“Juthtin!”
His face broke into a smile as he opened the door to Storm holding Cole in her arms with a smile on her face.
“Little Man!” He reached out and Storm handed him her son. He smiled at the boy for a moment before turning to Storm. “What time?”
She bit her lip. “I’m not sure . . . .”
He looked at her oddly. “Why? Aren’t you working?”
She shook her head and mouthed a silent “no.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “A boy?”
She blushed and nodded.
“Oooooh! A boy!” he directed at Cole, tickling his sides gently. Cole giggled and pounded his little fists gently against Justin’s chest. He turned his attention back to Storm. “So you don’t know?”
“Well . . . I mean . . . I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight . . . .”
“OH! ‘Nuff said. He can just spend the night. Come get him in the morning. We’ll watch Disney, right, Little Man?”
“YETH! Mommy, me an’ Juthtin watch da Mickey Mouse Club! Dey thing thongs and thtuff! My fav’ite is Bwitney!” Cole nodded his head in a proclamation.
Storm laughed softly. “That’s good, sweetheart,” she said. She leaned in and gave Cole a kiss on his forehead. “You be good for Justin, now.” She turned her eyes up to him. “No ice cream. You keep giving him overloads. And have him in bed by eight.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Justin had already turned around and was closing the door.
“I’ll see you at 9 AM!” she called after him. The door closed.
“Yeah, yeah,” he repeated. “What do you think, Little Man, you want some Dairy Queen?”
The little boy giggled. “ITHE CWEAM!”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He grabbed his keys and they were out the door.
Things were so screwed up. He didn’t understand his life.
He had been a depressed man, simply waiting for someone to walk into his life and sweep him off his feet like he was some chick. He should be happy. Because, see, it happened.
He’d just always expected a girl to be the one to do it, not a little boy.
He pondered Storm. What he had told Jackie all those weeks ago was a lie. “The One” was not the first person whom he kissed back at all. Kissing was an expression of affection. It didn’t really mean anything at all. Storm had proven that to him. He had kissed her, he had made love to her, and yet, she was not “The One.” He just cared for her. He knew that now. He understood now. He was changing.
He was really changing, and it really scared him.
But why resist it?
“Justin?” He rolled over to face the female voice, again forgetting that he had no clothes on.
“Yes?”
He had no fear. Whoever it was couldn’t hurt him. He honestly believed he could not feel physical pain.
She stepped into the moonlight and he found himself gazing at Karaleigh.
He sighed. Why couldn’t Chris just keep his girlfriends in a cage or something?
“Justin, I broke it off with Chris. I want to be with you.”
Again, he sighed. In a monotone, he replied. “But, Kara, I have a girlfriend. Plus, you are my best friend’s girlfriend. I couldn’t do that to him.”
“Oh, but Justin, I’ve loved you ever since I met you a month ago. All I can think of is you. Whenever I am making love to Chris, I imagine that it is you I am making love to.” She advanced to the bed and sat down, her eyes tracing down his naked body, liking all it took in.
“Karaleigh, get the fuck out of my house.”
Then, disaster struck.
“Justin, I’m leaving.”
His blue eyes traced up from the ground to her face. “What?”
She wrung her hands in front of her nervously. “I . . . I got offered a job in San Diego, and I’m going to take it. Cole . . . Cole deserves something better than what we’ve got here, so we’re leaving and I mean . . . I don’t want to just say goodbye forever, but . . . .”
“Goodbye forever is the best thing to say.” His mouth formed a thin line.
He could see tears in the corners of her eyes. “Yeah . . . yeah it is.”
He nodded, looking almost as if he were holding something back. “Ummm . . . when are you leaving?”
She smiled sadly and sighed. “We’re already packed. Um . . . we’re . . . we’re leaving today.”
“Today?” He looked almost angry. “How long have you known you were leaving?”
She cleared her throat and smoothed the front of her dress softly. “About two weeks.”
He couldn’t believe it. She would destroy his relationship with Cole without even giving him any kind of warning. She would just come here and tell him this big elaborate game was over and that he had less than an hour to say goodbye to the one child that had . . . . He shook his head.
“Where’s Cole?” he asked quietly.
“He’s outside, playing in the grass. You should go talk to him.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah.” With that, he left her in the kitchen, going to the door, and closing it softly behind him.
Cole was sitting in the grass, playing with the X-Men toys Justin had bought him. He glanced across the lawn to the car. Totally packed. He fought the urge to cry. Damn it.
“Hey, Little Man,” he said quietly.
Cole looked up. “Juthtin!” he exclaimed, holding up a toy to him with a huge smile on his face.
Justin took the toy silently and dropped onto the grass next to him. “Cole, listen to me for a second, ok?”
Cole was just beaming. It was obvious that he had no idea what was going on.
“Do you know where you’re going with Mommy today?”
