OKAY JUST TO CLEAR SOMETHING UP—CHAPTER NINE WAS A JOKE CHAPTER TO FUCK WITH YOU GUYS.
I wanted to get the chapter count up, so I came up with a random idea and ran with it. Also, I had an idea for the next actual chapter and wanted to use it to mark the fact that we HIT DOUBLE DIGITS ON THIS STORY! Sorry.
But, yeah, part of this is gonna be Max and Nikki not only being mom and dad to David, but also to Jaspar. That's what this chapter is—essentially a Parents' Day chapter with Jaspar's parents not showing up and Campbell actually narrowly escaping arrest.
Parents' Day.
Max let out a groan as he sat up in bed and double-checked the calendar. Today was the day that he and the other counselors had been dreading all summer—a day that would either end in joy or somebody getting arrested.
And he'd be damned if it was him.
"Morning, Max," Nikki greeted him as she entered the office. She put his filled coffee mug—black, no sugar, just the way he liked it—on the desk.
"Morning, Nik. Ready for this shitshow?" She crossed the room and sat on the end of his bed.
"Ready as I'll ever be. Maybe this one won't be as bad as ours was. Or have as much nudity."
"I still can't believe your mom and Neil's dad ended up getting together after that shit. You can't pull that and not end up on some kind of watchlist. At least, not now."
"Uh-huh. I think that's why we'll wait till the end of the summer." Max smirked at her and she kissed him on the cheek. "Hands to yourself today, please."
"You got it, babe."
"I'm serious, Max. One misplaced touch and you're cut off for a week."
"Fuck." He laid back on his pillow. "This was a bad idea."
"It's a tradition and you know it. We'd never hear the end of it from Campbell if we skipped out."
"Since when do you care about rules?"
"Since this is the only job either of us have. I've been trying for jobs with the park service, but no luck. This is all I've got."
"Fair." He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stretched. "Well, let's get this show on the road. See you outside."
"Drink your coffee, asshole."
It was their way of saying 'I love you' without actually saying it. Max watched her leave, chugged down his coffee, and got dressed as fast as he could before heading outside. The campers were waiting for him, all looking very tired and confused.
"All right, kids, today's the day."
"Christmas!" Nikki yelled, throwing her arms in the air excitedly.
"No, Nikki," he sighed, putting her arms down. "It's Parents' Day."
"Sorry. You know I always mix them up."
"Wait, our parents are coming?" Gwen asked.
"Yep. Let's try to show them that this camp isn't a fucking waste of time."
"Did somebody say 'Christmas'?" Mr. Campbell asked, popping up behind them.
"Santa!" yelled Space Kid.
"Hello, Mr. Campbell," Max groaned.
"Hello, Maxim! How are you today?" He glanced over at Nikki. "And I see Girl Neil has returned."
"Good morning, Mr. Campbell," Nikki greeted him. "And it's 'Nikki', sir."
"Well, you certainly grew up well…" Max let out a growl of warning. "But that's beside the point! Why are you all out here instead of at your activities?"
"Because it's Parents' Day," Max informed the camp owner.
"Oh, wait, that's today?"
"Yes, it's today."
"But that can't be! I mean, then the parents—"
"Will see that this camp is its own thing and not conforming to whatever they thought it was," Neil finished. "Same as they did when we were Campbell campers."
Campbell breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, it seems as if you four have it handled, so I'll just be on my way!"
Before the camp owner could leave, the bus showed up, driven by Quartermaster.
"Parents are here," he grunted.
"Fuck."
"I can't believe David's dad showed," Max commented to Nikki as he watched the burly man stand over his skinny son. "Bastard."
"At least he came," Nikki reminded him. "I didn't see anybody here for Jaspar. Did you?"
"No." Max had a creeping feeling that there wouldn't be anybody here for Jaspar. "And there probably won't be."
"Do we pull one like they did our first Parents' Day?"
Max had to think about that.
His first Parents' Day—his parents hadn't bothered to show up. It stung, especially seeing all the other kids reunite with their parents after half a summer away from them. Campbell, desperate to avoid arrest, had demanded that Darla and Gregg—the only counselors at Camp Campbell at the time—pretend to be Max's parents for the day. It worked, luckily, and everyone bought it.
The following year, his parents had shown up. Not his birth parents, but his adoptive ones. Darla and Gregg had adopted him after that first summer, and he was forever grateful to them for that.
No way in hell was he going to let Jaspar go through the pain of being abandoned.
"Yeah. Let Neil and Tabii know so they can head up the activities for the day."
Nikki nodded and Max grabbed Jaspar's arm while she talked to the other counselors.
"Hey, what gives?" Jaspar protested as Max dragged him over to a corner.
