Cam

CAM

I COULD VERY easily say it was the worst day I'd ever had, and by a wide margin at that. Teen pregnancy was nothing compared to being threatened with having my kid taken away, being assaulted at work, and kicked out of my home all in the span of a few hours. I wondered if there was a quantifiable method of measuring the worst day ever, and if I should try and submit my story to Guinness World Records.

Dropping my keys on the table, I sailed past it and collapsed on my couch. I didn't have the energy to worry about what Karter would think as I pulled my blanket up and over my head. My eyes were still blurred with tears and sobs were racking my body, and I just didn't want to think about anything or handle anything. But I didn't have that luxury. And the whole social worker thing was kind of terrifying.

I heard Karter close my front door, then heard him rustling around my kitchen for a bit. I didn't bother looking up from my self-imposed cocoon of depression. It's not like I had anything worth stealing or that he'd want anything of mine anyway.

After a few minutes, I heard the sound of dishes being set on my coffee table and then him sinking down onto the floor in front of the couch. The weight of his hand made itself known on my back as he stroked me through my thick comforter.

When I peeked my head out, my eyes locked with his before surveying what he'd brought me. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich rested on a plastic plate with a t-rex printed on it, with a cup of juice sitting alongside it.

"I'm not a very accomplished chef," he apologized. Like I was going to complain about it. I couldn't remember the last time anyone had made me food, even something as simple as a PB&J. "People eat when they're upset, right?"

A short laugh tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop it.

"I think that's considered an unhealthy relationship with food or something, but yeah. Thank you." I hadn't eaten since breakfast, anyway. Plus, who could cry while eating? Maybe that had been his plan in the first place.

"Is there something else I can do?"

It was kind of funny, hearing someone like Karter sound so completely unsure and out of his depth. Who knew a few tears would totally disarm him and leave him in a state of panic?

"No. You'll stay with me for a while?"

"I'm not going anywhere," he promised. "If you need to see a doctor or talk to a professional about what happened at work today, I can arrange that."

I considered his offer, but shook my head slowly. "I'm okay, really. It was scary, but I don't think I'm, like, messed up over it or anything. I appreciate that you would offer, though. Honestly," I continued. "This morning was worse."

His eyebrows drew together, his eyes searching my face in confusion. "Tell me what happened this morning."

So I told him everything Ty's teacher had told me, word for word. Her words had been echoing in my head all day anyway, so they were easy to recite. By the time I'd finished, I was crying again.

He had stayed silent through the whole story, listening intently. Now that I was done, he laid a hand on my head, carding his fingers through my hair to comfort me.

"I understand why you're scared. I can't imagine how you're feeling right now, but I can promise you there's no way in hell anyone is taking Ty away from you. We'll get a lawyer if we need to. A team of lawyers," he corrected himself.

"I don't think money is going to help this," I said. "If they think I'm a shitty dad, then they're going to take him. It doesn't matter if we have lawyers."

"But you're not. You're an amazing, caring, devoted dad. Everyone who knows you can vouch for that."

That part was true. Ty's teacher had, apparently, already shown me in a positive light, at least.

"I don't really know anything about what they're going to look for, or what we need to do to impress them or whatever."

"I don't either," Karter admitted. "We'll do some research, figure out what they want, and make sure we're prepared. There's no reason to think that they'll follow through with this."

His logic helped pierce a bit of the bubble of horror that had been surrounding me. But that was only one of the many issues that had randomly popped up in the last handful of hours. Had I broken a mirror or opened an umbrella in the house or something without remembering? Maybe the spot Ty and I had been feeding the ducks on was on an Indian burial ground or something and they were tired of getting duck poop all over their grave, so we were suffering the brunt of their wrath.

Eating the sandwich Karter made helped relieve some of the spinning in my head, and once I was done I pulled my old laptop into my lap. Next to me, he helped guide me to sites that explained the process and what we should expect from Child Protective Services. To my immense relief, it seemed that children were usually only taken away in extreme cases, like neglect or drug use. Still, I couldn't afford to take it lightly and didn't plan on it.

