/N: So here we dive a little bit deeper into what Rad was doing during that first year when Thomas was born and also his feelings regarding his brother having the life he should've had. And for Thomas being young and it being one those nights where he wanted his dad was a little hard for me to write but I managed to get it done. Let me know what you guys think of this short and I'll see you in the next update.