Caelen frowned as he thought this over. As a police officer, he was trained to pick out details of statements that didn’t make sense or needed clarification. “Wait… you said that Ally was your first woman, and that your first woman had given you a child when you were just 18. Wouldn’t that make the oldest child… nine?”
“Oh, fuck, we’re really getting into it now,” Vin said in a resigned tone. “Alright, so, Ally DID have a kid when I was 18. And she told me that it was mine, and since we were sort of officially together when the kid was conceived, I took her at her word. I bought the house and let her move in. For a couple of years, she and Grace lived there – and then Violet – but when Grace got pregnant for the second time, I had to wonder how it was mine, since I hadn’t been to see them in a while. That was when my mom told me to have all of the kids tested. To my surprise, Grace’s kids were both mine, but Ally’s little girl wasn’t. Once she found out, she immediately took steps to get pregnant with Vincent, and then she called up the other guy she was seeing back when Lia was conceived. He was Lia’s dad, but he had an uncle who was a lawyer, so they sued for sole custody and won because Ally failed three drug tests in a row.”
Since this ultimately had nothing to do with the current dilemma, Caelen simply sighed and let it go. “So… you care enough about your kids to want them raised in safe homes, but you don’t really want anything to do with them otherwise.”
“I know, I’m a horrible father,” Vin admitted. But then he looked Caelen in the eyes. “That said, I am actually hoping you’ll take them. It won’t be the most convenient for me – as giving them up for adoption would be the best way to ensure they’re safe and have nothing more to do with me. Still… I know that if you took them, they’d be safe AND happy.”
Caelen couldn’t stop a tiny smile from twisting his lips at that. “You think I’d make them happy?”
“I think you’d raise them with love, but without drugs. So yes, I think they’d be happy. Plus, you live in a nice house with a nice yard in a somewhat secluded neighborhood. They could actually go outside and play without having guards looming over them. When the time comes for them to go to school, I’m hoping that they can attend a regular school and still be safe – my others have to go to a highly secure school that locks the doors and has armed guards, and the oldest one is only eight, so that tells you that there are a lot of parents worried about child safety that such a school even exists.”
“Well, it IS in a highly populated city that has more than one ghetto,” Caelen pointed out, assuming that the school must be reasonably close to their house.
“True,” Vin murmured in agreement.
They were both silent with their own thoughts for a moment. Then Caelen rested his head against Vin’s shoulder. “So, if I took these four, what about the other… six?”
“They’ll stay in the house with their mothers,” Vin stated. “As I said, the oldest is eight, and she’s used to helping out as needed. Grace is super fertile and got pregnant literally every single time I had sex with her, so she has four kids, and they’re all mine. … Violet was initially a sex friend who didn’t actually want to get pregnant, but when it happened, she volunteered to move into the house with the others so that she didn’t have to worry about thugs targeting her son. He’s seven. Her other child is only about a year and he’s not mine.”
Even though it had nothing to do with anything at the moment, Caelen was suddenly curious about something. “You said you stopped having sex with them, so does that mean you stopped having sex with all women, or just them?”
“As I once told you, not only do I occasionally act as an extra in a porn – and so I have sex with whoever I’m told to, both men and women – but I also go out to clubs with the guys on occasion and just fuck around. It’s sort of a status thing; to prove I’m virile and have stamina. Not to mention, it proves that I don’t think I’m too good to hang out with the men I lead. It’s usually women because my men don’t really want to see me fucking other men – though they know I do,” Vin explained.
Caelen was actually a little touched that Vin was being so open and honest. Even after they got married, Vin was likely to give short and basic answers to all questions. For example, had Caelen thought to ask about kids before now, Vin probably would have said that he had some and left it at that. He might have admitted that he had between eight and twelve – depending on how you looked at it – but he probably wouldn’t have given any details such as age and name.
This more than anything told Caelen that Vin was feeling vulnerable and shaken at the moment. Deciding to try to cheer him up, he changed the subject. Especially since he wouldn’t be able to answer the question until he gave it more thought.
“Hey… there’s still some time left before your birthday ends,” he pointed out in a soft voice. “Why don’t we go to bed so I can give you whatever birthday sex you want?”
Clearly depressed, Vin got up and silently followed Caelen to bed. For the first time since they met, Vin couldn’t get into the mood, and so, they simply held each other and slept. Even so, it was a deep and refreshing sleep.
In the morning, Caelen watched Vin sleep for at least an hour. They had been married just over five months now, but as they’d known going in, Vin only managed to come over on weekends. It was usually only Saturday nights, but this weekend was different since Vin’s birthday was on a Friday. That meant that it was now Saturday, which they had planned to spend together doing not much of anything. Maybe go out for dinner.
Instead…
Caelen kissed Vin awake. Even before he opened his eyes, Vin smiled and happily returned the kisses. When he did open his eyes, it was so he could see where he wanted to nuzzle and nip at Caelen’s neck.
“Wait, before we get all hot and heavy, I have something I want to say,” Caelen said, lightly pushing Vin away.
Vin’s expression immediately turned solemn. “Yeah?”
Caelen gave him a soft smile. “If you promise that you will drop everything and help me if I need it… I’ll take them…”
Vin suddenly felt like all the air had been stolen from his body. “… You… mean that…?”
“I do,” Caelen confirmed with a nod.
“God…” Vin muttered, covering his mouth with a hand. “I don’t know why, but I’m suddenly nervous…”
Caelen chuckled. “Funny, shouldn’t that be me?”
Vin kissed him. “You’re honestly way too good for me.”
Caelen wiggled his head and looked toward the ceiling. He wanted to deny it but couldn’t quite do so. Instead, he smirked. “I know I promised you as much birthday sex as you wanted, but what if I give you a raincheck on that? Let’s get out of bed, eat breakfast, and then go get, um… my new kids…?” He trailed off, not entirely sure how to refer to them.
Vin kissed him again. “Raincheck it is.”
To Caelen’s surprise, about an hour and a half later, rather than driving up to a basic house like he expected, they drove up to Vin’s house.