"Tomorrow," Cal reinforced as he headed towards his office.

"Fine!" Ria called over her shoulder as she walked in the opposite direction towards her office.

Cal heard his phone start to ring in his pocket and he grinned as he walked away from his little protégé. Not that she was really his protégé anymore. She probably spent more time working cases than Cal did these days. "Yeah?" He answered the call.

"Hi, it's me."

"Hi me," Cal smiled again, letting the warmth of knowing his wife was calling him wash through his stomach.

"Lewis is a bit upset and wants to talk to you."

"Oh?" Cal's good mood several notches rapidly. He reached his office and closed the door. "What happened?"

"Some kid at school was making fun of his hearing aids," her voice went tight with anger and she spoke with an edge, like she didn't want someone to overhear.

"They what?" Cal asked disgusted, heading for his desk.

"He said they were calling him 'dumbo'," her voice got even quieter.

"Oh for fuck's sake," Cal muttered but he knew this was inevitable. At some point, some insecure kid, was going to point out to everyone else, that Lewis was noticeably different. And like a pack of animals the rest would join in or ignore Lewis's plight because someone else was getting it and that meant that they weren't.

"Cal."

"Yeah I'll talk to him. Put him on," Cal softened his voice.

"What are you going to say to him?"

"I don't know."

"Cal." Her voice was a warning.

Cal sighed. She meant, he wasn't going to nut off was he? He wasn't going to teach Lewis to do something vindictive. "I don't know. Ask him how his day was? What do you want me to say?"

"I just want to know you're not going to go sound off about that kid."

Cal distinctly heard the distaste in her tone, the emphasis on 'that'. She wasn't impressed either but maybe Lewis was next to her so she was holding it in. "I'm more worried about my kid than that kid," Cal told her and hoped it was enough of a persuasion without also promising anything. He had every intention of teaching Lewis how to get back at the other kid. He was annoyed.

"Ok, hang on," Gillian indicated she was going to put Lewis on.

There was a slight scuffling sound and then the tiny hollow voice of Lewis. "Hi Dad."

"Hey darlin'," Cal greeted him. He didn't have to shout for the boy to hear him over the phone, his hearing aids were sophisticated enough that they could 'tune in' to the frequency of the device; it was like the phone transmitted straight to his hearing aids, but only when it was close enough. He couldn't listen in on conversations that were not meant for him. He could also programme into radios, the tv, mp3 players, computers and other 'transmitting' devices. He was tuned in to both his parent's cell phones and it was so nice to be able to talk to him over the phone. "Mum told me you didn't have a very good day?" Cal found his hand raising to sign and had to consciously stop himself.

There was a stretch of silence. Cal heard Gillian in the background and then Lewis came back with, "Yep." He sounded so pitiful Cal wanted to climb into the phone and hug him. Or head home immediately.

"I'm sorry to hear that munchkin. Wanna tell me about it?"

"This boy laughed at me cos he said my ears were funny," that pouting almost crying tone of voice. Great.

"Who was that?" Cal asked gently.

"I don't know."

"You don't know his name?"

"No."

"He's not in your class?" Cal pried.

"No."

"All right. So this was at playtime?"

"It was when I was eating my lunch."

So some shit from another class. Cal bet the kid was older than Lewis too. He wouldn't pick on someone his own size would he?

"And then he threw a branch at me and it hit my leg and it hurt a lil bit and the other kids laughed and then he called me a dumbo cos my ears were funny. And they were saying I was ugly looking. Daddy I don't wanna wear the aids anymore." And then he did start crying softly.

Aw shit.

Cal got to his feet, pacing, pent up energy; anger and anguish. His baby boy. Some ignorant little shit picking on his son. Where was Gillian? Was she hugging him? "Darlin' listen to me," Cal spoke gently but firmly, making his voice a little louder over the sound of his five and a half year old's tears. "Your hearin' aids help you hear betta. You know that buddy. You know when you take them off it's harda to hear things. If you didn't have them on we couldn't talk on the phone right now. I really like talkin' to you so I wish you would wear them."

Lewis gave a splutter.

"They're not funny at all and you don't look funny with them Lew. You look like a brave young man. Lots of people tell me so, all the time when they see you. I wish I was brave like you."

"You are brave," Lewis countered weakly, his voice watery.

"Not as brave as you are though," Cal turned towards his windows and leaned over the cabinet beneath them so he could see the pavement and people walking by and the cars driving past. The world kept turning and yet it seemed like it should stop because Lewis was upset.

"Yes. When you had the sore on your head and you were in the spital for ages."

Cal gave a little smile. Good boy Lewis, fight back.

