A/N: I'm sorry for the slow updates. It's been crazy lately. Anyway, thank you for all the reviews and follows. The kids mention most of the end of season 4 of NY in this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter and please review.

Chapter 3

Adam heard the excited murmurings downstairs, waking him up from his restless slumber. Better than a nightmare, he reasoned. He could hear Greg's voice as well as those of Caden and Alexa. Seconds later, he heard footsteps pounding up the stairs, and Adam knew that any hope he had of falling back asleep was gone.

The door swung open harshly, and the kids pounced on the bed. Adam smiled genuinely, opening his arms as the kids crawled up against him. "We missed you so much," Alexa said, hugging Adam tightly. Caden nodded in agreement, and Adam pulled the twins against him.

"I missed you guys too," Adam said softly.

"We read all of your letters and emails and everything."

"Is Reed okay?" Caden asked.

"How about Mac?" Alexa asked.

"Stella? Did she find a new place?"

"Is Danny doing better?"

"How's Lindsay?"

"Why don't you try one question at a time?" Greg suggested, calling attention to the doorway where he was standing.

"It's fine," Adam said, smiling slightly.

Greg nodded. "Well, how about you come downstairs before you fill us in? Pizza just got here, might as well eat it before it gets cold."

"Fine by me."

At the mention of pizza, Caden had jumped out of bed and raced downstairs, much to the amusement of Adam and Greg. Alexa clung onto Adam as he got up.

"Sleep any?" Greg asked.

"Some," Adam replied, hugging Alexa to his side gently. The little girl smiled.

"Good."

The three entered Greg's dining room to find Caden gobbling down a pizza. Adam smirked.

"He's sure got his father's appetite, huh?" Adam teased.

Greg smirked, shrugging. "His grandmother says that all the time," he replied.

Alexa let go of Adam to sit at the table next to her brother. As she sat down, she smacked Caden on the head. "You're such a pig," she remarked.

"Meh," Caden replied indifferently, taking a big bite of pizza.

Adam chuckled, sitting at the table. Greg sat down next to Adam, and the three of them began to eat.

"So, to answer your questions," Adam began, swallowing the bite in his mouth. "Reed is doing just fine now, and Mac says Reed's learned his lesson. As for Mac, he's okay too. He wasn't injured badly or anything, and it didn't slow him down any. Stella found a new place a few months ago, a nicer one than her last one. Danny's doing a lot better with Ruben's death than he was before, but is still taking things a day at a time. Lindsay's fine. Things are fine in New York."

"How's Grandma and Grandpa?" Alexa asked. Caden paused mowing down the pizza long enough to look at Adam.

"They're doing fine. They miss you guys. They hope things are okay out here."

"Okay?" Caden scoffed. Greg glanced sharply at him, and Caden returned the glare.

"I like it here," Alexa said happily.

Caden groaned. "You would."

Greg stood up silently, walking into the kitchen with his glass. Adam watched him wordlessly before turning back to his pizza.

"Why do you always do that?" Alexa asked. "You know things could be a lot worse."

"Worse than living with Grandma Nancy?" Caden replied. "Seeing Greg whenever he gets a day off of work? He's never here, Lexi."

She rolled her eyes. "He's doing the best he can, Caden. We have a nice place to live. What's so wrong with that?"

"I wouldn't care if we lived in a shack if it meant we actually got to see the guy who's supposed to be our father."

"Why don't you like Grandma Nancy?"

"She's too overprotective."

She rolled her eyes again. "Mom was overprotective."

Caden scoffed. "Yeah, but that was different."

"Why was that different?" Alexa asked angrily.

"She was our mother," Caden replied in a tone that suggested Alexa was an idiot.

"Grandma Nancy is your father's mother," Adam butted in. The twins looked over at him, dispelling their argument for the moment. "And she's always been overprotective of him. It's just her nature."

"But this is different, Uncle Adam," Caden said. "She's not my mother."

"She's not my mother either, but that doesn't stop her from being overprotective toward me."

Caden huffed, but said nothing.

"So, you don't like living with Greg because his mother reminds you of your mother?" Adam surmised slightly.

"That, and I don't like it here," Caden said. "I don't want to be here anymore. I want to be at home, with my friends. This place sucks."

"You shouldn't be using that type of language, mister."

