Chapter 302

Chapter 302

Damian repeated to Lucas what he'd already said in the study.

"All right, I get the picture. The military won't take you at your age. Minimum's seventeen, and you've got to pass the background check and physical. The whole process takes at least six months."

"But there's a place you can go first."

Damian looked at him.

"There's a military prep school in Quincy called Riverton. Not one of those McDojo operations—looks flashy but useless—actual martial arts classes. This place runs on legitimate military discipline. An old buddy of mine is the headmaster there. Before he retired, he commanded a special forces unit. Every soldier he trained turned out solid."

Clarence pulled a business card from a nearby cabinet. "Contact him first. Tell him I sent you. Once the kid's enrolled, he'll keep up with regular academics while doing physical training to military standards. When he turns seventeen, if he wants to enlist, he can go straight through their special recruitment track."

Lucas took the card, glanced at it, and slipped it into his pocket.

"Is Quincy far?" Damian asked.

"Two and a half hours by plane, four by amtrak. What, scared of the distance?"

"No."

"Good." Clarence clapped him on the shoulder again. "Damian, don't go crying when you get there. My old buddy doesn't go easy on anyone. The first month, you'll wish you were dead. Get through it and you'll be fine."

Damian straightened his back. "I won't cry."

Clarence laughed and turned to Lucas. "That stubborn streak—he gets that from you."

……

On the drive back, Damian sat in the passenger seat, barely saying a word the whole way.

Lucas glanced at him. "Nervous?"

"No."

"I'll look into that Quincy school when we get back. If everything checks out, you can head over next month."

"That soon?"

"Weren't you the one who said you weren't scared?"

Damian shut his mouth.

When they got home, Juliana was waiting in the living room.

"What did he say?" Juliana asked.

Lucas set the business card on the coffee table. Juliana picked it up and turned it over.

"Quincy?"

"Yeah."

Juliana put the card back down. "Can't we hire a tutor here? Get a trainer for physical conditioning—why does he have to go all the way out there?"

"Damian's got everything he needs at home. Someone follows him everywhere he goes. If he so much as bumps his knee, people swarm him. He's used to that kind of life. Hiring a trainer to come here for two hours, then taking a hot shower and having a nice meal afterward—how's that any different from a vacation?"

Damian stood nearby, wanting to argue but feeling like maybe Lucas had a point.

"If he's serious about this path, he needs to leave. You can't train someone properly in comfort."

Juliana's fingers traced along the arm of the sofa.

"He's only thirteen."

"Thirteen's not that young. When I was fifteen, I was already on my own."

"You're you. He's him."

The air went quiet for a few seconds. Matthew lowered the volume on his tablet two notches.

Damian stood there, looking at Juliana, then at Lucas.

"Mom."

Juliana turned her head.

Damian walked over and crouched beside her.

"I want to go. It's not an impulse. I've thought it through."

"Quincy's not overseas. I'll come back on breaks."

Juliana reached out and touched his hair.

"You've never left home before."

"That's exactly why I need to go."

Juliana's hand withdrew.

"Fine."

Damian stood up. Matthew held up his tablet nearby and said quietly, "Damian, control your mouth corners."

"Shut up."

……

At eleven-thirty that night, Lucas came out of the study.

Juliana was standing on the balcony.

"Why'd you come out? It's windy."

"Couldn't sleep. Came out to stand for a bit."

"I know I should let him go." Juliana spoke up. "I understand the logic. Support what he wants to do, boys need to go out and make their way in the world, staying home won't help him grow up… I know all of that."

Juliana paused.

"But I just can't bear it."

Lucas didn't rush to respond.

"I didn't see him before he turned three. I was abroad, he was here. Finally came back, mother and son reunited, and how long have we actually had as a family sitting down to meals together? Now he's leaving."

Juliana's hand gripped the railing. "I feel like I owe him. Other mothers are there from birth. I missed all those years. Now he's leaving, and I won't even get the chance to make it up to him."

Lucas reached out and fastened the buttons on her jacket. Juliana looked down at his hands.

When the buttons were done, Lucas's hand didn't pull away. "Let me tell you something."

Juliana looked up.

"I joined Clarence's unit when I was nineteen. First week, every day we ran ten miles, then hauled logs, then crawled through the dirt, then tactical drills. At night I'd lie in bed too sore to turn over, and at five the next morning the whistle blew and I had to get up again."

Juliana listened.