The thought that someone really suspected that I wasn't properly taking care of Ty gnawed at me, and made me feel paranoid. The old couple at the duck pond? Were they mad that Ty had corrected them about duck food? No, that was stupid, they didn't even know our names. I tried to remember if I'd pissed anyone off that I worked with, and nothing came to mind. The guy that had attacked me? I didn't think they could be connected. He wouldn't have any way of even knowing I had a son.

My phone vibrated with a text. I pulled it out to see a message from Hana.

Omg I wasn't able to take a break until now! Are you okay??

Smiling a tiny bit, I messaged her back. I was sorry she was worried, but it was nice to have a friend that cared.

I'm fine. The police took the report and I guess you probably saw them arrest that guy, so everything's fine.

I didn't know when I'd have the mental capacity to address the whole eviction thing. I was sure all of my neighbors were as panicked as I felt. We'd lived in the apartment since I'd moved here, almost four years ago. I knew without even looking that it was going to be almost impossible to find a place now that would rent to me with my level of income. Maybe there was some kind of financial assistance I could apply for, as a single parent.

I cannot believe you left with HIM! You told me you guys were just talking!

I heard a snort next to me, and glanced up to see Karter looking at the message on my phone. Blushing, I hurriedly messaged her back.

We haven't technically gone on a date or anything yet, so we are just talking.

"I would have taken you on a hundred dates if I thought you would let me," he informed me.

"I know," I assured him. Lifting the laptop off my legs, I set it on the table and leaned into his side. "I appreciate you staying and looking into this with me. I know you're upset with me."

"I'm not upset with you," he denied. "I'm upset about everything that's happening to you. I couldn't be mad at you for that."

"But you're upset that I don't want to quit my job."

"I'm not upset about that," he corrected me. "I just want you to take care of yourself the way you take care of others. And if you won't, then I have to make you. You don't give me a choice."

"Taking care of myself is the last thing on my mind," I scoffed.

"That's exactly my point, Cameron."

He stared down at me, long enough that goosebumps started forming on my arms and legs. I wanted to kiss him, but I instantly became aware that my face was sticky with tears and other unpleasant fluids.

"Um. I'm going to go clean up and change out of my work clothes, if that's okay."

"Sure," he said. "Take as much time as you need."

Slipping into my bathroom, I splashed water on my face, scrubbing it into my eyes. It reminded me of the first time he'd come into the restaurant and thrown my nerves into complete overdrive. It had barely been any time at all since then, but things felt so… Advanced. And now he was trying to give me money so I would quit my job.

A small part of me, a part I felt guilty over, wanted to agree and just sigh with relief. If he wanted to pay for me, then why shouldn't I let him? Life had done nothing but screw me over and over for nearly a decade now. Maybe this was me finally catching a break. But was it fair to expect that from him, just because we were… Dating? Talking? Having sex? He wanted more from me, and I wanted more from him. I was pretty positive about that. But all the lines were so blurry now, it was hard to wrap my head around what we were exactly.

I searched myself as deeply as I could manage for the knowledge of whether Karter would get bored with me, or abandon me, and I came up confident that he wouldn't. Sighing, I threw my work uniform in the hamper and pulled on the clothes I'd brought into the bathroom with me.

When I came out, he was in the same spot that I'd left him, but the plate and cup from before were gone. It was a small gesture, but it lit me up in my chest like a bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolates. His eyes met mine, then immediately dropped down to my shirt. On it was a picture of a smiling wiener dog, wrapped in a bun with a curvy line of mustard on his back. He blinked a couple times before shaking his head, but the corner of his mouth was perked up into a grin.

"What?"

"Just wondering how many more of these ridiculous shirts you have."

"You don't like my shirts?"

"I like them," he said quickly. "They're very… You."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"They're cute, and you're cute. That's all I mean."

