The Long Road chapter 38

Kyle looked up from his newspaper as eight-year-old Adam came into the kitchen.

“Daddy-K, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Of course, little buddy. Get yourself a glass of milk and sit down. What’s on your mind?”

Adam, glass of milk in hand, sat down at the table, but didn’t say anything. He just looked down at the floor. Kyle reached over, placed his hand under his chin and lifted his head up. “Are the kids at school still picking on you?”

“Yeah, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

“Okay, what did you want to talk about?”

“Why am I the only kid in school with two daddies, but no mommy?”

Oh boy, Kyle thought to himself. Here it comes. Kyle and Jay had been anticipating just such a question for quite some time now, and had several arguments over how to answer it. Jay was all for telling the whole story. Kyle was afraid Adam wouldn’t be able to handle the truth.

Kyle carefully considered how to answer. He seemed quite mature for his age, which he attributed mostly to Jay’s strength of character and the bond between them. He was closer to “Daddy-J.” He adored law enforcement officials, but he didn’t quite know how to relate to Kyle, being a physicist and teacher.

He wondered how many conversations Adam overheard, pretending to be asleep. Many times they had to comfort him when he had nightmares from overhearing things Kyle and Jay would discuss.

“Are you absolutely sure you want to know why you have no mommy?”

“I - I think so.”

“Okay. You know Daddy-J and I love you more than anything else in the world, right?” He nodded his head yes. “Well, the reason why you have no mommy is because we adopted you from an orphanage. Do you know what an orphanage is?”

“Yeah, a place where parents get rid of the kids they don’t want.”

“That’s partially true. Orphanages are also places where kids go if they lose both their mommy and daddy. Son, this is going to be difficult to hear. The reason you were in the orphanage is because you were found abandoned in a dumpster. We don’t know who your parents were.” Jay and Kyle had argued loud and long over whether or not to tell him about being abandoned.

He started to cry, “Why didn’t they want me? Was I a bad boy?”

“No, you weren’t a bad boy. It was never your fault. Don’t ever think that. It had nothing to do with you.”

“Is that why I have two daddies, because I don’t have a mommy?”

“No. Not having a mommy has nothing to do with it. Do you remember when you asked us where babies come from? We told you about when a man and a woman love each other very much they join physically and have a baby. Well, Daddy-J and I love each other just as much. So much so that we decided we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.”

“Is that why you sleep in the same bed and sometimes when I have a nightmare and I come to your room I see Daddy-J lying on top of you moving back and forth?”

Oh, boy. How do I answer this one? Kyle said to himself. Jay sure picked one hell of a time to pull a Saturday shift at the FBI command center! “Yes. When two people join together, whether it is a man and a woman, two men or two women, it is the ultimate expression of the love they share for each other.”

“Are you going to have a baby?”

“No, I can't. I don’t have the right type of internal parts to have a baby. That’s why we adopted you. We wanted a child, but couldn’t have one the normal way. Daddy-J and I are very lucky to have you as part of our family.”

“Since a man and a woman join together to have babies and you can’t have a baby, isn’t it wrong for you and Daddy-J to join together?”

I should have seen that one coming from a mile away, Kyle thought, chagrinned.

“There are many people out there who think that way. Adam, if two people could only join together to have a baby, then they could only do it when it was time to have a baby. But two people who love each other can join together as often as they want. As I said before, it is the ultimate expression of love between two people.”

Kyle heard a noise and looked up to see Jay, having come home for lunch, standing in the doorway smiling to crack his face wide open with an ‘I’m-so-glad-it’s-you-and-not-me’ expression.

“Daddy-K is right, little man. When we join together, it’s because we love each other so much and it’s the best way to show it to each other. You’ll understand better when you grow older.”

“Kids in school say it’s wrong for you and Daddy-J to love each other the way you do.” Kyle shot Jay a ‘well-how-are-you-going-to-answer-this-one’ look.

“Do you remember the lady that used to come here every week to talk to you?”

“Yes.”

“She was from the adoption agency. She came here to make sure we were taking proper care of you. If we weren't, she would have taken you away. If it were wrong for Daddy-J and me to love each other the way we do and live together as we do they would never have allowed us to adopt you in the first place. But you’re still here, aren’t you? Do you remember when the last time she was here?”

“No.”

“It was right after your seventh birthday. She hasn’t been back since because she doesn’t need to come back. So whenever those brats…”

“JAYSON!”

“Excuse me, other kids say that to you, you tell them that if it was wrong for your two daddies to love each other the way they do, then you wouldn’t be with us. You would still be living in the orphanage, or with another family.”

“Okay, Daddy-K.”

“Okay. Now look at me and give me a hug and one of your world-record smiles.”

Adam got up and ran into Jay’s arms. Kyle looked on for a moment then decided this was a moment he did not want to be left out off. He jumped up and rushed over to them for a family hug.

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