Caden rolled his eyes. "You're just as bad as Greg. You never even bother with us anymore, so why should we care what you say?" Caden shook his head, grabbing another slice. "I'm going to do my homework." He left the dining room, and both Adam and Alexa simply watched him go.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Adam," Alexa apologized.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart," he said softly, smiling.

"I don't get it. He doesn't talk to anyone at school, he comes home, and all he does is rag on Dad until Dad goes to work. And then, if Dad's home by the time we get up in the morning, Caden keeps it going. I try to get him to stop, but he won't. I don't understand."

"I don't think we can, Lexi. What does Grandma Nancy think?"

"She thinks he'll grow out of it. But we've been here for seven months, and he's still treating Dad like crap. I just wanna smack him, but that just causes an even bigger fight and someone gets hurt or breaks something and Grandma Nancy has to clean it up or take us to the hospital and then Dad gets called out of work and then he fights with Caden and things just get worse."

"Slow down, hon," Adam said. Alexa sighed.

"Sorry," she said softly. "This happens a lot. And I'm sick of it."

"I know, hon. Let me try talking to him."

"Look at how well that just went," Alexa said, rolling her eyes. Adam shook his head, poking her in the nose with his finger.

"I didn't say it'd be today, Chipmunk," he replied.

She smiled. "Good. I can't take any more fighting tonight."

"Then you better not start anymore."

She rolled her eyes again. "Yes, Uncle Adam."

"Smart alec." Adam reached across the table, messing up her hair as she frowned.

"Can I ask you something, Uncle Adam?" she asked.

"As long as it's not where babies come from," Adam replied.

Alexa giggled. "No, they teach us that in school."

Adam half-shrugged. "Okay then, shoot."

"Dad wouldn't tell us why you were coming here."

Adam inhaled deeply before letting out a sigh, deciding to be honest with his god-daughter. "My father died a few days ago," he admitted. Alexa immediately jumped up and ran around the table, tackling Adam out of his chair with a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Uncle Adam," she said. He hugged her back.

"Thanks, sweetie."

She stood up, helping him up off the floor. He smiled, standing up and kissing him on the top of the head. She went back to the table and started eating again while Adam excused himself. He walked into the kitchen, finding Greg standing over the sink. His arms were extended under the faucet, and his head was on his forearms. Adam sighed softly, walking over and putting his hand on Greg's shoulder.

"Nothing I do is good enough for that kid," Greg said softly.

"He's a kid," Adam replied. "Many of them think nothing their parents do is good enough. Especially when they're almost teenagers."

Greg shook his head. "I'm sorry, Adam."

"It's not your fault. He's eleven, Greg. He's gonna rebel against his parents. And he's still trying to get used to being here. If I were you, I'd be glad that at least he isn't running drugs on the Strip by now."

"Don't give him any ideas," Greg retorted.

Adam smirked.

Greg sighed heavily. "It's just… I'm clearly a terrible father."

Adam shook his head. "That's not true. He's just a kid, Greg. You're doing great with them. Keep in mind, it was only eight months ago that you were living in a crappy apartment by yourself where your only responsibilities were taking care of yourself and getting to work."

"Yeah, I know." Greg breathed out slowly and sadly. "I'm sorry, Adam," he said. "You don't need this right now."

Adam shrugged slightly. "Neither do you. Not so close after Warrick's death."

Greg shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I shouldn't let this get to me."

"He's your kid, Greg. You'd be an idiot not to take what he says to heart. Besides, Caden likes to push buttons and make people's lives harder than it has to be. Audrey was always complaining about that too. Especially since Caden never liked not having his real father there when he was growing up."

"Well, then what the hell does he want from me now?" Greg snapped, standing up.

Adam frowned. "I don't know," he admitted softly.

Greg sighed again, his shoulders sinking. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to snap at you."

"I know."

"How're you doing with everything?"

"We'll talk later."

Greg nodded, and Adam patted him on the back.

"Now then," Adam said. "Let's finish dinner, clean up, and then we can let Alexa beat us at Monopoly."

Greg chuckled softly, smiling. "She doesn't like Monopoly anymore," he said. "Her new favorite game is Clue."

Adam laughed. "Yeah, somehow that doesn't surprise me." The two of them walked back into the dining room to finish dinner.