+~Thompson HouseHold: Two in the morning+~
Torm sat across from his Dad nursing a cup of coffee in his hands. His Dad normally doesn't approve of him drinking the dark concoction, but he allows it today since they stayed up rather late last night.
He had so many questions to ask after seeing the CEO of the Red Company. Like why he looks similar to him, why his Dad seemed so hostile behind the mask he thought his sons wouldn't notice.
"Torm, I can see you want to ask about what happened hours ago," Tom says looking down at his own cup filled with hot chocolate. His lips quirked in a little smile for a moment. "It's visible all over your face."
The older son flushes pink having been caught in his thoughts. He looks down guilty, "I'm sorry, Dad. I just can't stop thinking about how we look so similar." He looks back up to meet his Dad's eyes with question. "Am I adopted?"
Tom sighs and shakes his head. "You aren't adopted Torm. You have always been mine, my little devil." He playfully tags Torm's old pet name. He chuckles to himself while Torm continued to fluster under his words.
"Dad..." Torm whines.
"Can't help it love, you're still a little one in my eyes." Tom settles down the tense atmosphere so his son could relax while he tries to explain. "You are my son, Torm. Always have been from the moment I held you in my arms. Tord... He..." He almost felt at lost in what to say his oldest son.
How could he tell him that their father gave him and his brother up for the woman he was with yesterday. He also didn't want this relationship to somehow strain his friendship with Tika who might get caught in the crossfire unintentionally.
"Dad, if it really bothers you, you don't need to explain it to me. I'll forget about it."
Tom shakes his head again. "No, I knew this would happen someday if you ever saw him. I just didn't expect this conversation would happen so soon and the way it appeared." He sighs in defeat. "So I will tell you." He carefully takes a sip of his drink before explaining the situation to his son.
Torm listened intently to take in his Dad's words about how he and Tomi came about in their Dad's life with Tord's involvement. The love story turned over to a heartbreaking tale of how he and his sons are left behind. By the end of the explanation, Tom had collected tears in the corner of his eyes.
"You and Tomi are my pride and joy," Tom said gently wiping away the overflowing tears starting to escape his eyes. "I understand if you hate me for keeping this from you, but I didn't want to lose the love and happiness you're meant to have growing up."
He laughs as he uses the ends of his sleeves to dry his eyes. His tears would not stop coming out. "O-Oh, look how ugly I'm being crying in front of you. I-I'm sorry..." He sniffs.
His son didn't say anything at first, but he did get up from his chair. Tom understood he probably wanted to be alone and think. However, he didn't think Torm would come up behind his chair and hug him.
"I love you Dad, thank you for not giving up on me and Tomi."
Unknowingly to both of them, from the top of the stairs, Tomi sat awake, sitting on the floor with his back pressed against the railing. He had heard everything and cries silently for his Papa.
~+Morning+~
Morning light started to peek up around seven in the morning, the occupants of the house starting to wake up. Tomi was the first to wake up and leave Torm's room where Tika still slept. He went downstairs to find his brother and Papa on the opposite couch to the wet one, both of them leaning against each other in sleep. A thin blanket covering them that he had placed over them last night when he knew they were finally asleep after they had left the kitchen to rest in the living room.
Tomi went to his brother and starts poking his cheek gently. "Tormy... Tormy, wake up." His brother groans and turns over slightly to snuggle closer to his Dad. "Tormy!" Tomi this time whispers a little louder, jabbing him in the lower side of his ribs.
That finally got Torm to wake up from his sleep with a slight jolt that distured Tom in his sleep. Thankfully he didn't wake up all the way and went back to sleep. Torm opens one eye to peek at his brother looking at him, but not with his usual sunny smile in the morning.
"Tomi?"
"Come on, let's get ready before we wake Papa up." Tomi tells him as he holds his hand.
Torm stayed quiet for awhile after setting his Dad down on the couch to continue sleeping. He follows his brother up the stairs and to his room. Tika slept on Torm's bed while he knew Tomi slept on the air mattress to give her a proper space to sleep rather than on the floor.
"Did you sleep last night?" Torm finally asks in a whisper while he opens the closet carefully to get clothes for today.
"I did, but it was only a little." Tomi knew his brother would catch on the moment he said this.
"Then you must of heard what Dad said last night."
Tomi nods while pulls out his prepared clothes he chose for today. He goes to the air bed and starts changing out of his pjs. "Are you gonna be mean?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Torm asks while changing his clothes inside the walk-in closet.
Tomi hums as he thinks. His brother had a little habit of being protective when it comes to family. After hearing their Papa's story, he was sure his brother would give the man a cold shoulder. Maybe even a glare here and there to make his statement that he didn't like the man.
"Never mind, Tormy." Tomi finishes putting his clothes on and throws his pjs in the hamper by the closet. His brother comes out of the closet in fresh clothes for the day. "I'll make breakfast today, you can wake up Tika and Papa."
