Full Balance (The Peachtree Series Book 3) Page 25

  “Well, you’re officially registered for it!”

  “Awesome.” Austin smiled as he looked out the window. Maybe this foster placement wasn’t going to be so bad. It was sure better than the ones he’d had before.

  He sighed. He missed Kellie though.

  NINETEEN

  “Austin, can we sit down and talk?” Stephen asked after they’d finished dinner the following week. He’d been dreading this conversation since he got the call from the school a few days ago.

  “I guess.” Austin slid into to chair and frowned up at him.

  “I’m sorry,” Stephen said gravely as Russ sat on his other side. “I know this isn’t the news you want, but you’re going to need to go to summer school.”

  “What? No! I’ve been working so hard!”

  “I know you’ve been working hard,” he assured him. “But—”

  “You told me if I did, I wouldn’t have to go to summer school,” he shouted.

  Stephen winced. “That was poor wording on my part, and I am sorry. I shouldn’t have promised that. That was my mistake.”

  “Ugh. This sucks.” He scowled at them both.

  “I know it does,” Russ said.

  “You said my teachers were happy with how I was doing,” Austin protested. “Why do I have to spend the whole summer at school?”

  “Unfortunately, all of your hard work wasn’t quite enough,” Stephen explained. “Not to get your grades where they need to be. Your teachers are really impressed with how far you’ve come, but they’re concerned that you haven’t quite made up enough of what you missed. This isn’t a punishment.”

  “Right,” Austin sneered. “Sure, it isn’t.”

  “It isn’t,” Russ said gently. “It’s an opportunity for you to learn more. To get caught up so next year you are starting where the other kids are or at little bit ahead, even.”

  “But I wanted to do the art camp!” he protested.

  Stephen exchanged a glance with Russ. Ahh, that was what this was about. “Russ and I talked about it, and we may have a solution.”

  “What kind of solution?”

  “Well, you won’t need to do summer school for all of your subjects. Just math, social studies, and English.”

  “Ugh. That’s so much.”

  Stephen hid a smile at the melodrama. “It’s half a day. The art camp also has a half-day option. You could go to summer school in the morning and art camp in the afternoon.”

  “But how would I get here? I thought you said art camp was totally far away. And I’m not allowed to take the city bus.”

  “I am going to rearrange my work schedule,” Stephen said. “I will go into work a little earlier in the mornings, Russ will drop you off at school, then go to work. I will pick you up at school after you’re done, take you over to art camp, work from home, then pick you up when you’re done at camp.”

  “Oh.” Austin shot him a glance out of the corner of his eye. “You’d do that?”

  “We would.” In truth, it was going to be a huge disruption to their lives and his work. Russ needed to be in the office with his team and Stephen had more flexibility. It was the only option that made sense.

  Jerry was none too happy about it.

  “You want to do what?”

  “I need to work half days from home,” Stephen said calmly as he pushed a sheet of paper across the desk. “I’ve worked out a plan for how we can make this work. If we schedule meetings in the morning going forward, I can manage my workflow so everything else is done in the afternoons. If there’s anything we already have scheduled in the next few weeks, I can always attend virtually. We have all of the technology in place.”

  “We do,” Jerry said uneasily. “But Stephen, this is … what do you need this for anyway? Your kid?”

  “Yes.”

  “Jesus Christ. I liked it better when you were single and had no life outside of work.” Jerry held a hand up when Stephen opened his mouth to argue that he sure hadn’t liked it. “I know, I know.”

  “Look, Jerry,” Stephen said as levelly as he could manage, “when I was single I picked up a hell of a lot of slack for the other people with kids around here. I filled in when they had appointments and emergencies. Just because you never thought I’d never need to call in the favor …”

  “Right, right.” He sighed. “I’m just concerned that once people see you getting that flexibility of working split days, they’ll want it too.”

  Stephen shrugged. “Maybe we should offer it. It makes sense for all of our employees to have that flexibility, no matter if they have kids or not. People have parents they’re caring for, second jobs, classes to attend …”

  Jerry gave him an unamused look. “We’re not revamping our entire office policy, Stephen.”

  “Why not? You know damn well it would benefit employee morale and lure in new talent if we did.”

  “Oh sure, the board will go for that.” His tone was derisive.

  “You better hope I don’t ever decide to open my own firm,” Stephen said calmly. “Because if I offered that, I bet I could lure at least half of our staff away.”

  “I can see you’ve maneuvered it so I don’t have a choice but to agree to this.” Jerry gestured to Stephen’s new schedule with a scowl.

  “Just until fall,” he said mildly. “Thanks for your understanding.”

  But Stephen was betting it would ultimately lead to long-term changes at the office if a senior member of leadership started working from home half days, and he had no doubt it would cause a shift in office culture. He wasn’t sorry about that.

  “I thought you said art camp was my reward if I worked hard,” Austin said sullenly.

  “It is. And you did work hard. We all saw that.”

  “I’m sorry, Austin, that’s the best option we could come up with to make this all work,” Russ said. “We can’t change the school’s regulations for summer school. You have to get caught up.”