Smiling, I settled back down next to him, cuddling into his side. "So, I thought about something."

"Oh?"

"If me quitting my job at the strip club means that much to you then I'll quit. And I won't make a fuss about you helping me with the money I'm losing from it. On one condition."

He tilted his head, narrowing his eyes with suspicion. "What's the condition?"

"I still want to keep Ty in his daycare for Friday nights because he loves it, so… Maybe we could use the time I'd be working to go on a date? Or dates," I added, hoping it wouldn't just be once. "It doesn't have to be anything fancy," I quickly amended, remembering who I was talking to. "Even just staying in and watching a movie or something… I would really like that."

His expression softened as I rambled, and by the time I'd finished, he was already pulling me up into a gentle kiss. His mouth moved against mine slowly at first, before the tip of his tongue traced my bottom lip. I wrapped my arms around his neck, twisting into a position where I could settle up into his lap, straddling his thighs.

"Everything is just totally falling apart for me right now," I said, staring into his eyes, our faces barely an inch apart. "But because you're here… I'm not as freaked out."

"I won't let anything happen to you," he promised. "Or Ty."

"I know you won't," I said. "It's just hard for me. I'm not used to being taken care of."

"If you would just let go and trust me, I could get you used to it very quickly," he murmured, before pulling me in for another kiss. I believed him. But something in me was just… Afraid. I wasn't sure why. It wasn't like I'd been treated badly by guys in my past or anything. No relationship baggage to speak of. My only abuser was life itself.

"I'm trying," I said honestly, when I needed to take a break to breathe anyway. "I'm really-"

A set of three staccato raps sounded from my front door. Slowly, I turned to face it, my stomach dropping into my guts.

"It'll be okay," Karter reminded me. His voice steeled me a bit, so I scrambled off his lap and headed to the door. When I opened it, I was faced with a professional-looking woman in a fancy suit. She was middle-aged, with a severe expression on her face, and her long braids of hair were tied back into a dark ponytail. She had a briefcase in one hand, and a clipboard held to her chest in the other.

"Are you Cameron Taylor?" She asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Taylor. My name is Kanae Jackson. I've been assigned the task of investigating your son's case report."

"Already?" I blurted out. That was probably a bad thing. I didn't want her to think I needed time to hide all the dead bodies or whatever they would be checking for.

She gave me a curt nod before speaking. "I'll need to come inside, if that's okay."

"Oh. Um, sure," I backed up from the door and waved her in. "Whatever you need."

She explained some basic stuff like about how a report had been filed, and how she had already looked into my background and Ty's health records. She told me that if her investigation uncovered anything they considered to be threatening to his health, he would be removed from the home.

"Tytan Taylor's safety is my top priority," she went on. "Is he here?"

"His bus will be here in about fifteen minutes," I answered, slightly numb with nerves.

"That's fine. I'd like to start with looking around your home, if I may?"

"Um, yeah, I guess so. His room's over here," I said, hurrying over to it and opening the door. I winced a little, wishing I'd made him clean his room any time recently. But even when I did, he'd just mess it up again within a day. But at least it was only cluttered with books and toys and nothing gross like trash or food.

"That's fine, thank you. I'll let you know if I have any questions." She walked in, taking notes on her clipboard. I knew if I didn't walk away I'd just hover over her, nervously rambling, so I forced myself back to the couch, where Karter had been watching us like a hawk.

"His name is Tytan?" Karter asked in a hushed voice, giving me an odd look.

"I named him when I was sixteen," I reminded him, mildly embarrassed. I was glad Ty was popular with the other kids and would probably not be made fun of for having an edgy teenager's idea of a cool name. "You have a problem with that?"

"No, I just assumed his name was Tyler."

"You thought his name was Tyler Taylor?" I asked, wrinkling my nose in disgust. "Gross."

"I… Didn't put it together with your last name, I suppose," he admitted. "Tytan is great," he added quickly. "It's very unique."