"Jaspar, I noticed your parents aren't here." Jaspar opened and closed his mouth. "The rule of Parents' Day is that everyone has at least one parent or guardian to spend the day with them."
"My parents aren't going to show up," Jaspar mumbled. "They sent me here because they left the country for the summer and didn't want to deal with me."
"I get it." Jaspar tilted his head. "That's why Nikki and I thought we'd do for you what Darla and Gregg did for me on Parents' Day."
"Your parents didn't show up?"
"Didn't even bother the first summer. Darla and Gregg spent the day acting like my parents at Campbell's insistence." Jaspar thought for a moment, then put two and two together.
"You and Nikki are going to be my mom and dad for the day?"
"If you say it's fine. Otherwise, you get Neil and Tabii."
"I'd prefer you and Nikki."
"They said they can handle it," Nikki informed Max, coming over. "So, we ready to be the 'perfect nuclear family' for today?"
"Yes, Mom," Jaspar replied jokingly. She ruffled his hair.
That was when Max noticed two FBI agents talking to Campbell. They introduced themselves as Agent Miller and Agent Miller… and Ered's dads. She had two dads. That was actually kind of awesome, to be honest. And the fact that Nurf's incarcerated mother had made the effort to actually show up made the absence of Jaspar's all the more incriminating to child neglect. Not that Max wanted to assume, but he'd checked Jaspar's file that morning.
It just said 'Jaspar. 10.'
That was it.
No specific camp, no last name, no contact information.
Just his first name and his age.
God, people like that make me so fucking sick. He's your child, not a rating.
The rest of the day went as expected. Jaspar hung around Max and Nikki, acting as if they were his parents. Max also learned that Harrison's parents were terrified of his abilities and that Dolph's dad disapproved of his art. That was no big deal. Harrison had some legit power that could be a little frightening to people and parents tended to disapprove of their kids becoming artists no matter who they were.
Then there was David's dad, who picked out Max in an instant based on his voice alone.
"You must be David's counselor," he said, his voice deep and commanding. Max didn't flinch.
"Yeah, I am."
"You're the one who pulled him out of the river."
"Yeah, and I'm also the one who told you to get with the program and start giving a shit about your damn kid."
"It's none of your business."
"It is my business when your damn son almost drowns and you can't be bothered to make sure he's all right."
"Please. You're just some high-school dropout, burnt-out stoner who only took this job because it was the only place that would hire your ungrateful ass without a diploma."
"Excuse me, sir, but I have two degrees. One is in business and the other is in dealing with asshole parents and their bullshit. And I have never smoked that shit in my life."
Mr. Greene opened and closed his mouth, not having a response to this. Then he did.
"And what would you know about parenting?"
"I know that parents should give two shits about when their kid has a concussion. I know that they shouldn't say the kid deserved to fall in raging twelve-foot river during a fucking typhoon. I know that they should care that their kid nearly died. Tell me, Mr. Green. Which of those three things did you do?"
David's dad had no response again before he did.
"Then maybe you should try raising that little homo."
Mr. Greene turned on his heel and left. Max was seething with rage, but Nikki put her hand on his shoulder.
"We'll call CPS at the end of the summer."
Dinner went as well as anybody expected, too. The Millers questioned Muack the platypus's existence, but other than that, it went smoothly. After that was the show, in which all the kids showed off what they'd learned that summer. After all, there was only a week left of camp. Campbell had chosen to move Parents' Day closer to the end of the summer sometime during the years Max had been away from Camp Campbell, which was fine by him. It meant less time dealing with bullshit and more time with the kids.
Well, not tonight.
Tonight, he and Nikki took Jaspar out for pizza, just like Darla and Gregg had done for him.
"It's… really cool of you guys to do this," Jaspar told his counselors.
"We thought you'd appreciate it," Max replied. "Besides, it's like Gregg told me—life sucks sometimes, but at least there's pizza."
"Which is always a bonus," Nikki added, setting the pan on the table.
"Are you sure Mr. Campbell's okay with you taking me away from camp like this?"
"I talked to him about it and explained the situation, and he gave the okay," Max sighed. "Besides, I don't have to look at David's asshole dad."
Jaspar laughed and ate some pizza. Then Max got an idea.
"Nikki, do you have a pen and paper in your backpack?" he asked.
"Yep." She handed him a small notepad and a pen. He scribbled something on the notepad and tore off the page.
"This is my phone number," he told Jaspar, giving it to him. "If you need help or somewhere to go, just call me."
"Thanks, Max." Jaspar gave Max a smile.
God, Max was going to miss the kids.
I may have lied about this story.
This isn't going to just be a summer story. Instead, this will continue outside of camp, without most of the campers. Max giving Jaspar his phone number is important, and Nikki was serious about CPS.
So long and thanks for all the fish!