Inferno One Shots

~3~ Nolan, Age 16

"For one? I don't like you insinuating that you're too good for a certain car. You take what you're given, or you can go without. Two? I'm not completely convinced that if you wrecked his car, your dad wouldn't literally have a heart attack...And I'd like to keep him around for a little bit longer."

Taylor smirks slightly, and Nolan rolls his eyes. "This isn't fair! Everyone else got a car for their birthday, but not me. Why? Because I'm not your real kid?"

That immediately hurts Taylor, and it hurts him bad.

"Nolan James," I snap, causing him to flinch at my tone.

"Sorry, but can you honestly tell me that I'm not being treated differently? Why didn't I get a car?"

Taylor is quiet for such a long time, it gets awkward. Finally he gets on his phone and does something, and Nolan's phone lights up.

Nolan looks at it and opens the text, his face freezing when he sees the picture of the car his dad sent him.

"Wes and I are leaving to pick up your Dodge Charger this weekend. Sorry it wasn't done in time for your birthday," Taylor says sadly as he walks past us and goes outside.

Nolan is completely still as he stares at the picture, but I see his eyes filling with tears.

"Momma," he sniffs, finally looking at me and letting his tears drip down his cheeks.

"Don't. I'm so angry at you, I'm trying to decide if you deserve Woody or not. Go to your room!"

"I deserve it," he mutters as he wipes his eyes and hands me his phone, walking upstairs dejectedly.

~*~

I find Taylor cleaning a gun in his room in the garage, looking like someone just smacked him across the face.

"You okay?" I ask as I sit at his bench and play with a few random nuts and bolts he has laying around.

Taylor simply shrugs, and sets his gun down carefully. "I loved Liam as my own the second we started dating. I loved him before that, but it instantly quadrupled the moment you wanted me....I didn't know that Nolan doesn't realize I feel the same way about him. I thought I've done a good job blurring the lines so he doesn't even remember that my DNA isn't running through his veins, but I guess I haven't."

"Baby, you have. He didn't mean it."

"He said it, Ellie. You don't just say things you've never thought before."

"I'm not saying he's never thought it. He doesn't have any baby pictures with us. He doesn't have any memories of us dropping him off at his first day of kindergarten, because it didn't happen. But the memories we've made with him mean something. He loves you, and I promise you're his dad in his eyes."

"Liam didn't have those memories with me either when he was a kid."

"No, but he had them with Alex. You were never a replacement for his dad, you were a bonus."

"I kinda thought that I was a replacement for Nolan though," he says with so much sadness, I stand up behind him and wrap my arms around, leaning my forehead on his muscled back.

"Remember when Carrie came back and he quit calling me mom? Adoption can be hell. I don't think we've scratched the surface of all of the thoughts constantly going through his mind."

"Just let my feelings be hurt and stop trying to make me feel better, Ellie. Please? I know he loves me, but give me a few minutes to feel slayed."

"Ok," I whisper as I stand on my tiptoes and kiss the back of his neck, and leave his room quietly.