"Thank you." I knew he'd probably only said it not to hurt my feelings. But there was no way anyone could ever think Tyler was cooler than Tytan.

After a few minutes, Kanae emerged from his room. "I'll be looking around the other rooms in the house now, Mr. Taylor. And may I ask who you are?" She asked, turning to Karter.

"I'm Karter Morrison," he answered, firmly meeting her eyes.

"And you're a friend of Mr. Taylor?"

He hesitated, glancing back over to me. "Uh, we're…"

"Lovers?" She asked, looking up from her clipboard. She didn't have a judgmental tone in her voice, but I still felt myself blushing.

"Um, yeah, basically," I answered.

"Do you normally bring your lovers around Ty?"

"No!" I snapped it out. "Never. They haven't even met yet," I added. "I never do that!" I probably sounded insane, but being accused of that made me feel so defensive.

"Alright," she answered lightly. I couldn't tell if she believed me or not. "I'll be back with you in a moment," she said, before walking off toward my kitchen. She was probably writing about how I didn't have any fancy organic food in the fridge.

"It'll be okay," Karter said softly, laying a hand on my thigh and squeezing it softly. "There's nothing that could possibly make anyone believe you're a bad dad. You know that."

"I know, but… This place is old and falling apart." I kept my home pretty clean, way cleaner than other people's houses I'd been to, but still. My appliances were outdated and the wallpaper was peeling in the corners. I didn't know what kind of petty things they would look for to count against me.

"Like I said, if they try anything they'll have a team of lawyers up their asses so fast they won't even be able to blink."

I nodded, hoping she hadn't heard him say that. I wondered if she would discover who Karter was, and if it would help or hurt my case.

After a few minutes passed, I realized I needed to go meet Ty at the bus stop.

"Should I leave?" Karter asked, when I voiced my concern. I really, really didn't want him to. It was a weird way for Ty to meet him, but… The idea of being alone with the social worker made me squirm. It seemed he could tell how I felt, because he spoke again. "I can stay. I don't mind. Whatever will make you feel more comfortable."

"Stay," I said, though my voice sounded meek. "Please."

I let Kanae know that I was stepping out to get Ty, and that I'd be back in just a minute.

When his bus pulled up, he hopped off, chipper as always. I knelt down to give him a quick hug before asking him how his day had gone.

"Fine!" He chirped. Before he could go off on a tangent about what he'd done at school, I hurriedly launched into my explanation.

"Remember how I told you I made a new friend?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, he's at our house right now. I thought you might want to meet him. Would that be okay with you?"

"Sure!" Ty answered, looking excited. "Is he nice?"

"Um, yeah. Very nice," I lied. All that mattered was that he would be nice to Ty and I, anyway. His gruff and grumpy demeanor toward others didn't matter to me. "And there's someone else you'll have to talk to."

"Are you having a party, Daddy?"

"No," I answered, laughing a little as we began walking. "You know how when you go to the doctor they might ask you some questions and you have to tell the truth no matter what?"

"Yeah."

"Well, she's kind of like that. Whatever she asks you, just be honest and tell the truth. You won't get in trouble for anything, baby, I promise."

"Okay," he promised, looking curious. "I will!"

As we reached the door, my stomach was churning with nerves. Squeezing my eyes shut, I pushed it open. Ty pranced in before me. Nervous was not generally in his vocabulary. I froze as he let out a dramatic gasp.

"Mr. Donut!?" He cried out. "Mr. Donut is your new friend?"

"Mr. Donut?" Kanae repeated, an odd look darting between Karter and I.

"We met at a coffee shop," Karter answered for me. "There was only one donut left in the flavor he wanted, and I gave it to him."

"And it was really good!" Ty added seriously. "Thank you, Mr. Donut."

"His name is not Mr. Donut," I said, suppressing a light groan. "His name is…" What? Karter? Mr. Morrison?

