Between the Times - 3. Tom

Pride filled Tom as he let his gaze wander over the playground. The sight of the colorful wooden play equipment was nothing like the sad picture he had seen a few weeks ago when he happened to pass by.

"It looks wonderful," Sister Harper whispered choked up beside him, and he nodded.

He had passed the children's home on the outskirts of Townsend absolutely by accident- accidental in that he had taken a wrong turn somewhere- and had stared in near horror at the useless outdoor toys in the garden. The next day he had returned to ask what the problem was.

It was money, of course, but after talking to the home's director and learning that many of the boys living here were later bought by the factories in Westshire, he had suggested he take only the cost of materials. He felt sorry for the boys- with such bleak prospects for the future, they didn't need an additional bleak childhood- and not just him. It had not taken three sentences to convince Frank.

Dante was just as touched as the women and nuns who worked here, and the children, of course, were overjoyed. Many had watched the work enthusiastically, many had even wanted to help. The home's director had even asked if they would like to buy one of the boys as an apprentice, but since the woodshop did not belong to Tom and Frank, that was not their decision. Carolyn had declined in her usual mannerism, but something about the thought had stuck in Tom's mind.

And with that thought, he now looked at the boys playing. How many of them would later tell the same terrible stories as Chris Steel? Henry would celebrate his twentieth birthday later this year, how many of the boys here would already be living in hell by that age?

Sister Harper shouted something to the boys, an admonition perhaps, but Tom's gaze had locked on one. A little boy who caught his eye because of his intense dark red hair and who always seemed to sit alone in a corner.

"What about that little one?" he wanted to know, and almost immediately got a sigh in response.

"Magnus. Poor little guy. Doesn't talk to any of the other kids, and only to a few select caregivers." She gave a soft sniffle. "You know, we offer the option that women who have no one else can leave their kids here for a few days if they need to."

"If they need to go to the hospital, for example?"

"Right. Magnus' mother brought him here for that very reason." Sister Harper sniffled again. "She died from complications during routine surgery. Magnus was only five months old."

"Fuck," Tom muttered. "Apologies, Sister."

"The only thing he had left was his plush bunny. Fortunately a standard model, because we've had to replace it several times. Well, and a somewhat odd first name."

Tom nodded and a strange feeling spread through his stomach. Not much later he took his leave, his work was done.

A few days later he returned with the excuse that since wood was active he wanted to check some bolts and such, and found Magnus again sitting alone in a corner. The strange feeling remained.

~

Flanked by Cole and Sebastian, Dante sat in the garden reading a story, with Sawyer sitting nearby, holding Deimos and Sam. With an amused grin, Tom approached with a tray of glasses and a carafe of sweet chilled tea and winked at Sawyer, who, beaming with excitement, hugged the boys to him.

"- and Magnus spoke, 'I am Magnus Ericson, chief of the Monarren, and I reclaim my people,'" Dante read.

Tom almost tripped over his feet. That name...

"The Rivan prince laughed derisively. 'You want your people back? With what army will you free them?' But his advisor tugged at his arm. 'My lord, have you not heard? This is Magnus Ericson, son of Eric the Red.'"

With his mouth suddenly dry, Tom put the tray down on the grass. In his mind he again saw little Magnus with his dark red hair sitting alone under a tree, and as if the fog had suddenly lifted, he knew what he wanted to do.

~

"Dante, can I ask you something?" Nervousness danced in Tom's belly. He hadn't felt like this in ages.

"Sure." With a resigned expression, Dante wiped at the stain of snot and tears Deimos had left on his shirt.

"You want to have a kid with me?" it blurted out of Tom, his nervousness turning to nausea as he saw Dante's confused look.

"I'm used to some nonsense from you, but this is a whole new level. What is this even supposed to be, an invitation to sex?"

Tom blinked, then laughed sheepishly as he mentally rewound his own words. "No. Of course it isn't. Stupid wording. I meant adopt."

"Adopt..." Dante echoed tonelessly, then raised a brow. "May I ask why me, of all people?"

