Four

A few minutes later, Adam throws Ian's empty bowl and sippy cup into the sink and lifts Ian from his chair. He grabs Ian's bag that was hanging by the wall, it was the exact same place Jhoni had kept it that morning. Inside the bag was a couple of Ian's colouring book and his crayons as wells as a couple of yoghurt and a change of clothes and a handful of diapers.

"I need a back-up plan, Ian." Adam tells his son as they walk out of the house. He makes sure the door was locked and he had his wallet and phone before walking towards the car. He straps Ian and goes to the driver's side of the car. He presses the start button and adjust his radio until he's at the baby channel and The ABC song comes on.

He sings along to the sing as he drives to Ian's school, Brentford School. He pulls into the parking lot and gets down from the car. He helps Ian out of the car and they to the doors together, Ian's backpack in Adam's hand. Adam pushes open the door and Ian walks through, his legs going as fast as he could. Adam doesn't even know when he took out his phone and started recording. a couple of seconds later, Ian stops and turns to him. The little boy raises his hands up and pulled his lips into a pout as he stares at his papa.

"Come on, baby. We don't want you to be late, do we?" Adam asks as he lifts his little boy. He makes his way to Ian's class and walked in. The other parents were still around seeing as they had five minutes left. There was something different this time. Instead of Miss Blueberry walking around and saying hi to the parents. It was someone different, it was a man this time. A very familiar looking man.

It was the same man Adam had seen this morning while he was at the park. He makes his way towards Ian's table and helps his son sit. He places Ian's bag on the table and presses a kiss to Ian's head. He doesn't have time to think about strangers he meets at four in the morning.

"Have a nice day today, lovely." Adam sings to his son who just smiles at him.

By the time Adam stands, the crowd had thinned out. He looks around for the man and finds him looking at him. His heart flutters and he has to look away. He blows a kiss to Ian who tries to do the same.

He walks out of the class and down the hallway. He however, comes to a stop when he hears the sound of footsteps behind. He turns around to check if it was him, the owner of the footstep heading towards. His eyes widened when he sees it's the same man from this morning.

"Um..." Adam doesn't know what to say.

"Hi, I'm Colin Baker." The man says, stretching a hand forward. Adam stares at it for a few seconds before shaking it.

"Adam Grey." He introduces himself.

"I'm the new teacher. Miss Blueberry got transferred to another class." Colin says with a smile and Adam nods. He briefly wonders if Colin remembers seeing him this morning.

"I hope you take good care of my son then, Mr Baker." 

Colin smiles at Adam. "I will."

Adam gives him a smile and was about to walk away when Colin speaks.. "You look a little better now."

"Sorry?" Adam asks as he turns around.

"It was you I meet at Andrew's Park this morning, right?"

Adam looked at Colin. He was bewildered and didn't know what to do. Instead he take one look at Colin and walked away. He walks as fast as his legs would let him towards the door. He didn't know what to do and leaving was his only answer.  He sits in the car for a few minutes, bathing in the silence. He doesn't want to think about what just happened. He flips on the radio and MGK's Bad Things comes on.

The drive back home was shorter since he had no one to talk to. He cleans the house, fluffed the pillows and made sure the dishes were clean. By the time he settles down it was a little past twelve. He didn't have anything else to do. He makes his way to his bedroom and stands in front of the full length mirror in the bathroom.

He stripped away all his clothes and stands in front of the mirror. He wonders what kind of person his husband was sleeping with. Was he slimmer than Adam? Was it because of his c-section scare?Does he have blonde hair or maybe his hair was dyed? Was his tummy flatter and without any stretch marks?

Adam stares at himself. His hips were rounded, his thighs full. His stomach had small tiger marks. If Adam was to describe himself, he'd go with curvy and he truly was. Maybe the man his husband was sleeping with was slimmer with smooth skin and not curvy and –

Adam shakes his head. He shouldn't be doing this. This should be the last thing he should be doing. He hurriedly takes a bath and pulls on a pair of jeans that were ripped at the knees and a black shirt with a fallen chess piece on it. He runs his fingers through his hair and let it fall into his face in a fringe. He needs a haircut.

