20

Jamie ended the call and groaned, tossing his cell phone onto his desk. He raked his fingers through his hair trying to figure out what he was going to do about a particularly touchy situation when a certain blonde caught his attention. "Hey. You heading back out?"

Eddie detoured and stepped into Jamie's office, tucking her thumbs along the inside of her duty belt. "Yeah, off to find the next devient," she said. The smirk on her face dropped when she observed Jamie's defeated posture. "What's wrong?"

"I just got off the phone with Branden's mom," he sighed.

"James' friend? The one he's going away with?"

"Yup." It was indeed about the long-awaited special birthday trip to a Phillies game. James was looking forward to going away with his friends and to all of the perks that came with sitting in a fancy suite to watch baseball, regardless of whether he cared for the sport. Plans were made before he was even in the picture, before Sydney planned her trip to London and before he eagerly agreed to have James stay with him while she was gone.

"Oh, no. Are they canceling?" Eddie guessed based upon the look on his face.

"Worse, if you ask me." Jamie stood up, feeling restless and needing to move his legs despite having nowhere to go. "They're not canceling, they're just bailing."

"What do you mean?"

Jamie paced the small confines of his office. "From the sounds of it, they got a better offer for the weekend so they're still sending the kids on the trip but now it's with their nanny or something. I don't know."

"But it's the kid's birthday," Eddie argued. How did a parent bail for their son's birthday?

"His birthday and birthday party were two weeks ago. This was the big finale, I guess."

"Still, they agreed to it," she maintained. "And a nanny? How do you feel about that?" Although, she already sensed what his opinion was on the matter.

He let his head drop back dramatically before locking eyes with her. This all felt like his first big parenting test. He didn't want to disappoint James, but he also couldn't send him off with some stranger. Was this even the same nanny they said they hired a few months ago when he first met them? "Not good. Didn't feel so good about it to begin with, but Sydney knows them and she okayed it a long time ago. I didn't think I could object."

"But now, this is a complete stranger to you that you have to trust will take care of James in a different city with a bunch of other kids. What are you gonna do?" she grimaced.

"My gut says this isn't a good idea. Now it's some nanny and three other ten year olds on a train and in a hotel, overnight for a baseball game. At least the odds were better with two parents that at least I could say I met." He dropped back against the edge of his desk, running both hands down his face. "I don't know…am I being paranoid and overprotective?" Jamie asked. Eddie would tell him if he were.

She was quick to respond. "Uh, no. I don't think so. And I would think Sydney would agree. James said she's never let him go to sleepaway camp because she didn't like having strangers take care of him while they were a far distance apart." At least that was what he said. Considering it had always just been the two of them up until several months ago and she was a very hands-on and protective mom, it sounded about right. "Are you going to call her?" she asked.

"I don't know. I mean, if it were a really major decision, I would. But she's away and in trial and he's with me. I should be able to make a decision about this, right?"

Eddie hated to make assumptions about anything Sydney might think with regard to their son, but she was always ready to give her husband her two cents when asked. Heck, even when he didn't ask, she let him know what she was thinking on any given topic. "I would think she'd leave this type of decision for you to make in her absence."

"Yeah, except, it's gonna be a big deal for James. I tell him he's not going on the trip he's been talking about non-stop and I'm gonna be persona non grata in his eyes," Jamie grumbled.

"Welcome to parenthood," Eddie squeaked.

"Thanks," Jamie laughed humorlessly.

"I don't mean anything by that, they're just the hard decisions you have to make regardless of whether he's going to like it or not. Looking out for him matters more. How often did your parents have to make decisions that you didn't care for but you knew were right in the end? Even if it took you a long time to realize it."

"Yeah."

Eddie tilted her head as a thought occurred to her. "What would your dad have done in this situation?"

"Are you kidding me? It would have been a hard no from my mom before getting an even harder never from dad. Besides, I didn't have any friends with nannies their parents could dump us on. What would your parents have done?" he asked, knowing nannies were the norm for her growing up.

"Depends on what stage of my childhood we're talking about. They were big on hired help and FOMO played a big role in all of my parents' decisions, but I give them props for never sending me away on with any nannies and I don't think they would have let me go off with someone else's. Although, maybe those circumstances never presented themselves."

Jamie continued to pace, knowing what he had to do. "This is going to suck."

"When are you going to tell him?" She wanted to back him up while also wanting to avoid the potential devastation this would cause James. He'd mentioned the trip about ten times to her already.

"I gotta do it today, right? The trip's only a few days away. I have to let Branden's mom know first and I guess I'll tell James after I pick him up. I just need to buck up and do it." Jamie got back in his seat. If he was going to get out of here on time, he needed to get back to work.

"Maybe I should make some of his favorites for dinner to soften the disappointment."

Jamie smiled. "Leave it to you to think that chicken parm is going to get him to forget about a suite at the Yankees-Phillies game."

"Worth a shot," she shrugged. "Good luck."

"Be safe," he said as he watched her leave, then sighed and got back to work to take his mind off the fireworks he expected later in the afternoon.

Eddie was setting the table when the door to their apartment burst open and James barreled through with a dark and stormy cloud over his head.

"Hey, James," she greeted him brightly, only to snap her head back when he shot past her. Eddie then flinched when his bedroom door slammed shut.