  “This sucks,” Austin mumbled.

  “Hey,” Russ said a little more firmly. “I know you’re disappointed right now, but you need to remember Stephen and I worked very hard to find a workable solution to this so you don’t miss out on art camp. You are allowed to be disappointed you’re only going for a half day, but Stephen didn’t have to rework his entire job schedule to allow you to do it at all. A little gratitude might be nice.”

  “Oh.” At that, Austin seemed to deflate. “I’m sorry. I just really wanted to go.”

  “I know you did,” Stephen said softly. “And you can be disappointed, okay? There are lots of things I’ve been disappointed about in my life. But one of the things you learn as you get older is that after a while, you have to let go of that disappointment and make the best of the situation you have.”

  “Whatever. Can I go to my room?”

  Austin was on his feet and gone before either of them could reply.

  “… sure, go sulk in your room,” Russ said with a sigh when Austin’s door slammed behind him.

  “Hey, he’ll come around,” Stephen assured him. He reached out to squeeze Russ’s arm.

  “I know. It’s just we worked so hard to accommodate him.”

  “Kids are inherently a bit selfish,” Stephen reminded him gently. “It’s okay. We obviously want to teach him to move past that, but we can’t expect him to understand how much work it was for us to rearrange our schedules. He’s never worked in an office before.”

  Russ cracked a smile. “True.”

  “So let’s cut him a little slack. We’ll talk more once we’ve all calmed down a little.”

  “Yeah, okay.” Russ let out a sigh. “Fine. Be all reasonable and stuff.”

  Stephen chuckled and leaned in for a kiss. “Now who’s sulking?”

  Russ shot him an offended look but after a moment he laughed. “Damn it, I am. Good thing one of us is mature around here.”

  “You’re doing great,” Stephen said. “This is just one more hurdle we’ve all got to get through tog
ether. And, frankly, we need to be grateful we ended up with Austin. He’s a good kid.”

  “I know he is.”

  “The Cohen’s foster kid lit their couch on fire,” Stephen reminded him. They’d heard that story at the last support group meeting.

  He blanched. “Right, okay. I can handle a little sulking and whining.”

  “Frankly,” Stephen said, “I think this is the exact type of behavior we could expect from a kid we’d raised since birth. I think this is just being a teenager. I don’t think it’s unique to his situation.”

  “I know, I know,” Russ grumbled. “We should be grateful.”

  “There’s no question Austin’s had a rough road of it,” Stephen pointed out. “But all in all, he’s doing remarkably well. He had a loving, stable home for the early part of his life and that’s given us a much more solid basis for building a relationship with him. You’ve heard the nightmares about kids with reactive attachment disorder.”

  “You’re right, of course.” Russ let out a sigh as he stood. “And I am so thankful we don’t have to deal with severe attachment issues. Thank you for helping me keep things in perspective.”

  “Anytime.” Stephen squeezed his shoulder. “Now. I’m pretty sure he’s locked himself in his bedroom for a while. “What do you say we make the most of our alone time?”

  “What did you have in mind?”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” Stephen crowded him back against the wall. “Maybe a little making out with my husband.”

  Russ smirked at him. “I think that could be arranged.”

  TWENTY

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about Austin lately and I have an idea I want to run by you,” Russ said a few weeks later as they got ready for work one morning.

  Stephen glanced at Russ in the mirror, then returned his attention to the task at hand, gliding the razor carefully over his Adam’s apple. “What about it?”

  “What if he needs more stability from us?”

  “Sure, that can’t hurt, but what were you thinking?”

  “What do you think about figuring out where to start with the adoption process? I know it’s a little earlier than we discussed, but maybe this is the right time. It would give him a sense of security, knowing we’re in this for the long haul.”

  “Hmm.” Stephen considered the idea. “I think that sounds like a good idea.”

  Russ froze, a dollop of hair product in one hand, the tub in the other. “Wow. I didn’t expect you to agree immediately.”

  “Well, I like to surprise you,” Stephen said with a laugh. He rinsed the razor in the bowl of the sink. “This has always been the plan, so it’s not like I was completely unprepared for this. And I think now is actually a good time. Austin does need some stability. And the sooner we give it to him the better.”

  “Holy shit, that might be the fastest we’ve ever discussed and agreed on a major decision,” Russ said as he worked the product into his hair.

  Stephen grinned at him. “I think you might be right.” He splashed some water on his face to wipe off the remaining shaving lather, then dried it with the soft towel nearby. When he lowered it, Russ was standing beside him.

  “So, we’re going to make this official?” he asked with a hopeful smile.

  Stephen reached out and drew Russ against him. They’d finished their shower a bit ago and still wore nothing but a towel each. He savored the feeling of their bare skin together and let out a little sigh when Russ slid his palms up and down his arms. “We are going to make this official,” he said firmly. “I think it can’t hurt to talk to Marcus and Dan and get their take on it but … yes. I want to make Austin a legal, permanent part of our family.”

  “I wonder if he’ll want to change his name,” Russ asked.

  “I think we should let him decide,” Stephen said. “He might want to keep that link to his family, especially Kellie. We can give him the option but let him know we won’t be offended if he chooses not to.”