"My name is Karter," he said, once again charging ahead of my indecision. "It's great to meet you, Ty. Your dad has told me a lot about you."

"Well, he barely told me anything about you ," Ty responded bluntly.

"Listen," I interrupted, sensing it was going to turn into a whole thing. "This is Mrs. Jackson. She's the one I told you about. She's going to ask you some questions."

"That's right," she confirmed. Her tone of voice was kind and non-threatening.

"My dad said you're kind of like a doctor, and that I'm supposed to tell you the truth no matter what," he inserted.

"That's some pretty good advice," she said, giving him a nod.

She sat down with him at our table, and asked him a lot of questions about school and what kind of stuff he liked to do for fun. She asked him a lot about me, and about whether he felt safe and happy. All of his answers were easy and honest, which relieved me. After I sat for what felt like forever, my muscles clenched with nerves, she stood.

"Mr. Taylor, I'm finished here for today. If I could just speak to you outside, privately?"

I quickly followed her out, anxious for whatever she had to say.

"I'll be transparent in that I haven't discovered anything out of place here, and Ty seems like a very bright boy who is being taken care of. I'll put that in my report, of course, but we may randomly stop in for other visits."

"That's fine," I said quickly. Relief was coursing through me so strongly I thought I might pass out.

"The other thing I wanted to mention is that I did see the notice to vacate on your table. I saw that the date is from today. Did you just receive that?"

Shit. I'd forgotten I'd left that sitting there like a moron.

"I only just got it today, yes," I said. "I'll find somewhere else for us, I swear."

"That's fine," she said, nodding slowly as she jotted down a few more notes. "We'll need you to update us with your new address once you've acquired it. Other than that, I don't have any more questions for you right now."

"Okay. Thanks, then."

"Have a good day." And then she was gone. Heaving a huge sigh, I had to lean against the door to keep my jelly legs from collapsing under me.

After allowing myself a minute of deep breathing, I went back inside.

"We're getting pizza for dinner, Daddy!" Ty greeted me with extreme enthusiasm. "Whatever toppings I want!"

"Oh." My eyes shifted to Karter, who raised an eyebrow, as if he was daring me to argue. "That's great, baby. I know you love pizza. Homework first."

"Boo," he called out, frowning. "After I finish helping pick out the pizzas!"

They were both huddled in front of the laptop, presumably putting in a pizza order.

"Fine. Pizza order, then homework."

"What time should I have the food delivered?" Karter asked. "I don't know when you eat dinner."

"Around 5:00 is fine."

I sank down into a chair, pressing my fingers to my temples. Ty did his homework at the table in front of me. It was all a breeze for him, just some single digit addition equations and then writing down how many sides were in the simple shapes of triangle, square, and pentagon. The moment he was done, he jumped up from the table.

"Can I show Karter my toys?" He asked. I grimaced, knowing Karter would probably get bored being talked through Ty's parade of favorite toys.

"Absolutely," he said. "I'd love to see."

"Fine." They waltzed into his room, where I could hear Ty's excited chatter interspersed with Karter's occasional comment or question. His tone seemed genuinely interested, like he really cared about a six-year-old's much-loved objects.

I suddenly realized I was absolutely exhausted. It was as though my adrenaline had been through the roof since the parent teacher conference and now it had all drained away to leave me without an ounce of energy. Folding my arms into a makeshift pillow on the table, I laid my head down.

"Daddy, are you asleep?" Ty's voice yanked me awake. I jerked, shooting into a sitting up position like a cannonball.

"No," I said. "I was just… Resting my eyes."

"But you were snoring," he pointed out. Karter's smirk made it evident he'd found it funny. Great.

Glancing at the time on my phone, I realized I'd been out for a half hour or so. Had they been looking at Ty's toys for that long? Karter had to be bored out of his mind.

"Ty, baby, why don't you go play? Karter probably doesn't want to hear any more about your toys."

