Acceptance
by Remi Craeg

2. Just Another Day

Several months later, Jack drove to the edge of town to pick the boy up from school. Their youngest attended a private elementary school for gifted children. The school was situated a full quarter mile back from the relatively isolated street. The stone building—which, if he squinted, reminded him of a small castle…a little—sat atop a hill, and was flanked by six of the largest trees he'd ever seen on this planet. He wondered, not for the first time, how he could ever be associated with a place like this, but he was intensely proud.

School events, he'd discovered, were as he always imagined they would be: pretentiously formal and ridiculously long. However, it seemed his youngest son had a rather well respected reputation—whether it be the teachers or the parents, they knew him as the bright O'Neill boy. And that was the only thing that made those shindigs bearable. Well, that and having Sam on his arm.

A few minutes after he'd arrived, the boy appeared atop the steps and made his way to the endless line of SUVs and hatchbacks. With the faintest of smiles, he pulled himself into his father's truck and regarded him seriously. "Dad, thanks for picking me up today."

Jack's eyebrow arched. "You're welcome, kiddo." He wasn't sure what made his son so intense all the time (this place probably had something to do with it) and he'd tried endlessly to rid him of that particularly bad habit, very unsuccessfully.

The two were quiet for most of the drive home. Jack noticed that this boy sat idle and introspective, lacking the restless buzz of the other two. The older ones, he knew, bubbled with nervous energy in his presence, as if they had everything to prove to their father. This one, however, regarded him calmly, as if unimpressed by his stature or his existence.

"Every year on the Friday before spring break," the boy suddenly began as they pulled in to their snow-covered driveway. "…my school insists on devoting the final two hours of the day to Take Your Hero to School Day."

Where did this kid come from anyway? And why was Carter never around when he talked like this? He should bug his truck. Yeah, he'd swipe the tape recorder Carter kept in the den and mount it under the dash. Then he'd have enough proof to confront her with his theory: this was not his kid. Maybe he was hers and Daniel's secret love child from their very secret love affair. He always knew she had a soft spot for the Space Monkey. Obviously, he'd never mention this to Sam, or the boy, just a bit of mindless entertainment to distance himself from his inability to bond with his son.

But if the kid ever needed glasses…

"Dad? Are you listening to me?"

"Yeah, yeah. Heroes at School Day. What about it, buddy?"

"We have to give a speech in front of the whole class. Then they get to ask what will probably be really dumb questions." He stalled, looking a little more than unsure for a moment. "I was wondering…maybe you could come in for my speech?"

And if Jack's heart hadn't swelled to the size of a porterhouse, he was sure it would have sank like a rock. He wanted to take back everything he just thought, hug the boy, and kill Daniel, all at the same time.

Jack patted the crown of the boy's blond head affectionately and nodded. "Of course, I'd love to."

The child smiled, looked a little relieved by his father's easy answer, and made a run for the front door. No doubt to hunt down his mother's old field journals.

Speaking of his beautiful mother, Sam stood in the doorway, caught the boy for a quick hug before he ran past, then waited patiently for Jack to reach her.

Her body was relaxed against the door's frame, arms crossed in front of her and a genuine Carter smile graced her face. "Hi," she greeted and kissed him quickly.

"Hi, yourself."

"What was he so excited about?" she wondered with a jerk of her thumb.

"Oh, that." Jack waved his hand and shrugged. "He has a thing at school next week."

"A thing?" Sam was smiling and brushing snow from his lapels.

"Yes, very important. Heroes at School Day."

"You mean Take Your Hero to School Day?"

"That's what I said," he insisted. "How do you know about it?"

"School's newsletter."

Jack's nose wrinkled, "You read that?"

"Yes, Jack, I did. Does that really surprise you?"

He chuckled, "Huh, not even a little."

"Did he ask you to go?"

"Yeah," he answered with a shrug.

Sam's brow rose, obviously as surprised as he had been. "That's great." Her hand dropped from his shoulder to his elbow before grasping his cold hand. She too recognized the significance of the boy's gesture.

"You're gonna write my speech for me, right?"

She looked incredulous, "No…"

"Hm, I just figured," he was saying as he pulled her close by the hand she'd just claimed, "that was one of the perks of being married…to you…"

Sam tried to push him away but his arms were suddenly locked behind her. "Perks?"

"Yeah, you know, like this." He kissed her neck at its pulse-point and tightened his arms to encourage her closeness.

"Jack," she warned but was no longer resisting his movements.

"You'd make my job sound way cooler," he tried. "They're gonna be bored." That was more of a whine…

"You walk in wearing a uniform and tell them all about your job, they'll pay attention."

"What is it that I do again?"