3A: Proud Papa


"That's not possible?!" Peter stated after being told that Neal and his triplet brothers were his sons.

Noticing Neal's expression as it fell Peter reached out and caught his arm when the kid tried to leave. This left him facing the other two in a circle with Neal angled away from him.

Thinking about it, Peter knew the government had asked for a blood test to check him paternally based on the mother's claim, but he hadn't expected this. He wasn't old enough to be their father!

Looking at Elizabeth, he knew his wife would understand his confusion. They'd talked about the possibilities and speculated why the test could be being requested.

"You didn't go back that far when we talked," she looked confused and a little suspicious of the boys.

Shrugging, Peter expounded on why he hadn't. "There wasn't that far to go, that's the problem."

They were standing by the front door where Peter had let them in.

Upon seeing Neal and his brothers, the confusion caused him to halt while Elizabeth remained seated in the living room.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments while Peter continued to wrack his brain, Neal remained turned away towards the wall hiding his hurt, the other boys looked confused, and Elizabeth remained suspicious.

"Oh," it seemed to dawn on one of the boys. "Try making our ages a few years younger and our birthday a little later in the spring. Does that help?"

It had to be at the party. Peter had stayed over with a friend for what was supposed to be an adult-supervised party. There weren't any parents and the 'adults' were college students who thought it funny to spike the punch. Peter had no idea what had happened between drinking part of one cup of what was supposed to be a harmless punch and waking up in his wrinkled clothing in his friend's room. He'd thought he just passed out and slept whatever they'd concocted off. Apparently, more had happened in the meanwhile.

"It must be the party, it was supposed to be adult-supervised and safe, but my former friend had lied. I was drugged by whatever was put in the punch and have no idea what happened. That's the earliest possible point this could have happened." It wasn't necessarily a bad thing to learn that he had sons, just a lot to wrap his mind around.

"Sorry, mom never told us anything so we can't help you fill in the gap. Maybe she'd also drank the punch, but she seemed to know for certain you were our biological father before the tests confirmed it. We didn't even know our stepdad wasn't biological until she was diagnosed with cancer. I guess she decided we should know something of the truth once she'd died, but she had no problems telling us anything but the truth growing up," the same triplet as before spoke up. He seemed to be taking on a role as spokesperson.

"At least we have that cleared up as much as it seems possible." Peter had hoped to learn more, but that didn't seem possible since their mother had died of cancer before her will had set this in motion. Redirecting his focus, he asked the boys who they were and welcomed them in.

The spokesperson had short hair up the side and then longer hair on top. He had a military stance to go with his army cargo pants and a white t-shirt. "Hello, I'm James Carson or Junior. I was named after our stepfather as he was dating mom by the time we were born. As the oldest, I was to be his namesake."

"Hi, Bryce Larkin," the second followed in wearing jeans and a leather jacket over a nerdy t-shit. His sunglasses were hung on the front of his shirt while his hair was longer and loosely parted with some hanging down above his eyes.

Left alone with Neal while his brothers introduced themselves to Elizabeth, Peter reeled him in by his hold on Neal's arm. Neal continued to be reluctant, but Peter wasn't letting his previous expression go without being addressed. Once Neal was close enough, he transitioned his hold to the kid's shoulder and turned him to face him. His expression was still downcast and turned away.

"Hey, look at me," Peter softly directed.

Dropping his gaze before looking up, Neal's eyes were shiny and he was obviously hurt.

Sighing, Peter pulled him into a hug. He was new at this father thing, but he knew Neal was hurt by something to do with his stepfather and his initial exclamation hadn't helped. "The age thing is why I said it wasn't possible. Otherwise, it's just unexpected. I doubt you expected me to be your biological father, but I hope it's not a problem. It isn't, is it?" He felt the need to ask just in case. He and Neal were friends, but this changed the dynamic of their relationship. Now they were family.

There was a subtle shake to the head against his shoulder and a muffled, "No."

"But you think it's an issue for me?" He wasn't one for emotions, but this needed to be addressed. His father had always told him to fix things with family, it wasn't always possible with the world, but it should be done directly with family. They were the people you went through life with.

Neal didn't seem comfortable answering that one, so he obviously thought it was a problem.

