Short chapter but I'm still persevering with this one!


It had been a weird couple of weeks. Syed had insisted that Kelly stay with them in the spare room and despite Christian's (or rather Roxy's) concerns that she was going to try and steal all their stuff, Christian had relented and allowed Kelly to move in. She hadn't exactly been the model guest but she cleaned up after herself a bit, washed the odd plate and vacuumed … once. Christian and Syed had pretty much let her get on with things, thought Syed was making sure that there were meals in the fridge for her. Christian in particular was wary of getting to know her too well and growing a fatherly affection for her only to discover that she was just another stranger.

However, right now, he was acting like a concerned father and it was driving Syed crazy.

'Stop kicking,' Syed groaned, as he felt Christian turn over in the bed next to him for the millionth time. It wouldn't be so bad but every time he turned, he knocked knees with Syed and managed to steal half the duvet at the same time.

'I'm not,' Christian replied irritably. Syed pushed himself up onto his elbows and pulled his half of the duvet back. He couldn't help but notice the obsessive way Christian was watching the clock.

'Hey,' Syed sighed, rolling over, kissing Christian's shoulder and running his fingers down his arm soothingly. 'She'll be fine. She's just having a night out.'

'It's late,' Christian frowned.

'It's three,' Syed chuckled, kissing his shoulder again.

'That's late.'

Syed laughed softly and reached up to kiss the skin behind Christian's ear. 'I'm sure there was time, Clarkey, when you didn't believe a good night could end before the sun came up.'

Syed felt the muscles in Christian's neck relax as the older man turned onto his back and smiled up at his boyfriend.

'I'm fretting, aren't I?'

'Just a bit,' Syed nodded.

'Ahh, Sy,' he groaned, running his hands down over his face. 'What am I gonna do if she's not mine? I already feel like….'

'She will be yours,' Syed interrupted confidently.

'You don't know that.'

'She's just like you,' Syed chuckled. 'Stubborn, pretends she doesn't care about anyone, out partying for long hours but all she really wants is a family.'

Christian smiled and ran his fingers through Syed's hair. 'I love you,' he whispered .

'You too. Now get some sleep.'

Christian woke up early the next morning. Or more accurately, he gave up trying to sleep early the next morning. He slid out of bed trying not to disturb Syed, he knew how grouchy he'd be if he woke him up early as well as keeping him awake.

He padded into the corridor and past the spare bedroom. The door was shut. He stopped and listened carefully. There didn't seem to be any noise from inside. Had Kelly even come home? He was about to go into full panic mode when he heard a glass tip over in the kitchen and a hiss of frustration leave what could only be a female mouth. He ran into the room, just in time to witness Kelly struggling to quite master the art of pouring. She was clearly still pretty drunk.

'Daaaaad,' she drawled when she saw him. She waved her unopened beer bottle in his direction , perhaps that was why pouring was so difficult. 'Good sleep?'

'When did you get back?'

She looked at him puzzled for a second and then shrugged drunkenly and brought the bottle down against the counter in such a way that the cap came off. It was all one movement, one incredibly drunken but slightly impressive movement and she placed her mouth over the bottle to stop it frothing everywhere. She looked ridiculous. Her hair was a mess, her studded leather jacket was hanging off one shoulder. She only had one earring and 90% of her make-up had ventured to a different part of her face. Her dark eyeliner had smudged to make her look like some kind of panda and Christian realised with a jolt that Syed was right, she was just like him.

'Beer in the morning?' he asked.

'Hair of the dog,' she smirked. 'Better for a hangover than an Ulster fry, that.'

'Well, you can't get hung-over if you stay drunk.'

'Now you're thinking like an Irishman,' she grinned sitting herself down on a wooden chair and picking up an envelope from the table.

'What's that?'

'Moment of truth,' she said, sliding the envelope across the table in his direction. It had the official stamp from the medical centre they'd used for the paternity test in the top right hand corner. This was it. He was going to discover if he was a dad.

