Gabriel - Mini Mart

A/N: I named the son Adam in it because... well, it's Gabriel. But, the name is not cannon. I just could not come up with a clever way to address him.

“Warden, I think you need to see this.”

Gabriel glanced at me. The two of us were in his office, getting ready to end the day. For once, Gabriel was going to come home early. I was looking forward to standing in the kitchen with him, preparing a good meal, and then going to sleep together at a decent time. It was domestic action that we rarely got to partake in and I refused to take those moments for granted. We should have known what a sham that would be.

“Everything okay, Lieutenant?”

The Lieutenant shifted uncomfortably, not quite meeting either of our eyes. The awkward silence that followed was enough to put us on edge. Though, given the look on his face, he didn’t need to answer. Both of us knew what his hesitation meant.

Gabriel rose from behind his desk, fingers curling into fists. The anger that crossed his face was nothing compared to the disappointment. 

“Go easy on him,” I sighed, rising as well.

“Depends on what he did.”

The Lieutenant disappeared quickly. We didn’t need him for where we were going. It was the same place as always. The Velvet Guard knew not to lock up the Wardens son and instead put him in a holding room that was far nicer. It was where most of the Guard took their meals.

Walking in, Adam was sitting at one of the tables, head bowed, face surly, just like his fathers. He looked up as we entered, eyes casting in my direction with a hopeful look. Unfornatley, at fourteen, I was not going to be able to get him out of this one. Especially since this was the third time the Velvet Guard had picked him up in the recent months.

“What did you do?” Gabriel demanded.

“Nothing,” he said. “I don’t even know why I’m here!”

“Are you saying my men just picked you up for no valid reason? They saw you and arrested you?”

He looked down at his wrists, holding them up for his father to see. “I mean, technically, I wasn’t arrested. They just strongly suggested I come with them.”

I sighed to myself. Adam never did make this easy for himself.

“What. Did you. Do.” Gabriel growled through his teeth.

“I was just playing a game,” he protested. “With Reese.”

At that, my eyes widened. Reese had taken to inhabiting the den underneath the docs. A place that had been dug out within the wet sand so roulette tables and decks of cards could move in. “You were in a gambling den?”

“With Reese,” Adam tried again.

“I don’t care who you were with,” Gabriel shouted. “You do not go into gambling dens. You are not even of age!”

“I was with Reese!”

“Stop saying that as if it means something. If anything, that makes the entire situation so much worse.” Gabriel began pacing the room, his sword hitting his hip repeatedly. There were going to be plenty of words exchanged with his adoptive father, I was almost certain. “You are grounded, you understand that, correct? You will be coming to work with me every day. You will be filing paperwork. Running errands for the guard. For the foreseeable future, you will not be let out of my sight.”

“That’s not fair. It’s not like I killed anyone. I was with family. We were playing dice. I even won!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Honey, you are not making it better for yourself.”

Gabriel came over and sat across from our son, baring down on his with that steel grey eyes. “No son of mine will be a delinquent of this market.”

“Cool. Good thing I am not a delinquent.”

“What do I have to do to get through your head that this is the wrong path for you!”

“Let me choose my own damn path!”

“You choose wrong!”

“No. I am just not you!”

The room went quiet. Father and son stared at each other with the same stony expression. They leaned close to each other across the table, their eyes boring down on the other. But the moment he said that, Gabirle reared back.

“I do not want you to be like me.” The confusion tinting the edges of Gabriel’s voice broke my heart.

“Don’t you?” Adam challenged.

“No. I just… I want the best for you.”

“You never let me do anything.”

He frowned. “Son. There is a difference. I do not need you to be like me. But you certainly do not get to play in gambling dens and drink in the streets of the market. I– do you… are you doing all this because you don’t want to be like me?”

His head bowed and suddenly he looked so much younger. He reminded me of the small boy we had once brought home. The one who would only fall asleep in our arms.

Getting up from his side of the table, Gabriel walked over and scooted his chair back. He pulled him from the chair, wrapping his arms around him. Adam melted against him, tucking his head against his father's broad chest.

“I just want you safe,” Gabriel whispered to him. “That’s all I ever want for you.”

There was a suspicious sniffle coming from our son as he gently put his arms around his dad. “I’m sorry.”

Gabriel sighed, looking at me from over the top of his head. We both knew that he was going to be let off the hook tonight. That Reese was going to get in far more trouble than him. And that tonight, we would take our boy home for a good meal and a family night.

“Come on,” he said. “We’ll be leaving now.,”

“You going to get mad at Reese?” Adam asked.

“Yes.”

“What about me?”

“We’ll see about your behavior over the next few days.”

As Adam came near me, he bowed his head to my shoulder. I kissed the top of his head, sighing a little. 

“Sorry,” he muttered.

“Come on,” I said. “Let's go home.”

And as a family, we did.