"Alright," Torm comes over to press a kiss on his forehead before going to Tika.
Tomi giggles softly and heads out after the affectionate action.
Torm went to the bed where Tika slept and nudged her shoulder slightly. "Tika, it's time to wake up."
"Hmm..."
"Princess, we'll be late if you don't wake up." Torm adds nudging her a bit more.
Tika peeks her eye open, "Are you and Tomi done changing?"
Torm nods his head to her. "Did so before I woke you up. You should start freshening up, Tomi prepared a set of his clothes for you to wear today." Said set of clothes is in the closet on the table near the body mirror.
Tika sat up while Torm pulls out a hair brush from the night stand drawer. He usually helps her brush her hair in the morning to make sure to get all the tangles out. Tika's grateful for his help when he does this since it's a pain to reach the tangles in her long hair from the back.
He then leaves her to get dress on her own after telling her where the clothes are. Torm heads down stairs where he can smell breakfast about to be ready to serve.
Torm goes to his Dad and squats down to poke his cheek. "Dad, it's time to wake up."
Tom groans as he starts to wake up. The back of his hand coming up to rub at one eye. "Torm?" He says half opening his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm here." Torm smiles as he stands up again. He helps his dad sit up from the couch.
Tom yawns and stretches, popping some bones in the process. "Right, we have work today. Tomi and Tika are up?"
"Tika's awake and changing, Tomi's ready and making breakfast in the kitchen."
"Good morning, Papa!" Tomi greets loudly from the kitchen part of the house.
Torm and Tom chuckle at his greeting. Tom stands up and stretches one last time. "Well I'm the last one to wake this morning. I'll be back as soon as I get freshened up."
Torm nods and let's his Dad leave to head upstairs while he goes into the kitchen to make some coffee for both himself and his Dad. He set aside two glasses for his brother and Tika's juice.
"I'm here!" Tika says coming into the kitchen and taking a seat at the table.
"Juice or Water?"
"Water!"
"Juice!"
The two teen look at each other and laugh while Torm rolls his eyes at their energetic antics. He pours the drinks in their glasses as Tomi turns the stove off.
Tomi made eggs and bacon for breakfast with a side of toast for everyone. He puts them on the serving plates and sets it on the table.
Torm came and set the drinks in their respective places.
"So what scenes are we doing today?" Tika asks while getting some eggs.
"A lot actually. Depending on how we manage to film the shot without a retake we'd be doing the next episode in no time." Torm grabs a couple pieces of bacon while Tomi gets a lot.
Tomi takes two pieces of toast and makes a sandwich with the eggs and bacon. He takes a bite and sounds happy at the taste. Torm does the same but doesn't really hype the taste of the food since it's always good.
They continued to talk until Tom came down with his phone in hand. "I gotta call from Julie, she'll be here in a few minutes to drive us to the site."
As it on cue, the teens stuffed down their meals quickly. Torm already fixed up his Dad's breakfast to eat on the way with a thermos filled with coffee.
Tom drank his coffee from the mug on the table and let his breakfast in a bag he usually carried for him and his sons.
The sound of the honk outside means Julie is finally here.
"Okay, shoes, keys, wallet!" Tom recounts as the kids race to get their shoes on.
Tika has her bag from yesterday and makes sure she has all her stuff, check. Torm checks for his ID and wallet, check. Tomi has his wallet and ID as well so check.
Torm grabbed their phones from the charger in the living room and ran back to find the doorway already opens and Tom waiting for him.
They leave after locking the door. Tomi and Tika in the car already waiting for them.
Tom smiles and gets in with Torm.
He hopes for the best today.
+Red Company: Tord's Office+
Emilia sat across from Tord in his office at the Red Company. She had her arms crossed but not in the way that meant she's angry with him.
Tord came set his cup of coffee down on the low coffee table ready to explain what happened yesterday.
"So, about yesterday," Tord starts pressing the tips of his fingers against each other. "About Tom's kids..."
"Out with it Tord, I want to hear everything." Emilia was gonna take all the information to know what her fiancé had done. She wasn't going to go shit around it to avoid what Tord could have possibly done.
Tord took in a breath and sighed heavily. "Emilia, those kids that Thomas has are techinically my- or rather, our kids."
"Explain further, because last time I checked, men can't have kids."
This is when he picks up the file next to him on the couch. He places it on the table and slides it over to her. Emilia picks it up and looks through the papers. Inside the folder contained blue prints, equations and documental notes she recognized in Tord's writing.
"I made Torm and Tomi through an old invention of mine back during college. I wanted to end my relationship with him through a mutual means. So I asked what he wanted and the request of children came up."
Tord remembers night after night during the first year, compiling information to artificially make a human baby with just a mix of dna from two people. He spent nights reading books to turn them into experiments. Then the amazing thing called life works miracles to actually let him make two babies artificially.
