by J. Rosemary Moss
Genre: Slash Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13
LINK TO PART ONE
~
David followed Adam back into their suite with a thoughtful frown on his face. He shut the door behind him and then leaned back against it.
Little Joe had escorted Marty back to her flat. Adam would be seeing her tonight—no doubt he had a good deal to say to her. But that would keep. Right now David had quite a bit to say to Adam. He just had to find the right words.
“What’s wrong?” Adam asked, startling David out of his thoughts.
David shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong, exactly. It’s just that—well, I have to apologize to you.”
Adam cocked his head at him. “What for?”
“I was thinking over everything you said to Niles,” David began as he took off his frock coat and tossed it onto a chair. “You explained how I came to the Ponderosa looking for vengeance—how I blamed you for Stephen’s death.”
He paused to take a deep breath. “I, ah, never did get around to telling you that I was sorry for that.”
Adam smiled. It was that arrogant smile of his—the one that was almost a smirk. “You wouldn’t have gone through with it.”
“I’m not so sure of that,” David retorted. “If Abby hadn’t kept after me to tell you about Stephen’s death and demand an explanation from you—well, I might have gone ahead and done my utmost to estrange you from your family.”
“You wouldn’t have had the stomach for it,” Adam insisted as he walked up to David and leaned sideways against the wall next to him.
David rolled his eyes. “Why are you so bloody certain? And why did you treat me so well—why were you willing to trust me with the accounts?”
Adam folded his arms over his chest as he answered. “I knew from the first that you were a better man than you pretended to be, David,” he said evenly. “You just needed someone to take you in hand.”
David stared at him for a long moment and then burst out laughing. “Bastard!” he said as he grabbed hold of Adam and wrestled him to the floor.
Both men laughed as they continued to roughhouse, but once David rolled on top again he paused for a moment and stared down at Adam.
“I need you to promise me something,” he said seriously.
Adam reached up and stroked his hair. “What?”
“If something happens to me, I want you to look after Avigail.”
Adam nodded. “That goes without saying—you should know that. I’ll take care of her and any children you two might have adopted by then.”
“I know—but I want it to be a legal commitment,” David continued. “I want you to be the children’s guardian.”
Adam raised his eyebrows at that. “What if Abby remarries?”
David shrugged. “She’s welcome to. But you know how few rights the law grants women, Adam. Any man she married would have considerable control over my children.”
He paused and sighed. “I trust Avigail, but I don’t want my children at the mercy of some stranger. Can you understand that?”
He held his breath as he waited for Adam to answer.
“Yes,” Adam admitted at last. “I can understand that. I’ll be their guardian.”
“And trustee over whatever inheritance I manage to leave her and the children,” he persisted.
Adam nodded again. “Yes.”
“This is regardless of what happens between us,” David warned him. “You know that I want this to last forever. But even if it doesn’t—”
“I’ll still take care of Abby and the children,” Adam promised.
David smiled, satisfied. “Good,” he said, preparing to pin Adam. “Now what’s this about taking me in hand?”
LINK TO PART SEVENTY-ONE
No comments:
Post a Comment