"Later there was a night drill. Two in the morning, full gear, thirty-mile forced march. Halfway through, it started pouring. The trail turned to mud, guys ahead slipping and falling, guys behind stepping over them and pushing on. The soldier in front of me fell into a ditch. Not deep, but his foot got wedged between rocks and he couldn't get out. I went down to pull him up. Took us twenty minutes to climb back out, and by the time we caught up, the whole company was already at the assembly point. Just the two of us missing."

"The instructor made us run twenty laps around the field. By the time we finished, it was daylight. That soldier sat on the ground and said to me… bro, thanks."

Lucas rarely talked this much. Juliana leaned against the railing, head tilted, watching him.

"When I got discharged, he cried the hardest. I didn't cry, but it hurt. That feeling, how do I put it… you go through the worst with a group of people, eat the worst food, get drenched in the worst rain, and when you part ways you realize you'll never find another place in your life that makes you feel that grounded again."

Lucas turned to look at Juliana.

"Dami needs that. Not the hardship—he needs to find his own place. Home can't give him that."

Juliana's eyes were still red. "Dami's only thirteen."

"That's why he's going to the prep school first, not straight into the military. Clarence already thought it through for him. Build the foundation first, then decide the next step when he's old enough."

The night wind blew Juliana's hair across her face.

Lucas reached out and tucked that strand behind her ear.

"Let's go in. It's cold out here."

"Lucas."

"Yeah."

"Promise me something."

"What."

"After he goes, he has to call home once a week. Not calling you—calling me."

"I'll have the school arrange it."

Only then did Juliana turn to go inside.

"And one more thing."

"What."

"That scar of yours—let me look at it tomorrow."

Lucas followed her into the bedroom and closed the balcony door.

Juliana lay back on the bed. "Did you really throw up three times after running ten miles?"

"Clarence exaggerated. Twice."

Juliana let out a muffled laugh. The baby in her belly kicked again, not hard this time, like it was tired too—one kick and then quiet.

Juliana closed her eyes.

She couldn't bear it, but she knew some roads a child has to walk alone.

On the day of departure, Chloe was dragged along by Juliana.

Chloe grabbed Juliana's arm. "Quincy? Military school?"

"Prep school," Juliana corrected her. "Not exactly military school."

"Is there a difference?" Chloe lowered her voice. "How old is he?"

Chloe turned to look at Lucas, who was giving instructions to the driver, expression casual, like he was sending his kid to the corner store for a bottle of water.

Chloe turned back to Juliana. "He's… not even a little reluctant?"

Juliana tossed off a casual reply. "Lucas joined the military at nineteen. In his eyes, this is just getting started."

Chloe processed that and followed along.

……

The airport departure hall was crowded. Matthew had come along.

Damian didn't have much luggage.

Juliana helped tuck a scarf into the side pocket of his backpack.

"Is Quincy cold?" Chloe came over to ask him.

"A bit colder than here."

"Then bring something thicker." Chloe glanced at his backpack. "Does it fit?"

"It fits."

Chloe sighed. "Juliana, Damian's this grown and you've never had to lift a finger, have you? Pure genetics?"

Juliana didn't respond.

Chloe turned back to Damian. "Tell me the truth. Are you scared?"

Damian didn't answer, tilting his head slightly, jaw tight.

"Mr. Fisher said the first month would be hell. You believe him?"

"……"

"I'm asking if you believe him."

Damian hitched his backpack strap higher. "Mr. Fisher likes to exaggerate."

"What if he didn't exaggerate?" Chloe pressed. "What if three days in, you want to run?"

"Not gonna happen."

"How do you know?"

Damian turned to face her directly this time. "If I run, I won't have the nerve to face my mom when I come back."

Chloe raised an eyebrow, said nothing more, and turned to look at Juliana.

Juliana smiled at him.

……

Quincy was colder than expected.

After forty-some minutes of driving, the car turned onto a narrow road. At the end was an iron gate with a copper plaque—Riverton Military Prep Academy.

The car stopped at the entrance.

Lucas didn't move.

Juliana unbuckled her seatbelt, pushed the door open, and looked back at him. "You're not getting out?"

"You guys take him in."

Juliana froze.

"I'll wait in the car."

Damian leaned forward from the back seat and glanced at Lucas.

"It's Damian's first day. You're not going in to look around?" Juliana's tone wasn't friendly.

"No need."

Chloe nudged Juliana's arm from the back seat and said quietly, "Forget it, don't fight with him."

Juliana ignored her and said again, "Lucas, get out."

Lucas locked his phone screen and turned to look at her.

"Once he's in there, it's his business. If I go in and the school sees a parent's face, they'll give him special treatment. He won't feel right being in there."