Authors: E. M. Leya
"So he goes to his grandparent's tomorrow, right?" Evan asked watching as Jason joined a large game of tag.
"Yeah. I drop him off around ten. Pick him up Wednesday morning." He glanced over at Evan. "You're going to drop by their place right?"
"I am." Evan moved so he could lean against the wall of the church. "You okay with that?"
"Oh yeah. Actually glad about it. At least I know he will be happy with you there. I just hope he doesn't talk too much about how much time you've spent with us and cause any problems."
"I'm not too worried. I'm told to spend as much time with a family as I need to make a valid report on what I think is best for the child. I'll make sure to spend enough time over there to make them feel I am doing a fair job both places."
Travis shifted from foot to foot and ran his hand over his short hair. He was trying not to worry, but what if somehow Evan found Jason happier there.
"You're nervous about it, aren't you?"
Travis nodded. "I guess maybe I've become so attached to him already that the thought he might be taken from me or even be happier over there scares me."
"I wish I could say it will never happen, but even with my recommendations the court can do what it wants."
"I know. God's Will, right?"
"Right. Maybe praying on it more might help ease the tension."
"I pray anymore about it and God is liable to disconnect the line. I have to be one of His most frequent callers right about now."
Evan laughed. "That's a good thing."
Travis shrugged. Needing to think about something else he lowered his voice a bit. "So with Jason gone, I was wondering if you might want to come over for dinner tomorrow night. I know we don't dare go out, but I could cook and we could watch a movie or something."
Evan looked surprised by the request, his eyes going wide as he glanced around them. "You know how much trouble we will be in if this gets out."
"Then we don't let it get out. I'll send the guys home early that night. No one will be around." He really hoped that he would say yes. He needed something, anything, to go right.
Evan looked like he was going to refuse for a moment, pushing away from the wall and turning away from Travis. Running his hand through his hair, he let out a heavy sigh. "I shouldn't be doing this, but yes. I would love to come to dinner." He smiled. "We have to be so careful." He shook his head and laughed. "We have to be crazy."
They might be crazy, but it felt right. Travis grinned. "Good. And I promise you, no one will find out." His heart beat as if this was the first time he had asked someone out. "You like Italian?"
"Love it." Evan rested his shoulder back against the wall. "Want me to bring anything?"
"Just you."
Jason dashed into the kitchen, already in his swimming trunks. "What time is Evan coming?" He reached up grabbing a piece of bacon off the plate next to where Travis was making BLT's for dinner.
"He said he would be here about six." Travis playfully swatted at his hand. "Wait for dinner."
"But it's bacon."
"And you need the lettuce and tomato to make it healthy." Travis popped his own piece of bacon into his mouth.
"Hey, no fair."
Travis laughed as he chewed. "Grab me the mayonnaise out of the fridge, will ya, please."
"Don't talk with your mouth full, Uncle Trav." Jason teased.
Travis swallowed. "I'm supposed to be saying those things to you."
They laughed, joked, and played around as they finished making the sandwiches. As they did, all Travis could think about was his date with Evan the next night. Sure he was coming by tonight as well, but they had Jason with them. Tomorrow, it would just be the two of them.
Jason jumped down from his stool as a knock came on the door. "I got it."
"Make sure you ask who it is." Travis called after him.
A few minutes later Jason and Evan came walking back in. Evan held a small gym bag and set it aside before coming to the counter where Travis was cleaning up.
"Bacon." Evan reached for a leftover slice.
"Hey! I just got after Jason for doing that." Travis grabbed the plate and slid it aside with a playful smile.
"You can't refuse me bacon." Evan clutched his hands over his heart as if in pain.
Travis rolled his eyes. "Fine. You two finish it off." He moved the plate back. "But you still have to eat your sandwich, Jason. No pulling off the tomato."
"Hey, no fair. You didn't tell Evan he couldn't," Jason complained.
Travis turned to Evan with a mock stern look. "No pulling off your tomato."
