Seeing a Man (by DJK)

Summary: Two confrontations between Ben Cartwright and his eldest son.

Rated: K+  Word count:  1219

 

Seeing a Man

Not a Boy

“You better heed me, boy!” Ben Cartwright’s bellow echoed off the rafters.

“I’m not a boy.” The declaration was delivered in a controlled and level voice.

“You’re my son!” Ben had leaned forward with his hands flat against his desk. His glower was white-hot and focused on his eldest.

“I always will be.” Adam kept his voice even but returned his father’s glare. “For that reason and because you are my boss on this ranch and because I live in your house, I’ll heed you, Pa, but I’m not a boy, not anymore. I’m a man.”

Ben drew in a slow breath and studied the twenty-two-year-old standing on the other side of the desk. He was young, yes, but Adam had been doing a man’s job every day for years before he had taken himself across a continent to be educated. He was responsible, reliable, and worthy of trust. He was dedicated and smart. He was respected by many men, some of whom were years his senior. Ben drew in another breath and admitted there was no measure by which his eldest was not a man.

“Yes, yes, you are. You are a man, one that I am very proud to call my son.” Ben settled back into his chair. “I need to remember that.”

The tension drained from Adam’s body, and he leaned his hip against the wood of the desk. Slowly a small smile curled his lips. “I’ll be glad to remind you if need be.”

Ben raised his eyebrows. That particular grin was not one of his favorites, but he returned a smile anyway. “What you can remind me of, young man, is that we have business with Hiram Woods as soon as we can get into town.”

“Hiram Woods? What business do we have with him?” Adam was clearly puzzled, and Ben produced a grin of his own.

“You’ve been a partner in this ranch since we first arrived. Not an exactly equal partner but a partner nevertheless. It’s high time we had the legal paperwork to prove it.” Ben watched Adam’s reaction, and his grin changed to one of paternal pleasure.

“Pa, I. . . I. . .thank you, Pa.”

“You’ve earned it, son.”

Adam’s dimples deepened as he heard his favorite appellation from his father’s lips. “I better get back to work then if I’m going to keep you thinking that way.” He turned and took a few steps toward the door before his father’s voice stopped him.

“Adam,” Ben’s voice was rich and gentle, “don’t do away with every trace of the boy you were. He was very special to me, you know. Besides, you’ll need him from time to time.”

Adam had turned to face his father once again. Unbidden a memory stirred of a fierce snowball fight that first winter when it had been just him, his pa, and a little Hoss. He had pelted his father with snowball after snowball, and his father had returned fire with a glee equal to his own.

“If I give you grandsons, you mean?” Adam asked softly.

“Not if but when. I expect three or four from you alone.”

Adam rolled his eyes but not until after he had turned away from his father again. “Yes, sir, Pa. Should I get right on that?”

“Adam!” Ben’s roar echoed from the rafters as his son quickly exited closing the door behind him.

In the Storm

The storm raging outside was powerful. The rain sluiced to the ground, and the tops of the tall pines whipped back and forth. The wind beat against the walls and rattled the windows, but Ben Cartwright had known full well the fury that nature’s hand could conjure and had built his house to withstand the worst salvos that a tempest could throw. Yes, the storm raging against its walls was filled with fury, but the storm within the house held even more rage.

“I’ll not allow it! That’s final!” Ben’s voice fought with the thunder. The thunder surrendered, but his son did not.

“I wasn’t asking permission. I don’t need it!” The words fired from Adam’s mouth like steel buckshot.

Ben’s voice fell in volume but rose in intensity. “You would disobey me in this?”

Adam drew in a deep breath. “Disobey? I’m not a child.”

“You’re my son.”

“And that should make me less than my own man?”

Ben opened his mouth to speak but drew the unuttered words back into his mouth in an effort to rein in his anger. Very softly he stated, “I’ve never expected you to be any less than your own man.”

“Haven’t you? Haven’t you always expected me to be your obedient . . .” Adam hesitated over the next word.

His father inserted his own, “Son. The only obedience I have ever expected from you is that of a son.”

Adam blew a long breath from his nose. “And if this son decides he has to disobey you to be his own man?”

Ben answered, “I would hope that any son of mine would see how wrong it would be to. . .”

“Disagree with you?” Adam’s brow arched upward. He turned on his heel and stalked toward the door only to be struck still with his hand on the knob by a crash of thunder and the reverberating crack of a splitting pine.

For a moment, Ben thought his son might walk out into the night despite the storm, but Adam had always maintained a thread of reasonableness through even his greatest fits of temper. He saw his son’s hand fall from the door, but Adam did not turn.

“Adam. Adam, son,” Ben’s voice filled the words with every nuance of the bond they had forged through his son’s twenty-four years.

“Pa,” Adam turned to face his father, “It’s not stubbornness or defiance or … Pa, I need to do this. I shall do it.” He looked directly into his father’s eyes. “Will you forgive me?”

“Maybe I just needed to try, to know that I had tried to stop him.” Ben reached his hand out. “I’ve told you many times, Adam, that there is nothing, nothing I could not forgive you.”

Adam’s eyes filmed, but his lips twisted into a wry grin. “I’ll have to pay the piper though, won’t I?”

“As you’ve reminded me, son, you’re not a child anymore.” Ben’s hands settled on his hips.

Adam shook his head slowly. “That only means my punishment will be more subtle than a tanning.” Then he shrugged in acceptance.

Ben acknowledged silently that his son would carry out his own decision. Resigned, Ben nodded but then smiled. “And hopefully at least as effective.”

Adam arms slipped across his chest, and his right hand tugged his left ear. “I’m sure it will.” He sighed and walked to his favorite chair.

Outside the storm raged, but sheltered by the walls their hands had built, the Cartwrights settled in for a peaceful evening.

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Author: DJK

6 thoughts on “Seeing a Man (by DJK)

  1. This is a very nice story. It not easy for a Father who was a mother and father to his sons to let go. They will always be their fathers Sons. Pa will always be Pa to them. Ben was Blessed with three sons who love, obey respect their Pa always. Thanks for a story well written.

  2. These were very good. Ben and Adam had such a complex relationship — who wouldn’t, in their shoes? Ben is Adam’s father, and (as you say) his boss, and (as you say) Adam still lives under ‘his’ roof. There are no clear-cut lines in the Cartwright family. And Ben does sometimes forget that his sons are men. We see it in fanfic, yes, but we saw it in the show, too. I think that, in order to truly draw that line, Adam would have had to leave — go *somewhere* — for a while. (But not forever. I’m not of the opinion that he left forever, or that he didn’t write, or even that he settled in a big city. I enjoy stories in which he does … but to me, there’s too much western in him for that. But, I digress …)

    Adam is too independent at a time when Ben still feels the need to be in control. He chafes against that, and there is nothing either of them can do but have some space for a little while. I love watching his relationship w Ben as opposed to Joe’s in his later years … Ben was in such a different place then, and I wonder if that would have made a difference with Adam, or if it would always have been this way between them…

    Very nice, thanks for writing!

    1. I take it as a great compliment that these little tales brought forth such a detailed and thoughtful response. Thank you for always sharing what each story brings to your mind. It is so appreciated! DJK :>)

  3. LOVE IT! Adam was a man; but he wanted his father’s approval and he obeyed him not only because he was his father but because he respected him. A real man obeys his father due to his wisdom and that knows no age!

    1. Sorry that computer problems kept me from responding promptly. Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments. I truly appreciate and agree with them. DJK :>)

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