  “Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.” A thoughtful expression crossed Russ’s face. “I wonder which name he’d want if he did though? Parker or Bishop.”

  “I honestly don’t care. We just need to remember, we can’t take it personally either way,” Stephen squeezed his hips to soften his words. “It’s all about putting him first.”

  “I know,” Russ said. “Whatever he picks, we’ll respect that.”

  Stephen smiled and dropped a kiss on Russ’s lips. “Perfect.”

  Austin shot them a suspicious look over breakfast. “What are you two so happy about?”

  Russ smiled. “We had a good talk this morning.”

  Austin made a gagging noise. “Is that code for something I don’t want to hear about?”

  “No,” Stephen said with a laugh. “It’s exactly what it sounds like. A good conversation about something we’re both excited about.”

  Austin gave him an assessing look. “What is it?”

  “Something we’ll talk to you about soon,” Russ said. “But we need to do a little bit of research on first.”

  “Is it good?”

  “We think so. Hopefully you will too.”

  “Ugh.” Austin made a big, dramatic flop in his chair. “I hate not knowing.”

  “Patience won’t kill you.” Russ ruffled his hair. “Come on, finish your breakfast so you can get to school and we can get to work.”

  “Yeah, okay.” Austin shoveled a bit of cereal in. “But I think you’re mean for not telling me what it is,” he said around a mouthful of the food.

  “That’s my job as your dad,” Russ said.

  Austin shot him a surprised look from under his lashes, but he drained the rest of his milk from the bowl, then loaded it in the dishwasher without having to be reminded.

  Stephen said goodbye to them both, then headed to work. As he drove, he caught a glimpse of the smile on his face in the rearview mirror and hummed along to the radio, feeling great about what the future held for their family.

  The following weekend, Marcus slid into a booth next to Dan at the pub around the corner from the Open Doors center and looked between them. “So, why do I get the feeling there’s more to this meeting than just a beer out with the guys?”

  Stephen chuckled. “Because we do have an ulterior motive.”

  “Ahh. I thought so,” Dan said with a chuckle. “I was suspicious too.”

  “We really need to have more of a social life,” Russ said ruefully. “All of our friends always know something’s up when we ask them to get together.”

  Stephen laughed and slung an arm around Russ’s shoulder. He leaned against him, enjoying the closeness.

  “So, what’s up?” Marcus asked.

  “We want to explore adopting Austin,” Russ said.

  “That’s great,” Marcus said. A smile lit up his face.

  “There are some potential pitfalls though, right?” Russ asked. “I mean, his dad still has custody, right?”

  “Yes,” Marcus said. “Although his father is in prison, he retains rights. They’re not automatically terminated.”

  “Under any circumstances?” Russ said, appalled.

  “Well, no. If he’d committed murder or voluntary manslaughter of another child or the other parent they would be. Felony assault that resulted in serious bodily injury would qualify too, but a drug conviction like his isn’t automatic.”

  “And the fact that he hasn’t been involved in Austin’s life doesn’t matter?” Russ asked.

  “Well, there are limits to the maximum amount of time a child can spend in foster care. The parent has the opportunity to correct the conditions that led to the child being put in care in the first place, but if they don’t follow through or circumstances change, it can be terminated then.”

  “Okay,” Russ said. “Well, clearly Mr. Carr isn’t working on it, so why haven’t they done it yet?”

  “There was always the chance Austin’s father could be released early and he has been on his best behavior in prison,
so the state hasn’t pursued it.”

  “They really think he’ll be released and get Austin back?”

  “Probably not,” Marcus said. “It just hasn’t been a priority. Look, the family court system is backlogged as hell. There just aren’t the resources to pursue every case as fully as it should be. Austin was in a stable foster situation. It didn’t appear there was interest in adoption for him, so the state just left things as they are with the idea they’d deal with it when it became necessary.” He shrugged. “I’m not saying it’s the best option but it’s the one they went with.”

  “So we’d have to do what? Petition the state for permanent legal custody?” Stephen asked.

  “You could,” Marcus said. He hesitated. “I might go a different route though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’d go directly to Austin’s father and ask him to sign over his rights.”

  Stephen blinked. “Do you think he’d be open to that?”

  “I don’t know. I think if you can go that route first, it’s probably better. If you make a good enough case for what you can offer him, it might work. Once you get the state and the courts involved, you’ve slowed the entire process way down. The amount of legal red tape is”—Marcus grimaced—“truly daunting. So if you can avoid it, I would try.”

  “What do you think, Dan?” Russ glanced over at him.

  “I agree with Marcus. It’s the lower conflict, easier route. There’s no guarantee it’ll work, of course, but I’d give it a try. It may come to a legal battle where you have to prove your fitness as parents in court, but …” He shrugged. “I’d go with Marcus’s suggestion as your first step.”

  “Would there really be any question about our fitness as parents?” Russ asked with a frown. “I mean, two-parent household, solid jobs, financial security against what? A man still in jail for drug distribution? With what I assume are few prospects of a job once he gets out? How do they even compare?”