GEN IV: Chapter 19 - Part 2

Part 2 -

Brian went to her house and knocked. After just a moment Adelaide and a guy answered the door. Brian looked at the man. His eyes were very strange looking and his skin truly pale. Brian shrugged slightly and looked at Adelaide.

"You ready to get going?"

"Yes, well I just need two minutes. Come on in." Adelaide said.

Exactly two minutes later she came back to him, "Okay let's go, I'm ready now."

Rachel hit the swings almost as soon as they got there. Brian was swinging along side her, smiling and laughing about who was going higher.

At one point Brian stopped swinging and just watched Adelaide. At first she was unaware of his eyes on her, when she did notice his gaze she slowed her own swing and looked back at him. He had gotten to his feet.

"You know Addy,"  Brian began. "Do you.."

Brian was interrupted by Johanna.

Johanna happened to be at the park as well, by the fountain, and she noticed Brian here with a woman. She was just too curious to pass up the opportunity to ask him who she was.

"Brian, hey." She glanced at Adelaide then back at her brother. "How are you?"

Brian shifted his weight, he knew why she really came over. She didn't actually have anything to say, but he enjoyed seeing her anyway. "I'm good, um Jo-Jo this is Adelaide. Addy this is my sister Johanna."

"Adelaide, nice to meet you. Brian, how long have you been dating?"

Adelaide spoke up, "You to Johanna. Your brother and I aren't dating."

Johanna nodded, but didn't really look like she believed Adelaide completely. "Oh, well that's nice. When did you meet?"

It was Brian who answered, "Not too long after Rachel passed. She happened to be at the park for Jenn's birthday."

"Ahh. Well it's great to see you enjoying yourself. Really, I'm glad." Johanna smiled warmly she held her smile when she looked at Adelaide. "You too Adelaide. Again, it was so nice to meet you."

"Call me Addy please. Brian's told me a lot about you. I hope to see you again."

Johanna said goodbye, but glanced over her shoulders a few times as she walked away. She overheard Brian invite Adelaide back to the house for dinner and the offer was accepted.

They got home just as the school bus pulled away, dropping the kids off from school. Jennifer turned around when the door opened behind her.

"Dad, your home..." she paused when she saw Adelaide and gave Brian a very ugly look. He stepped back as if he had been slapped. "You brought her home again?" She whispered.

Adelaide didn't hear the words, but detected the tone in Jennifer's voice and politely walked into the living room so they could talk.

Jennifer put her hands out, "Please, dad. Tell me you are not involved with her. I don't think you're ready for that. I'm not ready for that. I love you daddy, I do, but please. Don't..." she stopped there. She really wasn't sure where to go from here, what she wanted to say exactly. It wasn't that she didn't want him to be happy - she did. She realised then that she had really been thinking of herself when it came to Adelaide. She didn't want some other woman put into her life to take over the mother model. Was that wrong?

Brian took advantage of Jennifer's pause. "I know. I know you aren't ready. I'm not asking you to be. I am not 'involved' with Addy." He hesitated, he wasn't being completely honest with his daughter. Should he be?

Jennifer snorted, a very disdainful chuckle escaped her lips. She could read her fathers face like a book, and she hated Adelaide for putting that look on his face. "You are falling for her. You are." Tears started for pool in her eyes.

"Jennifer, you need to watch your tone. Addy is my best friend but I won't lie to you..."

Jennifer turned away from Brian and started to walk off, forcing the tears from her eyes. "I don't want to hear it."

Logan had seen Adelaide come in and went in to her. While Brian and Jennifer were talking in the entryway, Logan was talking to Adelaide.

"Hey Addy, What do you get if you cross a snake and a lego set?" he asked her.

Adelaide smiled, "I don't know, what?"

"A boa constructor!"

Adelaide and Logan both laughed at his joke.

As Jennifer walked away from her father she spotted Logan laughing with Adelaide and it irritated her. She went up to Logan.

"It almost time for dinner, let's go wash up." Her words were short.

The two of them disappeared up the stairs. Adelaide went to look for Brian, she found him outside cooking hot dogs.

She was just about to say something when he looked at her and smiled, "There is a salad in the fridge for you. I know you're a vegetarian."

Adelaide smiled back. "Thanks Brian."

It did not take long for the hot dogs to finish cooking. Brian pulled them off the grill, placed them in buns and called his family down to eat.

No noise came from Jennifer's seat, but she kept an eye on Adelaide. She studied her as a psychologist would study someones body language. Logan tried to crack more jokes to make Adelaide laugh, he was good at that.

As soon as dinner was over Logan asked Adelaide to play a video game with him and they left to do so. Jennifer went upstairs and Brian cleared the dishes. Right when he closed the dishwasher his cell phone rang. It was a client.

Brian went to the bathroom and came out to the living room to ask Adelaide something. He paused though at the scene in front of him. Logan and Adelaide looked so at home with each other that he hated to break up the fun, even if it was only temporary.

"Hey Addy I've got a question for you." He waited for her to come up to him. Brian sighed and rubbed his neck. "Okay, a client of mine just called, some new evidence has turned up on a case I'm working." When he brought his hand down from his neck he unconsciously placed it on Adelaide's waist just above her hip. "Would you watch the kids for me for an hour, possibly two? They won't be any trouble, Logan will play games and Jennifer is probably in her room. Most likely you won't see her."

Adelaide smiled. "Of course I will, I'm happy to." She didn't miss the placement of his hand, her skin tingled under his touch. She wasn't going to say anything or react in anyway though. Since she found out about Rachel, Adelaide has not advanced on Brian in any way. She did not want to entice him, but did she want to ignore him either.

Brian thanked her and put on his work clothes, then left the house.

When he came back an hour later, Adelaide was waiting outside for him.

"You know I've been looking at the stars, there are a lot of shooting stars tonight. Do you want to watch them with me?"

Brian smiled, "I'd love to. Sounds fun."

The two of them sat in the grass and pointed out flaming meteoroids to each other. Brian couldn't help but feel their closeness. When he did, his feelings were always torn. He liked it, it felt good - but on the other hand, still being in mourning, he often wasn't even positive of his own feelings. It also felt horrible because he knew how uncomfortable Jennifer was about it.

His train of thought was interrupted by Adelaide getting to her feet. He followed suit. Adelaide stretched and yawned beside him.

"You know, it's really dark and nearly midnight.You shouldn't walk home, why don't you stay here tonight?" Brian offered.

Adelaide was shocked by the offer, but did not refuse it. She was too tired to walk home anyway. She wondered though where he wanted her to sleep, her unspoken question was answered quickly.

"You can sleep in my bed." Then he chuckled. "I promise I won't try anything!"

The two of them changed into their pajamas and went to bed. Adelaide fell asleep first. Brian watched her and had to smile just a little when she started to snore quietly. He watched her until she turned over and he couldn't see her face anymore. Just for a moment he refused the urge to snuggle closer before dozing off himself.

To be continued...