He goes back down and heads straight for the kitchen, he grabs a yoghurt from the fridge. He grabs his keys and made his way out of the house. It was almost time to pick up Ian. The drive to school was filled with silence, he didn't put on the radio nor did he connect his phone to the car's Bluetooth, he just didn't drove in silence. He parks at the available spot he finds. Most parents were already there and waiting for the doors to open. He joins the parents and smiled politely at the familiar faces. He checks his watch for the time and sees that he has enough time to take Ian home, clean him up and start lunch for Jhoni, Bella and George. As he waits, he wonders what to make for dinner. He couldn't decide between Chicken Tikka and ordering Chinese.

He was still indecisive when the doors slid open. He walked in, following the lead of the other parents in front of him. He heads straight to Ian's room, he's behind a couple of parents but patience is what has gotten him here and he'll wait a just a little longer to see his boy. The parents rush in and Adam follows, looking around for his last born. He finds Ian colouring happily with a big grin on his face. It was so contagious, it made Adam smile.  He kneels beside Ian.

"That looks amazing..."

Ian turns around so fast, he wraps his arms around Adam's neck.  Adam coos as he hugs his little boy back.

"How was school, honey?"

"Good." Ian says and then points at the book in front of him. "Colour."

Adam looks at the book. Ian had coloured a bear. Giving it a red fur and yellow eyes and Adam doesn't know if he finds it creepy or just ... there are no words to describe it. Instead he presses a kiss to Ian's forehead.

"It's pretty." He tells his son. "Let's pack it up and go home. Your sibling will soon be back." Adam helps Ian to his feet while he grabs his book bag. He stuffs the colouring book into the bag and lifts Ian into his arms. It's been a while since he felt the heavy weight of his child in his arms.

The room had grown slightly empty, with only a handful of parents in the room. Adam was about to walk away with his boy when he's stopped by a hand on his arm. He turns around and finds Colin standing there. The teacher offers a wave and smile. Ian seemed to like him because he reaches out for Colin with one hand.

"Colly." He scream with glee. It seems by the glee on Ian's face, that he likes his new teacher.

"Good afternoon, Mr Baker." Adam says politely. Colin looked just the same as he did this morning but Adam couldn't help but think he looks...better. Adam doesn't know how to describe it. It felt like he was actually seeing him for the first time.

"Mr Grey. I hope your day was good?" Colin asks as he reaches forward to tickle Ian. Ian giggles and tries to wiggle in Adam's hold.

"It was great. Thank you for asking." Adam replies as he holds onto Ian a little tighter so he doesn't slip out of his hold. "I hope little Ian didn't give you any trouble."

"He was exquisite. Very quiet but also very smart." Colin says and then a frown settles on his face. "He didn't really eat much during lunch time and that worried me a little. Is that normal or just a one-time thing?"

Adam nods. "Ian doesn't eat much and doesn't talk much either. It's normal. We just make sure he eats enough." Adam replies. He looks at the little boy in his arms and nuzzles his nose with his. "Isn't that right, Ian?"

"Yes!" Ian screams and claps his hand. He grabs Adam's cheeks and pulls his papa close enough to steal a kiss. Adam laughs and peppers kisses all over Ian's face, revelling in each squeal his little boy lets out.

"Well then, Mr Baker, have a good day." Adam is almost tempted to wave but he doesn't. Ian on the other hand waves like crazy. Adam doesn't look back as he walks away but he's tempted to. He could still feel the ghost of Colin's touch to his arm and it's confusing. He wasn't sure what was happening nor did he want to understand it. So he chooses to ignore it.

Adam straps Ian into his seat as carefully as he could and then goes back to the driver's seat. He connects his phone to the car's speaker and let one of the many nursery rhymes he downloaded play. Ian tries to sing along while Adam does a little calculation in his head. Since Ian didn't eat much during lunch, Adam has to give him something to munch on. He's got a couple of diced watermelon in the fridge, that would keep Ian filled up a little. The drive home took a little time due to traffic.

Colin had delayed him a little and it messed up his plan. The time was already three and he has less than forty minutes to get Ian cleaned up, feed him and make snacks for his kids. Hell, he didn't even get the things for dinner sorted. Calm down, Adam. Calm down. He starts with giving Ian a quick shower and dressing him in comfortable clothes, he then fed Ian little bits of watermelon that were mashed a little.  His snacks for the kids when they return from school was a bowl of fruit salad each which was made from the fruits they had at home. For dinner, Adam settles for asking the kids what take out they wanted, pizza exempted.