"But I'm done talking about my toys!" He protested. "Now I'm going to show him Epic Power Squad! Can you believe he's never seen it!?" The absolute shock in his voice was genuine. I was pretty sure he probably thought most adults were like me, so someone having never seen Epic Power Squad was a totally foreign concept in his little mind.

"Ty, he doesn't want-"

"I don't want to wait another minute, so go get it started for us," Karter cut me off, giving Ty an encouraging grin. When my son bounced off to comply, I gave him a dry look.

"Really excited to meet the gang, are you?" I asked, sarcasm evident in my voice.

"Of course," he answered smoothly. "Fighting evil and defending justice is the coolest. Haven't you heard?"

"I think I heard that somewhere. You know you really, really don't have to do this."

"I saw bubble bath in your bathroom the other day. Why don't you go run a bath and relax? You look like you're ready to drop dead."

"I… I can't just leave you with him."

"I won't give him any sharp objects to play with or let him turn on the stove," he said, which made me snort out a laugh.

"The two main rules of parenting."

"Sounds easy enough. Just go, and we'll be here alive and well when you get back."

So I did. I closed the door so I could relax, but the walls were paper thin and I could hear Ty giving Karter a full rundown of the team, even though it sounded like they were starting all the way back on episode one. We had all the episodes on DVD, so it was easy for him to rewatch.

Before I knew it, my body slumped down into the bubbles and I'd fallen asleep again. By the time I woke up, the water was room temperature. I dried off in a rush, throwing my clothes back on.

The scene in the living room was pretty much exactly as I'd left it, only there were open boxes of pizza on the coffee table and greasy plates and napkins scattered around. Ty was commenting on the villain of the episode, how awful and mean and dastardly they were, and Karter was agreeing with him wholeheartedly. I felt my heart knock up into my ribs as I noticed they were sitting shoulder to shoulder on the floor. I realized in that instant that I'd never seen another man interact closely with Ty. It gave me butterflies in my stomach like I'd never felt before.

Sinking down next to them, I plucked a slice out of one of the boxes, practically devouring it whole.

"Feeling any better?" Karter asked me in a low voice.

"So much better," I whispered back to him.

I let another episode play before I told Ty it was time to take his bath and get ready for bed. He protested, loudly. I knew he was having the time of his life explaining all the lore of his favorite show to a brand new person.

"Don't worry, buddy. I'll be back to keep watching with you as soon as I can."

"You promise?" He asked, his dark little eyebrows furrowed.

"I promise," he said. "I'll be back before you even have time to miss me."

"Okay," Ty answered. "Well, see you later, then."

Still looking a bit dejected, Ty made his way into the bathroom to take his bath. He knew the routine and could do it all by himself now, so I didn't follow him in just yet. Giving Karter a sheepish look, I sighed.

"Thank you so much. You're really good with him."

"It was easy," he said honestly. "I… Really enjoyed it."

"Really?" I asked, uncertain. "You weren't bored?"

"No," he said. "He's great."

"Yeah. He is." I paused, hesitating. "Well… I'll walk you out. I'm sure you want to get home."

"I don't, actually," he informed me, tilting his head a little. "But you're right that it's time."

Creaking the front door open, I slipped outside with him, closing it quietly behind me.

"You… You really were perfect today. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"You don't need to wonder what you'll do without me ever, Cameron," he murmured. "I'll be here for you as long as you'll have me."

Sucking my lower lip between my teeth, I couldn't stop myself from raising up to my toes to snake my arms around his neck. He lifted me, obligingly, treating me to a really lovely kiss. Firm and gentle at the same time. When we parted, his eyes were dark and intense, like he didn't want to let me go.

"Text me when you get home so I don't worry," I whispered.

"I'll see you soon, baby boy," he said, planting one more quick kiss on my lips before heading to his car. My heart was doing flips inside me as I watched him walk away. Pressing a hand to my chest like I could stop it from the outside, I shivered and headed back inside.