Emergency Medical Dad

XV: 11PM, 12AM, present

JESSIE

Connor crawls into bed next to me after a long weekend, tired out but very much alight with an idea.

We spent most of Saturday with Jorgen's family, letting them meet Connor and talking logistics. Connor seemed to be pretty cool with everything and although Jorgen's old basset hound Dolly seems to hate me, she buddied right up to him.

"Mom," he pokes my arm, still sitting up.

"Mhmm?"

"I've got him figured out."

"Who?"

"Jorgen, the big guy," he's giving me a smile like he knows everything and I don't doubt he does. I just hope he hasn't figured it out yet. That would throw a noticeable wrench in things.

"You do, do you?"

He nods enthusiastically, "he's evil."

"Ah," I have to keep down a laugh.

"He just he goes and he shows up and then there's like the bad guy scene and then there's the scene where the hero comes in and saves the day, that's you, and I think he's why we're not living at home any more and all his friends don't know he's evil so they're going to be shocked but I know," he taps his chest.

I smile softly, reaching up to push his hair off his forehead, "Jorgen's not evil."

"But he's big and scary and he showed up suddenly, just like a villain."

"Jorgen's not a villain."

"Who is he, then?"

I sigh, opening up my arm to let him fit against my chest. Our room at the Barn consisted of a tiny space with one little twin bed and all our stuff still in suitcases on the floor, "Jorgen is going to help."

"We don't need help," he peeps up at me, "we're just taking a break from Grammy and Gramps."

I push his hair back again, cursing Jorgen for his hair texture mentally. I know how to deal with my curls, I can't figure out a rhyme nor reason for Connor's. "Jorgen's going to help us wait that out."

"Why not here? I like Luka."

"You'll still see Luka," I say, quietly, "it'll be alright."

"Okay," he mumbles, setting his head on my chest, "is his room bigger than this one?"

"You'll have your own bed and everything."

He snaps his head back up toward me. "And a room?"

I nod, "and a room."

Connor had never had a room back at my parent's house, well, sort of. I had mine, he stayed in it for quite a while when he was very young, but then the only choice we had was the office, sort of, so Connor's room was small and had a desk taking up some of it. It wasn't the greatest solution and I was busy trying to find the time to move him to my room but I had too much work and not enough time at home.

"So he's not evil?"

I shake my head, "Jorgen is alright."

"What if he's tricking you?"

"I don't think he's tricking me."

***

He's not tricking me but he's got to be screwing with me. I texted him at the start of lunch to ask how his testing is going- maybe he'd be willing to get some food with me and talk about what we're expecting for the summer- but he gets back with this.