Family Ties

Part 39

"Jackson!" Skye greeted him excitedly with a big grin, which immediately changed to a grimace when he heard his name being called. Waiving Jackson in, he went off to find his father.

"Where did you get all this candy?" Raymond looked from the bag of sweets he'd discovered under the bed to Skye who stood with his eyes wide. "Skye, where do these come from?"

"Em, some kids at school gave them to me." He said, keeping his expression as still as possible, taking a deep breath to calm himself down and relaxing his shoulders. He knew that hiding the candy under the bed wasn't his best idea ever, so to get out of being grounded, he needed to stay calm and not show any signs of panic.

"So kids at school hand you candy for no reason?"

"We're friends, so we share sometimes." He took another deep breath, to calm his racing heart. He'd never outright lied to his dad before and if he got caught then he would be grounded for life.

"And you share what with them, fresh air? Look at these! You don't even get half this much over Halloween." Raymond searched for any sign on his face that would give him away or catch him lying, but he had to admit, his fathers taught Skye really well. He knew something was off, but didn't want to accuse Skye of anything without some proof.

"What are you not telling me?" He frowned at Skye who still had his sweet poker face on.

"Jackson's here!" His face lit up and he pointed to the living room, turning around to make a quick exit.

Classic distraction, he thought, shaking his head, smiling. Skye was going to be more of a handful if they kept training him.

"Hi, we're almost ready." He smiled at Jackson who jumped up from the couch.

"Hey, sorry I'm a bit early. Need any help?" He suddenly didn't know what to do. Is kissing in front of Skye allowed? Do they hug? At the moment he was standing awkwardly with his hands in his pockets.

"Relax Jackson. You've hung out with us before." He could see the half-panicked look on Jackson's face who seemed unsure of himself.

"Sorry." He relaxed a bit, then felt Skye tugging at his hand. Within an instant, he jumped up so that he was hugging Jackson, before quickly scrambling over onto his back and finally seated himself atop Jackson's shoulders.

"Skye! What did I say about using him as a climbing frame?" He asked in exasperation.

Before Jackson knew what was happening Skye was off his shoulders and moved off in a huff.

"He's quick," Jackson observed, still not sure how Skye got up or down at high speed without him really being aware of what was happening.

"Something he learnt from his grandfathers, I'm sure." He sighed. "Come on, let's get going."

"Maybe we can stop at the carnival?" He asked hopefully. "It's a really nice day and there's still lots of time to get to your parents' place." He smiled as Raymond nodded and moved off to get Skye.

When they got there, Skye immediately pulled them toward the bumper cars, squealing in joy as they hit others on the track. He dragged them to as many booths and rides, with only Raymond slowing him down.

"Papa, Papa!" He ran up to Raymond, grabbed his hand and pulled him toward a shooting booth. He quickly spotted what had caught Skye's eye. A model train set.

"Can I play, Papa, please?" He jumped up and down in excitement.

"Here, let me do it." Jackson handed over some tickets and lifted the rifle to his shoulder and started shooting but without any luck. He couldn't seem to his any of his targets and the ones he did hit only wobbled.