“Califo’nia!”
Justin smiled softly. “Yeah, California.”
“And woo’ comin’ too, wight?”
His heart broke. Into too many pieces to count or even sweep up. Tears were threatening. “No, no, I’m not coming.”
Cole’s face lost its smile. “W . . . will we thee woo when we get back?”
He swallowed hard. “Um . . . .” He cleared his throat. “No, Cole. Um . . . you’re not coming back.”
Cole’s bottom lip began to tremble. “Woo mean I’m neve’ goin’ to thee woo ag’in?”
Justin shook his head. His eyes were soaked. “No, Little Man, I don’t think we’re ever going to see each other again.”
Cole’s face crumbled. Tears started springing from his eyes, and his mouth opened in a sob. “NO! NO! I don’t wanna leave, Juthtin! Don’t make me leave!”
He reached forward to Cole, the tears now running down his cheeks, as well. “Oh, Cole, come here.”
Cole was crying, and he grabbed onto Justin’s arms as if he’d never let them go, and let the man pull him into his lap. “But I don’ wanna leave woo, Juthtin!” He hiccupped and started crying again.
Justin rested his cheek against Cole’s head. “I know, Cole, I know.” He stroked his hand up and down Cole’s back, trying to soothe his tears away. “I love you, Little Man.”
“I wuv woo, too, Juthtin.”
He could feel Cole’s tears soaking through his sleeve, and his tears were soaking into Cole’s sandy hair. He opened his eyes for a moment, and saw Storm standing on the porch, her fingers pressed to her lips, tears streaming down her face. He just stared at her for a moment, clutching Cole’s heaving body to his own. Then, slowly, he held Cole out in front of him and looked at him.
“Cole, I want you to know that I’m never gonna forget you, all right? If you ever need anything, you just call me, ok? I’m always gonna be here for you, and I’ll always love you, all right, Little Man?”
Cole nodded, his lower lip puckered out, and his eyes red. “I don’ wanna leave, Juthtin.”
“I know, I know. But you have to.” He ran a hand through the little boy’s hair. “You have a good time in San Diego, all right?”
Cole nodded. “Ok, Juthtin.”
He smiled so sadly, and stood, holding Cole’s little hand in his. He picked up Cole’s toys and began to walk with him to the path leading from the door to her car. She stepped off of the porch and met them on the concrete, not saying a word as they walked to the car.
“Mommy . . . .” Cole whispered. She leaned down and picked him up, cradling him in her arms. Justin handed her his toys silently, swallowing sobs once again.
“If he EVER needs anything,” Justin started, his face completely serious. “Don’t you dare hesitate to call me. I’ll put him through school, I’ll buy him clothes . . . whatever he needs, all right, Storm? Don’t shut me out of his life, all right? Let me help.”
She nodded quickly, the tears drying on her cheeks. Cole turned around in her arms.
“Juthtin, do woo wemember when we went to the fai’?”
Justin nodded. “Of course I do, Little Man.”
“Wemember when woo told me that the fi’ewo’ks we’e in the heavens and that one day woo would take me the’e?”
He bit his lip, refusing sobs. “Yeah, yeah I do.”
“I’ll still thee woo the’e, wight?”
He just nodded. “Yeah. Yeah you will.”
Storm opened the car door and placed him into his car seat gently. She buckled him up and handed him his toys.
“JUTHTIN!” he yelled before she closed the door.
“Yeah?” He peered into the car.
“This fo’ woo.” And the little boy handed him Storm.
Justin accepted the gift, and leaned into the car, placing a kiss on the boy’s forehead. “Thanks, Cole,” he sighed.
“Woo welcome, Juthtin.”
He withdrew from the car, and brushed his fist under Cole’s chin once more before closing the door. He faced Storm.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me,” he whispered.
“I’m so sorry, Justin.”
He just nodded. He started to break down into tears and she stepped forward, putting her arms around him. He hugged her and sobbed into her shoulder. They stood briefly before pulling apart.
“Goodbye, Justin.”
He nodded. “Bye, Storm.”
She turned and went to the driver’s side of the car and opened the door. She paused. “You’re a good guy, you know. Really good.”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
She slipped into the car and shut the door. He tapped on Cole’s window softly and Cole looked out the window at him, smiling sadly. “Bye, Juthtin,” he saw him say.
“Bye, Little Man,” he whispered. And they were gone.
He started to get up when he heard a big bang. His eyes lifted to the sky, and he witnessed thousands of points of light exploding against the fading sunlight. Red, green, blue, yellow, white. All of the colors. They rained down on him like a hurricane, surrounding him, encompassing him. He lifted his face, and closed his eyes, his arms held out beside him. He spun slowly.
With a deep breath, he made a decision, and opened his eyes slowly, slight amusement on his features. He turned to go into the house.
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