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When we spot Jackson getting off the second bus in line with his friends Cody and Toni, Rapid takes his arm off of my shoulders and shoves both hands in his pockets.
"Mom!" Jackson spots me and then sees Rapid with me. His little face breaks into a huge grin as he rushes toward us.
"Rapid." He slides to a stop in front of us and he and Rapid do their secret handshake thing.
My kid looks like he grew up by another three years in the week he was gone. I swear he's an inch taller and he's standing straighter, making his shoulders seem wider than I remember. He's sporting a tan, and from the peeling skin and lingering pinkness over his forehead, I can see that sunscreen wasn't his top priority.
"See ya at school, Jax." His friend, Toni says as she walks by, carrying a backpack toward waiting parents.
"Yeah, Toe, see ya."
Oh shit.
He's only eight for fuck’s sake.
But neither me nor Rapid miss the blush that creeps into my son's face as he tries not to be obvious about watching the little girl that I thought was just another buddy while she waves goodbye from the back seat of the SUV.
Rapid pats him on the head and gives me a knowing grin.
"You wanna go bring the car around while I help Jax find his gear? We'll meet you right here in a few, okay--"
I forget about my growing boy mom worries and laugh as Rapid cuts himself off before finishing his sentence with what's become his usual "babe" pet name for me.
"You two behave," I warn, seeing a glint in Rapid's eye that lets me know he's up to something. "I'll be right back."
Jackson gives another boy a laid-back greeting as the other boy says hi and also mentions meeting up again when school starts after the long weekend.
He's getting so big so fast.
As Rapid and Jackson head off toward the sidewalk where the bus drivers and chaperones are setting out all the luggage that they unload from the buses, I see them deep in conversation and all my worries about how Jackson is going to handle our news melt away.
* * *
Rapid
"So, what's up with you and Mom?"
Jackson goes straight to the punch as soon as we've cleared Sage's earshot.
"Cody says you guys are into each other."
"Cody said that?" I wrack my brain to think of when Cody would have seen me with Sage.
"Yeah, he says we interrupted you guys making out when we came into the clinic the other day."
Oh. That's right. Whoops, thought we played that pretty cool.
Another girl says hi to Jackson as she passes by. She's a cutie, with long, twin pony tails and freckles but Jax waves nonchalantly at her without a sign of the blush that Toni got from him.
Making a mental note to open some conversations about girls in the not-too-distant future, I use the time to collect my own thoughts.
"So?" Jax turns his attention back to me as we make our way toward the jumble of backpacks, duffle bags, and small suitcases that have been stacked on the sidewalk.
"So what?" I return.
"Are you into my mom or not?"
Nothing gets by this kid, that's for sure.
