Fourth Down - 13. Chapter 13

“Hunter McIntosh is in the interview room now, and is ready for us.” Says Detective Bullock, as he prepares a few coffees. Four I notice. The victim must have either bought his own counsel or a friend to support him.

“Let me help you with those.” I say as I see Bullock struggling to find a tray.

“Thanks,” He says, “, So are you up to date on the case?”

“Not as much as I would like.” I reveal, “Got handed it last second last night, so only read the preliminary.” I say not wanting to say more because of the sensitive nature of the case. The thought of what occurred makes me shudder.

“Here we are.” Bullock says as he opens the door, leading to the young man I am meeting today.”

Upon entering, I almost drop the hot drinks I am carrying in shock, as sitting before me is my youngest son, not only is he here, but he is holding the hand of the victim. Already I am put in a difficult situation, and with his protective body language, it is rather clear they are in a relationship.

“Dale?” Comes the shocked words from my mouth.

“Oh, hi Dad.” He smiles broadly to me.

Yup this is going to be difficult.

Placing the coffees down, both the Detective and I take our seats at the table.

“Is this going to be a conflict of interest?” The Detective asks worriedly, which he has every right to.

“Quite possibly,” I say, “, I am probably going to have to recuse myself…”

“Why?” Asks Hunter, the look on his face shows just how scared he is.

“Because of your relation to my son.” I say as gently as possible. “You being a friend of my son’s makes this personal, even more so, if I'm guessing correctly here, you are my son's boyfriend.”

“Oh.” Is all he says, looking a little deflated, probably feeling like he is being abandoned. I also notice Dale’s thumb making little circles on Hunter’s hand, in an effort to comfort him. He has always been quite perceptive.

“It’ll be ok.” I try to relay to the young man who seems to have captured my son’s heart. It’s pretty clear really. “We will get things rolling today, then after this meeting, I’ll get the second best prosecutor for your case.”

“Second best?” Hunter asks, confused.

“Don’t worry, Babe, Dad is just trying to imply that he is the best.” Dale smirks in my direction.

“Oh.” Hunter says, a slight smile forming on his young face.

As the meeting goes on, I am learning more of what occurred to Hunter, and how it was Dale who in the end saved him. I could not be more proud of my son.

“So the Detective and I had a little chat this morning with Mayson. Mr Priestly’s version of events seem to corroborate yours, especially after he realised we had him backed into a corner.”

“So mayson is going to jail?” Hunter asks.

“Yes. For how long? That will be up to the judge, and the prosecutor who takes my place.”

“What if he says that he is not guilty, like in those law and order type shows?” He asks

“Well then we will fight in court and he will lose. It will also be made very clear to him that it won’t be in his best interests to do so.” I inform.

Hunter just nods his head.

“Well then, it looks like we have sorted out everything.” I say as I gather my things, getting ready to leave.

“Hope you boys have a good evening, and Peterson, I’ll talk to you later about the case.” Bullock says before he leaves me alone with my son and his boyfriend.

“Are you boys doing anything tonight?”

“Um… we were just going to hang out with our friends back at ours.” Dale says.

“Ours?” I enquire. So this is the friend that Dale had move in with him. It makes sense really after what Hunter had been through, and we trusted Dale’s judgment on the matter that we never questioned him. Only that this friend needed a place to stay, and that he trusted this person.

“Uh yea, Hunter was the guy I was talking about moving in with me.”

“But you said you were moving your friend in, not your boyfriend.” I tease.

Dale blushes before responding, “We were just friends when he moved in. Our becoming boyfriends is a fairly recent thing.

Smiling, I look at Hunter, “Well Hunter. It was really nice meeting you, just wish it was under better circumstances.”

With that we shook hands, then giving Dale a hug, I add, “Well then, Dinner will be at seven sharp, and bring your friends. Your Mother will be most excited about the news of her baby, finally bringing a boy over to meet the parents.” before leaving them.

