“Do we call you doctor now, Dad?” Fraser had both shoelaces tied, and there were no stains on his shirt.
“You can if you want.” Ledger bent down and hugged him. “Doctor Ledger has a nice ring to it.”
“I think I’ll call you Dad.”
“Sounds good to me.” My mate took Fraser’s hand.
“Dad isn’t that sort of doctor. He can’t fix a broken leg.” Rory stood up holding Isobel.
“Does everyone have sweaters?” Ledger rounded up the kids, and they thundered down the stairs and out to the car.
The auditorium would be cooler than our kids preferred, and we didn’t want them shivering and complaining during the ceremony.
The auditorium was packed.It’d been years since I’d been tomygraduation, and I’d forgotten how many people were stuffed inside and how loud it was. Ledger had to sit with his peers who were also graduating, so I was left alone with the children until Jess and Ledger’s parents joined us.
Isobel sat on her grandmother’s lap and was entertained by her necklace which she tugged and tried to bite. Skye was bored, but she had a book. I’d wanted to bring a tablet and headphones but decided it was better to go old school.
“Does everyone have their signs?”
Jess had smuggled them in because the kids couldn’t keep a secret. Besides, my mate would have picked up on me trying to bring in five signs.
The ceremony started, and even though I’d warned the children the speeches might be long, they got bored less than a minute into the first one.
“Why are they talking?” Fraser put his hands over his ears.
“They’re saying how special Dad and the other graduates are.”
There were more speakers and eventually graduates being called onto the stage. The audience applauded, and my kids were louder than anyone, thinking that was the end, Ledger would appear and we could go home.
Isobel fell asleep against her grandmother. Fraser wanted to read Skye’s book, whispering that hers was more interesting than the one he’d brought. My elder daughter refused, andthey had a whispered argument. Rory told them to hush and continued counting the spots on the ceiling.
When it was time for the doctoral candidates, I told the kids to get ready. The dean read the citation, and Ledger's name was announced. The audience applauded politely, as they did for all the candidates, but our family made sure everyone knew we belonged to Ledger.
Fraser stood up on his chair and held up his sign that readI love you, Dad. Skye forgot hers, but she cheered, Rory’s sign said,Well done, Dad. My sign had one word:Treasure,and I took Isobel from my mother-in-law so she and her husband could stand up too. I managed to hold up Isobel’s sign too that read,Dad.
Jess’s sign saidHow about them dragons!
Ledger crossed the stage and took the scroll that was the proof he had gained his doctorate and he held it up. His eyes found his entire family lined up cheering. Me, his folks, our four little dragons, and Jess.
An email had started this when a financial office cut his funding. He could have ended up anywhere but he ended up here, with me and the children. Gods, I loved that man, and I was so proud of him because he’d managed to finish his dissertation with four children to look after, including a baby.
He did it.My dragon was pleased Ledger had completed his studies because he was tired of hearing about it.
There was a reception afterward where they served cheap wine and expensive cheese. Many people congratulated my mate, and I fixed a smile on my face as I stood at his side but with one eye on the children. People looked at Ledger, then glanced at the trail of children that belonged to him and to us. I could see them calculating how early he’d started a family.
But I had to excuse myself because the kids were tired and they’d already eaten too much cheese and were eyeing the wine.Leaving his folks with Ledger, Jess and I took the children outside, minus Isobel who was on my mate’s hip.
Jess and I sat in the university forecourt while the kids used up their excess energy chasing one another. I pulled out the snacks we’d prepared, and that kept them quiet until Ledger and his parents appeared.
Our original plan had been to go out for dinner, but we decided to get takeout because Isobel was whining and wanting to play with her siblings and our other kids had been sitting enough in a formal situation. A night in the cinema room would be more to their liking.
My mother-in-law whispered to me about the kids’ bracelets. “It’s okay if they don’t have them on. Ledger said you’re careful.”
That was sweet, but I hoped it wasn’t misguided.
We’d had to tell my in-laws about us, otherwise Ledger would have had to keep them at a distance, and that would have broken him and them.
The food arrived, and everyone dug in while we put on a movie of Ledger’s choice. It turned out to be one the kids adored.