"It's not," Peter said, but he could still hear the doubt in Neal's silence so he pulled him out so that they were eye to eye. "I mean it; I'm not ashamed to have you for a son. Don't take that as pride in your criminal activities, you know I don't approve of that. But, you know I like smart and you're as smart as they come. I can appreciate the intelligence and skill that went into the crimes. More importantly, though, I've seen your heart. You didn't hurt people with violence or in an irreparable way during your crime spree, you never hurt me or the other agents pursuing you, and I see your determination to help others on the cases we work. So, I am proud of your brains and your heart. You're still working off your sentence, but when it comes down to it, you're a good man." Okay, he could have left off the reference to Neal's current criminal status, and the reality that it would never be erased from his record, but he was used to being blunt with Neal. Besides, it would be weirder for Neal if he acted differently. But, shouldn't he treat him differently now that Neal was his son? It was the beginning of complications.

Based on how Neal turned away, it wasn't a good thing to keep up the usual style of communication.

Pulling him back into another hug, Peter had one request to make. "I don't know how to be a father, this is all new to me. So, don't shut me out, okay? Give me a chance to figure this out."

This time Neal nodded meekly so Peter took it as confirmation that Neal was giving him a chance.

"Being a con comes from the choices you made, your sentence is a part of the consequences, but they don't define who you are. You're more than a con, always were. But, that doesn't change that it's a part of our lives, how we met, and a part of our dynamic with me as the agent who caught you. We became friends and partners with your contract and working together. Now, we're also family. We have new dynamics to learn. Give us time to figure it out." He held the hug a few moments longer simply relishing in the knowledge that he had three sons and that Neal was one of them.

With a final pat on his back, Peter released Neal, but only so far as to sling an arm across his shoulders.

Huffing, Neal commented lowly, "It's not like I'm going to run."

Responding, Peter provided both of his reasons for the action. "There doesn't always have to be a bad connotation to my reactions. Am I not allowed to enjoy learning that you're my son? Besides, you did try to run when you thought I had a problem with this." Squeezing Neal's shoulders as he walked them forward toward the others, Peter added. "Come on, I want to get to know this side of you better and your brothers in general."

Joining everyone in the living room area, Peter knew the others had been watching and were aware of his exchange, but they politely ignored it since neither he nor Neal seemed upset at the results. Taking a seat next to Elizabeth, he noticed how each of the boys took seats facing them. Watching Neal, he was torn between wishing he'd taken the seat beside him instead of deliberately moving away, and being glad he had since all three boys were now facing him the same way.

"So, why don't you tell us about yourselves?" he didn't know anything about two of them and obviously had huge gaps of knowledge when it came to Neal. He didn't know he was a triplet or that his mother had recently passed for just a few examples.

Taking the lead, Junior started to talk about himself. "As I said at the door, my name is James Dylan Carson or Junior. I recently learned that my birth name is Peter Jonathan Caffrey. When mom married James he changed my name with the adoption to James Dylan Bennett after himself, which is where Junior came in. After everything, I changed my last name to Carson. I'm my own man and not his son anyway. However, the nickname stuck so I don't mind if you use the nickname, especially since I was apparently named after you in the first place." He was stiffly seated on a dining room chair as he began the introductions.

Raising his hand in a small wave, the next one got started. "I'm Bryce Elliot Larkin. My name history isn't as complicated as only my last name has changed from Caffrey to Bennett, to Larkin. Like my brothers, I won't use James' last name, but he didn't legally change anything else in the adoption."

Neal didn't look comfortable, but it was his turn based on how his brothers looked at him. "Neal George Caffrey is my birth name and that was changed to Neal George Bennett. I use my birth name, but it isn't my legal name."

"Did you leave it as Bennett?" Peter questioned, but he doubted that since Neal had some serious father issues.

Neal shook his head but didn't clarify.

"You kept the other name? We couldn't find anything about it, even after we joined the…" Bryce slowly stopped talking as he realized he almost said something he didn't want to be shared.

Frowning, Peter realized that he now had three times the secrets to deal with!

"My brothers and I have secrets, even from each other, but the biggest ones are on behalf of others. These aren't criminal secrets that you have to worry about, Peter." Neal elaborated a little but vaguely after his brother's cliffhanger.

