Chapter 29

Adam adjusted his black shades again.

"Are you ready sir?"

He turned to look at his personal security. He faced front again.

More security men dressed in all black and shades as well, with a gun holster around their waist sat beside the head of security. They were all in a black van Adam had recently bought.

"How's the crowd?" Adam asked still looking forward.

The head security leaned towards the tinted window and sat back again.

"Much. Sir," he replied.

Adam rolled his eyes before unbuckling his seatbelt.

"Let's do this."

Four security men stepped out first before another three, then the last three.

"Let's go." The head security grabbed Adam's hand and together they exited the van.

He immediately pulled Adam into a ring formed by six of the security men. Two were clearing the way in the front while two were at the back.

"I love you, Adam!"

"Adam!"

"I love youuuuu!"

"OMG! He's so hot!"

"He's so handsome!"

"Date me please!"

"Adam! I wanna hug you!"

"Oh my gosh...that's Adam!"

"I'm so freaking out!"

The securities forced their way through the crowds that were pressing to touch Adam in one way or the other. Multitudes of people, mainly females were swarming around the security circle, screaming their heads off.

"Gosh," Adam tsk-ed as his security took another turn.

He didn't get why they were buzzing around him like this, out of all the tycoons he was the one that pulled the most crowds.

The second van pulled up as soon as the first one drove away.

"Oh my gosh, that's crazy," Caleb said as he peeked out the window.

"Are we going to be swarmed like daddy?" Scarlett asked Tyson who was seated beside her.

"Well....," his voice trailed off.

Ever since Adam had gone public about being their legal guardian, they became famous overnight. It didn't help cases that Lucy's books were making waves and Reece had joined a boyband. Caleb was walking towards being a soccer star while Matt was incredibly great at coding and had made a game that got great reviews.

Scarlett on her own was already starting her singing career. She was just budding but already had lots of fans.

Tyson smiled to himself.

It didn't help the fact that Adam's wedding was just next week as well.

"Maybe," Tyson shrugged.

"What about Reece, Lucy, and Matt?" Caleb asked.

"Their van would soon show up." Tyson turned to the securities. "Let's go."

"Yes sir." They chorused.

Three of them first got down.

"Scarlett, you're going first okay?" Tyson turned to her.

She nodded.

One slightly opened the door while the other two blocked the entrance to the van. Six more security guards trooped down. A security guard held Scarlett's hand and quickly pulled her into a ring formed by the other six. Immediately Scarlett stepped out, coos of 'aww' rented the air.

They quickly started making their way through the crowd.

"OMG! That's Scarlett!!!!"

"She's so adorable!!!"

"She's so cute!!"

"OMG!!!!!!"

"Scarlett! I'm your biggest fan!!!"

"She's. Damn. Cute!!!!!"

"Hey!!!!! Scarlett!!!!"

"I love her hair! It's so blonde!!!"

Scarlett almost tripped at one point but the security beside her held her before she could fall.

Soon they went out of sight.

"Oh my God! Even Scarlett got mobbed!" Caleb fretted.

"Relax." Tyson patted his back, trying to get him to calm down. "We're next, Caleb." He turned to look at the remaining security men.

He slightly rapped at the door and one of the three securities opened it slightly again.

Eight security men trooped down, and Tyson and Caleb were circled by them.

"Let's go!" Tyson yelled over the noise.

The remaining three securities by the door joined the first eight and they all started pushing past the crowd.

"That's Tyson!!! OMG! Tyson!!"

"Calebbbbbb!!!!!"

"I love you, Caleb!!!!"

"Caleb's so hot!!!"

"Tyson's so cool!!!"

"I'm a fan, Caleb!!! Go starlight!!!!"

"You're the best Caleb!!!"

"I love you guys, Starlight rocks!!!!"

"You're the best striker Caleb!!!"

"I love you, Tyson!!!!"

"Caleb you're awesome!!!"

"Tyson, you're so hot even the sun would be ashamed!!!!"

"Starlight!!!!!"

"Tyson!!!!! Over here!!!!"

"Caleb!!!!"

Caleb felt a bit dizzy with the way his name was being screamed about. Where were all these people when I was suffering in the street? He wondered as Tyson led him towards a building.

The second van sped away and the third took its position.

Lucy rubbed her palms while Reece brushed his hair into a swish to one side. The head of security turned to them.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

Matt put down his book.

"We have to go now?" He asked.

"Yes sir, if you don't want to miss your flight," The security replied.

"Let's do this," Reece said as he kept his foldable comb in his back pocket. Three securities went down first. "I'm going first, the sooner I read my book the better," Matt said.

"Okay." Lucy nodded.

Six security guards got down with Matt in their center. They all started walking by the crowd at a hasty pace.

"Is that Matt??!!!!!"

"OMG, he's so clever at a young age!!!"

"I play monkey snipe every day!!!!!"

"You're so cute Matt!!!!"

"Matttttt!!!!!!"

"Hey!!! You're so handsome!!!!"

"Oooohhhhh, that's Matt!!!"

"Matt, you rock!!!!"

"You're the best, Matt!!!!!"

Matt wasn't paying attention to them, instead, he was reading his book all the way while the securities guided him into the private section.

"Seems it's our turn," Lucy told Reece.

"Right." He nodded.

"You're so cool about it," Lucy pointed out while eight guards went out of the van. She didn't understand why she was feeling jittery and he wasn't.

"They're my fans out there after all," Reece shrugged as security opened the door for them to get down.

As soon as Reece got out the screams rose to a deafening tempo. Out of all the kids, he was the most recognized because he was in a band.

