“It’s good to meet you, Oak. Mr. Caldwell told us you were coming, of course, and then Tristan told me again when he passed me in the hallway earlier.” She shook her head, but I could tell she was fond of the little hellion.
I chuckled as I put the license back and repocketed my wallet. “I can picture that.”
“You can wait right there,” she pointed to some benches nearby against the wall.
“Thanks!” I went to sit down, and within a few minutes, the doors and stairs started to pour down children of various ages.
A very tall man with broad shoulders and pink in his hair walked down the hall with a group of kids, then stopped near my bench to watch them go out the front doors.
He noticed me and smiled. “Hello, you must be Oak.”
I must’ve looked stunned, because he laughed and elaborated. “Sorry, it’s just that I’m Marlie’s teacher, Kellan Huntley. I heard all about today’s plan.”
I shook his offered hand and grinned. “Well, it seems that my reputation precedes me.”
“It’s good to meet you.”
There was that mutual moment of clocking the other person as queer, and it had nothing to do with his hair, either. He was very masculine, almost in the same way as Uncle Teague, but that something caught my gaydar or whatever you’d call it, and I smiled with some extra warmth.
There was blood and found family, and then there was the larger queer community which was also one kind of collection of human beings that often called ourselves a family, too.
Before we had time to chat any more, I heard Harper’s excited, “There he is!”
I didn’t know if she’d gone to get Tristan, but she was following him briskly, while he was running to me with his backpack bouncing wildly.
“Oak!” he screeched and dove at me.
“Oomph!” I grabbed him and gave him a hug. “How about we don’t crush anyone, buddy?”
Harper rolled her eyes. “I told him he couldn’t run.”
Mr. Huntley cleared his throat next to us. “What do we say about running in the halls?”
“We’re not supposed to, but it’s Oak!”
“Oh, is that so?” Mr. Huntley asked, trying to hide his smile.
“Can we go? What are we even going to do? Where did Dad take Marlie?” The questions from Tristan were endless and you would’ve thought that they’d cease by the time we were at Charlie’s SUV, but no.
“Okay, buddy, how about you stop quizzing me and just take the surprise?”
“Ooh, Idolike surprises!” He nodded like a bobblehead when I made sure he was strapped in.
Harper, who had climbed in, too, looked as if she was so done with her brother. I wondered if she’d had a bad day or why her mood was a bit sour, but I wasn’t her parent and didn’t know how to approach such a thing.
We drove into town, and I parked right outside Sugar Rush.
“Right, here’s the rules,” I said, turning to look at them both. “We’re going to go and decorate some cupcakes at Aunt Regan’s for Marlie’s party. Yes, we’ll get to eat a few, but not too much, because if you’re good, we can go grab a bite to eat at Giacomo’s before we head home. Sound good?”
“Awesome!” Tristan crowed and fist pumped.
I looked at Harper. She was smiling too, even though I could tell she was a bit annoyed at her brother still.
“Yeah, sounds good.”
“Okay. Remember, we only go to Giacomo’s if everything goes smoothly here. This is Aunt Regan’s workplace, and that’s serious business, even though we’re going to have fun, too.”
Tristan nodded, getting serious. “I promise.”