Evan reached over and snatched a slice of tomato off another plate and held it up. "I wouldn't dream of it." He dangled the tomato in Travis's face.
Travis leaned forward, tilted his head and took the tomato from Evan's fingers with his mouth, chewing and swallowing it before smiling.
The intimacy of the act wasn't missed by either man as they stared at each other, but Jason laughed beside them, ruining the moment.
Travis used the back of his hand to wipe off the juice that dripped over his lips as he continued to stare at Evan. "Did you bring your suit?"
"Got it in the bag."
"Let's go change, and then we can eat by the pool." Travis looked over at Jason. "You want to grab several towels while we change?"
"Sure." Jason ran off.
"You can use the bathroom down the hall." He led him from the room to show him.
Evan grabbed his bag and followed.
As Evan changed, Travis rushed up to his room to do the same. As he pulled his suit on, he smiled as he thought about how comfortable he was with Evan. And it wasn't just him. Jason seemed drawn to him as well. Despite the case hanging over his head, he could almost put the custody battle out of his mind when Evan was with them.
Once changed, he made his way back downstairs to find Evan and Jason both carrying things out to the patio beside the pool. He grabbed the plate of sandwiches and took them with him as he moved past Evan, trying not to stare at the way a light mass of hair covered his chest and trailed down over his stomach. His own body stirred as he thought about brushing his fingers through it.
Turning away, he took several steadying breaths as he grabbed the iced tea and several plastic cups to bring outside too.
"Thanks again for making this. I'm going to owe you a week's worth of meals after all this." Evan took a seat.
"Hopefully you will have plenty of time to pay me back." Travis took a seat beside him. "Jason, come eat." He called over his shoulder to the boy who was wandering closer to the pool. "You know you have to eat first."
Jason came running over with Flossie following him. Travis shook his head. The dog was no longer his. She belonged to Jason. One more thing Jason would lose if he had to go live with the Steeles.
Everyone reached for the sandwiches and started to eat in silence. Travis raised a brow as Jason pulled his sandwich apart, but smiled as he started to eat it section by section, only sneaking the crust from his bread to the dog at his feet.
"Flossie isn't going to know what to do without you for the next few days." Evan poured himself some more tea.
"I was just thinking that I no longer have a dog. She belongs to him. I don't remember the last time she slept in my room for the night." Travis wiped some mayonnaise from his fingers.
"Can I take her with me to Grandma's?" Jason asked.
"I would let you, but I don't think Grandma would be too happy about it." Travis told him. "But I do need to talk to you about something before you go." He glanced up at Evan.
"What?" Jason asked.
Travis took a deep breath and tossed his napkin down on the table. "I don't want you to worry, but I want to explain some things to you before you hear them from your grandparents. First is Evan. He is going to drop by your grandparents while you are there and I need you to know why."
"You're coming to Grandma's?" Jason looked excited.
"For a few hours." Evan smiled. "But listen to your uncle first, okay."
Jason nodded, looking back at Travis.
"Your grandparents are trying to make it so you live with them and not with me. Evan is in charge of seeing what it's like for you at both places and helping to make the decision on where you are going to live." Travis fisted his cup, hating that he needed to talk to Jason about this at all.
"But I want to live here." Jason sat up straighter, pulling his hand from the dog and resting it on the table. "I will just tell Grandma and Grandpa I want to stay here."
"It's not that easy. You can try to tell them, but I'm not sure they will listen. Anyway, that is why Evan is here, and why he will be dropping by your grandparents. I just didn't want you to be surprised when he suddenly showed up there."
"But I don't want to live with them." Jason's voice held a slight tone of panic.
"It's okay, Jas. I am doing all I can to make sure you can stay here. Your mommy and daddy wanted you to stay here. I think your grandparents just miss you, and want you with them. I promise to do everything possible to keep you here with me." Travis reached across the table and took Jason's hand. "I want you here with me, too, Cowboy."
Tears filled Jason's eyes. "I don't want to go over there. What if they don't let me come back?"
