Doctor Dash

Chapter 3

Dash sighed tiredly as he entered his house after a long day of work. One woman rushed into the office, crying out in a panic over a red spot on her baby's face. Dash shook his head over that one when he recalled that the red spot was merely a lipstick mark, probably rubbing off on the baby when the mother kissed her child. Another child was brought in suffering from a sore throat that refused to open his mouth so that Dash could take a look at it. Closing the front door, he was glad for the day to be over so that he could relax a little, or at least relax as much as he could before-

"Daddy!" The small boy bounded into the front hall, leaping at Dash to give him a big hug.

"How's my little guy today?" Dash crouched down, scooping his son into his arms before he stood up straight again. He frowned severely when he took a look at the young boy with short raven hair that currently stuck up in all directions. Paint was smeared over his impish face in colors of red and blue and green. His blue eyes shone bright as he grinned at his father. But none of that erased the slight bruising on his chin.

"Well," the boy said, drawing out the word like he was debating how to tell the story of his day, "I thought today was going to be really boring." He pulled a face, rolling his eyes up and gagging. "But then Uncle Kwan announced that there was a new student in class. He looked like he was going to be a kind of jerk, but then Jeremy and Vincent were picking on me because they were talking about their mommies and when they asked me something, I told them I didn't have a mommy." His expression fell, his little hands curling tightly around the stiff material of Dash's shirt, and that sad look stabbed at Dash's heart.

"You know there's nothing wrong with not having a mother, right?" Dash couldn't count the number of times that he asked that question of his son. He knew things would probably be easier on him if he had a woman in his life, someone that could act motherly to his son and fill that void that came with not having both parents.

His son never knew his mother, and Dash planned to keep it that way. He only dated the woman for about two months before they called off their relationship. Or he should say, she dumped him like a piece of garbage when he refused to waste any more money on unnecessary gifts for her. He had medical school to pay for and didn't have the money to constantly buy her fancy things like diamond earrings. When she left his life, Dash couldn't be happier. Toward the end of the relationship, he was starting to question why he ever agreed to date her.

Nine months later, a little bundle of a squirming baby landed on his doorstep with nothing more than a note to explain what the child was doing there. When they broke up, she was, apparently, already two weeks pregnant. The note gave the baby's name of Xander and went on to explain that she wanted nothing to do with the baby. Ever. Dash kept the note in his files even seven years later, not out of any sentimental nonsense but to avoid her coming back into his life to claim rights to their son. In his mind, she gave those up completely with her poorly written note.

"Yeah," Xander mumbled sadly with his eyes lowered as he picked absently at Dash's shirt. "But they were being really mean about it, and," his lower lip jutted out in a pout, "I started crying."

Dash tilted his head downward, nearly touching foreheads with his son as he met those bright blue eyes. "There's no shame in crying."

Xander continued pouting. "I know," he mumbled softly. "But," he exclaimed excitedly as his eyes sparkled happily again, "then the new boy stepped in and punched them. I got caught in it." He pointed at the bruise on his chin. "And lost a tooth." He opened his mouth wide and pointed at the gap where his tooth was missing.

"We'll have to put that tooth under your pillow tonight for the tooth fairy," Dash said, which got a wide grin out of his son.

"He was like a knight," Xander continued, throwing his arms out wide. "Swooping in to knock out the bad guys." He brought a small fist around and smacked it into the palm of his other hand. "He's pretty cool. Can we have him over sometime?"