Tarlos' Greatest Adventure

I need to know that it gets better

The following day starts as one of the hardest days for TK as a new parent. The paramedic captain is stressed, sleep-deprived, and worried, and he is also a parent of a toddler.

TK sighs again when he hears his son crying in his bedroom. He instantly regrets adopting a non-potty-trained child but remembers what love and compassion Attie needs.

"I'm coming, Att," TK mumbles and pulls a shirt over his head.

His hair is a mess and there are dark circles under his eyes.

TK knows that his husband can sleep in a hospital bed alone for one night. But he is still worried that something bad could happen in 6 hours when he's not there to take care of him.

"Daddy, look my pull-up isn't wet. Can I tell 'Carlos?" Attie says, clearly waking up his new father at 5:00 in the morning.

The only reason why the young boy was up so early was because he was thinking about the car crash. He didn't want to wake up yet.

TK didn't have work for the next few days. His father wouldn't let him go to work in the mental state he is in right now.

"What did you just say?" TK says removing the stuffed animals that are around his bed keeps him from falling off.

"Nothin'," Attie says closing his eyes and seeing the man with the gun again in his mind.

Attie isn't sure what to tell his new dad. He doesn't want to upset him.

"Do you want to go potty before you go back to sleep?" TK sighs knowing that it's not worth it talking to a 3-year-old about calling him 'dad' for the first time at 5 am.

Attie nods and TK can't tell if it's because the boy is tired or not.

In the bathroom, TK sits on the side of the tub and waits for Attie to finish. He can't stop thinking about the fact that he's a father now. His mind is racing and the thought of Carlos being alone in the hospital is making him feel guilty. He knows that Carlos is an adult but he also wishes that it were him in that hospital bed not his husband. Carlos is the protector in the relationship, he doesn't deserve what he went through, TK thinks to himself.

"Do you want to see Carlos today?" TK asks Attie while he's helping him wash his hands.

He feels like he has to ask the boy if he wants to do things because he's a kid. The hospital is not an ideal place for a kid to be on their play day.

"Uh-huh. I wanna talk to him about the bad guy that was staring at us." Attiw said incorrect pronunciation.

TK's mind raced. It was too early for assumptions and theories about the car crash.

"The bad guy?" TK says helping Attie back in bed.

"He had a gun. He was mad at 'Arlos. I wanted to call 9-1-1. He was scary. I cried." Attie says in short sentences but TK can comprehend what he is saying.

"Did anything else happen besides that scary man showing up?" TK begins to accumulate theories about what happened from the time he got a phone call from his dead at the scene of the crash to the time he saw his adopted son in his co-worker's arms at the hospital.

"'Arlos asked me if I wanted to hear music in the car." Attie tries to remember what happened in the car.

It's so early and all he can think about is grandparent's fire. They died in that fire. Carlos could've died in the car crash. Attie doesn't want to think about losing any more people.

Before TK can ask another question, Attie bursts into tears and calls TK, 'daddy' again through soft sobs.

TK isn't sure what to do. He holds his son and thinks about calling Grace or his father.