One Night Stand Gone Wrong

Adrian was on cloud nine.

He had finally seen his father. While he did not understand the whole thing, he knew his father was busy with work, like how his mother, uncle Joe, and uncle Rick got busy sometimes.

“Daddy, I want to build a treehouse,” Adrian said, trying hard to speak in complete sentences.

“Alright! Let’s go find a tree,” Thomas chuckled.

“Ad, honey, daddy is tired. Let him rest for tonight. Tomorrow morning you can build your treehouse,” Arielle interjected as she looked at them from the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, El. I got this!” Thomas smiled at her.

“No. It’s getting dark, and I don’t want you guys falling from the tree,” Arielle was stern about her decision.

“Mommy wants to steal Daddy,” Adrian complained as he hugged Thomas and looked at his mother with a crinkled nose.

“Mommy already got daddy; otherwise, how could you have been born?” Arielle teased, making Thomas choke on his saliva.

“Mommy is being meanie again,” Adrian grumbled, not understanding his mother’s words.

“Seriously, who says that to a kid,” Thomas disapprovingly asked.

“Belle taught him all sorts of nonsense. I am just setting things straight.” Arielle shrugged.

Adrian pressed his head on Thomas’s shoulder and stayed like that in silent contemplation.

“Mommy, where is my list?” He asked after some time.

“It’s in your cupboard. Go pick something indoor,” Arielle said, laughing at her son’s antics.

“What is he talking about?” Thomas asked.

“You will see. Give it a second.” Arielle shrugged.

Adrian came out running, holding a small notepad which he excitedly showed to Thomas.

Thomas felt his heart break seeing the note that included a list of things his son wanted to do with him.

Arielle could sense his emotions and explained, “I helped him note down everything he wanted to do with his father. I wanted to ensure neither of you missed out on any bonding time. And there are no regrets. Well, I tried, at least.”

Thomas was too choked to say anything, so he just nodded.

He sat down with Adrian on his lap and started going over things. They were simple things, and he was more than excited to cross off everything on the list.

Playing horse with daddy – probably meant he was supposed to walk on all fours with Adrian sitting on his back.

Sitting on daddy’s shoulders and seeing a fair.

Building Lego house

Building treehouse

Playing chess with Daddy

Going to an amusement park with Daddy and Mommy

Eating breakfast made by Daddy

Eating ice cream made by Daddy

Buying secret gifts for Mommy with Daddy

“Are you sure you did not include this one by yourself?” Thomas asked.

Arielle just rolled her eyes.

Thomas and Adrian started to build a Lego house, and the family of three slept together with Adrian in the middle after playing around in bed.

**Two months later**

Born in a prestigious family, Thomas had never thought he would end up being a househusband.

But life has a way of surprising you. He loved every minute of the two months he spent with his family.

They had registered their marriage and got their household registered.

Adrian became Adrian El Carter.

El for Arielle and Carter was Thomas’s grandmother’s maiden name. She had been his guardian, family, mentor, guide, and best friend.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

After two months of his arrival, Arielle and Thomas finally managed to have a reunion dinner with the people closest to them.

Arielle, Thomas, Adrian, Arielle’s best friend – Arabella Knight and her daughter Belle, Arielle’s other two closest friends – the married couple Joe and Rick, Thomas’s best friend – Mathew Stark, and Thomas’s assistant – John were the attendees.

Instead of calling them all in the small town, they all decided to meet in a new place. Rick did not want to come home due to being on multiple assignments those few years, so it made more sense.

The introductions were a bit stiff, but they all managed to get along well and bonded through the dinner, especially with Adrian and Belle keeping everyone entertained.

After dinner, the kids went to bed.

The adults started drinking as everyone opened up, sharing the happenings in their dull life.

Mathew kept stealing glances at Arabella, and Joe teased him right away.

To divert the topic, he asked about Joe’s friendship with Arielle. It made Rick groan.

“Oh! There’s a story here.” Mathew asked. He had only wanted to change the topic but had struck gold.

“Yes, darling, spill!” Arabella teased. It was her favorite thing to tease Rick with Joe and Arielle’s story.

“Why don’t you tell your husband how you met Joe?” Arabella teased.

Arielle only rolled her eyes at that.

Thomas eyed her curiously and asked, “C’mon!”

Joe said dramatically, “Elle was the one who made me realize I was gay.”

John exclaimed, “What!” before he could stop himself.

The rest of them burst into laughter while Rick was annoyed as he kissed Joe hard in front of everyone. The others booed and suddenly felt very young.

Arielle winked at Joe, “Go ahead and exaggerate. It won’t be me who won’t be able to sit tomorrow.”

Mathew cursed, “Fuck!”

John laughed, “Exactly!”

Joe rolled his eyes, but the redness on his ears said it all.

“Elle and I had the same computer classes in college. She took basic computers and ethical hacking classes for extra credits on top of her Finance and Management classes. I majored in Computer Science. We became good friends probably because we were both boring. Anyway, I had a crush on her. We were both virgins at the time. I thought it was shameful since I had not expected to still be a virgin at 20. She simply did not care.”

Arabella was impatient, “Get to the main point.”

Arielle rolled her eyes, “Well, he asked me out and told me he had a crush on me. I had thought he was gay and was just messing with me, so I laughed in his face. When he kept insisting, I thought he was taking the joke too far and decided to play along to see who chickens out first.”