8

The days leading up to the Steampunk World's Fair were nonstop busy. My boss loved the idea of a fundraiser, especially considering all the press it could generate for the museum. It was also easy to convince him that the Steampunk crowd would be the ideal audience for the railroad museum, and the free tickets would be a great way to bring in guests. We could afford to give out a ton of free tickets as long as it got people in the door, since we'd make more money off the cafeteria and gift shop sales than we would off ticket prices.

The weekend of the fair, I packed my things in my car and headed down the highway to Jack's house. Jack and JJ were coming with me to the fair, which was being held at a hotel in New Jersey. I'd booked my hotel room months in advance, but luckily they'd had a cancellation for a small room for Jack and JJ.

My trunk was packed with about two dozen paintings that I'd done over the last year, most of which I hoped to sell over the weekend. I also had a box of museum pamphlets and a stack of tickets to hand out. Jack had helped me set up the online fundraiser, which had gone live this morning. I kept checking for updates on my phone. There were only a handful of donations so far, raising a measly $75 over the last few hours, but I was expecting most of the donations to come during the fair.

I'd printed up a few hundred flyers with "Save the Clock Tower" printed across the top and pictures of our poor broken clock on them. All I needed to do was generate enough interest. I'd even included a #SaveTheClockTower hashtag on the flyers so people

could tweet about it and post messages on Facebook, Instagram and everywhere else.

I was almost to Jack's house when he called me. I put the phone on speaker and answered while I drove down the highway.

"Hey, babe. I'm getting close to your place. Are you guys all packed?"

"Actually," he said, "I'm stuck a bit late at work."

"Oh. Oh no."

"No, don't worry," he said. "I'm going to be done soon. I just wanted to ask you a favour."

"Sure thing."

"Can you pick up JJ from the day-care? I won't have time to come get him until later, and I'd rather not have them call my ex about it. She'll raise a fuss."

"No problem," I said. "Is it going to be okay for me to pick him up? I mean, don't they need authorization?"

"I called and let them know you'd be coming. Normally they'd need to check ID and everything, but it's your cousin. She told me there'd be no problem."

"Right," I said. I'd almost forgotten that Tosh was the one watching JJ after school. "I can be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Great. Thanks. Just take him to my place. He's got a key. I shouldn't be too late."

"All right," I said.

"Thanks," he said. "I love you."

I was silent for a moment, stunned. That was the first time he'd said those words to me. Part of me was almost mad that he'd done it for the first time over the phone instead of in person. But on the other hand, it had sounded so natural. Like he had said it without thinking, speaking from the heart."

"I love you too."

I hung up the phone and used my GPS to check the directions to Tosh's day-care. I'd never actually been there before. I got there a bit later than I expected, and by the time I walked in the door, JJ was the only kid left in the after school program.

Tosh looked up at me with a concerned expression on her face. "Hey, Ianto. Jack called, said you were coming."

"Yeah," I said, waving to JJ. I looked at the expression on Tosh's face. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, there was a little incident."

I looked at JJ and saw his face was streaked from tears. I walked across the room and sat down next to him on one of the little chairs designed for second-graders.

"You okay, big guy? Was someone giving you a hard time?"

"It's nothing," he said, keeping his head down. He was colouring in a colouring book I'd brought him from the museum last week. The steam locomotive on the page was coloured an angry red and black, with thick black slashes over the eyes making it look stern and irritable.

"It was no big deal, really," Tosh said. "But they kind of got physical."

I looked JJ over for signs of injuries. He didn't look hurt, though I realized some of the redness on his face might not have been from tears.

"The thing is," Tosh said, "I had to call his Mum."

"What?" I looked up at her, my jaw dropping. JJ kept on colouring, the crayon moving in quick, sharp slashes.

"I had to." Tosh held her hands out to either side as she explained. "It's the company's policy. The primary caregiver has to be notified when this type of thing happens. She's coming down here to—"

"JJ?" a voice called out.

I turned to the door to see a woman I could only assume was JJ's mother. She was average height and weight, with red hair that had just a touch of premature gray. She was dressed in business clothes and had a leather handbag in her hand.

"Hi, Mrs. Harkness," I said, rising from my seat.

She stopped in her tracks and looked me over, frowning. From the deep-set lines on her face, I guessed that she did a lot of frowning.

"It's Adamson," she said. "Ms. Adamson. Do you work here?"

I winced, realizing too late my faux pas. I should have realized she wouldn't have kept her husband's name after the divorce.

"No, umm, I don't work here. My name is Ianto. Ianto Jones." I held my hand out to her. "Jack sent me to pick JJ up."

"Oh," she said. She didn't take my hand, and after an awkward moment, I lowered it. "You're the boyfriend."

My face felt warm. I wondered how much Jack, or JJ, had told her about me. "Yes, I am. Jack and JJ are coming to the fair with me this weekend. Jack was running late, so—"

"So you thought it would be okay for a total stranger to come here and take my son?" She glared at me, pressing her lips together in a thin line.