He caressed the envelope gently. He almost didn't want to open it. He'd grown to like the idea that this girl was his, that he'd get to find out who she was, how she was like him, how she wasn't. He didn't want that taken away from him now.

'Are you gonna open it or ask it out for a drink?' Kelly's impatient voice broke through his internal worries.

'Maybe I should wait for Sy,' he mused.

'Alright,' she nodded taking another swig of her drink. She slammed the bottle back down on the table a little harder than she'd probably intended and slurred: 'I feel like I'm on Jeremy Kyle under the title "Gay dad, am I your daughter?".'

Christian chuckled, mainly because he was desperate for something to ease the tension that was building up inside him. He kept glancing to the doorway, where he was hoping Syed would appear at any moment.

'Would you like some tea?' Kelly asked, getting shakily to her feet.

'Not made by you.' Christian pushed her easily back down. 'You'll burn yourself … and me. I'll make it. Do you want one?'

'No,' she shook her head too vigorously. 'I'll stick with this.' She raised her beer in salute and then downed half. Christian couldn't decide whether he felt disgusted or proud. Proud, he finally decided. It was probably proud.

It wasn't too long, maybe fifteen minutes, before Christian heard the creek of their bedroom door and Syed's soft footsteps padding towards them. He heard a loud yawn and turned to see Syed stood in the doorway. He was wearing his ugly blue dressing gown tied loosely at the front and his hair was sticking out at all angles as he rubbed his bleary eyes with the base of his palm. He looked adorable, Christian thought.

'You're up early,' Syed noted through his yawn.

'I'm not,' Kelly said quickly. 'I'm just still up.'

'Congratulations,' Syed deadpanned. Then spotting Christian's cup of tea he said: 'is there one for me?'

'I'll make you one,' Christian promised, jumping up immediately. He just wanted a few more minutes before he had to face what was in that envelope. Kelly wasn't going to grant him that.

'Hold it,' she frowned. 'I'm sitting here waiting on you to open this envelope. I ain't gonna wait for you to make tea for your man here.'

'What envelope?' Syed asked. He was wide awake now.

'This one.' Kelly picked it up and handed it purposefully to Christian. 'Come on,' she encouraged. 'I have to know.'

Christian took the envelope and swallowed nervously. He glanced at Kelly, who was still drunk and at Syed, who was still adorable. He steeled himself and ripped open the letter. He just stared and stared and stared.

'Well?' he heard from Syed. He dropped his hand that was holding the letter, tears welling up in his eyes and nodded. 'Yes,' he clarified. 'We're a match.'

'We are,' Kelly repeated, dumb struck.

'We are,' Christian repeated, giving the letter to her and accepting Syed's hug.

Kelly stared down at it. She hadn't really been expecting this. She'd thought Christian Clarke was just a name her mother had plucked from nowhere when she'd asked about her daddy. And even if Christian Clarke had been the name of her dad, she'd never expected her dad would be the first Christian Clarke she'd run into in the rather large area her mother had been able to cut down his location to.

'Kelly,' Christian was saying. 'Kelly? Are you alright?'

She looked up into the face of her father, his arm tightly wrapped around his boyfriend's shoulders. He looked so happy, so excited but Kelly could only think of one thing.

'I'm gonna be sick.'

Syed reacted quickest, picking up a bin and putting it at her feet. She vomited straight into it.

'Maybe now isn't the best time to be discussing this,' he looked helplessly at Christian.

'Maybe not,' the older man agreed. And to Kelly: 'I think you should go to bed and sleep this off.'

'Good idea.' Then belatedly, 'dad.'

Christian thought it sounded nice, even slurred from the drunken lips of the alcohol induced mess, which was his daughter. His daughter. He smiled as he lifted her from her seat. It sounded right. He placed her awkwardly on the bed in the spare room and put the bin on the floor by the side.

'I'll see you when you're sober,' he smiled shutting the door behind her and returning to the kitchen.

Syed was reading the letter when he returned. He smiled up at Christian, when he sat down.

'How do you feel … dad?'

'Good,' Christian said honestly. 'Weird,' he admitted. 'But good, really good.'