7

Ianto and Heath walked into the principal's office and waited patiently for him to look up, then rise to greet them. After a polite handshake Ianto turned to Heath.

"I am sorry for being a brat" Heath said softly "I wanted to do something fun. I was bored and Tadda sez I should have just asked for a run around the field or something to get it out of my system instead of roping other kids in. I didn't mean to be bad, my brain was just so annoyed."

"I see" the man nodded "So … going forward what do you think we should do young man?"

"If I start to feel naughty I should put my hand up, then ask for a break to go outside and run or something until my brain stops then I can come back in. I will have finished my school work, it is all so boring and easy … you see … I get bored." Heath's little voce was medic and his eyes wide as he confided in the man who seemed to be listening to him. Finally.

"I see. Well, I think that is a good idea. Actually … we are considering introducing some school pets. A couple of rabbits in a hutch. Got the kitset hutch already, once it's built we will purchase some rabbits and go from there" Mister James smiled "Maybe you could help with those. Your pictures and stories are always about animals."

Heath lit up as he turned to his Tad "See? Rabbits! Oh wow, I told you school could be fun if I had something to do. Rabbits. Wow. Yes. Oh… we can have a competition to name them … oh. If they breed we can have class ones and stuff. Right?"

"Steady on, you do not even have them yet." Ianto laughed "Already got them wed and knocked-up like a Mother-in-law from hell!"

As Ianto watched Heath enter his classroom to take his seat with a wide grin Mister James turned to address him "I am sorry. I see it now; he is a… delicate little man. So intelligent. The rabbits were a good idea."

"Thank you for listening to it and agreeing. He loves the idea. We cannot have any at home, the red setter is mad and would try to dig them out for a washing or something. Here all the kids can learn and grow. Animals teach so many things." Ianto nodded "Empathy is a big one."

"Our groundskeeper is going to put the hutch together with a small working group of kids, he is making sure young Heath is top of the list as well as a few others we have noted he likes to play with. He does not make friends easily and those he does chose to sit with are an eclectic bunch."

"He does not judge like we do" Ianto nodded "He sees souls."

"Yes. Apt. Yes, he does. All the children are good souls" the man blinked as he saw the right wording being applied and saw where the little boy's intelligence came from as Ianto turned to face him, those eyes dreamy and something you could lose yourself in if…wow. Mister James blinked and smiled softly, shocked at himself for the rush of interest here. He was straight. Married. Yet for a moment … there was affection there between them.

Ianto cursed himself for not shielding better, reaching gout to touch the arm of the man he liked as their son's educator "Your wife … she is a teacher too?"

"No, god no. She works downtown at some legal practice. She's a legal secretary. Typing and such. She tells me it's boring but sometimes a case comes past that really interests her" he found himself talking with Ianto, a comfortable feeling with him like they were old friends and he wondered why he had never noticed this man's magnetism before. He was lonely here. As the head, the others were slightly afraid of him and he didn't know if they liked him or were pretending to out of fear of job loss or something. This man was a parent, no vested interest but was smiling and talking like they had something in common.

"Well, I best shoot off to work or my other half will have coffee withdrawals and shoot someone" Ianto huffed, Mister James curious.

"What exactly do you do?"

"Secret service" Ianto said with a tap of a finger to his nose "I am a secretary like your wife. Mostly typing and stuff, reading interesting things. My husband is a Captain. Mostly he shouts down a phone and spits. Then yells for coffee and pouts."

They laughed as they stopped at the doors to part ways and the handshake was warm. Mister James watched the handsome man leave and decided to keep an eye on the little boy. He was a good egg.

Ianto sat in the SUV and wondered if that had been fair. Using his gift like that but then … it was his chick after all and he now knew Heath would be OK.

He merged into the traffic.

Jack already on coms wanting that coffee.