Our Boys

Someone Else's Son Pt. 5

The next couple of weeks were quiet for the dads and for the boys. JJ and Simon worked hard to resist the urge to ask Cal what was happening with Lachlan and his father. They knew that having a new child in the house was not all smooth sailing. When their normally laid-back friend came to their house one morning in agitation, they knew something was wrong.

"Cal? What's up?" JJ inquired as he let the man in.

"I just don't understand that man!" Cal blurted out. "He schedules visits with Lachlan and then cancels them at the last minute or just doesn't show up! The kid cried himself to sleep last night."

Simon and JJ exchanged a knowing look. Neither man could imagine going more than a few days without seeing their boys, much less the length of time Tom Power had been away from Lachlan. They shook their heads in sympathy. Cal drew another breath and tried to calm down.

"His grades at school are slipping! Except for Vik and Harry, he's picking fights with every other boy he comes into contact with at school, Sam's been down there nearly everyday this week! We've made arrangements for him to talk to a therapist but we can't get him in for another two weeks. I just feel so bad for the kid."

"It seems pointless to me to schedule visits he has no intention of appearing for," Simon complained.

"He always has an excuse, though. It's like he doesn't care how bad it hurts Lachlan to get his hopes up only to have them ruined time after time."

"Could you wait to tell him about the visits until you're certain he'll be there?" JJ suggested.

"No, the social worker has to supervise the visits and she picks him up to take him to the office so that he doesn't find out where we live," Cal explained.

Nearly two weeks later, Cal arrived home to a police car and ambulance in his driveway. Running into the house with his heart in his throat, he found Sam on the couch, sobbing.

"What happened?" He demanded as he moved to gather his girlfriend into his arms.

"Callum Airey? We responded to a call of a kidnapping and found your girlfriend unconscious on the floor. She has refused to allow us to transport her to the hospital."

"Sam? What happened? Where's Lachlan?"

As soon as Sam tipped her head up to look at him, Cal's blood boiled. His girlfriend had the beginnings of a horrible bruise on her cheek. Her eyes were pain filled as she relayed the story.

"Lachlan and I were just coming in from the car. I picked him up from the social worker after his father failed to show up for another visit. I never saw him, Cal, he was just there. He pushed me into the house. I tried to tell Lachlan to run to the neighbour's but he wouldn't leave me. Mr. Power hit me and I fell into the coffee table. When I woke up, our neighbour was kneeling over me and the paramedics were just arriving. I'm sorry Cal, I wasn't paying attention, I should have seen him!"

As Cal tightened his grip on his trembling girlfriend, the police officer picked up her story.

"Mrs. Clayton called the police to report a suspicious man dragging a screaming child from the house. She said she knew that you were foster parents and that the man didn't live in the house."

"Why didn't someone call me?" Cal asked as he eased Sam into the over-stuffed chair in the corner.

"We only arrived on the scene about 15 minutes ago, Mr. Airey. We issued an 'Amber Alert' for the boy and called the social worker. I was more concerned with making sure your girlfriend was all right."

Before Cal could respond, the social worker pushed her way into the living room. She rushed over and knelt down beside Sam and studied the rapidly coloring bruise. When she came to her feet, she turned to the police officer.