The Ocean On Their Shoulders

Chapter 3

Fontaine takes Jack once it's confirmed he won't be needing the kid anytime soon for a plan that's starting to fall through. Little did he know actually how much he'd end up wrapped around the boy's finger.

~*~

"And remember, you are to give him the medication twice a day - once in the morning and once at night before he goes to bed."

The clinking of the metal syringes turned to clattering as Tenebaum stuffed the container full of them into the suitcase. Fontaine had to keep the smirk from tugging at the corner of his lips with how full the damn thing was getting already. Checking his watch again, humor turned to annoyance once he saw how long this little visit was taking. He was supposed to be back at the complex already, a phone call appointment creeping up with an hour to go beforehand.

"Fontaine, are you even listening?"

His gaze lifted to her own, sharp and sudden with a scoff. "Yeah, I'm listenin'. Give the kid his meds once a day."

"Twice a day. Once in the morning and at night."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it." The hand with his watch snuck into his pocket then as he watched her continue to pack the bag with the few clothing items the kid had.

And it kind of pissed him off at the fact that Jack only seemed to have about two pairs of scrub-looking pants and shirts. An ugly off-white color with one shirt long sleeve and the other short, one single pair of shoes to join the pile as well.

"Now, because of the ADAM, Jack's rate of growth is rather rapid. We've had to change the sizing of his clothes four times already within the last couple of months. You will need to purchase more clothes for him as he continues to grow."

"Damn -" Tenebaum looked up to him then as she clicked the suitcase shut. "Shoulda told me I'd be spendin' more money on this kid."

She rolled her eyes, lifting the suitcase to pass it off to Reggie who stood off to the side, knowing the tycoon wasn't going to take it. "Jack is just a boy, Frank. Children grow but Jack is a special case as well, because of his rapid growth, he tends to eat and sleep more."

"Jesus." He huffed under his breath.

At the same time, just thinking about the kid staying any longer at the lab or in the new orphanage he had just set up, churned his stomach. If he could do anything to not repeat what his own old man did to him, he'd suck it up with the few extra bucks to be spent on clothes for the kid.

"It's as I said," Tenenbaum glanced from Reggie to Fontaine, "if you don't think you can handle taking care of the child - "

Another scoff. "At least give me a little credit? I can handle 'im,"

With a skeptical quirk of her lips, Tenenbaum turned then to Jack who had been standing in the threshold of the doorframe between the small room he had been staying in. Hesitant eyes peeked over the doorframe as he watched the remains of his few belongings packed away. With a wave of her hand, Jack approached slowly from the safety of a space that's become so familiar.

Tenenbaum kneeled then as Jack came closer and she fussed with the collar of his shirt for a couple of seconds. "Now Jack, you're going to be leaving to live with Mr. Fontaine. Please, be good and if you feel sick at all, you let him know right away."

Jack gave a little nod accompanied by a slight sniffle. The whole scene looked as if Tenenbaum was dropping her 6-year-old off at school, the kid reluctant to leave the safety of home.

That lab wasn't a home though, and Fontaine straightened his spine thinking about the bedroom waiting for the kid back at the complex. He would never tell Tenenbaum up front the soft spot he had for the kid. Never would admit to her he'd been looking forward to giving the kid everything he never got in his childhood. He'd rather be shot in the leg than admit he wanted to take Jack just to give the kid a chance at a better life.