***

So that was Dale’s father. I knew he and his mother are lawyers, and that Dale wants to follow in his parent’s footsteps. But I never thought that I would be meeting him like this. After Dale confirmed that this was indeed his father, I was incredibly anxious and embarrassed. I never really wanted his parents to know what happened to me, but now his father knows all the ugly details.

My feelings of unease were soon erased as we talked about what had happened to me, and what we should expect going forward. All too soon we were saying goodbye to Mr Peterson. Once he left the room, it hit me. I had just met Dale’s father, and it seemed like he liked me. He had also invited us to dinner tonight, which left me feeling slightly anxious. Would I have the same reaction of acceptance from his mother? Would she even like me? Would she approve of a man dating her son? Would she approve of a rape victim, someone who is damaged goods, dating her son?

“Hunter.” Dale broke through my thoughts. Cupping the side of my face with his palm he added, “It will be ok, Mom is going to love you, almost as much as me.”

“Almost?” I ask, still somewhat nervous.

“Yes, Almost.” He says with a smile. “Because if she loved you more than me, she’d have a fight on her hands.” He smirks.

How does he do that? It’s almost like he can read my mind, and know exactly what to say to make me feel better, or to stop me from over thinking things. Our moment is soon interrupted by an officer opening the door to escort us out of the station.

Once we were in the car I shot our friends a message in our group chat, letting them know that there is a change of plans for tonight, and that we would be going to Dale’s parents for dinner.

That evening, I was both excited and nervous. I was nervous about meeting his mother, and excited about seeing Dale’s childhood home. I was expecting something grand, like a mansion in the high end of the neighbourhood. What I saw was vastly different but still very beautiful. We had arrived to a rather nice looking two story house, with a beautiful garden. I believe manicured is the word you would use to describe it.The house itself had what looked to be a wrap around porch, and looked to be made of white wooden planks. The front door had this coloured window, the type you would see in one of those old churches.

“Nice house, Dale.” Madox said, as we approached the front door. We had decided to all come in one car.

“Thanks.” Dale smiled, as he fished out his keys to open the front door. “Mom, Dad!?” Dale called out, as he opened the door, and showed us where we could store our coats.

“In the kitchen Sweetheart.” Came a woman’s voice from somewhere in the house.

The inside of the house was just as nice and kept together as the outside. There were pictures on nearly every wall, all depicting one or more of the family. As we neared what I thought was the kitchen, as Dale was guiding us through the house, one picture caught my eye. It was clearly Dale, maybe around 4 or 5 in a red jumpsuit, the type that race car drivers wear, standing on the front porch of this very house, holding a little blue plastic lunch box with Superman on the front. He looked absolutely adorable, with this excited grin on his little chubby face, his blue eyes sparkling.

“He was adorable wasn’t he?” came a voice to my side.

Startled, I look around to find that I have been left alone, and Mr Peterson had found me admiring the image of the man I have fallen so very deeply for as a child.

“He is.” I say, fondly, looking back to the image on the wall.

“First day of kindergarten.” He informed me, wistfully. “He was very excited. It was also the day he met Vicky. The two have been inseparable ever since, and was there for him when he was first discovering that he was gay.” He said with a fond smile.

“How long have you known about him?” I ask, “Being gay that is.”

“He came out to us as a family when he was around 15 or so.” He said. “Came as quite a shock really, as we mistook his and Vicky’s closeness for something else.”

“Oh.” I say, a little disappointed. Clearly his family are not comfortable with him being gay, and would rather he was with Vicky.”

Placing an arm around my shoulders, and pulling me into a side embrace, “Now don’t get me wrong. While we thought those two might end up together. I could not be happier of the young man he has turned out to be. He is compassionate, loving, and a great judge of character.”

“He is.” I say in admiration, “I am very lucky that he chose someone as damaged as me.”

