Thanks to everyone who read and to Ghostwriter for reviewing.

For once Jamie wasn't observing his usual personal bubble, tucked as close behind Alex's shoulder as he could get without making physical contact, and Alex had a sneaking suspicion that if he looked down there might actually be a few fingers snagged on the hem of his jacket too. Not that he was inclined to confirm any such thing as he shuffled them forwards in line towards the security desk. Today wasn't the busiest that he'd ever seen the airport, but there were more than enough people around that he'd just as soon he and Jamie not get separated.

Eventually they reached the front of the line—if Alex had been by himself he could have sped through, but Jamie didn't have the same options—and the man at the security desk waved them forward with a bored, "Tickets, please."

Alex stepped up and offered both of them and his driver's license, nudging Jamie to hand over his as well.

"Alexander Freeman," he checked Alex's ticket and ID quickly, "and James Waite."

"My name's Jamie," Jamie muttered as he passed his own license over, although his voice was too low for anyone but Alex to have heard him. Nor did he seem particularly inclined to move from his position behind Alex.

The man took it and looked at Alex. "Stepson?"

"Foster." Alex had all of the paperwork that said that he could take Jamie out of state on vacation in the front pocket of his suitcase, but despite his expectations the man didn't even ask. After a quick comparison of Jamie's ticket and license, he handed the whole stack back to Alex and waved them on towards the metal detectors.

"Shoes and everything on the belt," Alex said, returning Jamie's license before he could forget, but it was obvious that Jamie either remembered what Alex had told him before or was just taking his cue from the people ahead of them because he was already unlacing his boots and shrugging out of his jacket. He was faster than Alex despite the laces, but he still waited for Alex to go through the machine first, and then it was only a few minutes before they were both collecting their things on the other side. "How about we go find our gate and then see about some lunch?" Alex suggested after a quick check of the overhead signs to make sure that they were pointed in the right direction. "It's a little early, but we'll be in the air for a couple hours, and this way we can find a place to sit down and watch some planes for a while." For himself he preferred to stick to quiet corners well clear of the path of traffic when he was traveling, but he was fairly sure that Jamie had been telling the truth when he'd said that he'd never been anywhere except down to the nursing home to visit his grandmother, and he'd probably enjoy watching what was happening out on the tarmac.

Jamie nodded quickly.

Most of what was available was fast food, but some searching found them a sandwich counter that had enough options to interest both of them, and after confirming that their gate was an easy walk away, they settled in by the large windows. This was a pretty standard regional airport, nothing compared to where they'd be landing, but Alex had been right and everything outside was more than enough to hold Jamie's attention. Every once in a while he'd point something out, but other than that Alex spent most of lunch reading, and it was only the buzz of his phone an hour or so later that drew them both back to the present.

"Alex? Is something wrong?" Jamie asked, looking away from the plane that had been rolling up to the closest gate as Alex tucked his book back into his suitcase.

"No, but they're going to start boarding for our flight in about ten minutes. I'm going to take a walk around and stretch my legs before we get on. Do you want to wait here until I get back?"

Jamie stood and grabbed his duffel bag. "No."

By the time they'd made a circuit of the terminal and a quick stop at the restroom the gate attendant was calling for the first group to line up, and Alex was just as glad that he'd put them in business class where there were only two seats on either side of the aisle. He needed an aisle seat so he could shift and stand on occasion, but he wouldn't have wanted to deny Jamie a window seat, and he certainly wouldn't have put the kid by himself on his first flight.

They boarded in the second group, after the families with small children, and as it turned out having a traveling companion who could toss both of their bags into the overhead without a second thought was a very helpful addition. And as he'd expected, Jamie opened the window shade as soon as he was seated.

"Wow. We're up high."

"A lot higher than you'd think," Alex agreed. "If you look back, you can probably see them loading up the non carry-on luggage."

"I saw a plane doing that earlier, except they were all coming off." Jamie craned his neck to look again. "It's weird, it's like a whole conveyor belt to nowhere until it's up against the plane. I wonder if they ever drop anything."

"I imagine it happens on occasion." Another good reason not to check luggage if he could avoid it.

The rest of the passengers boarded around them, and eventually the flight attendants shut the cabin door, and the plane began to roll back from the gate. Alex retrieved the pack of gum he'd picked up and offered it to Jamie as the attendants began their spiel. "Here."

"Huh?" Jamie's forehead wrinkled. "Since when do you have gum?"

He wasn't wrong, most of the candy that came into the house was either specifically for Jamie or something like M&Ms for poker, and Alex smiled. "On flights. Take a piece, chewing it will help your ears when we change altitudes."

"Oh. Okay." Jamie eyed the young woman in front of them as she demonstrated the oxygen masks. "It's...we'll be okay, right?"

"We'll be fine. It's always good to listen to the safety briefing and know where the exits are and all of that, but you don't need to worry."

Jamie hesitated and then nodded and popped his gum in, and fortunately the takeoff was enough to distract him again. There was some in-flight entertainment available, but he spent most of the flight staring out the window and occasionally checking out the map showing their progress and pointing out guesses for landmarks they were crossing over, and since he didn't need too much of Alex's input for that, Alex went back to his book for most of the flight.

Less fortunately, despite Alex's best efforts to stand and stretch every few chapters, his back did stiffen up, and he couldn't help a wince as they stood to finally deplane.

"I'll get the bags," Jamie said before he could do more than glance at the overhead.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. They aren't that heavy."

"All right, thank you," he agreed after a moment. "But stay close once we're off the plane, okay? Denver is a big airport."

He needn't have worried, Jamie glued himself back to his shoulder as soon as they were clear of the plane. Although most of Jamie's attention went to the crowds around them when they reached the end of the jet way, and Alex couldn't really blame him considering the difference between this place and the airport they'd left.

