Chapter 36

Things from the Past

"Never be Ready"- Mat Kearney

Foss (POV)

I heard the heavy metal door of the warehouse swing open. When I glanced up my eyes met a gray haired man carrying a thin, blue folder with papers neatly stacked inside.

"I never thought I would see you again, Christopher," I said, setting aside one of Adam's books I had been going over.

"Well I thought you and my grandson would like to know what the family business has been up to, Tom." He placed the folder down in front of me on the desk.

I flipped through the papers; they were notes. The text was flooded with scientific terminology that half of the time went right over my head. But most of it seemed to be a plan.

"What are they even trying to do?" From the notes I could gather what was happening: Latnok was at it again. I just couldn't understand why.

"They're trying to do what they've always failed at doing." He smirked. "They want Kyle to join."

"Why now? They haven't bothered Kyle for almost 3 years and now all of a sudden they want to go after him again." Kyle was just starting to have a chance at a normal life. He was getting married in a week!

"They've always been watching him, Tom. You know that," Christopher reminded me, leaning up against the shelf under the window.

"What are they planning to do?"

"They've always known that Adam is one of Kyle's weaknesses. They know my relationship to Adam so they want me to get close to Kyle."

"Then what?" I asked. Their plan seemed to be just like the one they had formulated before with Cassidy.

"I don't know. But what if I do this and I take Kyle under my wing and you and I protect him. We can let Latnok think I'm gaining Kyle's trust and that I'm slowly persuading him to join them." His plan seemed logical.

"When?"

"They want me to start as soon as possible. They know about his wedding-"

"No—not at his wedding. He has a family now, Christopher…And he'll do everything he can to protect his family. You know that."

"Then this is the only way we can protect him and protect his family." He paused. "Look, Tom, I don't like this any more than you do. Adam would have never wanted to put Kyle in this kind of a situation, and neither do I. But to me it seems like it's the only way to keep him safe."

"Why can't we just build him a fort like we did for Adam…?" I halfheartedly joked.

"Because, he's meant to do so much more," he answered, peering over at the photo of Kyle and Adam. It was one of the few we had of them together. "He looks just like Adam."

I saw the pain in his eyes; it was the only kind of pain that could come from the loss of a child.

Kyle (POV)

One week later.

I was done at work and had left to pick Brice up from pre-school. I was a little early so I walked from the apartment to the school, it wasn't that far and it was a nice day out.

As I walked I thought about the email I had sent Jessi, of all the things on my mind that thought seemed to stick. The wedding was tomorrow and I had yet to hear from her. I couldn't help but wonder what she had been doing these past couple of years. I didn't even know if she was still safe. I still don't understand fully what she left; then again I still don't fully understand why I never went after her.

"Hello, Mr. Trager, all the children are outside on the play ground. Would you like me to go get Brice?" one of the teachers, Ms. Anderson, had told as I came in the door.

"Yeah, thank you." I smiled politely as she disappeared outside the back door.

I waited in the front room, there were a few tables with multiply chairs surrounding them, all of which came up to my knees. There were toys and educational tools all throughout the room. The bright yellow walls were covered with posters of ABC's and 123's and various animals.

"Daddy!" I heard Brice call as he ran through the door.

"Hey buddy," I knelt down to hug him. "Ready to go?"

"Yep!" But first he ran off to his cubby to get his back pack and sweatshirt he had on this morning. He came back and handed me his stuff.

"Bye Ms. Anderson!" he said as we walked out the front door.

"Good bye Brice, see you on Monday."

"Daddy? Can we go to the park?" he asked as we walked back to the apartment.

I looked at my watch it was almost four. "No buddy, we don't have time for the park today. Remember Mommy wanted us to get home so we could get ready for the rehearsal tonight."

"Oh yeah, does that mean I have to take a bath?" he asked when we turned the corner onto the street our apartment building was on.

"Yeah, that does mean you have to take a bath," I chuckled.

We entered the lobby and rode the elevator up to our apartment. Amanda wasn't home yet but I started getting Brice ready after he had a snack. We were all supposed to meet at Lancaster Park at seven, and I didn't want Amanda to have to worry about it when she got here. I started his bath water and he climbed in.

"How come you and Mommy weren't married before I was born?" He asked playing with the bubbles.

He had never asked a question like this. We hadn't even told him that he was adopted. We had been waiting for when we felt he was old enough to understand.

"Your Mommy and I weren't ready to get married then," I said simply, hoping he wouldn't ask anything further.

"Oh." I was lucky he didn't ask any more questions about it. But I also knew that this wouldn't be the last time we talked about this.