"That doesn't prevent concern for your well-being. Even non-criminal secrets can be harmful." Peter cautioned, he hadn't jumped to criminal conclusions, the government was involved with whatever it was, but that didn't mean that his boys couldn't be hurt by it. He'd only just learned about them, he didn't want to lose them. But, he also knew that he'd have to earn their trust, even from Neal. This was a whole new level of personal for all of them.

Picking the conversation back up, Peter shared his name. "As Neal knows, my name is Peter Jackson Burke. I don't think I'm named for anyone and my name hasn't changed."

Elizabeth took her turn next, she had a mischievous smile. "For those who don't know me, my name is Elizabeth Madeleine Mitchell Burke. I'm named for each of my grandmothers. My background is in art and business, but the gallery I used to work at had me handle event planning so I decided to open Burke Premiere Events and I'm a planner now." She handled it professionally, but in a tone like a child introducing themselves on the first day of school.

Grateful that she'd progressed the conversation, Peter went next. "My degree is in accounting and I briefly played professional baseball before an injury led me to join the FBI. Now I'm the lead agent for the White Collar division here in New York."

"Pass, you all know what I do," Neal crossed his arms and refused to elaborate on his criminal history.

Continuing around backward, Bryce was next. "I have degrees in computer programming and accounting, but I work in accounting at a bank in Washington. Computers are more of my hobby anymore." Bryce elaborated a little as prompted, but focused on his shared interest in accounting with Peter over specifics of his daily work at the bank.

When the conversation slowed, Junior picked it back up with his information. "I'm in the Marine Corp. so I move around a lot. My education and experience all come from there, but business is my backup. When I have time, I do a lot of pickup games on the bases with other soldiers. What we play varies with the crowd and available facilities, but I like basketball the best." This prompted a discussion on sports with Bryce adding that he ran in track.

Neal continued to be evasive or unspecific, but Peter was glad to be learning about his other sons.

Continuing to talk around the circle, the conversation kept going with most of them opening up with more detailed stories about themselves or their lives. Based on what he'd learned, Peter didn't expect to have any problems with general bonding. He was already talking sports with Junior from statistics, through his own stories, to plans to play together in the future. Elizabeth had been able to join the conversation in her way, although not as an avid participant. Then Bryce talked ideas to Elizabeth about the business accounts and computers before making a few suggestions for improvements in her technology. With Peter, they'd bonded on similar loves of numbers but were able to talk about some computers due to Peter's experience at the office. Although Neal remained aside, he'd proven his bond with Elizabeth over art in the past and Peter at crime and puzzles.

When Satchmo started indicating a desire for a walk, Peter suggested Elizabeth and two of the boys figure out food for the group. He didn't have to say what he and Neal would be doing.

"Peter," Neal whined, he obviously didn't want to talk.

Smirking, Peter felt like he was experiencing a teenage Neal, "Is this how you were as a teen?"

Neal petulantly denied it, but his brothers confirmed that he "could be," much to Neal's annoyance.

Amused for the moment, Peter collected Satchmo and his things before hauling Neal on the walk with him.

Once they were down the street a few houses, Peter broached the problem. "You have another name and secrets you don't want to share. I get that, but is it really such an issue to join the conversation?"

Neal walked for another house before talking, "There are things you don't know about me."

"Obviously, that you're an identical triplet, that your mother recently died, that you're adopted, and so much more is either just coming to light or is still unknown. Is this all happening too fast for you? I don't know what I'd do if my mom died and changed everything I know." Peter tried to be considerate. He had Elizabeth's voice coaching him in his head after their preparation for this meeting.

Snorting, Neal seemed a bit upset, maybe he'd struck the core of the problem?

"Life has gone fast since I was eighteen. The other two, they know I was pulled aside for a conversation, that that was the night I learned the initial details were all lies. They each had their nights just before or after me. But, more happened that night than they know, and I don't want them to find out… It would upset everyone." Neal turned away stiffly.

Alarm bells went off in Peter's head, "Who hurt you?"

Startled, Neal didn't seem to expect him to guess right. "He was arrested when I was found. The Marshall, well, he knew I wanted to be a cop like James was, but he took that literally. He figured I'd only be dirty like him, being his son and everything. So, when I went for a walk, he tried to make sure I'd never go back. Other Marshals figured it out and I was transported away, I didn't want to risk anyone else hurting my family. Things took a different path than you know from there, but there was James' partner, she's still in danger." Neal had shifted to looking straight ahead so he didn't immediately realize his last few steps were alone.

