Week Ten: Before the Of! - UDC 6
46. Return
Looking at him, Helen wondered momentarily just why Pete was so tired and then she glanced at Nick and noticed Nicky pawing at the boy standing next to him. She paused... "Pete, is this Bart Tomkins?"
"Yes."
Which would make the helpful mystery man his father, she realized as she slowly turned back to look at him with raised eyebrows. "Oh. Walt, load the trunk. Mr. Tomkins and I need to have a chat."
Mr. Tomkins frowned at her. "I'm sorry? Who-"
"Dean," Pete interrupted suddenly and Helen didn't miss the emotion there, or the informality from a boy who had in fact been so formal since Friday night. In fact, Mr. Tomkins was looking over her shoulder at him in confusion that mirrored her own.
"Right." He held out his hand to her and she shook it. "Dean Tomkins. You are?"
"Helen Bradshaw. Can we talk, sir?" She nodded back to Pete, who was sighing even as he shrugged out of the over-sized jacket. "I was told something that I think might concern you." She lowered her voice. "And I was going to bring it up tomorrow with a school councilor, but this is more your problem than mine."
"That so? Then let's talk."
47. Revenge
Bart watched his father walk a little distance away with Mrs. Bradshaw, eyes narrowed even as the toddler was still pawing at him playfully. "Should I be worried that your mother wants to discuss something with my father?"
"Depends," Nick said carefully. "She had an idea earlier and Pete was very open about a thing."
Bart absorbed that information and then focused on the kid in his arms. "Whose kid is this? For that matter, what's going on here?" The toddler giggled and he let him play with his fingers. "Awfully playful, aren't you?"
"He's very tactile," the red-headed man that he'd noticed before told him with a smile, and Bart frowned at Pete, who was now at that guy's side, hugging the jacket to his chest and watching them. "And we have to be careful not to let him have round objects."
"Ball!" the toddler said excitedly.
"Yes, Nicky. Balls." The man glanced down at Pete, then hugged him closer, and that startled him, for he knew Pete didn't really let people into his personal space like that. Who was this guy, that he was? For that matter, why had he been so close to Nick earlier and practically melded to his side?
48. Curse
Noah bent down to Pete's level and really looked at him while Walt put the groceries in the trunk. "So... this okay?"
"Dad's jacket," Pete whispered with a nod. "I... thank you. Hadn't thought about where the stuff from the house went."
"Why would you have? You were nine, Pete, and in no shape to even think about any of it." Looking at him, he could see how tired the kid was, that he was staying on his feet through sheer determination, and Noah wanted to hug him again. "There's a few pictures in the box here, along with some books that I think were your Dad's. Can't imagine Nora wanting to read about aviation or military strategy."
Pete nodded. "No, Mom was more likely to read novels with odd covers."
"Found a few of those, too, actually." Something about that caused Pete to giggle, and Noah decided not to tell him that Chelsea had loved the 'odd' novels enough to keep them. He glanced up at Walt to find the man was watching them with a smile.
49. Wrath
"Nick, you good for a minute? I need to talk to your father," Noah asked with a glance back at him, and the teenager nodded. He returned his attention to Pete to find him frowning and shook his head. "Grown up stuff, bud. Nothing bad. Promise."
Pete nodded and Noah stood while Walt closed the trunk and then Noah beckoned him away. When they were far enough, Noah took a deep breath and nodded back to the preteen. "Be very careful about falling asleep sitting up in an armchair."
Walt paused. "Come again?"
Chelsea sighed and Noah blinked, not having realized that she'd followed them. She lowered her voice enough to not be overheard. "That's how Pete found Nora, sitting up in a chair in her room. More than once, we made the mistake of falling asleep like that, and it's better that you're warned, even if it might not still set him off."
Walt nodded. "I can see how that might be a problem we can avoid."
50. Attack
A loud yawn came from beside him and Nick glanced down at Pete in concern. "You're going to crash so much later, aren't you?"
"Maybe."
Which, if he was admitting it, was more than likely a definite. Thankfully, both his mother and his father were rejoining them, and Mr. Tomkins was looking at Bart with a troubled frown. Was that good or bad?
"I'll take him back now," Mr. Finney said and held out his hands. "Nicky, come on."
"Dada!" Nicky cried and launched himself at his father and Noah caught him with practiced ease.
Nick laughed and then put a steady hand on Pete's shoulder and pushed him toward the car. "Come on. We'll see you at school tomorrow, Bart."
"Yeah. Dad, don't look at me like that. I didn't do anything."
"Not today, no," Mr. Tomkins said, and something in his voice tone made Nick wince internally. "Come on, son. We have some things to discuss."
"Do I get to pick the topic?"
"No."
Nick got Pete into the backseat and then stood and looked at his mother. "Was your idea to get Bart in trouble with his father?"
"He's not in trouble," Helen said with a slight smile. "Although he's been grounded since November with minimal privileges, according to Mr. Tomkins. They were unaware of the tutoring problems and I suggested a screening for reading issues because of how Pete described it and he agreed that it was a good idea, since English is his worst subject and always has been." She blinked, startled, when a giggle came from inside the car. "Nick?"
"I think we wore him out. It's a good tired, Ma."