Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 46th cycle. Now cycle 47!

This is a shift day. There was another upload this morning: Troika, chapter 5.

"Will Work For Summer"
Ewan (OC; Damian McGinty) & Beiste, Sugar, Mike/Tina, Rich
Beiste & Ewan series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

It had been a challenge at first when he'd brought them home, but it had been expected. After a little while being unsure whether they would even get to be taken home, he'd gotten the call from Gloria at the shelter. Bonnie and Clyde, the two white lab pups were his to pick up. He'd been visiting them every other day or so since he'd first met them, and when they would see him they recognized him with tail wagging excitement. After the initial adjustment period and the training, they were fast becoming an 'integral' part of the Beiste-Healy clan.

They had also been a gateway to spending more time with Sugar. When she'd heard about the pair she had begged to meet them, suggesting that they take them to the park on the upcoming weekend. He met her there, with the brother and sister on their leashes. She was already there, swinging about on the swings, but the moment she saw them coming, she leapt off to come and join them. The dogs became jumpy at the rushed arrival, and Ewan had to crouch and calm them.

"Hey, hi," she beamed, crouching as well. "Don't be scared," she spoke sweetly, reaching out her hands. They needed a moment, but they calmed. Clyde would have none of it, but Bonnie had moved to her, forever endearing herself to the girl. "Hi, look at you," she picked up the puppy with ease. She looked so normal standing there. Not that she was… Well, sure, she was weird most of the time, but it was a weird that he liked.

"That one's Bonnie," he provided, and for the next few minutes he watched her talk with excited little Bonnie while he held poor shy Clyde.

They had gone and taken the dogs around the park for a while before they sat down. She wouldn't sit on the grass, so they found a bench. There he found himself talking to her about how he'd started looking into getting a job. He wanted to pay his way back home in Ireland that summer for a visit, so this was just about the way to do it.

"Wow…" she'd blink. "I'd just ask my Dad, but…" she clammed up apologetically after a moment, but he'd smiled at her, letting her know he hadn't been hurt by it. "So, what kind of job are you looking for?"

"At this point I'll work for anyone who'll have me," he shrugged, and her eyes bugged out.

"Wait, hold on, you can't just work for anyone. There's crazy people out there, and dirty places… and clowns," her voice was snuffed out with horror.

"Okay, well maybe not anyone," he frowned.

"Do you have a resume?" she asked, and he just looked at her. "So that's a no," she guessed. "I can help you with that. They made us do one last month… not that I've used it, but I remember how to do it."

In the next couple of weeks, now with his resume done up with Sugar's assistance, he had taken the search to a more involved level. His aunt knew he wanted to try and do this on his own, though it didn't stop her giving him the occasional and always welcomed pointer. Along with Sugar, he would get help from both Mike and Tina, and Mitch. They had taken their initial encounter in detention and gone from there to form a casual sort of friendship. They got to spend time together both in school and when his aunt and Rich would take them to dinner, or have each other over to dinner… which was happening more and more.

On one of those nights, at Rich's house, Ewan had found his way to looking at the pictures lining the walls in the hallways. There were plenty of Mitch growing up, but also of Rich. They could really see the resemblance between the father and son then.

He was looking at a picture of Rich in his days on the Titans' football team when the man in question came up to him. "When I first got on the team, I was so nervous that they'd change their mind or make me ride the bench," he indicated the picture.

"You liked to play," Ewan nodded.

"Loved it," Rich confirmed. After a beat, he looked to the boy. "Your aunt told me you're looking for a job." Ewan nodded. "Always good to have some pocket money, right?" Rich told him.

"It's more than that," Ewan admitted. "I want to go to Ireland again, this summer." He paused before explaining further. "I didn't want to be there anymore after what happened, didn't think I could. But I want to go now. I need to."

"I might be able to help with that," Rich told him, and Ewan looked over.

"I want to earn it, that's why I need a job."

"Oh, I understand that. What I was going to say is I might be able to help, with the job part. We need someone down at the store. It's part time, and I don't know if selling shoes is something you'd like, but it pays, and we can work out a schedule so it doesn't interfere with your school," he explained, and Ewan was left mute for a moment before he came back to his senses. He blinked, with a stunned smile.

"I think selling shoes would be just fantastic," he promised, and Rich laughed.

"Well alright then. Now you understand you're not getting preferential treatment here. If you're late all the time, or things don't work out, I will have to let you go."

"I understand," Ewan shook his head. "Won't let you down," he promised. Rich offered his hand, and Ewan shook it, and that was that. "My aunt didn't put you up to this, did she?"

"No, actually she doesn't know yet. I wanted to offer it to you first, then if you didn't want it…"

"Thank you," Ewan smiled.

When he told the others about the job, the reactions were all about the same: they were happy for him. Mike and Tina both teased and asked if they could bum free shoes off of him. Mitch revealed how he himself had tried his hand at working at his father's store, but it wasn't for him. And Sugar warned him not to go fondling too many feet, that he could get warts or come off as a foot fetishist.

The best was his aunt. This was yet one more way in which her being with Rich had surpassed all her hopes and expectations. She looked so nervous for Ewan at the same time, and he just thought about how much the two of them had grown, from relative strangers, to… well, relatives. But now they were family, through and through. A lot of times now he wished they could have known each other better through the years, not just now, because of his parents' deaths. Now there was this summer. In an ideal world, he could afford to take her as well. He had enough of missing family. If he had her there, too, then he could show her everything, and it could be something more that they shared.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!