Chocolate Eyes

Brian knew that being here now did not make up for the fact that he'd given up his son in the first place, but being here now meant that Brian could try again and make sure that nothing else would ever tear his son's world apart. Again.

When Victoria pushed the door open, the first thing Brian saw was a tall brunette boy standing next to a taller brunette man, their hands clasped together and solemn look on both their similar faces. And for half a second, Brian believed that he'd just seen his son for the first time. But as Brian nervously looked at everything else in the room, in the corner of his eye he caught the image of a small child trying to hide behind the long legs of the dark-haired man.

Brian knew instantly that his son looked nothing like him and with a hint of fear he thought that maybe he'd just signed for custody of a child who wasn't biologically his. The child's hair was dirty blonde, his cheeks were round, and so was his nose. The little boy wore dark-tinted sun glasses over his eyes and hid behind the only other man in the room, besides Zacky.

Brian let out the air he forgot he'd been holding in as the dark haired man held out his hand for Brian to shake.

"I'm Jake Taylor," he said formally, eyeing Brian, "Ej's step-dad."

Brian moved his gaze from the child's blue button up shirt and matching sunglasses to Jake Taylor. The man dressed almost the same. A button up shirt covered his chest and his jeans were simple blue jeans, missing the holes that Brian's sported. Brian knew by the gaze of the man that he wasn't anything like what Claudia Kent had imagined her son's father would be. He reached out and took Jake's hand. "I'm Brian Haner," he replied. He didn't add anything onto the end of his introduction because it was pretty obvious that he was the boy's father. Even if their looks didn't suggest so.

"I know who you are," Jake Taylor stated harshly as if he'd just placed where he'd seen Brian before and wasn't happy about it. "You're in that rock-band."

Brian nodded and was thankful that he'd worn a hoodie, even in the summer, to cover the tattoos on his arms. "Avenged Sevenfold," he corrected, "I play guitar." Brian made sure that the sleeves of his black jacket were pulled down as far as they would go.

When Jake Taylor didn't reply, Brian's eyes moved back to the boy everyone said was his son. "He looks just like her," he stated quietly as he remembered the woman who had shown up at his house, claiming he had fathered her child.

Jake nodded stiffly, catching Brian's attention again. "They looked identical," he claimed while he rested his hand on Evander's back and pushed him forward so that he wasn't being shielded by his legs any longer. Brian noted his white khaki pants and fancy black dress up shoes. "Except for one thing," Jake said, causing Brian to look to him.

Jake reached out and pulled the blue and black sunglasses from the child's face. As Evander's gaze met Brian's he heard Zacky murmur a surprised curse. Brian stared at the child's eyes, wondering if they'd been plucked from his own skull.

"That's how I knew for sure," Mr. Taylor said, although he didn't sound happy about it, "When you walked in and looked at me. I finally knew where EJ had gotten his eyes from."

Any doubt that Brian had about this being his son was swept away the second the little boy looked up to him. Their eyes were purely brown, not affected by any other color or by the stigma that came with having the most popular colored eyes. A deep, rich brown that caused people to marvel over them and wonder how there could possibly be so much color in two little pools. So dark that the iris blended in completely.

Brian smiled softly and crouched down in front of Evander. The room was silent as they watched Brian acknowledge his son for the first time. Brian tried to seem more welcoming so that he wouldn't scare the child. "Hi, Evander," Brian said softly, "I got you something."

Evander looked at Brian with wonder in his eyes as Brian reached into his pocket and pulled out the case that contained the iPod. Evander was blatantly surprised when Brian pulled open the case and held the iPod in his hand. "It's white," he told the child nervously, "I hope that's okay. If not we can get a case for it, any color you want."

Evander just nodded his head and looked at the thing, after a moment he reached out and touched it. "I like white," he murmured, a small smile appearing on his thin lips as he pulled it into his own hands.

Brian smiled too and looked up to Zacky who was standing behind him. Brian reached out and touched the end of his son's shirt. With his other hand he motioned to Zacky. "Evander, this is my friend, Zacky. He's kind of like your uncle."

Evander looked over Zacky and then turned to Brian. "Is he your brother?" he asked simply, "You don't look like him."

Brian and Zacky chuckled. Brian shook his head. "He's not really my brother, but we're close like brothers."

Evander nodded his head and looked back down to the white iPod that was in his hands. Brian ran his hand over Evander's back and then stood up.

Jake Taylor was looking between Evander and Brian. Brian smiled slightly and looked to the little boy who was standing on the other side of Jake Taylor. Mr. Taylor followed his gaze. "This one's mine," he said firmly, his hand grasping onto the boy's shoulder tighter.

Brian glanced between the two young boys and then asked, "They're not related, are they?"