Evan shook his head. "They can't keep you until the judge makes his decision, and that won't happen for a while yet. You will be back here Wednesday."
"Can't you just tell them I don't want to live there?" Jason looked at Evan.
"You can tell them that, but it's my job to just see how you live at both places. When I'm there with you, I don't want you to act any different than you would normally."
"Is that why Grandma was so mad at you at church today?"
Travis nodded. "Yes, that was some of it."
Jason pulled his hand free and swiped the back of his hand over his eyes. "They can't make me stay there. I won't stay there."
Travis's heart broke watching the tears fall from the boy's eyes. "I know, Jas. And I will do all I can to make sure you don't have to stay there. But right now we just have to wait. I want you to go to their house tomorrow and have fun. I don't want you to think about any of this. I just wanted you to know why Evan was going to show up."
Jason looked at Evan. "So you're not really my uncle's friend?"
Evan smiled and glanced at Travis. "I came here to do a job, but once I got to know you and your uncle I became friends with you both. I promise that once this case is over and we have everything worked out, I will still come by and visit you guys."
Travis reached over and took Evan's hand. "Do you think Evan would come over and swim with us or go horseback riding if he didn't like us? He would just drop in, look around and leave."
"I'm not going anywhere, Jason." Evan gave Travis's hand a squeeze.
"My mom and dad said they would never leave me." Tears fell hard down Jason's cheeks.
Travis released Evan's hand and was around the table on his knees and pulling Jason into a tight hug as fast as he could. "Your mom and dad didn't want to leave you, Jas. It was a horrible accident. They love you so much and would be here with you if they could. They didn't leave you. They are with God now."
"I miss them." Jason smeared his wet face over Travis's chest.
Tears stung Travis's eyes. "I miss them, too. And that is okay. You will always miss them. But it will get easier. You and I are going to help each other get over losing them and missing them, okay?"
Jason nodded and sniffed. "I'm mad at God."
Travis pulled back. "Why?"
"Cause my Sunday school teacher said that God needed my mommy and daddy and called them home. So I'm mad that God took them from me. I needed them. God should have took someone else."
Travis pulled back, stunned to hear Jason say such a thing, but at the same time understanding his anger. What he didn't know, was how to explain to him that this wasn't God's fault and somehow find a way to make it so that Jason didn't go through his life blaming God for his parent's death.
"Jason. You can't be mad at God. You don't know His plans. We don't know why the accident happened or why your mom and dad died. Isn't it unfair to blame God when you don't have all the facts? Would your mom want you blaming God?" Travis wished he had more background and faith to know better how to handle this, especially at a six-year-old level.
He glanced up at Evan again, seeing his worry matched in his eyes.
Evan leaned forward and spoke softly. "Jason. I know it's hard to understand, and right now, not a lot of this makes sense. It's hard for us to understand, too, but you need to remember, God's ways are not our ways and there is always more to things than we know or see. God didn't do this to hurt you. He loves you." Evan smiled as Jason looked over at him. "You have to remember, you're not alone. Your uncle is hurting, too. It's good that you finally opened up and told him how you feel. Now the two of you can find a way to deal with the pain together."
Jason lifted his head, his blond hair falling down over his eyes, reminding Travis he needed to get the boy a haircut.
"You miss my mom and dad, too?" He looked up at Travis with swollen eyes.
"Horribly. I used to talk to your mom all the time. I would call her almost every day. I miss hearing her laugh and telling me about all the new things you were doing." Travis grasped both of Jason's hands in his. "You know you can talk about your parents anytime you want. It's okay to miss them and even better to remember them. We will make it through this together. Okay, Cowboy?"
Jason sniffed again but nodded. "Okay."
"Now you still want to swim?" Travis released his hands and stood.
"Yeah."
"Good cause I don't think Evan has seen your new trick."
Jason smiled, turning to Evan and sniffed, whipping his wrist under his nose. "I can do somersaults in the water."
Evan stood and moved toward the pool. "Show me. Last one in…" His voice faded as he jumped into the water.