Chapter Ten
Philip
The days that we had school field trips at the station were always exciting. I'd always liked kids and showing off some of the cool things that we had was always fun, as long as we didn't have a call that day.
Having Christopher and his class come in was like a dream come true for me. I felt like I could show off for my son and his friends. After all, what child didn't dream of growing up to be a fireman? And I actually was one.
I stared out the second-floor window of the firehouse, waiting for the bus to arrive. When it finally did, I waited to make my entrance. Our station had an old fashioned fire pole. We didn't actually use it, except for fun. We had stairs for regular travel between the floors. But as soon as I heard the kids coming in through the open bay door on the first floor, I grabbed hold of the pole and slid down. I wore my turnout gear pants and a white t shirt.
At some point during the tour me, or one of the other guys, would dress in full turnout gear to show the kids what all it entails.
I hit the floor and looked at the surprised faces of twenty-two five-year-olds. I immediately caught my son's wide eyes. I flashed him a grin and a wink. Then I saw his Omega dad standing directly behind him, looking sexy as ever. And based on the look on his face, he was having the same thought about me.
Mission accomplished.
“Hi kids,” I said. “You guys want to learn about being a firefighter?”
There were plenty of nods and shouts of “Yes!”
Christopher's grin was almost wider than his face. His eyes were scrunched together from excitement. “All right, let's take our tour. Let me show you around.”
I showed the kids where we slept, ate, and played games in between our calls. Then we got down to the serious stuff. My coworker Cameron, the only Omega on the crew, came down to help show and explain our turnout gear. No one would guess that Cam was an Omega. The guy was more muscular than me, and he stood at least two inches taller than my six foot.
I took each piece of equipment and explained what it was, what it did, and what we had to check on it to make sure it was safe to use before a fire. Then I passed around the helmet for the kids to hold so they could take turns putting it on. Of course, I gave Christopher my helmet and jacket to wear.
Ollie and I both looked at him dressed in my turnout gear and snapped a few pictures.
I wanted to pull Ollie into my arms just then so we could savor our cute little family moment, but I knew it wouldn't be appropriate given the setting. I settled for squeezing his hand instead.
When all the kids went with Cameron to look at the fire truck, I stayed behind and gave Ollie a quick hug.
“How has the day been so far?” I asked.
“Long,” he said. “Not going to lie, I'm exhausted.”
“You look a little tired.”
“Well, I was pretty busy all weekend doing things I hadn't done in a long time.”
I raised eyebrow and looked at him.
“Painting,” he said.
“Right,” I said, and I gave him an exaggerated nod. “We still on for Thursday? I wish I could come over tonight, but I'm on for the next three days.”
“I know. It's fine,” he said. “Thursday sounds great. Maybe you could stay over.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“I'd like that. Do you think Christopher will mind?”
“No,” Ollie said. “He'll be ecstatic. He'll probably invite you to move in with us.”
“I wouldn't say no to that.”
Ollie bit his lip. “It's a little too soon.”
“I know,” I said. “I was just teasing. I'll go at whatever pace you want. You're calling the shots here, Omega-mine.”
He nudged my shoulder. “Come on. We've got to get back to the class or our son might get himself into some mischief.”
I chuckled. “Please. Our son is a saint.”
“Ha!” Ollie said. “Let me tell you some stories about how that's not the case. Which reminds me, I brought something for you.”
“What is it?” I asked.
The two of us began walking toward where the class was. Cameron had taken the kids to the other side of the truck and was currently answering questions.
Ollie pulled something out of his pocket and held it out to me. It was a flash drive.
“What’s on it?” I asked.
“Every picture and every video that I've ever taken of Christopher. These are all copies, so this is yours to keep.”
I looked at it like it was the most important thing in the world to me, and I plucked it out of his hand. “Thank you,” I breathed. “This is amazing. I can't wait to take a look at them.”
“Well, it might take you a few days. I got a little camera happy his first few weeks.”
“I noticed that. Pretty sure we didn’t even get through his first year when you were showing me pictures this weekend.”
“Yeah, there might be around thirty pictures a day until he was three.”
I blinked back tears. “Thank you,” I said again.
He smiled. “Not a problem.”
***
I didn't even bother going back to my apartment after work two days later. I went straight to Ollie's house to see him and Christopher. When I got there it was later than I normally arrived, but I was surprised to find the house quiet. I walked right in, not bothering to knock, and found Ollie sitting on the couch with an open bottle of beer in his hand. He had papers all over the coffee table.
“What's going on?” I asked. “Where's Christopher?”
Ollie groaned. “Sorry, I meant to text you. Christopher was in a mood tonight. So, he unfortunately got sent to bed early. He refused to eat his dinner, demanded I let him watch videos on my phone and tried to sneak a popsicle out of the freezer after I’d told him no. He threw a fit when I took it from him. So, off to bed he went.”
