"No way; you're just a kid yourself!"
Those were the exact words that flew out of the mouth of Doherty County Sheriff Brandon Gentry as he stared at his deputy, David Thomson. Thomson just laughed good-naturedly, and it was then that the sheriff realized that Thomson was actually 24 by now and - having been married for a few months - was now plenty old enough to have a couple of kids.
"Yeah, feels like it," Thomson admitted, glancing self-consciously down at his shoes.
"Nah," Brandon came around his desk and slapped the young man on the shoulder. "You're doing fine with that little girl of yours, and you'll do fine with the one that's coming. You've got too big of a support system for any of them to ever let you mess up even if you tried."
Thomson nodded, apparently encouraged as a smile tilted the corners of his mouth upwards. "Yeah, I do."
With that, Brandon showed the young deputy to the door of his office. Once Thomson left, the sheriff stood unobserved in one corner of the muster room as Thomson approached Brock Kelly and Bobby Shaw. Those three had become great deputies - and great men - within the past year. Just like kids did, they sure had grown up fast.
This is a challenge that I was given via a writing improvement book that I'm going through, and will be three drabble-sized chapters. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Reviews would make my day!:)