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The world was a scary place; there was no denying that. Especially as technology evolved. We had created a platform that could hold and do remarkable things. Could help us accomplish remarkable things. At the same time though, it could destroy people in so many ways. At least with having a boy, some of those risks were minimized.
“I didn’t care either way. Adam was very much against the idea of having a daughter. To him, she wouldn’t be an heir to his growing empire. You are right there; a lot more dangers come with a girl. It’s why I would like to get back into that organization. To help whenever I can for them. It’s on adults to stop the monsters from reaching a child.”
“Couldn’t agree more. And you said it was all not-for-profit?” It sounded like a charity I needed to look into.
“It is. All of the workers are volunteers, even the creator of the organization doesn’t take any money for herself. They do take donations. You know, fifty dollars for one month of decoy phone services. Twenty-five dollars for an abuse survivor’s care package. A thousand for ten therapy sessions or five hundred for a virtual school session to teach parents and teachers about warning signs. Three hundred for decorations for a decoy’s room. Every donation they get goes back into the organization. They’ve helped to put away over a thousand online predators.”
“Decoys have rooms?”
It sounded like the organization was in need of steady cash flow. They were doing great work, and if they had more resources, they would be able to help more kids.
“Everyone who plays a decoy has a room set up designed for that decoy. Childhood photos created, art work, bedding. If you walked into the room, you would have no idea a teenager didn’t live in it. We would take photos of ourselves and a photographer and graphic designer would de-age us, and then whenever we had to do a video call, we would get creative. We had purple neon lights to help us look younger.”
“Okay, you get the guys on the line. Then what? How do you get them arrested? Or find out who they were. I have to imagine they don’t give you their real names.”
“They don’t. Sometimes they will give us their first name. We have to investigate them. We take whatever information they give us and start looking. We can normally find their social media pages and get their real names. Once we have that, we inform the local police with everything we have. We record every video call that we have with the target, so there’s no way to talk himself out of it.”
“It sounds like a great organization. One this world needs.” I was definitely going to have to look into it and see what I could do to help.
We switched to a lighter topic for the rest of the drive. Once we arrived in Portland, I made my way towards one of the toy stores. I parked in the first spot I found once we arrived and Christian spoke.
“Why we here Daddy?”
I turned the car off and turned to face the boys, “Well, it’s not a birthday without a present, right?”
“Right!” they both cheered.
“Let’s go see what we can find,” I said. Jasmine and I got out, and we both got the boys out of the car as we headed inside the shop.
We each took one boy’s hand and went around to the boy section in the store. Being trapped in the hospital for the past eight months, and maybe another eight months to go or longer, had to be boring as hell. The gaming systems caught my eye, particularly the Nintendo Switch. I wasn’t all up to date on gaming consoles, but I did know it could be played in your hands or on the TV. It reminded me a lot of the Gameboy that I had when I was ten. It was a great way for me to escape from the world.
I picked one up and grabbed a couple of games that looked age appropriate and placed them in the cart. The boys each grabbed a couple of items, and we headed up to the cashier to get checked out and to get them wrapped. With them done, we were on our way to the hospital where hopefully, we were going to make a little boy very happy.
Jasmine
Icollapseddownontothe outdoor lounger. Today had been a very long day, but it was a good day. Anthony had loved the surprise, and everyone on the floor enjoyed the cupcakes. The boys had a good time, and it was great to see them interact with someone older, but not an adult. And Anthony had loved his presents, especially the Switch. I thought he was going to explode with pure joy at seeing it.
Afterwards, we had gone to Playdate, and I knew I was going to be sore for the next few days. I had never seen a place like that before, and I would need to take Jeremy to it again. An hour wasn’t all that far, but it also wasn’t that close either. Still, once a month was doable. Maybe I would go away for the weekend, and Jeremy and I can do more tourist attractions. There was a zoo and an amusement park. Jeremy was a bit young, but he could enjoy the children’s section in the park. There was plenty to see during a weekend trip.
By the time we had arrived back home, we had just enough time to feed the boys, get them bathed, and into bed. They were in their own beds, and I was set to be joining Jeremy, only in my own bed. I just wanted a bit of peace first to unwind before I called it a night.
A glass suddenly appeared in my face, and I turned to see Liam standing next to me holding two glasses of whiskey. I didn’t even hear him coming outside.
“I took a guess that you were more of a whiskey girl than wine.”
“You would be correct,” I said as I took the offered glass.
“I would have figured you would be soaking in a tub,” he said as he went and sat down on the bottom of the other lounger right next to me.
“It was a toss up. But the sky is so beautiful here. What about yourself?” I asked as I turned my gaze away from the sky and looked back towards him.
“I’m not really a bath person,” he said with a smirk before he continued. “I saw you out here, and I wanted to talk to you about something.”
My heart started to beat harder in my chest. I had thought everything went well today. I had no idea what he wanted to speak to me about. I couldn’t help but worry that maybe he figured out the boys were too much alike. That he would piece it all together.
“Okay,” I managed to get out, just barely being able to keep the fear from my voice.
“I know eight months from now is a good distance away. I know anything could change between now and then. However, if you are still in town when school starts I would like to offer you a different job. I would like for you to be my charity director.”
