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"All right, good game, but that's all for me," Alex said, returning his cards to the pile on the coffee table. "I need to get the EMT summer schedule finished so I can post it tomorrow morning. And you need to finish your homework."

Jamie groaned and flopped onto his back. "But it's math."

"Poor kid. Do it anyway."

"Can I at least watch something on TV while I do it?"

Alex climbed to his feet, raising an eyebrow at Jamie. "The news will be on soon."

"But then it's math and news."

"You're grounded for another week, and you know it," Alex said firmly. "Would you like to review why?"

"No." Jamie scowled and pushed himself back into a sitting position, adding his cards to the pile.

"Then you can watch the news or pick one of the documentaries. And you know where I'll be if you need a hand with your math."

Jamie grumbled but didn't actually object again, and Alex headed for his room. He'd already spent a good portion of Friday afternoon on the EMT squads' schedules for the next three months—in some ways summer was easier than the rest of the year because he didn't need to work around the high schoolers' time in class, but on the other hand there were the innumerable vacation requests to deal with—and June and the majority of July were in decent shape. But he wanted to get July finished and take a stab at August as well before he sent it out. Once the schedule was posted the EMTs could trade around shifts as they wished provided that there was adequate coverage, but he didn't want to send out something that directly overlapped a time off request he'd already received if he could help it.

An hour and more versions of a spreadsheet than he cared to think about later and he thought he finally had things reasonably well-sorted, and he leaned back and stretched his arms over his head. Finally. He'd do one more review tomorrow, and then—

Shoot.

He didn't need to check to know that he hadn't included his own vacation plans in the schedule, mostly because he hadn't sorted them out yet. Normally it wouldn't matter since he wasn't an active squad member; his work at the station needed coverage but Jennifer was an obvious option this year, and the hospital only needed to be notified a month in advance. Unlike in the past his plans now needed to encompass Jamie, though, and Jamie's absence would absolutely affect his squad.

He frowned as he scrolled back through the calendars. There were a couple weeks at the end of July and the beginning of August where none of the others on the high school squad had made any requests for time off so it shouldn't be a big deal for Jamie to be away, but Alex would need to find out sooner rather than later if his parents or siblings had any plans in that time frame. The odds were they wouldn't, no one back home tended to go for major trips or vacations in the summer, but it would be just his luck that he'd line something up at exactly the wrong time and then never hear the end of it.

And he ought find out if Jamie wanted to be included in his vacation plans before he did anything. While Alex had no doubt that his parents were entirely serious about wanting to meet Jamie, he also knew that his family could be a lot. Even for him. And the environment was completely different than anything that Jamie was likely to be familiar with as well even if Pete's oldest and a few of the other kids on the compound were in the same general age bracket.

Jamie hadn't stuck his head in for help with his homework, and if it hadn't happened by now it probably wasn't going to, so Alex saved the calendars and then pushed himself to his feet and headed back into the main room. "Jaim?"

There was some movement from the couch, but Jamie didn't respond, and Alex moved towards him. "Jamie, can you take a break for a minute? I need to talk to you."

More rustling, and Alex realized as he looked over the back of the couch that Jamie's math book was on the floor and he'd fallen asleep. And whatever he was dreaming about, it didn't look very pleasant as he struggled against the blanket pulled down over him.

"Jamie, wake up," he said, reaching over the back of the couch to give Jamie's shoulder a quick shake.

Jamie thrashed again, shouting this time as his arms flew free of the blanket and struck out into empty air, but then just as quickly he pulled himself to the end of the couch. His knees came to his chest, and he wrapped his arms around them and hugged hard.

Alex held up his hands. "Easy, kiddo, it's just me."

"I—Alex?" He looked up for a minute, breathing hard, and then dropped his eyes to his knees again.

"Yeah." Alex lowered his hands and came around the couch to take a seat at the other end. "Are you okay? That looked like a pretty ugly nightmare."

Jamie's fingers flexed against his legs and he made no move to uncurl. "Yeah. 'm fine. Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for, everyone has nightmares sometimes."

Jamie shrugged.

"Hey." Alex started to reach out, but he wasn't surprised when Jamie pulled back, and he lowered his hand again. "How about you take a couple deep breaths and I'll make us some tea?" he suggested. "Or tea and chocolate?"

"I guess." Jamie's shrug echoed the first, but whatever Alex had said about deep breaths he pushed himself to his feet as soon as Alex did and followed Alex into the kitchen.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Alex asked as he filled the teapot and pulled two mugs down.

Jamie shook his head quickly. "Was nothing."

Despite the obvious lie, Alex nodded rather than pushing. "Okay. Did you manage to finish your math homework before you fell asleep?"

"Yeah."

He was still focusing on the ground, which in most circumstances meant that he was being slightly less than honest, but given what had just happened... "Are you sure?" Alex checked.

"I finished!"

"All right," Alex agreed. "All right."

"Did you finish the schedules?" Jamie asked after a few minutes of silence as they waited for the water to heat.

"Mostly. But I needed to talk to you about your plans."

"My plans?" Jamie frowned, finally looking up albeit with more than a little confusion. "I never have plans. I mean, there's a race in July that I want to do since it's right outside of town, but that's about it."

"When is it? I usually make a trip out to visit my parents sometime mid-summer, and I know they'd like it if you came along, but you don't have to."

"What?"

"What what?"

Jamie looked away. "You want...your parents want me to come visit? And you'd take me?"

"If you want to come, yes. Didn't Mom tell you that she wanted to meet you when she had you on the phone?"

"I guess, but..." he shook his head again and his focus returned to the floor.

"But what? You must have had foster families who went on vacations before."

"Sure, but they usually dump me first. Or drop me in respite care or just leave me wherever. I've never actually gone anywhere."

Alex felt his jaw tighten. If Jamie didn't want to come that would be one thing, especially since sixteen was old enough to be left home alone for a week as long as Jamie was comfortable with it. Maybe with a few calls to check in, but still. But Jamie was sixteen now, and any younger than that...well, it wasn't like the neglect in Jamie's background was news to Alex even without involving the 'dumped' comment. "I have no intention of getting rid of you, kiddo," he said firmly. "And yes, my parents would very much like it if you came too. You don't have to—that's what I wanted to check, that you would feel okay coming along—but you are very welcome."

Jamie still looked more than a little uncertain, and this time Alex was the one who shook his head.

"You don't have to decide now. I'm thinking we'd go at the end of July or the beginning of August, but I still haven't talked to Mom about what dates would work the best for them. But think about it, okay? Now, do you want tea or chocolate?"