"Bye, James," she said to herself as she looked at Jamie. He appeared just as upset as he trudged through the door. "I take it you told him?"

Jamie closed the door behind him and tossed James' backpack next to the side table, which he left behind after he jumped out of the car just as soon as he got it into park. "Yup, in the car after he started talking about the trip again."

She stated the obvious. "And it didn't go so well."

Jamie glanced over at James as he drove through traffic. "About that, James," he started, knowing he was about to break his heart.

"What's up?" he said while staring out the window at the passing scenery.

"Branden's mom called me today."

"Oh, yeah? Was it about the trip?" he asked excitedly. Branden sent him a text about it this morning, but only said they had to change some things around.

"It was," Jamie confirmed.

"Well? What is it?" he asked eagerly, certain it was some great, new perk to look forward to.

Jamie waited a moment as he got to a red light before he broke the news. "Branden's parents aren't going anymore."

"What? The trip is off?" James assumed as disappointment flashed across his face. How could Branden not let him know that?

"Not exactly. The trip is on, but they're not going. They're sending their nanny on the trip with the kids instead," Jamie explained.

"Oh, okay! Jeez, way to scare me," he sighed in relief. He really had him for a second.

He shook his head, hating how hard this was. "No, James, you don't understand. They're not going anymore and I'm not comfortable sending you off with this person I've never met before."

"So go meet her," James reasoned, confused that he had to give him the simple solution to his simple problem.

"That's not gonna be enough, not a few days out from this trip. I'm sorry, James, but I told his mom you weren't going," he said, hoping his son knew how much this hurt him as well.

James could only gape at him, unable to make sense of what he was saying. They stared at each other until a horn blared from behind. Jamie had been too focused on James and his reaction to notice the light had changed.

Then it clicked in James' head. "So everyone else is still going but me?" he asked. His face was the epitome of devastation.

"I'm sorry, bud," Jamie apologized and reached out to comfort him.

James recoiled from his touch. "No, that's not fair! Mom said I could go! Did you even check with her?"

Jamie expected he might go there. "This is my decision, but I did let your mom know. We could only talk for a minute because she was in meetings after court." They couldn't get into it too much, but Sydney was uncomfortable with the change as well and said she would have made the same decision before reluctantly ending the call to get back to work. He promised to let her know how it went before her daily call with James in the morning.

"She's not in meetings now, it's way later over there! You can call her again!" he argued. Who knew what he told her while she was busy. His mom would tell him he was wrong and let him go, he just knew she would.

"James, I did talk to her."

James didn't believe him. Even so, something told him he wasn't going to change his mind. His mom was away and using that to make decisions for him. "So you're canceling my trip instead? You can't do that!" he yelled, his voice booming within the confines of the Chevelle.

"It's for the best. Your mom agrees," Jamie reasoned.

"Becuase you probably made a bigger deal out of everything than it really is just to make her agree with you! Did you even tell her everyone else was going? I'll talk to her and she'll tell you you're wrong!"

Jamie weaved through traffic. He didn't know what else to say to help him understand.

His pleas weren't working and panic set in. "Please, you can't do this to me!" James begged, slapping his hands down on the seat as his eyes began to fill.

"I'm not doing this to hurt you," he assured him. "I'm only thinking of what's best for you, bud."

James stared at him as the anger welled up inside. He bit the inside of his cheek and turned away, wanting to hide the tears that threatened to fall. He didn't want to give him the satisfaction. "I hate you," he spat out in anger, without thinking.

Jamie's jaw dropped. He glanced over at James who had scooted as close to the door as he could possibly go - away from him. His elbow was propped up along the arm rest, holding his head in his hand as he looked anywhere but at his dad. "James…bud."

"I want to go home," he mumbled. A stupid tear fell and he angrily swatted it away.

Jamie swallowed thickly, looking straight ahead. "That's where we're going."

"That's not home! I want my real home! I want mom - she wouldn't do this to me!"

Jamie met Eddie halfway. "He wouldn't talk or look at me in the car after he said those things. Not sure which one stung the most - the 'I hate you' or the 'I want mom,'" he shared, pulling Eddie in for a much needed hug. This parenting thing sucked.

Eddie kept her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. It seemed that Jamie might be more upset over this than James. "No, he didn't mean that. He's just upset. You never said something like that to your parents after a disagreement?" Lord knew she used that line at least once that she remembered - she was a drama queen when she was a kid.

"Uh, not that I remember," he answered honestly. Either he was an easy kid or his parents were too tired to be strict with him after the first three. They didn't have a lot of big disagreements. "Danny and Erin on the other hand, there was lots of door slamming and shouting from them."

"And look at all of them now, they're fine. It's just a bump in the road, that's all this is," she soothed and lifted her chin to kiss his lips.

Jamie moaned softly and brought his forehead down to hers. "It's gonna be a long two weeks if the silent treatment continues."

"We'll figure something out. We'll keep him so busy, he'll forget about Philly," she assured him as he pulled away.

"From your lips to God's ears," he said and headed to the bedroom to lock up his off-duty weapon.

Poor James. And poor Jamie…did he make the right decision? This one came from my own parenting experience and having to pull my kid from a trip after we agreed to let her go, but were less than thrilled with some details we later found out about the chaperones. It was not easy and my kid was not happy with us, but that's parenting.