“Darren, somebody left a really strange message on your answering machine today.”
Kelly gazed at Darren with concern. She didn’t understand the ancient shifter language the person had used to leave the message, but she could tell by their tone that whatever was going on, it was serious.
Darren nodded and played the message back, frowning deeply when he did so.
“What’s going on?” Kelly asked, her eyes wide with concern. Did it have something to do with the dangerous dragon shifters that were known to roam throughout the area?
“We have to go now.”
“But…”
“I said now, Kelly!” Darren barked, heading out the door. “Get your coat.”
She grabbed her jacket and followed him outside, feeling slightly stunned by his outburst. It hurt her feelings, but it also concerned her. He wasn’t usually this aggressive. Something big must be happening. Her thoughts turned, once again, to the dragon shifters. Was something happening? Were they coming out and wreaking havoc? Did she have to be concerned?
“Get in the car, Kelly,” Darren said, he was already slamming his door shut and turning the key in the ignition. Kelly got into the vehicle and closed the door, just as Darren began to whip out of the driveway. She was deeply concerned by his intense driving. Usually, he seemed so much more careful and conscientious. Now, he seemed to be in a blind fury.
“What’s wrong?” she finally asked. She had been afraid he would snap at her, but she couldn’t stand being in the dark any longer.
“It’s Jacob.”
“Jacob?” Kelly asked, arching her brow. The little boy that Darren had mentored? What could possibly be going on with him?
“What happened with Jacob?”
“His foster parents were the scumbags I was afraid they were. Apparently, they changed their minds about keeping him and he was just placed back in the children’s home.”
“What the hell is wrong with those guys? Jacob is such a sweet little kid!”
“Yeah, you and I both know that. And most other people would too. But some guys out there are just scumbags. It doesn’t matter. They don’t care about anybody but themselves. And somebody like Jacob, in their eyes, is more like some mooch they can use to try and feel better about their lives and to give them some semblance of power.”
Darren was growling as he spoke, keeping his eyes glued on the road ahead of him. “First, I’m going to go kick his former foster father’s ass. And then, I’m going to go see how he’s doing.”
“I’m sure he’s really upset,” Kelly said quietly. “Maybe we should see Jacob first and then deal with the foster parents later.”
“If we deal with him later, my anger will have time to stew, and then I might actually kill them.”
“Okay, sounds like you know what you’re doing. I don’t want to see you do anything that’s going to make everybody forget all the progress you’re making.”
Darren eyed Kelly quietly. He did not like being second-guessed. He really wanted to go and give Jacob’s foster parents a piece of his mind. He would’ve done anything to protect that child.
But Kelly was right, and he would only be hurting himself and his reputation by encouraging everybody around them to think he was a loose cannon who was incapable of any kindness and compassion. Anybody who had ever seen him with her would know he was more than capable and more than willing to be able to express love for another. And it was a deep kind of love too. The kind that made everybody else jealous.
Kelly didn’t want him to throw all of that away. She was relieved when he kept driving and his breathing grew even. Finally, he took a sharp turn, and they headed down the road toward the children’s home rather than that direction of the park where they had been playing with Jacob.
“You’re finally here. He has been devastated. We wanted to get you here much sooner.”
“I’m sorry,” Darren said miserably. “I had some errands to run. I didn’t know that this was going on until just now.”
“Well, we understand that. But the child may not as much. However, he will be very pleased to see you. Why don’t you come inside, and we will get the boy ready to visit with you?”
Kelly and Darren waited patiently as the directors of the home retrieved Jacob and brought him into the small room where Darren and Kelly were waiting for him. There was a supervisor standing in the back of the room, gazing at them from behind a desk.
When Jacob finally arrived, Darren stood up and walked slowly to the door. His eager emotions were not on display for the child, probably because he didn’t want to alarm the poor boy about his anxious state of mind. Kelly couldn’t help but admire him for that. She watched the scene unfold with a breaking heart. Poor Jacob. But he was still smiling when he saw Darren, and he approached him with a big hug.
Kelly wished that she could reach out and show the small little person some tenderness. She would do anything if she could take his pain away.
“How you holding up, kiddo?” Darren asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t like it here. I want to go back with the Garrison’s house.”
Darren let out a low growl that brought the look of fear into the small boy’s eyes. “Screw the Garrisons! I should go beat them to a pulp.”
“Don’t do anything like that,” Jacob said, frowning. “You said that you have to control your temper. And that you make enemies when you don’t.”
“I’m really glad to hear that you’ve been listening,” Darren said, smiling kindly at the child. “You’re right. I made a good choice today. You would be proud of me.”
“What choice?” Jacob asked eagerly.
“I was thinking about going and beating up your foster father for being mean to you. But Kelly over there reminded me of the same thing that I tell you. It’s better to do things calm. Never make important choices when you are feeling out of control. That’s when things go bad. Right?”
“Right,” Jacob said. “Darren?”
“What is it little guy?” Darren asked, ruffling Jacob’s hair.
“Can you come home with you and Kelly?”
Kelly’s heart nearly shattered at the question, and she exchanged a quick, worried look with Darren. Darren looked down at the boy.
“Well, I’m not sure what’s going to happen right now. We’re going to have to sleep on it. There is a lot of stuff that we have to do that is out of our control if we’re going to even think about something like that. Paperwork things in business things. I don’t quite know how to explain it.”
“It’s a process,” Kelly offered gently.
“A process,” Jacob said, nodding as if he understood. “So, after the process happens then I can come with you maybe?”
“Maybe,” Darren said, tugging Jacob into a brief hug.
“So how are you holding up in here anyway? Is everybody being nice to you?”
“Yeah, mostly. I just got here again so, I’m not really sure how things are going to go this time yet. There’s always different people here.”
Darren nodded. “Yeah, I know how it is. But it’s going to be fine. But don’t you just try and get some sleep. It’s getting late. And we will talk about everything and see what happens.”
“Okay,” Jacob said, beaming of the Darren. He seemed to have complete and total faith that everything was going to work out for the best, and both Darren and Kelly gave him hugs goodbye before they left.
When they were back in the car, Darren sighed heavily and cast a glance over Kelly. He offered her his hand, and she took it, squeezing him gently. They sat in the parking lot holding hands for quite a while.
“I want to take him,” Darren said, his voice low and resolute.
“You want to take him?” Kelly asked, unable to hide her surprise.
“Yes. I want him to live with us. We have the spare bedrooms.”
Kelly opened and closed her mouth. “You’re right. We should do it. I’m ready.”
Darren gazed at her, his eyes wide. “You’re ready to have a family with me?”
“I’m ready, Kelly said. Her eyes were bright and clear. She had never been so sure about anything in her life.
“This is going to be forever, you know. I’m not going to just foster him. I’m going to adopt him. I want him to live with me. He needs something like this. He needs a family.”
“All of us need a family,” Kelly said softly, gripping Darren’s hands tightly and hers. He gave her a deep, knowing smile, and they got out of the car, walking together back into the office to talk about how to file for their adoption.