He finished up in the bath tub and I wrapped him in a blue towel. I led him to his room where I picked out his dress clothes that Amanda had wanted him to wear. A light gray and white pin stripped shirt, black dress pants, black tie and his black dress shoes. I handed him his clothes and he got dressed by himself. I could hear Amanda out in the hall in front of apartment door; she was rummaging through her purse for her keys.

"Hey," I smiled opening the door for her.

"My keys have to be in here somewhere," she mumbled walking past me.

"Did you check the front pocket?" I asked.

She checked and of course they were there. "Thank you…" she said, tossing her stuff on the table then wrapping her arms around my neck.

"How was your day?" I asked, just holding her in my arms.

"Long, stressful. I swear my mother is more stress out about this wedding than I am." She giggled. "She has been calling me nonstop today about everything."

"Well just think, this time tomorrow you and I will be married and enjoying our reception, then we'll be off on a plane to enjoy our honeymoon." I smiled pecking her lips softly.

"Hmmm I can't wait!" she moaned softly.

"Daddy?" Brice called, making his way into the hallway where we were.

He had his tie in a giant knot, Amanda and I both chuckled.

"Need help?" I asked and he nodded.

"There you go, all set," I said after fixing his tie.

"You look very handsome, Brice," Amanda complemented, ruffling his hair.

"Thank you Mommy," he smiled.

"Can I go play with Uncle Declan?" He and I both knew Declan was home because we had run into him on our way home.

"You have to brush your teeth and fix your hair first," Amanda reminded him.

He ran off to the bathroom and did as Amanda had said. He was able to brush his teeth by himself but he still could get the hang of styling his hair so I helped him with that. He put his shoes on then ran off to Lori and Declan's apartment across the hall. I had texted Declan beforehand just to make sure it was alright, which it was.

Amanda had hopped in the shower and once she was finished I took my shower. She did her hair while I shaved, it was a little cramped but we managed.

"So Brice asked me 'why we weren't married before he was born?' today," I said as I applied shaving cream to my face.

"What did you say?" She sounded a little alarmed.

"I just told him that you and I weren't ready to be married, but now we are," I shrugged.

"Did he ask you anything else?" she questioned as she curled a long strand of blond hair.

"Luckily no, but we have to tell him eventually." I paused. "And who knows maybe the fact that I was adopted too might make him feel better about the situation."

"Do you think he's old enough for this though?" She looked at me through the mirror. "I'm not sure he'll understand."

"I don't know, but he's very mature for his age already," I reminded her.

"Well why don't we handle this after we get back from our honeymoon?" she suggested as she curled the last strand of her hair.

"Alright," I agreed, washing off the extra shaving cream.

I left to get dressed as she started putting on her makeup. I grabbed my clothes that had been neatly folded and left out at the end of the bed. It was my dark blue almost green button up shirt and matching tie and my grey dress pants. My black leather belt and shoes also sat there. I threw them on and put on my colon and strapped on my wrist watch. Amanda came into the bedroom to get her dress and I slipped back into the bathroom to brush my teeth and fix my own hair.

"Kyle, will you help me?" I heard her call from the bedroom.

Her back was to me and her hair was pulled over one shoulder. She needed me to zip up her blue dress that clung in all the right places.

"Thank you," she mumbled as I gently zipped her up.

"You're welcome," I smiled, kissing the crook of her neck.

"You smell wonderful," she mused, turning around.

She placed her hands on my chest and brought her lips to mine.

"If only we had time," I groaned and so did she resting her head on my chest. It was already 6:30.

She parted with a peck on my cheek to put on her silver heels. Then we left the apartment and met up with Lori, Declan and Brice.

Each of us had an overnight bag with us since Declan, Brice and I along with Josh were going to be staying at Stephen and Nicole's house. And Lori and Amanda along with Andy and Hillary were staying at Amanda's parent's house. It was all to ensure that I wouldn't be able to see Amanda before the wedding. Especially not in her wedding dress that she and Hillary had been designing together.

We all rode in the same car to Lancaster Park where we met Amanda's parents and uncle along with my parents.

We mingled while we waited for Father Jacob, Josh, Andy and Foss to arrive. I was talking with Nicole when Foss got there.

"Hello Kyle, hello Nicole," he greeted us.

"Hello Tom, how have you been lately?" Nicole politely started a conversation with him.

Declan pulled me aside after a while.

"So Josh and I are taking you out for a drink after this. It's kind of your bachelor party," he explained.

"But aren't bachelor parties for men who are afraid to have their single days passing them by?" I asked. "Besides I'm not keen on getting drunk."

"You don't have to get drunk, just have a couple drinks with Josh and I. Humor us, please?" he begged. "It's my job as best man."

"Alright, fine," I gave in.

"Guys everyone's here, we're going to get started," Lori informed us.

