Second Chances (A What If Fanfic)

Chapter 2

Slade sighed as he walked into the house and closed the door. He was about to go find Kayden until he saw AJ sitting on the sofa, playing on his phone.

Slade stood there for a moment, not saying a word before he finally cleared his throat, catching AJ's attention, making him look up from his phone.

"Go find your brother and sister and tell them to pack their things," he simply stated.

"Why?" AJ asked, now feeling a bit nervous as his grip on his phone started to tighten. "Are you sending us away?" he finished.

Slade shook his head. "No, AJ. I'm not sending you away. I'm going back home with you three."

"H-Huh?" AJ asked, his eyes growing wider and wider as his conversation with his father progressed.

"I said I'm going back home with you, AJ. Now, do as you were told, son."

But before Slade could even take one step, AJ had jumped off of the couch and was hugging his father's left leg, now in tears.

"AJ," Slade grunted, kinda annoyed, but yet, he could feel a few tears forming in his eyes, but he quickly blinked them away. Regaining himself, Slade looked down at his son that had managed to tightly wrap himself around his dad's limb. "AJ, stop hugging my leg and let go."

"N-Not yet," AJ stammered, tightening his grip on Slade's leg.

"What?" Slade asked, crossing his arms a little. He was about to force the small chipmunk off of his leg, but stopped when he heard a small whimper emit from AJ.

"No...p-please, Dad...not yet..."

"What's your problem?" Slade asked. It sounded like he was just plain annoyed with the boy, but he didn't mean for it to come out that way. He truly cared for his son, they just hadn't gotten along that much to where he could show how concerned he was for him.

But AJ didn't answer. Instead he just tightened his grip even more, closing his eyes in the process as well.

"AJ, time for you to let go," Slade stated.

"N-No," AJ replied, shaking his head and tightening his grip once again.

Now, Slade was starting to get impatient. "Why not?" 

"B-Because," AJ managed to get out before a few tears fell down his cheeks.

"Because why?"

"Because I'm a-afraid," AJ continued.

"Afraid?"

"Y-Yeah," AJ responded.

Slade was about to ask another question, but then quickly figured out that this was going no where. Taking a deep breath, he kept his gaze on AJ.

"What are you afraid of, AJ?"

"I-I'm afraid that if I l-let you go, you'll c-change your mind and will want to stay with K-Kayden..." he finished, now choking back a few tears.

At that point, Slade was dead silent. AJ wasn't being annoying, he just didn't want to lose his father again.

Sighing, the Lazymunk gently picked up AJ and held him in his arms. "AJ, I'm not changing my mind. Your Daddy, sister, brother and even you are my life. I'm sorry it took me so long to figure that out."

AJ smiled a little as he wiped his nose with his sleeve, then hugged his dad.

"I love you, Dad," AJ said.

Slade couldn't help but smile at AJ's statement. He would never admit this, but he secretly missed hearing that.

"I love you too son," he replied, gently putting AJ back on the ground. "Now, please go do what I told you to do."

AJ simply nodded and ran upstairs.

Slade chuckled softly before making his way to the kitchen.