Epilogue

Screaming and crying and strange smells that didn’t seem quite human surrounded Ford. He didn’t remember elementary school being this insane. The place had been nice when he’d come for the first meetings with the principal to give her a heads up about Jaxon’s living situation, but he wasn’t sure he’d have brought him back if he’d seen it like this.

“I should be sending him to private school.” Ford grumbled, checking to make sure Jaxon was close to his side and didn’t get run down by the stampede of kids who’d come out of nowhere. And didn’t seem to have keepers. “Is it always like this?”

“You know it isn’t.” Cort squeezed his shoulder, leaning close and speaking low. “And don’t be a snob. We can’t afford private school. Jaxon’s doing great here.”

“Then why do we have to meet the teacher again?”

“To discuss his progress, most likely.” Akira took Ford’s hand, smiling as Jaxon bolted ahead, tightening her grip on Ford’s hand when he moved to run after him. “He’s fine, he’s just going to see Casey. Look, she’s right there with Becky, Zach, and Scott.”

All right, seeing familiar faces made him feel a bit better. He forced himself to walk at a normal, adult-like pace, nodding to the men as they approached.

Becky gave him a sympathetic smile. “It’s a lot at first, but you’ll get used to it. This isn’t half as bad as nights when there’s a play or a game.” She turned to Jaxon. “Speaking of which, I heard you got the part of the Nutcracker Prince. Congratulations!”

Jaxon’s face went red. He ducked his head and shrugged. “Casey asked me to try out. I kinda wanted to be a tree.”

“No one’s being a tree.” Casey giggled, pulling the sleeves of her Cobras jersey over her hands. “And since I’m the princess, we can practice together! You’re really good and it’s fun. Admit it.”

“I guess.” Jaxon glanced up at Ford. “Are you gonna come watch?”

“You’re damn right I will. You’re gonna be awesome, buddy.” Ford ruffled Jaxon’s hair. “Akira’s been working hard on the costume and I can’t wait for you to try it on. You’re going to make the rest of the boys look like nothing but scenery.”

“Way to teach him to be a team player, Ford.” Cort shook his head, then turned his focus to his son. “We’ll all be there, Jaxon. And I’m sure you and all the kids will do great.”

“I hope so. I don’t wanna have to do all the work.” Jaxon nodded as Casey whispered something to him, then stuffed his hands in his pockets, rocking on his sneakers. “Can I have a couple bucks for the bake sale, Dad?”

Shit, I was supposed to bring money? Ford never kept change on him. But Akira did. He looked over at her, relieved to see she was already pulling out her coin purse.

She handed Jaxon a few toonies. “Get something for Casey too.” She waved Becky off when the other woman reached in her purse. “I got this. I still owe you for making cookies for Jaxon to bring in.”

“Scott made them with Casey, but we were happy to help.” Becky laughed as the kids took off together, then shot Ford a knowing look when Cort forced him to stay put. “They’ll be all right, it’s just down the hall in front of the gym.”

“But I know exactly how you feel.” Scott folded his arms over his chest, shaking his head. “There’s so many freaking people at these things, I’d be holding Casey’s hand the whole time if I had my way.”

“You did last year.” Zach curved his hand around the back of Scott’s neck, rubbing lightly. “Then our sweet daughter sat you down and explained she’s a big girl and it’s embarrassing to have one of her dads hold her hand like she’s a toddler.”

Ford’s cheeks heated. Jaxon had given him that same talk the last time he’d wanted to play soccer with some of his friends at the park. But Ford couldn’t help the sick feeling he got in his stomach whenever Jaxon was out of sight. Dropping him off at school every morning had been pure hell at first, but visiting the school a few times and seeing how they checked each person in helped. They took security very seriously.

But there weren’t usually so many people around. He took a deep breath, checking the time on his phone. “We better go find the classroom. The appointment’s in ten minutes.”

Akira took his hand, not commenting when he strode down the hall as fast as he could without running, dodging crowds of parents and kids until they reached the even more crowded area around the bake sale.

