Oh God I Hope I'm Dad-ing Right (Open)

[Malachai Roen]

This was it.  Kai's first test.  After many hours of baby training, Kai felt ready to go solo with his son out in town.  Vanessa had been very patient, teaching him everything he needed to know about taking care of Christian - how and when to feed him, change his diaper, what to do if he started crying, etc. etc.  It was a lot to remember, but Kai had a good memory, and a lot of determination, so he felt ready!

The mall seemed like a good place to go.  Kai was carting around the baby stroller with his little one inside, taking him into various shops and... Buying a lot of things.  Some for himself, most for Vanessa and Christian, and, admittedly, a gift or two for Zach when he saw something that reminded him of the writer.  "Just you wait, Christian," he told the baby, who he would never get over the fact that he looked so much like himself,"I'm going to get him back.  And I'm not going to push him - I'm going to let him move at his own pace.  I don't care how long it takes."  

His son was a good listener, he'd give him that much.  

Kai was busy strolling through the center of the mall, and slowed down slightly as he passed by the shop he worked, From the Spectrum.  He almost went inside, but quickly thought better of it and moved on.  He didn't need his coworkers asking questions about the baby he was strolling around.  Instead, he entered a quaint little book store, drawn in by his train of thoughts about Zach.  Kai honed in on a title he recognized as the one he'd gotten the writer before it was actually even released, and was too distracted to realize he was too close to a couple precariously stacked books.  The tall man ended up bumping into them and sending the texts sprawling as he cringed.  Christian giggled at his daddy's blunder.  "It's not polite to laugh when your father makes a fool out of himself, you know," Kai told Christian good-naturedly as he stooped to pick up the books.  

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

John and Jake really enjoyed having their licenses. Although it had taken them a while to get used to driving, sometimes they got their signals cross as to who was seeing what in the heat of the moment. But now that they felt more confident behind the wheel it was great to be able to take themselves places and not have to rely on a parent or older sibling to cart them around.

Usually the twins would rather spend the day outside in the fresh air, but they'd decided to make a run to the mall to hit the candy store. They supply of Laffy Taffy was running dangerously low. And maybe they'd see something they could pick up to surprise Rain with too.

They'd just walked into the mall when they noticed someone they recognized heading into the bookstore. Sharing a grin, they hurried to follow him inside. They caught up with him just in time to see him knock a few books off the shelf. They ran forward to help him as they burst out laughing.

"Hey Santa!" "Hey Santa!" they said, helping him to pick up the books.

"Where ya been?" John asked. "You haven't been around the house in a while," Jake added. Their brother Zach didn't discuss the details of his relationships with them. In fact they didn't even know that Kai and Zach were...more than friends.

It was then that Jake started poking his twin in the shoulder and pointing out the stroller. And more importantly what was in the stroller.

"Is that..." "Yours?" they asked.

[Malachai Roen]

Kai's focus was so trained on trying not to blush too hard as he picked up the books that he didn't realize his 'stalkers' until they were upon him and calling him.... Santa? "Oh, it's you two," he laughed as he finally registered. Talk about coincidence... Then again, there were so many Bishops he supposed he was bound to run into one (or two) of them eventually. Christian stared doe-eyed at the two, intrigued by the commotion.

"Oh, um..." Shit, how was he supposed to answer those questions on the spot? It took all of Kai's ability to put on a tired smile and say,"I've just been so busy with school, I guess. My thesis has taken up so much of my free time, I hardly have time for anything else." Well, that was partly true, at least. And he had visited once not too long ago... He hadn't seen the twins at the time, though, because he and Zach had only stayed at the house a short while before they went on their first d- no, it hadn't been a date. Just... Hanging out.

It was then that the two seemed to notice Christian, and Kai snapped out of his thoughts to smile down at the kid. "Yeah... He is," he said softly. "Can you see the resemblance?" Kai chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair, which resulted in a giggle from his son. "His name is Christian. His mother and I, um... Well, it's just one of those things that happens sometimes, you know?" Kai didn't want to lie and say they'd planned on having a baby. He had hardly even known her, and had been very drunk, when Christian had been conceived. "He's a sweet kid, though. I'm not sure I want you two hanging around him too much though, he might pick up your mischievous streak," he teased good-naturedly.

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

The brothers grinned at Kai's obvious surprise at seeing them. Sneaking wasn't exactly a strong suit of theirs. Usually they ended up giggling and/or playfully shoving each other so that they were noticed far before they meant to be.

