A Child for Christmas

Chapter 1

Seth

I laid my puffy jacket over his small shoulders so my child wouldn't have to suffer as harshly. I sighed looking out of the frosted over window. He needs warmth, both of the jackets aren't enough. His runny nose is worsening as the minutes pass.

We were on our way to Pennsylvania where my sister lives. I had enough money saved to last us through the end of November, but now I'm running thin. We ran out of gas, luckily we were in a residential area, and I saw a gas station a few miles back, but I'd have to wait for the snow to completely stop. Getting stuck outside would be terrible.

I didn't favor my sister too kindly after she told me I was stupid for keeping my own child after his mother left us, but I have no other option. She may not have agreed with my decision at the time, but she loves children, and I know she'll treat Jeremy properly once he's there.

My thoughts were interrupted with the sound of my little boy's sneeze. I pulled him into my chest trying my best to warm his body with mines. I hope this snow clears up soon. I can't believe it's even snowing in the beginning of December. He sneezed again more harshly this time. I'm just hoping he doesn't start to cough, he's very sensitive to the whooping cough virus. I heard a few of the children at his school were passing it around. He still had a few more days of school before his winter break started, but I wanted to leave before I completely ran out of money.

I heard a car honking. I didn't understand why, there's no one on this street. I ignored it since I'm parked, it can't be at me. After a minute or two there was a light tapping sound at my window. I looked to my left to see the blurry figure of a man through my frosted window. I opened the door slightly.

"There's a storm coming. You shouldn't be out here for it, it's not safe. I see your hazards are on. You can come with me, we can check your car out after the storm passes". If I was alone I'd feel perfectly comfortable going with this man, but I have my child with me and I don't know who he is. My son sneezed once more and I realized that it'd probably be better to take the chance and get some heat.

"Thank you". I told my son to crawl out through my side of the car. He sniffled a bit before grabbing his backpack reaching out to me. I held him close to me as I took in the man's figure. If need be I'm pretty sure I can take him on. He's a taller man; I'm around six feet and he doesn't fall too much below me. He was of course leaner than me, and seemed to be of some Asian descent. He opened the passenger and back door for my son and I. I wanted to sit in back with my son, but figured if this man did anything it'd be better to be right next to him.

Once we got settled into the car he started to make small talk. "It's chilly isn't it", he said with a large smile on his face. I just nodded my head in acknowledgment. "You good back there? Do you need some more heat?", he asked speaking to my son. I didn't hear a response, but Jeremy must've given a thumbs up as he always does when he doesn't want to talk.

He pressed a few buttons turning down the heat on his side. "I only live about 10 minutes from here. Is pasta okay for dinner?" I don't know why it didn't occur to me that we'd probably be spending the night.

"Yes, we aren't too picky". I gave a small smile trying to look polite. I naturally look a little rough and menacing at times, especially with my beard.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't say my name. I'm Haruto, but most people call me Haru". I wonder if he moved here, most of the people I know from America that are Asian have American names.

"I'm Seth, and that's my son Jeremy". I could see a sliver of surprise on his face when I mentioned my son. Jeremy is mixed, but he holds a lot of his mothers features. His skin is a beautiful caramel, he has dark brown loosely coiled hair, and green eyes. Right now the tip of his nose is red as well as his cheeks - due to his cold - but that doesn't affect his skin color too much. He appears to be more black than white. My hair is wavy blonde, and all of my features are very narrow compared to my child's wider nose, so it always comes as a surprise when I mention that he's my son. He may have inherited his green eyes from me, but his mothers were green as well.

The car was now in a very nice neighborhood. The houses weren't uniformed, but I assumed the people here paid HOA fees, since everyone's yards were nice and all of the streets were smooth. I'm sure they have a few amenities here as well. He pulled into a stone driveway of a house that had to hold at least three bedrooms. We all exited the car and I felt very uncomfortable since I haven't even showered in three days and he seems to be very well kept. I didn't even notice that he was wearing business slacks and a slim black, v-neck sweater until now. What does he do for a living?