We did the practice run of the wedding. I escorted Nicole to her seat then I took my place in front of the fountain by Father Jacob. Declan escorted Lori down the pretend aisle that would be there tomorrow for the actual wedding once all the white chairs had been set up. Declan took his place beside me and we watched Josh escort Andy followed by Brice escorting Hillary.

Even though it wasn't the real wedding I was anxious to see Amanda walk down the aisle. Her Uncle Jack was the one who would escort her. Jack and her mother would be the ones to give her away to me. They both were practicing the pace but with no music to help them Jack seemed to have a little trouble.

I stepped a little forward and took Amanda's hand as they reached the end of the aisle. Together Amanda and I stepped in front of Father Jacob. The sun was just beginning to set behind the fountain so there was still plenty of light. Father Jacob began his speech and we re-sighted our vows.

Amanda had tears in her eyes as I said my vows to her. Neither of us had wanted to share our vows that we had made for each other until tomorrow. So for now we just practiced the traditional ones. Multiple times throughout our vows I gently squeezed her hand and she would just smile back at me.

"And if this were the real wedding, this would be the part where I say 'I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride'," Father Jacob said with a genuine smile.

I cupped my hands around her jaw line and leaned down to touch my lips to hers. Everyone around us applauded and we parted away with one last kiss. I linked my arm around hers and we walked back down the pretend aisle.

Amanda and I were saying goodbye in the parking lot. Josh and Declan were already in the car ready to go out for a drink. Brice had left with Stephen and Nicole to go home along with Amanda's parents and uncle.

"They want to take me out for drinks," I whispered, still holding her in my arms.

"Well you should go out and enjoy yourself," she whispered back. "Besides the girls are planning some mini bachelorette party as well."

"Why can't we just go home and be left to ourselves?" I joked.

"Because its tradition," she smiled at me.

"Alright well you have fun with the girls. Good night and I love you," I smiled, kissing her gently.

"I love you too," she mumbled between a kiss.

I watched her walk back to the car with the other girls already inside. Then I turned back to my car and climbed into the driver's seat.

We went to one of the bars on the UW campus so Josh could drink as well. It was another one of those bars that didn't check ID's. When we arrived Declan announced that I was getting married the next day and the bar tender gave us a few rounds on the house.

I'd had a few more beers than I had planned on having.

"I'm getting married tomorrow!" I said it as if I had just come to the realization.

Josh and Declan just stared at one another and laughed. They were a little buzzed too.

"Dude, I think…." Then Josh just stopped mid sentence.

I exchanged a glance with Declan and just busted out laughing like he and Josh had done minutes before. I looked around the bar, it was filled with college students, and I didn't know if it was the alcohol reacting with my system or if it was actually true but I had an odd feeling that someone was watching us.

I kept an eye out the rest of the night and didn't have any more beers. I just wanted to be safe, just in case. Within an hour I had metabolized all the alcohol in my system. And by about 11:30 I was able to get Josh and Declan out of there and back into the car. They were both too drunk to even notice they had left the bar, so I had to help them buckle their seat belts.

The drive home was quiet since they had both fallen asleep. I got them inside and Stephen helped me get them up stairs. Josh slept in his old room and Declan slept in Lori's old room.

"Please tell me that those fools didn't get drunk and leave you to be the designated driver at your own bachelor party?" Stephen asked handing me a bottle of water from the fridge once we got back down stairs.

"No, I just metabolized the alcohol faster than they do," I smiled.

"Right," he nodded. "Well, Brice is asleep on the pullout bed in Nicole's office. Oh! And Nicole and I thought you might like to reminisce for a night, so there's a surprise from us in your room."

I looked at him a little wearily but he reassured me that I would like it. He and I said good night then went off to our rooms. I checked on Brice before I went to my old room. He had kicked the blanket to the end of the bed and was sprawled out clutching his green knit blanket that Nicole had made for him when he was a baby. I tugged the comforter back over him and tucked it gently around him. I whispered goodnight to him and left the door a little open before entering my room.

I chuckled when I found the surprise from Stephen and Nicole. They had moved my bed out of the room and replaced it with my old tub. It even had the same green plaid pillow and gray blanket. Nicole had placed my red and white pin stripe pajama pants along with a white t-shirt on the rim on the tub.

It felt good to get out of my dress clothes and into my pajamas. It was also very comforting to sleep in my tub again.

NA: Hey everyone! I hope you like this new chapter; I should be uploading another new chapter soon. So you guys can look forward to that! I have updated my profile there are a few new pictures up, so check those out and tell me what you think!

Anyway in this chapter we saw a little insight into a possible new character (Christopher). Let me know what you think about him. Do you want to see more? Never talk about him again? I'm always open to my reader's opinions!

Thanks for reading and look forward to the next one!