Jake Taylor shook his head. "Not by blood."

Brian sighed in relief under his breath. He didn't know how he'd feel about taking Evander away from his half-brother, no matter the circumstances. Zacky was now crouched in front of Evander and the two of them were talking about the iPod as Zacky explained that it just wasn't charged, not broken.

Victoria Rochotte walked over to the blonde child and ran her fingers through his hair. "How about we start saying goodbye, Evander?" she suggested, watching as the little boy became slightly upset and reached up to hold onto his step-dad's hand.

Jake crouched down in front of him as the little boy looked between Brian and his step-father. "Ej, it's time to go with Brian," he said comfortingly, "We talked about this."

Evander sighed. "But, why?" he questioned, glancing at Brian.

Jake Taylor ran his hand over Evander's back soothingly. "You know why," he told the child, leaving no room for the little boy to forget the talk they'd had yesterday.

Evander fiddled with the iPod that was clasped in his sweaty hands and looked up to meet Jake's gaze. "But, I want you to be my daddy," he said, his voice so heartbreaking that it caused pain to everyone in the room.

Brian shoved his hands into his pockets and he took a step back to stand next to Zacky. He didn't expect to be hurt by those words. He knew that something like that might spew from the child's lips. The bandmates shared an intimate look as Brian's son began to tear up, his eyes melting into a liquid chocolate color.

Zacky nudged Brian in the side and gave him a look that told him to go comfort the blonde, crying boy. Brian and moved over to kneel down next to Evander and Mr. Taylor. "Hey buddy," Brian soothed with an easy smile, "I promise everything is going to be okay. You're going to like Huntington, I promise."

Brian bit his lip as Evander wiped a tear off of his rosy cheeks. Brian didn't know what to say to the four year old to get the little boy to want to go with him. He could promise him toy after toy, but he didn't want to bribe the child. He wanted Evander to want to be with him, although he knew that would take some time.

"I don't want to go," Evander said to Brian, holding onto his step-dad's hand even tighter.

Brian froze, causing Jake Taylor to sigh and wrap his arms around Ej. Evander held onto Jake's waist for dear life and let his tears soak into the fabric of his shirt. Jake crouched for a split second and then stood up with the child in his arms.

"Ej," he said, causing Evander to look at him, "Now that your mommy isn't here you have to be strong," he told him while nodding, "You understand? Now that Momma isn't here, you belong with Brian, your dad."

"I wanna stay with you," Evander cried, his arms wrapping around Jake's neck and latching together at his fingers.

Jake Taylor shook his head and tried to pull the boy back so he could look him in the eyes. "But you don't belong with me, Ej, you have to be either with your Momma or your dad, and now you only have one option." When the boy didn't stop crying, Jake turned to Victoria and asked if they could have a moment alone to say goodbye in private.

Victoria frowned and shook her head. The look on her face told the room that she'd been hoping he wouldn't ask that question. "I'm sorry, Mr. Taylor," she stated quietly, "But for security reasons, you can not be alone with Evander from here out."

Jake Taylor grew angry instantly and held the little boy closer to him in his arms. "I'm not going to hurt him, for Christ's sake," he bellowed, "I love EJ, I'd never hurt him."

"It's not that you would hurt him, Mr. Taylor, it's that you might try and leave the premises," Victoria corrected, wincing as Jake Taylor scoffed.

"You think I'm going to kidnap him," he stated, shaking his head in disbelief, "That's ridiculous. I can't even say goodbye to the little boy I've helped raise for the past year and a half."

As Victoria was about to rebut, Brian stepped forward and nodded. "Go ahead," he advised, shaking his head as Victoria tried to stop him, "You can say goodbye, we'll wait in the hall."

"Mr. Haner, that's not-"

Brian rested his hand on the small of her back and led her towards the closed door. "I'm his father," he said softly, "It's fine."

Zacky pulled the door open and the two of them led Victoria Rochotte into the hall and closed the door behind them so that Jake Taylor and his son could have a chance to say their final goodbyes.

The room wasn't soundproof, so Brian, as he leaned against the wall next to the door, could heard some of what they were saying. But he trailed his attention on the clock that hung on the wall opposite of him so the trio could have a little bit of privacy before Evander was forced into his car and driven two hours away from the home he'd always known with his mom.

They came walking into the hall fifteen minutes later and Jake Taylor nodded at Brian, his way of saying thank you without actually having to acknowledge that the man did anything nice for him. Brian smiled at Evander and took his hand from Jake as the man led the child closer.

Crispen waved at his step-brother and patted the little boy's shoulder as he started crying, scared for multiple reasons and unsure of what his life would be like from here on out.

