Line of Sight - 11. Chapter 11

“Can I talk to you?”

“Sure.” I stepped back and let Tony in before crouching down so I was eye level with Jake. “Why don’t you go play in your room while I talk to Mr. Tony?”

“Okay, Daddy!”

I watched as Jake ran down the hall and turned back to Tony. He’d already taken off his coat and set it aside. It had only been a couple days since we’d taken our relationship to the next level, and I’d seen him when I’d dropped Jake off and picked him up, but I’d missed him.

“Everything okay?” I stepped close and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. Tony returned the kiss briefly before pulling back.

“Yeah, things are good.” Tony smiled and walked over to flop down on the couch. I followed and sat next to him. “I figured I should let you know the cat’s out of the bag.”

“We didn’t figure it would take long.” I glanced down the hall before looking back at Tony. “We didn’t tell him he couldn’t say anything about you being here.”

“No, we didn’t.”

“So what exactly happened?” I hoped Tony didn’t regret anything, but I couldn’t really blame him if he did. For all I knew, he could have come to break things off.

“Jake told one of his classmates about me coming over for ice cream.” Tony chuckled. “That probably wouldn’t have raised any questions if he hadn’t added how I make the bestest pancakes. His classmate asked his dad if I could come over and make him pancakes too and his dad called the school.”

“So, how much trouble are you in?”

“I’m not.” Tony laid down, his head resting in my lap. He looked up at me and smiled. “The principal talked to me after school today. It probably helped that I didn’t try to hide anything when I was hired, but as long as I don’t do any PDA’s at work, there’s no issue.”

“Damn, you mean we can’t make out in your classroom between sessions?” Not that I would have, but Tony was still smiling so I felt comfortable joking with him.

“Nope, sorry. You’ll just have to wait until I get off work.” Tony frowned. “There was some discussion about whether it was appropriate for Jake to remain in my class considering my relationship with you.”

“He’ll be devastated.” My son loved Tony’s class. With all the other changes he’d had to face recently, I hated the thought of him having one more upheaval in his life.

“That’s what I thought too.” Tony closed his eyes briefly and when he looked at me again, there was a wariness that hadn’t been there before. “I know it wasn’t my place, and the principal would have called you before anything was done, but I explained some of what he’s gone through recently.”

“You’re a part of this and I know you were only trying to do what was best for Jake.” I leaned down and pressed a brief kiss to Tony’s lips before lifting my head again. I had to know if a decision had been made. “What did they decide?”

“They agreed it would be detrimental to Jake to remove him from my class.” Tony smiled. “I’ll just have to make damn sure I don’t do anything that gives them a reason to put him in a different class.”

“I don’t see how you could, unless you were basically ignoring the other kids.” I tugged at his hair. “If they’re worried about that then they don’t know you very well.”

“True.” Tony sat up and relaxed into the back of the couch. He turned his head and looked at me. “Now that I’ve filled you in on my day, let’s talk about something else. What are your and Jake’s plans for tonight?”

“We haven’t really made any yet.” I looked down as Murray pawed at my leg. “Right now, it looks like I’m going to go freeze my ass off and let the dog out.” I’d already learned I couldn’t trust Murray to do what he was supposed to when I let him out. At least, not if he was going to be loose in the house once he came back in. I had to actually go out with him.

“The joys of having a dog.”

“Yeah, that part sucks, but Jake loves the mutt.” I slipped my feet into my shoes and grabbed my jacket. Hopefully Murray wouldn’t take too long. When Tony went to grab his coat as well I stopped him. “You stay in here where it’s warm. Hopefully I’ll only be a couple minutes.”

“Can I come out now, Daddy?” Jake’s head peeked out his door down the hall.

“Yes, but come put some food in Murray’s bowl while I take him out.” I didn’t wait for Jake to answer me. The poor dog had already waited for me long enough. I hurried to the door and opened it, zipping up my jacket before following Murray into the backyard. Normally I got a kick out of Murray plowing through the snow, but at the moment I just wanted to go back in where it was warm. I shoved my hands in my pockets and shifted from foot to foot. “C’mon Murray, do your business so we can go in where it’s warm.”

Damn dog just looked at me before running through another snow drift. Finally, after it felt like my face was frozen, Murray stopped long enough to do what I’d brought him outside for. That was enough for me and I hurried back inside, calling him to me just as I opened the door to the sound of squealing coming from the living room.

I had no doubt Jake was happy kid for the most part, but it had been a while since I’d heard him sound quite that happy. I headed for the living room and froze in the doorway at the scene playing out in front of me. Tony was tickling Jake mercilessly. Even as I watched, Tony let Jake up and my son seemed to gather himself together before launching himself at Tony, apparently trying to tickle him back. It was cute. There was no other word for it and my heart melted just a little more as Tony fell backwards under Jake’s assault and let Jake do his worst.