"It took ages to get better but you got better and you tried real hard and the man helped you learning to walk again."

Cal's smile stuck around a little longer. "You help me to be brave. Maybe I could help you? Maybe we can be brave togetha? You and me. What do you reckon?"

"And Wen," Lewis's voice lost some of its thickness. "Cos he was in the special spital for the tiny babies for ages too."

"He was," Cal agreed. "And now he's home with us."

"And growing up big," Lewis added, sounding stronger.

"He absolutely is. What about Mum? Can she be in our club? I think Mum's brave."

"I like Mum."

"Me too," Cal agreed. "A lot."

"Mum can be in our club."

"Great," Cal enthused. "What about some friends from school? Can they be in our cool club for brave people?"

"Um there's Hector. His Daddy died in a war."

Cal didn't know that. But it was perfect for proving his point. "Anyone else?"

"Megan has glasses."

"She can definitely be in our club. I have glasses too."

"And Mum!"
"Yeah!" Cal agreed. She did. Very cute ones. "Neat. But what about the kid who was mean to you?"

"No," Lewis grumped. "He's no allowed in my club."

"But what if he had somethin' special about him too?"

There was silence and Lewis hesitated. "But he's mean."

"Yeah he sounds mean," Cal agreed. "If he were nice could he join?"

Lewis hesitated again. "Yeassss," he drew the word out in more hesitation; it sounded a bit like a question. This is what Cal liked about Lewis. There were a million things he liked about Lewis but this in particular was pretty special: he had a huge capacity to love. And he was always willing to take that time to see something from another perspective, even if he probably didn't realise that was what he was doing at this point.

"Cos the thing is, the kid who was mean, he has somethin' special about him too, somethin' that makes him different from everyone else. And maybe that thing is also the thing that makes him mean because he doesn't have someone to help him with his special thing. You know? Like how Docta Rosario helps you with your ears. And how Docta Rockwell helped fix the sore on my head. And Adam helped me learn to walk again. And how Mum helps us all the time by makin' us lunch and dinna and givin' us lots of hugs. Maybe this boy doesn't have anyone who gives him lots of hugs."

Cal paused and Lewis was silent.

"And maybe that's what makes him mean."

"He doesn't have a Mum?"

"I don't know," Cal answered carefully. "I don't know him. And you don't know him. What if he didn't have a Mum? Or what if his Mum didn't make his lunch special for him? The thing is Lew, we don't know do we?"

"Oh."

Or maybe the kid was just a dumb fuck, ignorant, a shit, whose parents didn't raise him to be respectful of other people. Especially those who were different to him. Cal took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Next time he comes ova to where you are, ask him what his name is and what class he's in. So then we'll know that about him instead of just nothin' at all."

And that probably wouldn't stop the kid from telling Lewis his ears were funny but it might just throw him off enough to lose some confidence. And if that didn't work, then at least when Cal went down to the school to talk to some teacher's he'd have a name and a class number to work off of.

"I don't want to," Lewis's voice got small again.

"You're brave aren't you?" Cal asked gently.

"Hm," Lewis answered and Cal could picture him nodding his head.

"Just try it. See what happens. And if he tells you you're ugly you rememba this, I said you weren't. All right?"

"Ok."

"And if he tells you your ears are funny, you can laugh, cos they're not, are they?"

"No," Lewis conceded, though he didn't sound overly convinced.

"And Lew? Rememba this too. I love you. Very, very much. And Mum loves you very, very much. And Wen loves you very, very much. And Grandma and Grandpa and Emily and Ajay and Uncle Matthew and Aunt Kate and Arianna and Rachel and Max. And Uncle Eli and Aunt Ria and Uncle Karl. That's lots of people."

"Yeah," Lewis gave a little sigh.

"Will you give me a cuddle when I get home?"

"Yes."

"Thank you. I love havin' cuddles with you."

"I love your cuddles Dad."

"And maybe before I get home you could practice havin' cuddles with Mum?"

"Ok," Lewis agreed easily.

"She gives the best cuddles."

"Yeah."

"I'm really proud of you Lew. You're such a lovely wee man."

"I love you Dad."

"I love you too," Cal told him with as much emphasis as he could load into his voice. They said goodbye but before the call was disconnected Cal said: "Gill?"

"Yes," her voice was there immediately.

"Did you hear all that?"

"Every word."

So she had put him on speaker phone.

"How'd I do?"

"I wanna have babies with you," she murmured.

Cal gave a slight laugh, surprised by her response. So now he must not be on speaker phone. "Get in line," he growled out. "See you soon."

"Love you."

"Love you too."