Normally, Tom could have rattled off a whole list of reasons now, but he knew Dante, so he said simply, "You have the money." It was nothing but chicanery that two men who wanted to adopt a child had to disclose all their finances and were often rejected as too financially weak; the hurdles for a second child were even higher. He didn't know exactly how much money Dante was getting from his sister and mother in support for Deimos, but it was certainly quite a bit.

"Thank you so much for your honesty," Dante returned dryly.

"Oh come on, you know how I mean it! If I'd said anything else, you wouldn't have believed me anyway." In a helpless gesture, Tom spread his arms and saw the corners of Dante's mouth twitch. "I trust you, okay? Only then come all the other bullshit reasons why I can't ask anyone else."

For a moment, the corners of Dante's mouth actually lifted into a smile, then he shook his head with a sigh. "Have you thought this through, Tom? From top to bottom? From A as in ass wiping to-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, enough visual material lives here."

"And so far you've thoroughly avoided the kids."

Tom screwed up his face. Because it was quite true. "People change, Dante. You didn't see that kid there. And anyway, did you think things through with Deimos that time?"

"No," Dante admitted, surprisingly bluntly. "But the circumstances are completely different. I have a partner and we both care about family. You, on the other hand..." Mercifully, he left the sentence unfinished.

Still, Tom's face contorted. His on/off relationship was a joke, particularly one with a slave collar, and family was something he didn't have above all else.

"Give me details."

Only too willingly, Tom complied with the request.

Following up, Dante sighed deeply. "I know that look. Frank had it too when he first got to hold Dimmi."

That elicited a wry grin from Tom.

"But I'm serious. Changing diapers, cleaning up vomit, changing peed-on beds, managing crying and temper tantrums, injuries, illnesses..."

"You make it sound like it's a gigantic burden," Tom protested, and Dante sighed again.

"No. Of course it isn't. Children give you an incredible amount. Not just love, but a whole new way of looking at things. If you're not a complete failure, they force you to slow down, to pause. But it's not all sunshine." Dante's smile was tired but happy, and he pointed to the stain on his shirt. "One moment you could be bursting with pride, the next you're completely helpless, as is the little creature in front of you. They mirror us, the good things and the bad things."

"I get all that," Tom interrupted him gently. Seeing so much love in Dante's face was strange, almost suffocating. "But I want all of that. I want to have a family and give him one." Once again, Brody flashed in his mind. If things had gone differently, surely they would have adopted a boy together.

"He's already three. He knows perfectly well that you're not his father."

"That's really no argument. Deimos will also someday realize that two fathers aren't natural."

"Tom. I'm aware of that. But this Magnus already knows that now, you know? Maybe he never calls you Pa, just Tom. Maybe he's deliberately making you feel that he knows it, maybe he'll even insinuate all kinds of shit about it later."

"Now you're deliberately calling Hella over, cut the crap!" Tom snapped, and Dante pulled a strange face that almost looked like pity.

Chaos suddenly raged inside Tom, fueled by the ensuing silence and Dante's thoughtful expression. Having children of his own had never been an issue for him; he was gay and that was okay, but he still thought it was bullshit to enter into any kind of partnership of convenience with a woman for that. Adopting a child, on the other hand, had always hung in the back of his mind as a possibility, but he had the misfortune to love a man who had no prospects of freedom and so far that hadn't bothered him. But now... maybe it was the age or the developments around him, probably there was a good dash of egoism in there too, but actually it didn't matter at all why his mind had changed. He wanted to give Magnus a home, and having Dante read a story about a Magnus seemed like a sign from the Great Mother.

"If it's all right with Frank, I'll sign your papers," Dante finally said, and Tom almost choked on his own spit in surprise. "I'll sign you the stuff and all the rest of it that confirms I won't have anything to do with the kid again until you snuff it. But know that you're going to have to do this all on your own."

And his already questionable relationship would probably go to pieces completely with that, but this was affecting two adults and in return he was saving a little boy's future.

Before he was aware of it, he was falling around Dante's neck. "Thank you."

"Oh my goodness..." Dante muttered, patting his back in bewilderment. "You never cease to surprise me."

Grinning, Tom leaned back. "If you had a better opinion of me, you wouldn't be surprised all the time."