Reece waved a bit before they started moving.

"OMG!!!!!"

"I Love you, Reece!!!!!"

"You're smoking hot!!!!"

"You're so dangerously cute!!!"

"Reece!!!! I love you!!!"

"Lucyyyyyyy!!!!"

"You're so cool, Lucy!!!!"

"BlackMic, you're hot!!!"

Reece smiled a bit when he heard his stage name being mentioned. Lucy motioned him to move faster as the crowd knew they were the last people, hence they were trying to push past the security and touch them.

"Reeceeeee!!!!"

"That's Lucy!!!"

"I've read all your books, Lucy!!!"

"I love you and I'm your biggest fan, BlackMic!!!"

"I love you both!!!! I love your entire family!!!!"

"Reeceeeee......over here!!!!"

"Lucy!!! You're amazing!!!"

As they were about cornering, Reece's foldable brush fell out of his back pocket.

"My hairbrush." Reece turned back to get it.

"Let's go!" The head security man pushed Reece forward as most of the females went crazy about the fallen object, each trying to grab it for themselves.

Reece sorrowfully looked back at his poor hairbrush that was being struggled upon as the security led him away quickly.

Soon they arrived at the private room.

They saw Adam seated on a seat. Scarlett was eating some candies while Matt was reading his book. Caleb was still peeking at the raging crowd through the tinted window of the room.

Tyson was sulking about how Caleb got more praise and name-calling than he when they were coming to the private quarters. Adam rolled his eyes at him.

"We're here," Lucy said once she and Reece entered.

The room was huge, but it was heavily guarded as well, both inside and outside.

Adam stood up once he saw them. "You guys okay? Today's kinda the first time you've been through something like that."

"We're fine," Lucy replied with a smile.

"Dude, did you see that crowd?" Caleb asked Reece, his eyes still checking the view outside the window.

"Yeah." Reece sank down on a soft black leather chair and did the controls, so he was lying down. He then covered his face with his palm.

"I can't believe I lost my favorite comb," he groaned.

"Why would you put it in your back pocket?" Lucy scolded him.

"Are we leaving yet?" Scarlett asked, looking up from her snacks. Chocolate was smeared over her mouth and it stained her fingers as well.

Tyson chuckled at the sight.

He grabbed a tissue from the buffet table and approached Scarlett.

"Hold still little one," Tyson said as he cleaned her left fingers. Scarlett gobbled up the remaining bar of chocolate she was holding with her right hand. Making more chocolate spread to her cheeks.

"That crowd is sick man," Caleb said, still baffled by their size. "They're not moving away."

"That's how they normally do when they've seen celebrities," Matt commented without looking up from his book. "They expect them to come back out, but they will soon leave disappointed."

"Are we celebrities now?" Caleb turned back to ask him. "We're just starting our careers you know."

"Dad is a celebrity, that makes us automatic celebrities," Matt answered with a shrug.

Adam smiled and looked down at the neatly tiled floor. He could still remember the first time they all started calling him dad.

Scarlett first started it and after some days Matt just nonchalantly dropped the 'D' word, while the others watched how he would react. When they saw he was okay with it, Caleb and Reece were the next to join in calling him Dad. Lucy was the only one that asked him if it was okay for her to address him as dad like the rest were doing and he had said why not.

Adam still gets a warm fuzzy feeling anytime he hears any of them calling him Dad.

Also, when Mrs. Mann came back from her holiday she fell more in love with the kids and insisted they call her big mummy instead of Mrs. Mann.

Tyson received a call and went to receive it.

"Hey guys," Adam started, gaining all the children's attention. "Don't worry, the private jet would soon be ready and—"

His talk was cut short when the door opened.

Vanessa walked in.

"Adam," she called, ignoring the children's greeting. "We need to talk. Outside." She then turned and walked out of the room, her high heels clicking and making noise as she went.

Adam stood up.

"We'll see soon," he told them with a smile before following Vanessa.

As soon as they reached another smaller private room, Vanessa turned to him.

"Our wedding is next week," she said pointedly as she crossed her arms.

"So?" Adam followed her gesture.

She frowned slightly. "Why are those kids still around you? Even worse you had to go public to announce you're their 'legal guardian'," she air quoted the words.

"You just bluntly told the world they're your kids!" Her voice rose higher.

Adam looked unfazed by her attitude.

"Well, I was forced to do that because in every blasted talk show and interviews you had, you kept calling them charity cases and tramps after I had repeatedly told you to stop. Of course, I'll say I'm their legal guardian," he snapped at her.

"Since they came into our lives, they've changed everything! You just found an excuse to use to turn down every events and function I wanted us to attend!" Vanessa growled at him.

"Are you out of your mind?! I never liked attending those things in the first place and besides, they clashed with the dates of the kids' events too. Just like how you wanted me to attend your mum's talk show again on the same day Caleb had a soccer match, or like the time you wanted me to film a commercial with you; it clashed with Scarlett's first-ever audition!"

"But I am your—" Vanessa started but Adam cut in; apparently, he wasn't done talking yet.

"And when Reece was going for his first-ever live performance on stage, you thought it was the perfect time for us to do one of your popularity fun 'date' with another popular pair or whatever," Adam snorted.

"It was a double date!" Vanessa snapped at him.

"More like publicity stunt!" Adam shot back.

"Stop siding with those kids!" Vanessa said furiously.

"My kids!" Adam said in the same tone.

"What did you just say?!" She screeched making Adam blink in surprise. He didn't know when that had slipped out.

He looked at her boiling face and shut his eyes tightly.

What did I just say?