Chapter 1 June 8, 2017
Not for the first time, Daniel found himself in a pickle. All of the boys and girls were bustling around giggling and chatting. It was their last day of school, and as a reward for making it through the school year. The school reward their students with a party to the city's public pool. All the young children were tired after their fun day, many were making plans to hang out over the summer, others were excitedly gloating where their families were planning on traveling to over the summer months.
Though Daniel was not a part of the schoolyard chatter. The young ten year old was standing on the outskirts of these large groups of children, clutching his neatly folded beach towel to his chest. The curly black haired boy did not take part of the festivities that afternoon. Daniel was a lonely child, he did not have many good friends his own age, instead of running through the grass and getting skinned knees like the other children, Daniel Williams prefered to sit in the air conditioned library during his breaks.
While all of the other children were splashing away in the pool, Daniel was sitting off to the side, towel still folded neatly. It's not that the other children were cruel to him, quite the opposite,the other children were kind and tried to invite Daniel into their games. Though every time Daniel declined, claiming a stomach ache, or some other excuse. The poor boy just didn't feel like he fit in with any of the children. He had tried joining in on their games though every time he did, he always ended up back on the sidelines, feeling even more distant than he had previously.
"Daniel," said a teacher who came to see how the lonely child was doing. "I couldn't help but see you didn't swim at all today,"
"I didn't feel like it," Daniel quietly responded.
"The other kids wanted you to play with the." the teacher continued.
"Only cause you kept telling them to invite me to play," Daniel snapped with a glare. While other teachers came to accept that Daniel was more comfortable alone, this one couldn't seem to let him be. She took every opportunity to direct children in Daniels direction. If she found Daniel reading in the library during lunch, she would push him outside, only to find him later on, in a shaded corner behind a building.
The teacher was about to reply when a car honked twice cutting her off.
"My dads are here," said Daniel, gathering his belongings and walking to the car. After he buckled his seatbelt, he watched the teacher huff in annoyance as they drove away out of the parking lot.
"So Dan how did school go?" Lucas asked his son, smiling at him through the rear view mirror. Lucas had aged quite well, looking a few years younger than his current age of forty. His hair still curly and thick, though a few strands of gray stood out. His chiseled face had gained some fat over the years, though his scruffy beard hid some of his aging. If someone had met Daniel and only Lucas, one could be tricked into thinking Lucas was his birth father.
"Fine, I gave those sweets to Ms. Hoffman,"
"That was nice of you to want to give the librarian something sweetie," responded Charles. The Brit, like his husband, had aged like fine wine. He has gained a slight pudge since college but his hair was still a bright blonde, and styled perfectly. Crows feet and smile lines had formed but the flaws had given the man character.
"Yeah, I guess," shrugged Daniel head resting on the window, watching the buildings and other cars pass by. Charles glanced in the mirror, smile falling when he saw his son's forlorn expression. He sighed softly, he and his husband knew Daniel had trouble making friends at school and they had tried everything. They enrolled Daniel in sports, they signed him up for boy scouts, even sending their boy to therapists. Still there was no change.
"We have news sweetie," said Charles as he turned in seat so he could talk to his son. "Your grandmother Edith had bad fall,"
"Is Grandmother Edith alright?" asked Daniel. Edith was an old fashioned, war hardened woman. Though she had a soft spot for her only grandchild, she didn't care that Daniel was adopted, she spoiled him like any loving Grandmother would. Though due to her age, she hadn't been able to visit California in a while.
"The doctors say she will be fine, but we need to move back to my old home in Oxfordshire. She will need some help getting around from now on," Charles explained.
"I don't see why we can't just hire a stay at home nurse." Lucas rolled his eyes playfully.
"You know my mother would just drive them crazy," Charles quipped back.
"She drives me crazy," muttered Lucas.
Seeing the sour expression on Charles, Lucas flashed his husband a cheeky smile.
"Sounds like fun, Father," Daniel answered breaking up their banter. "I don't remember what England was like, so it will be fun to go back."