When the Bough Breaks

Chapter 12

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"Brian, there's a, um, gentleman here demanding to speak with you at once." Cynthia stifled a giggle at her own little joke.

"Get rid of whoever it is," Brian hissed at his secretary.

"I really think you will want to speak with Mr. Garrett."

"Tell him I'm in a meeting, Cyn."

"Brian, it's the younger Mr. Garrett."

Brian jumped from his chair and almost tore the door off the hinges as he ran for the outer offices of Kinnetik.

"You," Gus seethed.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah, we need to talk."

"Then step into my office, unless of course you want the whole office listening in."

"I don't care who hears. Leave us alone. I'm sorry that your little boy died, but you can't just take me and make it all better. I already have a mommy and daddy."

"Who told you that my son died?"

"My mom, duh."

"Does she know that you're here?"

"Um, yeah."

"Is she here with you?" Brian asked completely sure that Abby Garrett had no clue that her son wasn't where he was supposed to be.

"No, I came here by myself to tell you to leave us alone. You're making my mom sad and I don't like it."

"I'm sorry she's sad, Gus, but my son isn't dead."

"You called me Gus. My name's Eric. E-R-I-C. ERIC."

"Right," Brian quickly corrected, not convinced that now wasn't the time to fill the boy in. "Listen, I better call your dad and tell him you're here so he doesn't worry."

"I'm not going anywhere until you promise to leave us alone."

"I'm sorry, Sonny Boy, I can't do that."

"Why not? Why can't you just have another baby with Ms. P?" Eric was starting to worry that his plan wasn't going so well.

"Because I can't just replace Gus. I love him. He isn't replaceable."

"Then why are you trying to be nice to me? I'm not your son." Suddenly it hit Eric that maybe there was more to the story than he'd been told. "Am I?"

"I don't think that now is the time to talk about that. I'm going to have Cynthia call your mom and then we'll get you some ice cream or something."

"I don't want any ice cream, Mr. Kinney. I want the truth about why you and Ms. P are determined to get to know me."

"Because you're their son."

Brian and Eric both turned at the sound of Tom's voice. Tom looked over his son's head and smiled sadly at Brian.

"No, I'm not. I'm your son, Dad. I'm your little boy."

"Yes, you are my little boy, but Mr. Kinney here is your real dad. You're his son, and your real name is Gus Kinney Peterson."

"Then why do I live with you and mom?" Eric turned to face Brian, a lone tear escaping down his cheek. "Did you just give me away? Did you not love me?"

Brian sank to his knees and tried his best to explain. "I love you more than anything in this world, Sonny Boy. I never meant for you to get taken, or to get hurt. I never even knew how much you meant to me until you weren't there anymore. Your mom and I have been looking for you all these years and everyone kept telling us it was useless. They all thought you were dead, but I knew, I could feel you in my heart. So I just kept on looking."

"YOU'RE BOTH LYING. I HATE YOU BOTH. I'M ERIC GARRETT, NOT SOME DUMB KID NAMED GUS. I HATE YOU." Eric screamed at the two men before running out the door.

TBC...

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