His first one, Torm was the first to successfully come about. Tord had kept a close eye on him to make sure nothing faltered for a few months into coming out of his tube. Months after not showing any negative side effects he went on to making his second one, Tomi. He came out smaller than Torm as a baby, but it probably had to do with taking more of Tom's genetics.
"I simply spent night after night working to give him what he wanted. I spent less time hanging out and more time working. Thankfully I was still able to successfully make it through my classes." Tord runs his hand through his hair. He remembers watching the two little ones for awhile to check their safe creation before deciding when to give them to Tom. "Torm and Tomi were made artificially for Tom with my intention not to get involved with them again."
Emilia looks up from the file with a look of obvious surprise. "Tord, have you ever thought that Tom might have been joking about you giving him kids to end your relationship? I mean, I'm sure he was just mad at you that he said that." She had watched Tom during the time she was still there at college. He always had a far off expression and turned quiet when rumor spread that Tord broke things off with him.
When Tord was near him he would always look the other way and pretend he's not there.
"What makes you think Thomas was joking?" Tord asks with a raised brow. He honestly thought Tom meant what he said because he knew Tom was most likely serious.
"Think about it for a minute Tord. Has Tom ever asked you about kids while you two were dating? He might have asked you if you two were still together but back then you two were just college students who wanted to focus on your studies," Emilia could already pin point her words to her memories of Tom. "He decided to drop out sophomore year because...." She shakes her head realizing what Tord did.
Tom dropped out of college to take care of the two boys in his care. There was just no way he could afford college and buying things for the kids at the same time.
"Tord," She says almost like a whisper. "What have you done?"
Even Tord was starting to realize what he did. He was so focused on breaking things off with Tom on a good note that he didn't realize that he gave Tom a big responsibility at a bad time.
Tom was majoring in literature with a minor in art. Tord would find himself sometimes accompanying and helping his ex with his big projects. Heck those things Tom bought for said projects were also expensive and paid with his own money the best he could.
「"Tord what the-"」
「"With this, our relationship is over."」
「"Tord! You're seriously going to leave me to take care of them alone."」
「"That's your own problem."」
Tord wondered deeply how Tom managed to stay so stable after all this time taking care of the two boys.
Emilia rubs her temples after setting the file back down on the table. "Tord, you're their father for god's sake. You have to at least pitch in to help those two boys." If anything Emilia at least wants her fiancé to start helping his now acknowledged sons. This should also help Tom with providing for the two as a whole.
"The problem with that, Emilia, is Tom allowing me to even help at all. He's always been very..." Tord tries to think a word matching to describe Tom's tune with accepting help. "Prideful? Wait- that's not it! Stubborn!"
"Either way, you're going to help him Tord. He's gone through taking care of them for seventeen years alone. You have a responsibility as their other parent to help them as well." She's really putting her foot down on this topic.
Tord rubs at the back of his neck with a defeated look. "Of course my dear, anything for you."
「Anything for you, Love.」
Knock knock
Tord looks to the office door, "Who is it?"
"It's Pat, sir." One of his trusted coworkers says loudly enough for his voice to sound from the other side of the door. "May I come in, or shall I come back another time?"
"Door's open, please come in Pat."
The door opens with Patryck coming into the room to join them. A smile on his face as if he had done something simply amazing with no effort.
"What's with the face?" Tord questions while Pat walks over to the couch to sit next to Emilia.
"Well I have great news," Pat said taking a seat. He places a folder on the table for Tord to take. When he does, Pat continues, "I went to go see a friend of mine yesterday who's working on a recently popular show. Apparently they have an open slot for a main character that they need soon. I was hoping you'd accept."
"What? But I haven't done anything remotely related to acting since my freshman year of college." His friend and coworker obviously up to no good again getting him into a side project to work with.
"I think it'll fit you perfectly sir."
Emilia rests her cheek against the palm of her hand, "So what's the role he's playing?"
Pat's smile widens, "The Demon King."
Emilia laughs while Tord rolls his eyes at the brunet. Tord opens up the folder to glance at the show, but almost drops it when he notices it's the show his kids and Tom is working on.
"This is Into the Underworld..."
"I know right. They say getting spots is hard since my friend, there director of the show, is looking for specific people to fit the bill." Pat shrugs his shoulders, "I showed him a picture of you when he told me he was looking for someone similar looking to the first prince of the show's cast as a suggestion."
Patryck looked about ready to laugh out of pure fun he had seeing his old friend beg him to get Tord to be on their show as the King. George looked so ready to sell his soul if it would get his show to progress the way he wants it to.
Tord stares at the open folder held in his hands with a hooded gaze. Thoughtful since he would be able to spend time with his adopted daughter... and possibly get to know the boys more.
Especially Thomas since they have been very out of contact for a long time.
"When should I meet him about the job?"