Preston lifted the lid off the copy-stock box, and stared at the contents. Sitting on top of a stack of papers and Manila folders was a drawing, clearly done by a child. The lines where heavy, crayon strokes; the figures simple, and the trees looked like lollipops. The paper hadn't yellowed with age. It was obviously not from Antoine's childhood.
Beneath it were several more drawings, folders, and a few letters.
It was the last thing he'd ever expected to find as he and Antoine worked to organize the 'storage room,' a third bedroom in Antoine's ranch-style home, that had over the years become filled with various boxes. Currently it was serving as a space for Preston's spare belongings that he'd brought in from Boston. Antoine had stated he wanted to organize it to make a guest room, replacing the one Preston had permanently claimed as his own.
"What's this?" Preston asked, lifting a stack of paper out.
"Oh, those," Antoine replied quickly reaching for the drawings. "These are from my Littles." He took them and started leaving through the drawings.
Preston hesitated. Visions of Antoine with a host of children he hadn't mentioned flashed through his mind. Preston felt sweat begin to prickle at the sides of his neck. Was it possible Antoine was a father?
No, he thought, shaking himself. Antoine already admitted he'd never gone all the way with anybody. So he couldn't be a father; could he?
Antoine smiled as he pulled one out. It showed a drawn figure with blue hair, clearly him, pushing a little brown skinned boy on a swing. "That's me and LeMarcus. LeMar, I called him. Oh, here's a photo!"
Antoine pulled out a picture, a wallet-sized school picture: a little boy in a stripped polo shirt grinning at the camera. He was missing his two front teeth, and looked very proud of the fact. "LeMar, first grade," Antoine read the date, and passed it over to Preston.
"I kept all these things. Here's one of Jamila." Antoine passed over a second photo. An older girl, probably early teens with dark hair done in braids and equally dark skin was smiling, her expression slightly reserved. "She had braces, and was feeling pretty self-conscious about it," Antoine explained.
He continued to ramble on for a minute, then paused, apparently noticing Preston's perplexed expression.
"What, Prep?"
Preston leafed through the drawings, noticing a few school papers in the stacks. "What do you mean littles?" He asked, passing the stack back.
"Oh!" Antoine laughed. "From Big Brothers, Big Sisters! I volunteered with them for years! Hell, I was actually working on my application to become a foster parent before things happened, you know, and you moved in."
Preston stared at him, open-mouthed. "You... what?"
"Sure! Kids are great! They're a lot of fun, and there's a lot of good kids out there that all they need is a chance. So that's why I volunteered and all. Mentoring, helping with school work, going to things like class plays when the parents couldn't make it. I loved it!"
Preston sat down on the floor, stretching his legs out as he looked through the box. "You never told me about any of that."
"Yeah? Well I'm not really one to talk about myself. I mean, how's that even come up in conversation anyhow? And I didn't want you to feel guilty because I wasn't doing that after you moved in. Priorities kinda shifted, you know? I told 'em I had a family member I needed to take care of, and wouldn't be as available."
"How long did you do that for?" Preston asked as he browsed through a set of photos of Antoine and yet another child at the zoo.
"Oh, 'bout ten years or so? I dunno, really. Once I got my pilot's license, I kept thinking about how much I loved it when my dad would take me flying, and I thought: I want to help other kids who might've been in the same boat as me."
Preston passed the photos over to Antoine, who carefully set them to the side.
"I always kinda wondered what it would be like to adopt, and all," he admitted. "That's why I was working on my foster parent screening. There's a lot of background checks, even more than for Big Brothers Big Sisters. After I left work at the plant, I'd usually be with my Little, unless we had a meeting or we were doing a get-together at the Lucky Lady. But some nights, I'd skip that, because I like spending time with the kids and it was important to 'em. Lotta work, but totally worth it!"
Preston looked at Antoine, seeing his playful housemate in a new light. He'd never pictured Antoine the sort to look after children. At times, he he doubted Antoine's ability to take care of a plant. The fact that they had a man come to mow the lawn and tend to the hedges seemed to support that fact.
And yet, the more he thought about it, the more he could see Antoine in such a role. Hadn't Antoine been there for him? Not in any sort of pressuring way, but as a stable, and supportive influence?
Antoine was rambling a bit as he sorted through the box, a trip down memory lane. "I kinda tabled all that for right now," Antoine confessed. "I need to think about you too, but, if you don't mind, I'm probably going to get back into it once things normalize again."
Preston wasn't sure what to say to that. Children were never his thing. He didn't mind them, from a safe distance, but the idea of being up close and personal with the little beasts made him distinctly uncomfortable. They weren't something he'd ever been exposed to.
"Uhhh," he replied, hesitating.
Antoine shrugged. "Don't need to answer that right away, but I do plan to get back into being a Big. I miss it, and you seem to be doing pretty well yourself these days. I don't think it'll be a big deal. But hey, we can talk more about it later." Antoine lifted the photo of little LeMar and beamed at it with an almost paternal pride. "I miss these guys!"
With that, they went back to sorting, Antoine smiling quietly to himself.