"Oh" "Oh" The twins said together. They knew from their older siblings that school could get busy once you got older. Though they both vowed they would never let their schoolwork get in the way of fun. And couldn't really understand why anyone else would.

"Well you should stop by sometime," John added.

"Totally," Jake agreed. Of course the brothers were hoping that should the man decide to do so, he would come bearing gifts in hand.

"We didn't know you were a dad." "We didn't know you were a dad." The twins shared a look, both thinking how awesome it must be to grow up as Kai's kid. To have Santa as your dad, that was like every kid's dream, right?

The twins didn't exactly follow Kai. They assumed Christian's parents had been married and divorced. And it made them wonder just how old Kai was. They'd always assumed that he was Zach's age. But Zach had never been married, so he had to be younger. Wasn't that how life worked?

"Hi Christian," Jake said using his 'addressing little kid' voice, kneeling down to get a better look at him.

"How old is he?" John asked.

The brothers grinned again. "What are you talkin about?" "We'd be a great influence." After all their one and only younger sibling had turned out alright.  Still they agreed they would have to wait a while before he could be of any use in stunts and games and such. Of course, if he grew wings like his dad, they could definitely thing of some fun things to do with him. 

[Malachai Roen]

Kai smiled at their invitation. "Thanks, I'll try. I wasn't sure if I was allowed over if Zach wasn't home or not." He didn't think he was that close to the family yet, even though he would like to be. Maybe the twins were a way to weedle in like that. "What did you guys end up spending your Christmas presents on, anyway?" he asked with a smirk. They'd called him Santa, after all.

"Yeah, well... To be honest, I didn't know until recently either," he said quietly, deciding to tell them the truth. Kai hoped he didn't regret it. "Vanessa, his mother... I haven't seen her in a while, not since.... Um, anyway, we're just finally spending some good, quality father-son time together," he finished awkwardly, trying to make it less so with a smile. "I just hope I can make a decent dad."

He chuckled as the boys interacted with his son. "He just turned one not too long ago," he informed them. Christian soaked up the attention like a happy sponge, giggling and reaching his hands out at the two. Kai smiled fondly down at him.

"And somehow I feel like I shouldn't believe you guys," he laughed, picking up the last of the books he'd knocked over. "Let me guess, how many times have you both pranked your siblings? At least a dozen, I'm sure." The last thing he needed was his son to be a trouble-maker. "But hey, if you promise not to turn him into a monster, maybe, maybe I can pay you and maybe one of your older siblings to babysit sometime." If Vanessa was alright with it.

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

The twins shared mischievous grins at the question. They had never been that great at saving money. So when they'd received a huge chunk of it from Kai for Christmas it hadn't taken them long to blow through it.

"We got supplies to pimp out the tree house," John answered.

"And we re-stocked the first aid kit," Jake added. They brothers laughed a little, leaving out the reason that they had restocked the first aid supplies was because they'd needed to after installing a zip line on the tree house.

"You mean..." John started. "Oh." Jake finished as the brothers reached the same conclusion. Not that the twins were the judgmental type. They just felt awkward for a second about the topic. Relationships weren't really something they knew enough about. Which made them realize...

"You know how to be a boyfriend, right? Could you teach us?" "You know how to be a boyfriend, right? Could you teach us?" The brothers asked/yelled. It would be a little less awkward than asking their older siblings. The looked up at him, expectantly.

"We only prank them cuz they prank us," John lied.

"Would we get paid?" Jake asked. Because not that they had a girlfriend, they had something other than their own outrageous stunts to spend money on.

[Malachai Roen]

Kai rose his eyebrows at their response. He had been expecting video games or food or something. But that was actually... "That sounds pretty cool," he told them with an appreciative nod. "You guys have a tree house? I'd like to check it out sometime, if you wouldn't mind. I always wanted one when I was a kid." He'd just never had a place to build one, or even anyone to help him if he did. His parents were not the kind to do menial hands-on work like that themselves.

He felt a blush taint his cheeks as the boys realized what he was saying. Kai wasn't sure what else to add, so he just gave a faint nod and rolled Christian's stroller forward and back a little. "But we have this little guy in our lives now, so everything's great," he said as cheerfully as possible. It was a bit of a lie, considering the drama that had unfolded from it, but Kai loved his son and wouldn't want him gone for any reason.

Their question hit him unexpectedly, and Kai blinked several times before letting out a laugh. "You guys got a girlfriend?" he asked, catching on. "Your first girlfriend? Ahh, I remember my first girlfriend..." He stared off dramatically into the distance before he looked back at the two boys. "I guess I could give you a few tips," he said with a shrug and a wink. "What do you want to know?" Kai had had many many partners in his life, most casual, but he'd had his fair share of longer relationships too. He had experience. Granted, he couldn't promise his tips would help keep someone around, given his record, but...