"Actually," Tosh said, "Ms. Adamson, Jack did call and say—"

"I don't really care what he said." Ms. Adamson turned her glare on Tosh for a moment, and then looked back at me. "I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are, and I'm not about to let you take my son. Jack can come pick him up at my house later."

"No," JJ said, slamming his hand down on the table. "I want to go with Ianto. We're going to go see the Steampunk stuff!"

"Jackson Joseph, you don't take that tone with me," Ms. Adamson said. "Get your things. We're going."

JJ got up and moved to the other side of the small table, putting it between him and his Mum. "No. Dad said we're going to the fair. I'm not going with you."

"JJ, you get your butt in the car right now," she said, pointing a stern finger at the door. "I don't have the patience for this. Especially not after I find out you've been fighting."

"I'm sure that wasn't his fault," I said.

"You stay out of this," she said, snapping her head towards me. "You're not a part of this family, and I don't want to hear a word out of you."

She turned back to her son. "JJ. Car. Now."

"I'm not going," JJ said. He lowered his head and pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs.

Ms. Adamson moved around the table towards him. I moved to step in her way, but Tosh held me back. I shot a glare at Tosh, but she leaned in and said in a low voice, "You can't stop her from taking him. She's his mother."

"But—"

"But nothing," she whispered. "Technically I'm not even allowed to let you take JJ, since you're not registered as a legal guardian or authorized relative. I was going to let that slide since Jack said it was okay, and I know you're not a kidnapper or anything, but if she insists…"

Ms. Adamson grabbed JJ by his arm and hauled him out of the chair. He screamed in protest, struggling against her, but she kept him in an iron grip. She dragged him to the door, showing no sympathy for his cries.

I wanted to go after her, to stop her, but I knew she was right. I was nothing but Jack's boyfriend. I had no legal right here. And as much as I disagreed with the way she was treating JJ, it wasn't like she had hit him, or done anything that could really be considered abuse. I hated what she was doing, I hated the cold way she ignored her son's needs, but I knew he wasn't in any danger with her. There was nothing I could do without bringing more trouble down on myself.

She was gone before I could think of anything to say.

She hadn't even let JJ gather his books. I collected them and took them to my car so I could give them to him later. I talked to Tosh for a few minutes, though I knew that her hands were tied. I gave her a hug and said goodbye, then got in my car and immediately called Jack.

"Hey," he said. "I just got finished here. You guys okay?"

"No, actually," I said. I explained everything that had happened, and told him that JJ would be at his mother's house. "There was nothing I could do. She didn't want to listen."

"That's typical of her," he said. He sighed into the phone. "Okay, I'll go over there and get him. You can wait for us at my place, if that's okay? I shouldn't be long."

"Okay," I said. "Good luck. I love you."

"I love you." He hung up the phone, leaving me sitting in my car until my hands stopped shaking.

I drove to Jack's apartment, though he wasn't there when I got there. I sat on the steps outside to wait. I lost track of time for awhile, checking the fundraiser on my phone, and tweeting out links to it, trying to raise some interest in the project. We were up to a few hundred dollars, which still wasn't much compared to the $15,000 goal, but it was a start.

It started to get dark. I still hadn't heard back from Jack. I sat on the steps with my phone in my hand, wondering if I should call him. He was probably still talking to his wife about what had happened. Or arguing with her. I didn't think I would help the situation any by interrupting them with a phone call.

I decided to send a text, figuring that he would get it when he was done talking to his ex. Then I sat, and waited, shivering a bit as the temperature dropped. As more time passed, I was starting to get worried. We were supposed to be on the road already. We had a couple more hours of driving to do, and the hotel would already be crowded, making check-in a nightmare. I had hoped to get there early. Now I was starting to wonder if we'd make it at all.

More than two hours had passed by the time I saw Jack's car pulling into the parking lot. I stood up and stretched my stiff legs, hugging my arms around myself.

JJ got out of the car and stalked right past me, heading up the stairs and into the apartment. Jack walked up to me, a tired expression on his face.

"Hi," I said.

"Hey." He forced a smile. "I'm sorry about that. I really am. We got into this whole…thing. About you, and how she didn't want you picking him up, and…and I'm sorry."

"It's okay." I pulled him into my arms and held him close. He leaned his head against my shoulder. The tensions lowly left his body and he relaxed into my embrace. I stroked his hair, glad I was there for him.

When he finally pulled away, he looked calmer. "I can get the rest of our stuff packed up quick. It shouldn't be long then we can leave."

"Okay. Yeah. Sure." I gave him a kiss, then got into my car and sat to wait. I watched him climb up the stairs to get JJ and collect their bags, wondering if I'd ever truly be a part of their family, or if, like his ex-wife had implied, I'd always be an outsider.