“Sorry, I missed it. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Ollie said. “He's just a five-year-old in a grumpy mood. I'm sure you'll get to see your fair share of temper tantrums.”
Oddly enough, I looked forward to that. I wanted to experience all that parenthood had to offer. “Yeah. Well, I wish there was something I could do.”
Ollie grinned. “You can be here in the morning and tell him that he needs to eat his breakfast. At one point tonight, he told me that he never wanted to see me again.”
I sucked in a breath. That sounded awful. “How did you handle that?”
Ollie shrugged. “Same way that I always do: explain to him that words have an impact and it's okay to be in a bad mood, but he can't treat people poorly. He'll apologize tomorrow.”
“All right, if you say so.” I sat down on the couch next to him and pulled him into my arms. He rested his head against my chest.
“How was your shift?”
“Good.” I said. “Nothing too exciting. I volunteered to take an extra shift on Saturday, so I'll be working then but it won't be a full three days, just a twenty-four hour rotation.”
“You'll be here Sunday, right? We were going to go to that children's museum, remember?”
I squeezed him tighter. “Yeah,” I said. “I'll be here for that. That’s going to be a lot of fun.”
“Yeah, it will be,” Ollie said.
“Are you still working on the daycare paperwork?” I gestured to the sheets of paper that covered the coffee table.
“No,” he said slowly. “I've got all of that done and filed away. I was just going over some of the town budgeting stuff that doesn't make sense.”
“What do you mean?” I pulled back to look at him.
He sat up right. “Well, it's just that I was talking with the librarian, Mrs. Smith, and she made it sound like they have to pay fees and taxes on the money that they fundraise, which doesn't make any sense because money that's donated doesn't get taxed. I wanted to see for myself what was going on. Sure enough, they’re paying fees on it, but I can't see anywhere where that amount is allocated in the budget.”
“That doesn't make any sense,” I said.
“I know. I wanted to talk to you about that. Have you spoken with your dad lately?”
“No,” I said. “I haven't even gone over there for Sunday dinners like I usually do. I’ve talked to my mom a few times. But Dad had a conference or something and he's been busy with other stuff. So, I just haven't talked to him.”
Ollie bit his lip and looked away. I tucked a finger under his chin and tilted his face toward me. “What is it?”
“While I was at town hall, getting the copy of the budget, I did see that he filed the paperwork for you to run for mayor. If you didn’t apply, then I’m pretty sure your dad did for you. I wanted to make sure you didn’t change your mind and decide to run.”
“What the fuck? No,” I said. “I have no desire to do that. I've told him that a thousand times.”
“Philip,” Ollie said. “Is it possible that your dad is… I mean, I don't know where this money is going…” He gestured to the papers on the counter. “And I talked with the school administrators, the librarian, all of them have said they had to pay fees on the money that they've fundraised, but I don't know where that money is going. And their budgets have been cut year after year.”
“What are you saying?” I asked.
Ollie took a deep breath and met my eyes. “I think your dad’s embezzling money from the town. He probably has been for years.”
I stood. “The fuck he is. I know he's gone off the deep end about this mayor thing, sure. And he wants me to take over. But that's just because everybody in our family has been a mayor for the past four generations.”
“Right? And no one really questions the decisions your dad makes about town,” Ollie said.
“Ollie, no. My dad wouldn't do that. He loves this town.”
Ollie stood and grasped my shoulders. “I know this sucks to hear. But you know what your dad is capable of. I mean, the man gave me a check hoping I would terminate my pregnancy, in order to get out of town.” He sighed and looked away. “I just think it bears looking into.”
“No,” I said. “He wouldn't do that. He couldn't do that. And just because you and my dad don't get along, doesn't mean you can accuse him of embezzling money from the town that he has served for the past thirty years.”
Ollie set his jaw and stared at me hard. “Why don't you look over the paperwork and let me know what you think. Okay?”
I shook my head and stepped away. “No, I don't need to look it over. I know my dad and he wouldn't do that. Let's talk about something else.”
“Let’s talk about something else,” Ollie said.
“Maybe it's be best if I just go home.” I shook my head, trying to clear it. My fingers itched to pick up the papers on the table and toss them in the trash, that would make it easier for me to continue denying the truth in front of me.
“That's probably a good idea,” Ollie said. “It's been a crap day and it doesn't seem like it's going to get any better.” He sat back down on the couch, grabbed the remote, and flipped on the TV.
I stood there for a moment, stunned into silence, unsure of what to say, knowing that I’d botched the situation horribly.
“I'll call you tomorrow,” I said and turned to leave.
Ollie let me go without another word.