"Whoa," Jamie muttered.

"You're not wrong." Alex maneuvered them out of the path of traffic and spent a few minutes looking at the overheads to sort out which way they needed to go to reach the center of the concourse. "There's a train from the center of this terminal to the main terminal, and then we'll catch a shuttle to the car rental place, and from there we'll be driving north for a couple hours. I'm going to stop at a restroom whenever we pass one, but do you want to get a snack or anything after before we get going? I'll call Mom before we start the drive, and I have no doubt that she'll have dinner ready when we get there, but like I said, it'll be a few hours."

"I can wait."

"Okay." He nodded down the concourse. "From the look of things we need to go that way, so you'd better pass my bag over."

Jamie shook his head and resettled his grip. "I've got it. It's not...it doesn't bother me."

"Are you sure?" Not having to worry about getting his back further tweaked because the rollers caught on something at an inconvenient time would be a relief, especially since they still had a couple hour drive ahead of them. But Jamie already had his own duffel looped across his shoulder, and Alex hadn't brought him along as a luggage porter.

"I'm good. Really, it just rolls anyway. Mine is probably heavier."

"Well, thank you. But let me know if you change your mind, okay? I've dragged it through a lot of airports over the years."

Jamie nodded, and fingers definitely caught the back of Alex's jacket as Alex began to make his way down the concourse, but eventually they were able to take the elevators down to the trains and then up and out again.

"This place is insane," Jamie muttered, tilting his head back to look at the walkways above them. "Are we in a tent?"

"It's artistic, I think." Alex had never claimed to be an art connoisseur. "It looks even stranger from the outside. But we'll have more time to look around when we're flying out, I promise. There's a demon horse statue thing by the road that's certainly something, especially when you drive past it at night. The first time I saw it…." He shook his head. The red eyes were just unnecessary, really. "Come on, if I remember correctly the pickup station for the rental car shuttle is this way."

There were a few others on the bus out to the rental station who got to the counters before they did, but the car that Alex had reserved or one enough like it to make no difference was available, and soon enough they were loaded up and headed out of the airport.

"Check out the mountains," Jamie said, leaning forward to stare out the window. "They just go."

"They are impressive," Alex agreed. He'd never had any particular desire to move back out here after finishing his residency, but there was no denying that the scenery was something special. "I'm sure the kids will take the four-wheelers up into the foothills at some point, although I doubt anyone will try making it up the snow line at this time of year."

The scenery out of Jamie's side of the car wasn't quite as interesting once they turned north, although every now and again he'd crane his neck for a quick look past Alex, and once they were clear of the worst of the traffic Alex tapped the radio lightly. "Why don't you find something that won't make either of our ears bleed? We've got two hours or so before we get to the farm." He wouldn't mind talking if Jamie wanted to, but Jamie still seemed quieter than he had been before everything, and Alex wasn't inclined to push him right now.

Jamie nodded quickly and hit the power button, and they settled on a station that was more contemporary than Alex might have chosen but at least didn't involve any shouting or swearing so he'd take it.

"It's just going to be your parents when we get there today, right?" Jamie asked when the music took a pause for commercials.

"That's the plan. I—shoot, I forgot to call Mom." He dug his phone out and passed it over. "Here, find her number and put her on speaker for me, would you?"

Jamie nodded, and a few minutes later he held the phone out in his hand.

"Hello?" Alex asked.

"Alex?"

"Hey, Mom, you're on speaker with Jamie and I. Our plane landed half an hour or so ago, and we're now on the road and headed your way."

"Oh, good. How was your flight? No trouble? Jamie, did you make it through okay?"

"None at all, it was nice and smooth," Alex said, overlapping Jamie's, "It was fun."

"Good," she repeated. "Now, Jamie, I know what Alex likes, but do you like spaghetti?"

"Yeah, sure."

"With meatballs or sausage? Or maybe I'll just make both, and then we'll have plenty of leftovers," she continued before he could answer the question. "We'll have garlic bread for sure, and some salad, too, and I was thinking cookies and ice cream for dessert. Do you like cookies?"

"Yeah," he agreed even more quickly.

"Excellent. I've got chocolate chip and peanut butter already made, but you and I can look at my recipe books after you get here and see what else you might like to try."

Jamie looked at Alex.

"That sounds great, Mom, I'm sure he'll be happy to put a dent in your sugar supply. Although I'd like to state for the record that I do feed him."

"Really, Alex."

Her tone got a grin out of Jamie, and Alex sighed. "Mom, I just wanted to let you know that we're in the car, and we'll see you and Dad in a couple hours." There would be plenty of time for talking then.

"All right," she relented. "Drive safe, and we'll see you soon."

Alex pulled over about halfway to Cheyenne to stretch again and grab them both some water—road construction always made him tense up, given what he'd seen over the years—and then they were back on the highway until the turnoff. At which point he couldn't help but sigh in relief and gave Jamie a quick smile. "Half an hour or so more, and we'll be there. For some reason this drive always seems longer than it really is."

Jamie nodded and then looked away, picking at the seat, and Alex tilted his head.

"Are you all right? Did you need to stop again?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Just...what if I forgot something."

"Did you?" They weren't that far from the city; it would be easy enough to double back.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, if you did, it's not a big deal. Either my parents or siblings will have a spare we can borrow, or we can take a quick trip down into town. The compound might feel like it's in the middle of nowhere," or at least it did to Alex, "but there is a grocery store and a Wal-mart and all of that not too far away. Okay?" He hesitated. "And my parents will like you just fine. You don't need to worry about that."

Another shrug, but it wasn't hard to guess that that was where his concerns were, and Alex ruffled his hair lightly.

"You'll be fine, kiddo."