Peter was furious! Even if Neal had been James' biological son, that didn't mean he'd make the same choices. The Marshal had no right to hurt him, and Peter was afraid of how much damage had been done, let alone how much of it hadn't healed. "How bad was it?" He asked when Neal had turned towards him.

"Bad, but the injuries healed a long time ago." Neal seemed to think that was comforting.

"Time doesn't matter, you were still hurt, and it shouldn't have been. You didn't deserve that, even if you were James' son. Should you have become a dirty cop you would have needed to face justice, not some twisted action of someone based on their opinion." His hands were fisted around Satchmo's things and he closed his eyes when he noticed that he was shaking with rage.

He was a little surprised when he felt Neal put his arm around his shoulders and lean his head against his shoulder. "Thank you, I appreciate how you always put justice first."

Pulling it together enough to wrap an arm around Neal, Peter hugged him while Satchmo walked around them. "You're welcome. Justice is how it's supposed to be, but I hate it when innocents still suffer."

"I'm not innocent," Neal stated into his shoulder.

"You were of being a dirty cop, and you still are in some ways. What you said, I know you've experienced violence, but you've never used it. There are multiple kinds of innocence and you still are innocent in ways." Peter knew Neal had a childish innocence in how he still found joy even in the little things, he hadn't killed or physically hurt anyone, he tried to protect others when someone tried to hurt them, and the list went on. Neal wasn't completely innocent of all things, but he was when it came to big things.

"Why does it feel like you're grasping at straws? Sure, I haven't killed and I'm not violent, but you don't usually make it through the list of my crimes because even generalizing them is so long. How can you say I'm innocent?" Neal still seemed baffled.

Tucking his head against Neal's shoulder, Peter summarized it. "You're right, you're not an innocent civilian, you've committed at least one crime that we can prove and likely more. But, you're an innocent person. There's something about you, in how you treat people, in how you see life, and even in your love of the challenge that has gotten you into so much trouble, that is your innocence. It's an innocence that matters … That's what makes you, you."

A tug on the leash jerked his arm breaking the moment with his son, but he'd said what he needed to at the moment. There would be more conversations and Neal seemed to understand his point. "Let's finish walking Satchmo, but I want you to talk to me. You can trust me, I hope you know that extends to this stuff too, you were personal before, and that's only increased now that you're family."

"We don't know much about family, mom checked out after everything with James, and he hasn't been in our lives since his arrest." Neal talked as they resumed walking.

"Elizabeth and I, we had stable homes growing up, but neither of us has been parents before. We've wanted kids for years but it's never happened. Now we've got three grown boys to get to know. Personally, I'm looking forward to it." Peter hoped Neal would continue to talk to him, but he wanted him to that he was glad of the outcome, he was glad to have three sons.

"Elizabeth doesn't mind?" Neal seemed to be testing the waters of her opinion on the matter.

"We didn't know your names until we met at the door today. Mixed with the Marshal in your past and the secrets, it sounds like Wit-Sec is responsible for that, but we talked when the test was requested and again when we were notified of the positive results. What it comes down to, is she knows I didn't know so this wasn't a secret kept from her and she wishes she was biologically involved, but she's okay with being a step-mom. I hope you and your brothers will let us into your lives, we want you in ours." Peter turned to look at Neal.

He had his hands in his pockets with a relaxed posture. His expression was a mixture of thoughtful and complacent. Whatever had been bothering him, it didn't seem to be doing so anymore.

Clearing his nearest hand, Peter reached out and patted Neal on the shoulder before squeezing comfortingly. He was glad to see his son growing more comfortable and to return to something of their usual comradery for the rest of the walk.

When they got back, Peter let Satchmo off of his leash before meeting Elizabeth. Taking her into a hug, he listened to what she had to say.

Wrapping her arms around his back, she said, "We have two sons excited to be a family and looking forward to future prospects. I'm glad to be a mom and am looking forward to getting to know them too. How'd it go with Neal?"

"Make that three sons. I hope he'll continue to open up and talk, but this is a start. I'm proud to be their father and I look forward to our future as a family." Then he kissed her to the hum of conversation emanating from the kitchen. The boys were making themselves comfortable and they were becoming a family.


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