"Just for a few nights.” Dad sipped his drink, adding, “A week or two, tops. There’s safety in numbers."
“I’m fine. It’s all been cleared up now.” Here was the tricky part. “I’ve been trying to release my inner fox shifter…is that okay?”
"Of course."
"Really?” I wondered. He acted like it was no big deal. “This is all fairly overwhelming, so if you start looking at me differently…You’ve been afraid of this for so long.”
Dad shrugged. “Things change."
"Dad."
"Your mom wasn’t showing when we met, you know.” Dad apparently started off down memory lane. “When she told me she was pregnant and how far along she was, Gary took me to a dive bar and ordered a pitcher of beer just for me. The baby couldn’t be mine, and I thought I had a tough decision on my hands and needed several drinks. But I just sat there while the beer got warm and slowly realized I’d already decided. She was the love of my life, and you’re my son. Nothing will ever change that.”
"Oh."
“For a long time, protecting you meant hiding you. And now it means something else. As long as you’re okay, that’s what matters.”
“Okay then.”
“Plus, Agent Stone was very helpful, she answered my questions and cleared up some misconceptions.”
“What, you met her?”
"I think Chase arranged it. We met for coffee. The woman is terrifying and that’s aside from being a werewolf. If the scariest person I ever met can sit there, do me absolutely no harm, and calmly answer my questions, then I’m inclined to believe her.”
Dad spent years looking over his shoulder and fearing the supernatural world. But he was open to a new perspective. Things were changing.
Dad really was moving on and accepting the world he once feared. Jack and I were getting along. I wasn’t sure what exactly I’d be doing in the near future, only that barricading myself in my apartment and missing what I lost wasn’t it.
The future really was wide open. It was starting to feel that way.
After eating with Dad, I decided to take a walk by all the stores and restaurants on this street. It was such a nice day.
My heart beat a little faster when I received a text. Oh, the message came from my cousin Jack.
Apparently we texted each other now.
Jack: Where are you?
Jack: I need to tell you something. In person.
Huh, that certainly piqued my curiosity.
Lucas: Do you wanna drop by my apartment tomorrow?
Jack: This can’t wait. Where are you now?
What in the world would either of us have to tell the other urgently? Something about a spare vehicle, maybe. Though really, even that was—
Jack: Come on, you can trust me.
Odd. Anyoneshouldbe able to trust family. Our last conversation put us in a better position than ever. So why say that?
The only plausible explanation I found was that he wanted to put our newfound friendliness to the test. Either by confessing something horrible he said about me in the past or perhaps he hoped to confide something he couldn’t tell his actual friends. Whatever this news was made him react awkwardly beforehand, which was honestly understandable because I’d probably react just as weirdly while he shared and put mileage on our new dynamic.
As I was learning, there was no progress without change. A little awkwardness now would be worth it in the long run. Hypothetically.
So I told him my location.
