"Was I brave, Uncle Jamie?" He walked closer to me and bent down.
"Yeah. You were really brave and smart to know to message me immediately and to let someone know you were in trouble. If you hadn't, who knows where you might have been by now. We may have never been able to find you." He lowered his head again.
"But you, Grandpa, and Daddy would have found me, right? Because you guys are the best cops, and detectives there are. And cause you wouldn't stop looking for me until you found me? And then Aunt Erin would have put them in jail for a long time. Cause you would find me. Right?"
He started to chuckle and said "Yeah I forgot about that. We wouldn't stop looking for you, because we love you, and we don't want anything bad to happen to you. If anything did happen to you, your Aunt Erin would definitely prosecute these guys to the fullest extent of the law. Your grandpa wouldn't sleep, and would have all his men looking for you until he knew you were safe." I understand now what he was upset about, but at 8 years old, I didn't.
Confused, I said, "Yeah, okay." Then I looked down and started to run my cars into each other. Uncle Jamie grabbed a cop car I had and pretended to radio into his precinct. I started laughing, which made him start laughing. I looked up at him, and then we smiled at each other.
I figured Dad was done talking so I said, "Can I go back out to Dad now?"
He laughed and said, "Yeah go on." I got up and started to run out, but I turned around to face Uncle Jamie.
"Uncle Jamie?"
He looked up and said, "Yeah, Xavier?" I looked down at my bare feet, a little red with blood from the cut glass.
"What do you think would have happened if I couldn't tell you I was in trouble? What if I wasn't the son of a detective? Would I be okay? Would I still make it to Sunday dinner?" He chuckled, then looked down.
"We would make sure of it buddy."
I looked up at him, and said, "Are you coming?" He stood up, and motioned for me to run over to him.
"Come here real quick Xavier." I ran back over and jumped up into his arms. He looked at me and said, "I don't know what I would do if anything ever happens to you. You would have to stay calm and let as many people know where you are, that way, we have a good chance of finding you. That way, we can get you home safely, so your daddy and your mommy don't worry about you, ok?" I nodded my head, and gave him a big hug, and laid my head on his shoulder. He laughed, and said, "You tired buddy?"
I had to admit I was a little sleepy, so I nodded, "Yeah, all this police stuff is hard for a kid my age. I don't see how you guys can do full days of it."
He laughed again and agreed. "You too tired to go and get ice cream?"
I perked up and scoffed. "No one is ever too tired to get ice cream. What kinda question is that?" He smiled and started to laugh.