Evander waved back and sniffled loudly, his hand still attached to Brian's. Victoria Rochotte patted his back as she walked past him and grabbed his jacket. "Here you go, honey," she murmured, holding it open so that he could slip his little arms in the sleeves.

"I'll help with his things," Jake Taylor said sternly as he grabbed one large suitcase from the room.

Brian grabbed the other one and Zacky grabbed the camouflage backpack that was sitting on the couch in the room. Brian took Evander's hand with his free one again and starting walking out of the Child Welfare building as Victoria Rochotte led the way to their new lives.

"Is that your vehicle?" Victoria questioned, pointing to Brian's SUV. Brian nodded his head and led the way, tugging Evander along gently. Jacob Taylor and his son, Crispen, followed behind Brian and Zacky, causing Evander to keep looking over his shoulder with tears falling down his cheeks as he realized that this was the final moment. This was what his step-dad had been talking about for the last couple days.

Brian set Evander's suitcase down and reached into his pocket. He tossed his key to Zacky and asked him to open the back of car so they could put what little Evander had with him in the back.

Zacky nodded and opened the trunk. Brian handed him the suitcase and watched as Jake did the same, although it seemed to be little harder for him to give up Evander's things to a complete stranger.

Victoria had been standing by, watching them load the child's things into the SUV. Now she walked over to Jake and offered her hand. "Thank you for being so civil about all of this," she told him, "I know it is not easy to say goodbye to someone you care so much about."

Jake Taylor reached his hands out towards the blonde child and nodded his head. "I understand, and that makes it a little bit easier. He's going to be with his blood family and that's something I could never give to him," he said, still sounding a little begrudging as he looked at the tattooed man that would be raising the child he'd come to love so easily.

Brian shook hands with Jake Taylor and offered Crispen a smile. The little boy didn't smile back, instead he crossed his arms over his chest and tried to be strong for his little brother. The seven year old didn't really understand what all this meant. He didn't really know why Evander was leaving, but all he knew was that his step-mom was killed and now Evander was going to live with his dad, much like he had done when his real mom left him just a few years ago.

Brian opened the backdoor of the SUV so that he could hopefully get Evander strapped in, but Victoria Rochotte nodded her head and rested a hand on Brian's arm. "Just one second, please," she stated before she turned back to Jake Taylor.

"I'll be in touch," she promised him, trying to smile, "I'll be letting you know how Evander's doing and what everything is like, for a little while at least. Then, over time, you and Evander will separate," she whispered the last part as Evander walked over to Zacky, who was leaning into the front seat, holding a charger for the child's iPod.

Jake Taylor looked reluctant to leave Evander with Brian and Zack. Brian held his hand out to Jake one last time, unsure of how else to comfort the man. "Thank you for taking care of him," Brian said, "I know this must be incredibly hard for you."

"It's harder than you know," Jake said as he pulled Crispen closer to him protectively, "I'm giving up the last piece of my wife."

Brian nodded his head and thanked him one last time. Jake Taylor left a few minutes later, waving out of the window at Evander, who was sitting on the front seat of Brian's car, charging his iPod with a lighter plug. Evander was smiling while he looked at his iPod, that was now turning on, but when his step-dad and brother left the parking lot, his bright smile left his face and he pulled from the air of excitement that his new technology had brought to him.

Victoria captured Brian's attention and began explaining the things that she'd put off until now. "There are three home visits," she explained, "Three different case workers come to your house unannounced and write down what they witness while they are there. If all three home visits go well, then your custody will be finalized. But if something comes up where any two social workers feel as though Evander is in danger, he will be pulled from the residence automatically and sent to the place we feel is better suited to him."

Brian nodded his head nervously, wondering what kind of things could be seen as 'dangerous'. "What are some circumstances that get him taken from me?" Brian questioned, his mind reeling with stories of child abuse that he'd heard in the new over the years.

"It takes quite a bit," Victoria allowed "Like abuse or allowing the child to drink alcohol or other things of that nature," Victoria said to him, shrugging although she was completely serious. "We'll give you a few weeks after the funeral before anyone drops by your residence, but after that be expecting at all times."

Brian nodded and glanced back at the little boy who sat in the front seat of his car. "I may be in a famous band," Brian stated, "But there will never be anything bad for him to get into in my house." Brian slid his arms behind his back, hiding the letters tattooed on his knuckles.

Victoria smiled and simply nodded, glancing between the man in front of her and the child in the front seat. She held her hand out for Brian to shake and she said all at once, "Congratulations, Mr. Haner. I hope everything works out between you and your son from now on."

"Thank you," Brian replied breathlessly, glancing back at the child he'd never expected to have in his life. With one last smile at Evander and a "Good luck" in Brian's direction, Victoria Rochotte walked off, leaving him in charge of his son for the very first time in four years.