Chapter 9
Jacob arrived at the daycare only to have a very sad little boy hop into the passenger seat next to him.
“What’s up buddy?” he asked and turned Jacob.
“Nothing,” he said as he folded his arms.
“Sure ain’t nothing, why don’t you tell me?” he prompted again.
Jacob dug into his backpack and held out a note, it was a note about the daycare’s annual Father and Son Camping Evening, and he could only surmise that Jacob was sad because he didn’t have a dad to hang out with him. He could only figure that Chris may have been the only father figure he ever had, but whether or not he ever did things like this with Jacob was a mystery to him.
“So this Father Son thing, you wanna go?”
“I can’t,” he said with a pouty lip.
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t have a daddy.”
Joe’s heart went out to the little boy and as he read the note it was quite clear that only dads were allowed, and he wasn’t Jacob’s dad or legal guardian. It irritated him that the school would be so callous and uncaring.
“Come along,” he said and got out of the car then rounded it and picked Jacob out. Without a second thought he marched straight to the small office. Mothers and teachers alike stared at him as if he was a piece of candy, and he smirked inwardly. If ever his fame was going to count for something, today would be it.
“I’d like to talk to the principle please,” he said as he entered the foyer.
“How can I help?” the elderly lady asked.
“So, this is how I see it, Jacob here would like to attend the father and son evening, and I’ll be standing in for his dad,” he started.
“Mr...”
“Landers, Joe Landers.”
“Mr Landers, unfortunately only…”
“I don’t think you’re following me,” he looked down at Jacob, “why don’t you go wait on the bench and I’ll handle this,” then turned back, “So this is how it will be working. I’m currently the only father Jacob has, his mother is unfortunately in hospital and his legal guardian is away, so I will be attending the father and son evening with Jacob.”
“Well Mr. Landers, I’m sure that Jacob would love to attend, but the rules…”
Joe’s patience was running thin, it was time he pulled a trump card out, “Listen, it’s obvious that you have no idea who I am, but that’s fine, you can figure it out later. Now I see the playground is in much need of some serious maintenance, and I’m more than happy to fund a renovation if you let me attend the event with my… Jacob.”
The woman peered at him over the brim of her glasses, and if looks could kill he would be six feet under right now, but he wasn’t going to let some stuck up lady prevent Jacob from having a great time, he was just about to continue when another woman exited the office.
“Mary, thank you, I’ll talk to Mr. Landers,” she said and then looked up at him, “I’m Mrs. Denton, the principle of Bright Stars Daycare, how can I assist you today?”
He just promised some nobody a refurbished playground? He rolled his eyes mentally and squared his shoulders.
“Mrs. Denton, I was just explaining to, Mary, that I will be attending the father and son evening with Jacob, so if you can just confirm this, I will be on my way.”
The woman stood quietly for a moment before nodding her head, “Of course,” she said and ever so casually hooked her arm in his and guided him towards the exit, “Perhaps you can consider spending some time with the other boys too, I’m sure they would love to have such a famous baseball player in their midst.”
Un-bloody-believable, he thought to himself, the audacity of these people simply bowled him over, but if that’s what it took to have Jacob at the father and son evening, then so be it. But once Lucy was out of hospital he was going to insist she find another daycare, even if he had to pay for it. He was not going to allow Jacob to be educated by a bunch of idiots.
***
The father and son evening was a blast, and although he had to spend time pitching and playing with the other boys and dads, he got to spend some real quality time with Jacob. Of course, the other kids were fussing over him and just about every single one of them tried to arrange for sleep overs at Jacob’s place. In less than a day Jacob had turned from an insignificant nobody in their eyes to popular. It wasn’t exactly the best thing, since the last thing Joe wanted were for kids to befriend Jacob solely for his association with a famous baseball player. But nevertheless, Jacob was in his element and Joe was sure that Lucy had raised him to not get a swelled head over a little attention.
By seven the next morning, Joe had packed up the tent and was ready to head on back to Lucy’s apartment, he needed some serious down time to recharge his batteries. It didn’t take long for Jacob to pass out once they were home and settled and although Joe wanted to sleep as well, he couldn’t. He spent the morning tidying up the place. While he tidied the kitchen he noticed a pile of documents lying in the corner on the counter. Some envelopes with big red stamps screaming out OVERDUE, and others that appeared less intimidating, but he could only guess these were all bills and by the weight of all the overdue envelopes, she was not able to pay them. He shouldn’t be meddling with her personal affairs, but after the pile called out to him a second and third time, he gave up the fight.
She might hate him for a brief moment in time, but once she realized that she has no more debt, she’ll eventually come around and thank him.
He worked his way down the pile listing the accounts that needed immediate settlement and emailed them to his manager to handle, who of course couldn’t understand why he was taking on a charity case. But no one told him how to run his finances, or what to do with his money.
A particular piece of paper caught his eye, it was Jacob’s birth certificate with only Lucy’s details on it, she had made no mention of the father, which he found quite odd, but then again, he had no idea how these things worked anyway. Jacob Daniel Conlay, he smirked at that. Daniel was his middle name too, a warm fuzzy feeling settled in his stomach and he kept on reading over the details. Date of birth – 13 June 2012. It dawned on him that he never once bothered to ask Lucy exactly how old Jacob was. For a four year old boy, he was pretty clued in with life and much more mature about matters than he would expect from a toddler. He piled the birth certificate with the rest of the papers and gathered it all up then stuck it back in the corner. Once she finds out that she has no more debt she can have a go at him, but for now, he was simply going to pretend he had no clue.