Randy grinned as Jeff snuggled up against him. The only thing covering their bodies was the sheet on the bed. "Did that help your headache?" he asked.
Jeff grinned. "Oh yeah. That was quite the remedy you gave me." He kissed Randy softly. "I love it when the kids are at school. It's so quiet and peaceful."
Randy smirked. "Well, it's sometimes quiet. I think we were pretty loud there for a little while."
The phone rang, causing both of them to groan. "I've got it," Jeff said. He reached over to the desk and answered it. With each passing second, his face made Randy uneasy. "What?" Randy asked as Jeff hung up the phone. "What's wrong?"
"Jack's truant," Jeff answered. He got out of bed and put his clothes back on. "He only went to his first class."
Randy cursed and got out of bed. This wasn't like Jack. Something was going on with their oldest son. He got dressed and grabbed his car keys. "Come on. I think I know where he's going to be."
Neither of them said anything as they got in the car and started driving. Randy knew Jeff well enough though to know how worried his husband was. He wished he could tell Jeff that this wasn't anything serious but he knew from previous experience that when things went wrong, they really, really went wrong. It was best to just expect the worse and then it would come as less of a shock when it happened.
Randy drove them to a secluded little area in the woods that was by a pond. Jack was there throwing stones in the water. He didn't look up as they walked over to him. "What's going on buddy?" Randy asked carefully. He wanted to assess the situation before going off and yelling all willy nilly. That would probably just make everything worse.
Jack just shrugged. "Nothing. I just didn't feel like being in school today."
Jeff gently touched the boy's shoulder. "Come on Jack, we know that's not true. Something's been bothering you for awhile now."
"Just leave me alone," Jack grumbled. He tried to walk past them to escape again. Randy put out his hand to stop him and ended up grabbing his son by the stomach. His eyes widened and he recoiled when Jack hissed in pain.
"What?" he asked. "What did I do? I barely touched you!"
Jack sighed. "I'm fine. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
Randy was worried though. He watched as Jeff pulled up Jack's shirt and tank top to reveal a patch of bruises that had been hidden up until this point. "Oh God," Randy groaned. He felt sick to his stomach. "Who did that to you?"
Jack looked down. "Zach," he said quietly.
"Who's Zach?" Jeff asked.
"My ex-boyfriend…I think. Maybe he's my ex. I don't know."
Randy and Jeff exchanged looks. They had always had suspicions about Jack's sexuality but there had never been any real discussion about it. But the fact that Jack either was in or had been an abusive relationship instantly opened up a lot of old wounds for them.
Jack didn't seem to have noticed the looks his dads were exchanging. "I caught him cheating on me with some guy I didn't know. I freaked and he got violent. And today I saw him with that same guy and I just couldn't stand it. I don't even know why. I hate him so much sometimes but I mean…" his voice trailed off for a moment. "It still hurt," he finally said.
"Was this the first time he hit you?" Jeff's voice was shaking as he asked.
Jack didn't say anything, which was all the answer they needed.
"Oh fuck," Randy muttered. He smacked his hand against a nearby tree. His day had been effectively ruined now. He remembered Jeff telling him that it took Christian nearly killing him to make him realize he really needed to get out of the relationship. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" he asked. "You know you can come to us for anything, don't you?"
Jack nodded. "I know but…I don't know." He crossed his arms. "Am I in trouble?"
Randy and Jeff shared another look before shaking their heads. "Not this time," Jeff said slowly.
"Okay. Thanks." Jack walked over to the car and got into it.
"There's something else going on with him," Randy said quietly. He knew an abusive relationship could cause a person to withdraw from everyone that loved them, but something in his gut told him that Zach wasn't Jack's only problem. There was something else tormenting his son. "Do you think somebody else hurt Jack?"
Jeff bit his lip. "Maybe. I hope not, but that's definitely an option." He sighed. "Or he's suffering from depression. Sometimes doesn't come from any actual event. It just happens."
Randy sighed as they slowly started walking back towards the car. He knew that but that didn't make him feel any better. In fact, it made him feel worse because it signaled to him that this wasn't going to be an easily fixable situation.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Later that day, Maggie and Sid were outside playing with their cousins Gary and Rachel. Gary was eleven and Rachel was eight. They were Maggie's favorite cousins because they played with her and Sid all the time. Aaron and Jenny were more interested in hanging out with Jack and Caleb was only three, so he was too young to have any real fun with.
"I'm getting married Friday," Sid told Gary.
Gary shook his head. "No you're not."
"Yes I am! Tomorrow's my bachelor party and the next day is the wedding. Nancy and I are getting married after school. I had to make it after school so Dad and Daddy could watch."
"And I get to be the flower girl!" Maggie announced excitedly. It didn't really matter that she didn't really like Nancy all that much. The important thing was that she got to throw flowers around, which was always fun.
"Hey, let's race to the end of the block and back," Rachel said. "On your mark, get set, go!"
The four of them took off running as fast as they could. Maggie was doing a good job of keeping up with the others, but then about halfway down the block, a wave of tiredness hit her and she completely ran out of breath. She stopped and tried to get all her air back. Her tiredness confused her. She had been tired a lot lately, especially when she did anything physical. She knew her daddies got really tired when they a cold or the flu, so that's what she thought she possibly had. But still, it was kind of weird to her. It didn't really feel like she had a cold or a flu.
Sid was already on his way back to the starting place. "Oh come on Maggie quit being--EW! You're bleeding!"
Maggie put her hand up to her nose. It was bleeding for the third time this week. "Daddy!" she yelled. She started running back towards the house. But she was so tired and the tiredness made her legs weak. She fell down on the ground and banged her leg up pretty badly. "DADDY!"
Jeff came tearing out of the house like there was a fire or something. "What happened?" he asked. "What's going on?"
"My nose is bleeding again!" Maggie complained. "And I fell and I have a boo-boo now."
Jeff sighed and picked her up. "This is the third nosebleed this week. I'm about ready to take you to the damn doctor."
Maggie sighed and rested her head against his shoulder. "Okay Daddy," she said, giving him her blessing to take her to the doctor. Normally she cried and fussed any time she had to see the doctor but now she wasn't going to. She didn't feel well. She didn't feel well at all.