"Uh-huh," he snorted, not believing them for a second. At the question, he chuckled and combed his fingers through his hair. "Trust me, I pay well," he told them. "If you do a good job, I'll make sure you have enough to take your girlfriend on a dozen nice dates." He still wanted one of their older siblings to help out too, though. Preferably a girl, because in his experience in his life (not to be sexist), women often had better intuition when it came to young children. "Sound fair?"

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

John and Jake had never really been that into video games. Sure they had a few laying around, but they'd always been for more active and outdoor activities. The video games that they did enjoy were anything that involved motion sensing so they could actually move more than just their thumbs.

As for the tree house, one of the oldest Bishops had put up the first steps and the main platform before the twins had ever arrived on the scene. It had been added to, destroyed, and rebuilt several times over the years. And while the twins claimed they owned it currently, the other siblings sometimes popped in.

"Yeah it awesome!" John said, grinning. Really it was the brothers proudest creation, not to mention their favorite hideaway for dreaming up their latest and greatest stunt ideas. "We added another rope swing and started working on the third platform."

"And restocked the uh..." Jake stopped short after a look from his brother. "The uh...snack box."

The twins weren't the judgmental type. It was more that they felt bad and odd for jumping to that assumption. It was too weird to think of Santa married to anyone anyways. And they were sort of under the impression that Kai was...dating? their brother anyways.

"Yeah, he's pretty cool." John added, reaching down to ruffle the young boy's hair. Little kids liked that, right?

Now both brothers gave their full attention to Kai. Finally someone was going to explain this all to them. Someone they trusted. Someone with real experience. After all he had a kid. It took experience to get that, right?

"Like...what are we supposed to do with a girl?" John asked.

"Is there a boyfriend code or something. Like a list we can check off?" Jake added.

The brothers grinned at the idea of payment. If anyone would pay well, it would be Santa.

"We could get Kailin to help?" "We could get Kailin to help?" The brothers offered.

[Malachai Roen]

"A rope swing and a third platform," Kai repeated, musing. "Wow. That sounds like quite the treehouse. Then again, with... Twelve(?) of you guys, I guess there are plenty of hands to help out." Sera would never have lifted a finger to help Kai build such a thing either, he was sure. He rose his brow at the 'snack box' comment, sensing the pause in Jake's voice (that one was Jake, right?). "Snacks, huh? Sure you kids aren't stashing alcohol in there?" he teased, reaching out to ruffle the nearest twin's head. "Not that I would tell." Kai had started (lightly) drinking when he was a teenager, he didn't think it was a big deal as long as you kept yourself and others safe.

If the world was kinder, Kai would still be dating Zach... But he'd fucked up and had to pay the consequences for being vain, rich jerk to the writer. He'd all but lost hope on making up with him...

He turned his attention back to his son, smiling fondly at John's words. "I think so too," Kai agreed softly. When the conversation went to girlfriends, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, considering their questions. "Well, oftentimes it's a good idea to ask her what she wants to do, so you know exactly what would make her happy," he started. "I don't know what she's like, but that's a pretty tough thing to do wrong. Ahh, let's see... If I had a list, I would give it to you, but I'm afraid it's not that easy," he chuckled. "Just... Respect her. Respect her decisions. Give her space if she needs it, and give her attention and comfort if she doesn't. The more you're around a girl, the more you should be able to pick up on subtle clues, but it can be hard at first," he admitted. "And... Don't pressure her to do anything she doesn't want to, sexual or otherwise," he finished with a firm look. Kai vaguely wondered how that would work with gestalts anyway, but of course didn't ask.

Anyway. He looked down at Christian as the boys offered an older sibling. "That would be great," he replied, hoping Kailin was responsible. "If Vanessa or I could meet her first, that would be even better." Kai planned on, if this worked out, having Christian be at the Bishop's house anyway, so there would likely also be a Mrs. Bishop to step in if needed as well.

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

"Yeah, it's kinda been passed down and worked on over the years," Jake explained. Though even if the twins had started the tree house from scratch chances are it would have still been fairly elaborate. Though now they had less time to work on it since they spent a lot of time hanging around Hammel with Rain. Not that they were complaining.

"Alcohol? No way!" "Alcohol? No way!" Though the brothers had the opportunity a few times to drink, neither was interested in it. Drinking made you act like an idiot as far as they could tell. Besides it messed with your coordination.