At this Mr Peterson pulls me into an embrace, similar to that of my father. “Nonsense. What happened to you was unfortunate, and I’m saying this as a father. It is one of the things I am most proud of Dale for, that he was there for you, when you needed it most.”

“Thanks.” I say, as a few tears escape my eyes.

“Ok, let's go meet the Missus, who is going to love you just as much or even more than I do already.” He says with a smile almost as beautiful as Dale’s.

“There you are.” Came the voice of Dale, as we entered the dining room. With a table that was set with one of the most mouth watering meals I have ever seen. There was a roast beef, with all the trimmings.

“I was wondering where you had gotten to.” He said as he pulled me to him and lightly wrapped me in his arms, and placing a chaste kiss upon my lips. “You ok?” He asked, he must have seen the moisture in my eyes.

“All good.” I smile at him. “Your father found me admiring the picture of your first day of kindergarten.”

His face reddens to that beautiful shade I love so much. “Well… Don’t believe everything the man tells you.” He says

“Oh, so you’re not this wonderful guy he led me to believe you are?” I grin

His face just reddens. We are then interrupted by who I presume to be Dale’s mother. She is rather slim, her hair is the same shade of black as her son, and with the same kind smile usually found on Dale’s face.

“So this is Hunter.” She smiles as she glides over to us. Giving me a hug, and kissing my cheek. “My Dale.” She says with admiration in her voice. “You do have great taste in men.” She adds with a wink in my direction, causing both her son and I to become the exact shade of a tomato.

We then take our seats at the table, where we dish ourselves up and begin eating.

“Mrs Peterson, this delicious.” I say, as I take another bite of my meal.

“Oh thank you my boy.” She smiles at me. “So tell me a bit more about yourself Hunter. Dale has said so many good things about you.” She says teasingly in Dale’s direction. To which he answers with that mock glare of his he usually gives us when we tease him.

“Well I am on the football team at school.” I say, not really sure what to add.

“Oh? And what position do you play?” She asks.

“I am the quarterback, and Madox here is my wide receiver.” I inform her.

“Oh that is lovely. Darling we definitely need to go to their next home game to support them.” She smiles. “Well we know Dale wants to get into law,” She starts, “, what is it you would like to do after school.”

“Well I have been thinking about it,” I start, “I’d like to get into teaching, and possibly coaching.”

“Teaching?” She says, “Well that is a very admirable profession.” She smiles genuinely at me. “What made you want to go down that career path?”

“Well,” I begin, “I have always wanted to help kids, kids who were like me, and struggling with things many don’t understand.”

She then reached over to Dale, taking his hand in hers, “Keep hold of this one.” She smiled at him.

Looking over at me, “Oh I have no intention of letting go.” he proudly smiles in my direction.

The rest of the dinner went smoothly with Dale’s parents getting to know more of me, and our friends sitting around the table, and us getting to know more of Dale, and his siblings with embarrassing anecdotes about their childhood. It left me feeling like I knew them, even though I have yet to meet them, as they live and work out of state.

That evening found both Dale and I in bed, sated. I had his small frame held close to my larger frame. Lovingly placing sweet kisses atop his head, as we talked about the day's events.

“How are you feeling after today?” He had asked of me.

“Surprisingly good.” I smile down at him.

“You didn’t feel too overwhelmed with today.”

I think for a moment before I answer, trying to examine my emotional state. “No, I feel happy. Beyond happy. Mayson is seeing justice for what he did to me, and your family seem to have welcomed me into your family.” I say, placing yet another kiss on top of his sweaty head. Causing him to snuggle further into him.

“Good.” He says sleepily from his cradled position in my arms.

I take a moment to just admire this man in my arms, before giving him one final kiss for the night, “Goodnight, Babe.” I smile contentedly, settling down to sleep.

Last thing I remember before sleep took me was the sleepy voice of Dale, wishing me a good night as well.

Thank you for reading Chapter 13, and I hope you all enjoyed it