Relaxing as he spotted Jaxon, Ford watched as his son waited patiently while Casey picked out three cupcakes with little crowns on them, all different colors. When she hesitated, Jaxon grabbed a fourth, making sure she had one of each color.

Coming to his side, Cort put his hand on the small of Ford’s back, letting out a soft laugh. “That little girl had your son wrapped around her finger.”

Casey hugged Jaxon with one arm, balancing her plate in one hand, saying something that made Jaxon blush as he paid for all their treats.

A few minutes later, on the way to the classroom, Ford asked Jaxon what she’d said.

Jaxon wrinkled his nose. “She said I’m like a real prince. Girls are weird.”

Ford bit back a laugh. He noticed Jaxon’s pace slow as they got closer to the class and put his hand on his shoulder, stopping him a few feet away from the door, crouching down to put himself on his son’s level. “You look nervous. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

Staring at his sneaker, Jaxon shrugged. “I’ve been working really hard, but what if it isn’t good enough? Uncle Kyle always said if I did bad in school, someone would take me away. And someone always did.”

“Son, I don’t think that had anything to do with how you were doing in school. You’ve always had pretty good grades.”

“I guess…”

“If you’re having trouble with anything, we’ll work on it together, okay? No one’s ever taking you away from me.” He pulled Jaxon in for a hug. “Do you hear me?”

“Yeah.” Jaxon stiffened as the door open. He took Ford’s hand as he straightened, holding it tight as the teacher, an older man Ford had only spoken with briefly on the first day, came out to greet them.

“Hello, Jaxon. Mr. Delgado.” The teacher held out his hand, shaking Ford’s, then motioning them into the classroom. “I’m Mr. Martin, Jaxon’s homeroom teacher.” He gestured for Cort and Akira to join them. “You must be Jaxon’s other guardians. I’m pleased that you were able to come.”

Cort inclined his head. “We’re eager to hear how Jaxon’s been doing.”

“Of course.” Mr. Martin had set up several chairs in a semi-circle, and settled down in one, facing them as they all sat. “Since I know Jaxon has been apprehensive about this meeting, let me start off with saying he’s an exemplary student. Things started off a bit rocky, but once he became more comfortable here he easily caught up, then excelled, even at what he’d struggled with. He always has his work in on time, and he’s scored high on every test. The reason I wanted to talk to you was because I’d like Jaxon to take some advanced classes. Things are becoming a bit too easy for him.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Ford was tempted to give his son a high five, but he managed to contain himself. Besides, he wasn’t sure how Jaxon would feel about having more work because he was doing well. “I don’t want him to be overwhelmed.”

“He won’t be. I’m more concerned with him being bored.” Mr. Martin reached back to his desk and picked up a math workbook. He handed it to Ford. “He finishes before all the other students and has an excessive amount of time on his hands. This workbook will need to be replaced. I didn’t want to make an issue of it because your son’s been doing so well, but he will need to find a better place, and time, to explore his talents.”

Ford opened the workbook, coughing to cover a laugh as he looked over the anime style drawings on every page. The work had been done, but the numeric answers were difficult to make out between the dragons and warriors. Flipping through the book, Ford saw that Jaxon had drawn on every single page.

“I see what you mean about being bored.” Ford closed the book. “And I’ll get him a new one. Can I keep this?”

“Of course.” Mr. Martin smiled. “I’ll send you the information about the change in classes next week. Aside from that, all I can say is you should be very proud of your son.”

“Believe me, I am.” Ford rose as the teacher did, shaking his hand again. “We all are.”

As soon as they were out of the crowded school, Cort lifted Jaxon up and sat him on his shoulder, a big grin spreading across his face as Jaxon shouted in feigned protest. Cort shook his head, glancing down at Akira. “Can you believe this kid? And he was worried. Ha! Keep it up, boy, and you’re gonna be teaching that class.”

“I knew you were going to be just fine, sweetie.” Akira patted Jaxon’s leg, then hugged Ford’s arm. “But advanced classes? Lead in the school play? Look at him go!”

Kissing her hair, Ford gazed up at Jaxon, more and more amazed every damn day by the kid. He might have missed years with him, but he was where he belonged now. And he was thriving.

“That’s our boy.”