"Do you drink..." "...a lot?" They asked. Again they wouldn't be too judgmental, but it would be a little odd is Santa was a drunk. Then again before today they hadn't known Santa had a kid either.

"Ask her...okay..."John said. Both brothers looked as if they were committing every word Kai told them to memory as they nodded along. In truth, if they'd had pencil and paper on them they would probably be making actual notes as well.

"Could you send us a list maybe?" Jake asked. They were still hoping for some sort of how-to manual.

"We would never." "We would never." They assured the older man. They couldn't stand the idea of doing anything like that to Rain. Beside they hadn't even kiss her yet. They were too nervous about that much.

On that note though, "The Talk is coming up..." John added. It was to embarrassing to actually come out and say they'd be getting any sexual advice they needed then. Or at least getting some questions answered about how stuff worked. They hoped Kai would understand without having to come out and say it.

"Awesome!" "Awesome!" "We'll talk ask her when we get home!" Though they couldn't think why she would say no when the opportunity to have some extra cash was available. Beside they'd be doing most of the work. How hard could it be to entertain and take care of a kid?

[Malachai Roen]

Kai chuckled as the twins denied any alcohol stashing, waving his hand at them both. “Okay, okay, I believe you,” he grinned, almost glad to hear it. The boys seemed like the kind to be daredevils and pranksters even when sober – he didn’t know what mischief they might get into if they drank.

“Me? Oh, no, not a lot. I mean, I go to parties sometimes, and I’ve had my share of really bad hangovers, but I usually just have a glass of wine at home a couple nights a week.” Alone. Now that Zach was gone, Kai was, admittedly, doing it more often. “I’m very particular about what I drink. I have expensive taste,” he finished with a wink.

He liked to believe they were taking what he said seriously, considering they were the ones to have brought it up. They were engaged, and enthusiastic, which spoke loads. “Um, I… I’ll see what I can do,” Kai promised, trying to hide how flustered he was. “I’m sure you’re, ah, older siblings have some tips too, though.” Maybe not… Zach… But… They had other older siblings, he knew, and they had to have better experience with serious relationships than Kai.

“Good,” he told them with a firm nod. “I’m not telling you to never do it, because sex is great and an important part of serious romantic relationships, if both parties are comfortable, but… Communicate. Always communicate.” That seemed to be the biggest thing that led to problems – bad communication. At the mention of the Talk, Kai smirked knowingly. “Ahh, the Talk… I’ll tell you. Dr. Neville really knows what he’s talking about, so listen to everything he has to say about gestalt relationships. He would know more about that than I.” He definitely knew what the twins were getting at, and he was sure they would learn a lot if they asked the right questions.

Christian started getting restless then, and Kai rocked his stroller a little, smiling down at his son. “That sounds great,” he said. “I’ll talk to Vanessa soon… Speaking of which, I better get this kid back to his mom pretty soon.” Kai pondered a moment and then, with a smirk, pulled out his wallet and handed each of the twins a twenty-dollar bill. “Don’t tell Zach I gave you part of your payment in advance,” he told them with a wink. “I’ll talk to you soon, alright?”

[Jonathan & Jacob Bishop]

"Oh...well that's okay then," John said. After all, most of their older siblings drank at least a little. And even their parents had been known to have a few beers or some wine at parties. It wasn't like Kai was town drunk or anything. That might have been a bit much for the brothers to accept.

"We like you're expensive taste," Jake added as both brothers started grinning. Not that money was the only important thing, but it was nice to have a rich friend. Well a rich nice friend of your brother kinda friend technically. But somehow that made it even more okay. It wasn't like they were begging their own friend for money.

"Uh...yeah..." "...maybe..." "...we'll ask them..." "...too." the brothers said, but they were clearly lying. They were just too afraid that their siblings would launch right into teasing before they got to the actually advice part.

"Communicate. Right. Got it." "Communicate. Right. Got it." they repeated. They could do that. Even though sometimes it was hard talking to Rain without sounding like an idiot, they didn't have a problem talking to her. So they figured that was at least one good step in the right direction. As for the sex part, they weren't sure they were exactly ready for that. Maybe after the talk they would feel a bit better about that.

"Thanks!" "Thanks!" the twins shouted, taking their money with huge eyes and grins. "Don't worry..." "...we won't tell."

They watched Kai roll Christian away, smiling and waving before turning to each other to start to plan what to do with their forty bucks.

((annnnnnd wrap))