By four, Bella bursts through the door first with a big smile on her face and paint under her nails. Adam could already pick out why she was this happy. Panting has always been Bella's favourite thing to do. George's favourite thing to do was read while Jhoni's favourite thing to do was eat.

Bella runs straight to his legs and hugs Adam's legs. She was bouncing and feeling every bit like a princess and she was, with her being the only girl in the family.

"Daddy I painted you a picture!" she squealed. She began struggling to pull her backpack off but George stops her before Adam could.

"Let me say hi to papa too..." the boy whines as he finds enough space to give Adam a hug. Adam kneels down and wraps his arms around his two children. He presses a kiss to Bella's head and then George's.

"There's enough love for both of you. For all four of you." Adam says, making sure his children understand there's enough of him for everyone. "Why don't you go and shower while I get the kettle going?"

"Chamo tea?" Bella asks, staring at her dad with wide green eyes.

Adam laughs and runs his hand through her hair. "Yes, love. Chamomile tea."

"Can I get hot cocoa instead, papa?" George asks and Adam nods. Of all his children, George was the only one who wasn't fond of tea. He finds it disgusting, no matter the amount of milk and sugar added to it. It's so wrong, papa and it taste wrong.

It takes the kids a few minutes to freshen up and Adam had to scrub the paint off Bella's finger and pick out the dry ones from under her fingernail. He helps her into one of her many gowns, this one yellow with a pink hem. For the first time this week, she lets her hair fall.

A few minutes later, Adam was sprawled out on the floor with Ian sitting on his stomach, George's head on his thigh and Bella's hand in his hair as they watch Adventures of Gum Ball on Cartoon Network. They were still in the same position when Jhoni comes home at five thirty. His piano lesson was cut short due to some emergency his instructor had to go home to settle. Jhoni falls to a heap near his papa and lets out a loud sigh.

"Tired?" Adam asks, looking away from the television to his son. He places his free hand on Jhoni's hair and strokes.

"You have no idea."

Adam pouts. "You do know I was once a student, right? Not the full on stay-home dad I am now." He says, pouting harder when Jhoni chuckles.

Jhoni shakes his head at his papa. He lifts Ian from Adam's tummy and places him on his own. He tickles Ian and laughs when they little boy did. And that was how the war started. Adam was tickled by George and Bella, the two were later joined by Jhoni while Ian just laughed as he watched.

After picking Ian from school, Adam hasn't even thought about Jensen. Hasn't thought about what to do about the cheating. He just focused on his children because unlike Jensen, they were his entire world. Well, Jensen and his kids were his entire world.

"What do you want for dinner?" Adam asks, when everyone takes a break.

Like they all had one mind, they said the one thing Adam was against. "Pizza."

Adam frowned and shook his head. "What about Chinese? Maybe some Mexican food?"

"Papa, we want pizza. Just this one time. We won't ask again." George pleads and he's backed up by Bella who clasps her hand together. Jhoni just gives Adam a knowing look and Adam knows. He does. He ends up being the one to order. He places an order for one half vegetarian and Hawaiian pizza, one half meatzza and pepperoni pizza.

Ian was the first to fall asleep like always. Jhoni offers to take his little brother up while George and Bella help Adam clean up. The pizza boxes were kept on the counter neatly and the small boxes that came with the chicken wings were squeezed tight and shoved into the bin.

It was after Adam had said good night to George and helped him place his glasses on the table, did he remember he hadn't left anything for Jensen to eat when he gets back. He there was one slice each from each pizza. He places them on a flat plate, covers it and keeps it in the oven to keep it warm.

"Hey bud." Adam says, standing at the entrance of Jhoni's room. He leans against the wall and stared at Jhoni.

"Papa..." Jhoni replies. He's lying down, his iPad on and Adam could see that the piano app was opened on it. "No waiting tonight too."

Adam pauses briefly before nodding in agreement. "No waiting tonight."

"No reading either. Just go to sleep. I'll make breakfast tomorrow, so you can wake up a little later, okay?" Jhoni asks, his voice so soft that Adam had the urge to hug but he holds himself back. Instead he smiles brightly at Jhoni.

"Thank you, darling."

"Anything for you, papa." Jhoni smiles back. The good nights were said with promise and Adam felt like he was floating as he made his way to his room. He quickly showers and changes into his pj. He slides underneath the duvet and flicks off his light. No waiting.

And for the first time in a year, Adam doesn't wait.