A Perfect Storm

Chapter Twelve

Jaxon ran to his room once we got upstairs after talking to June for a while, he wanted to show Peter and me something he had made. "You've taught him to not lie to me?" Peter asked me.

"You know I don't lie to you, why would I let him"

"Well, you have been teaching him to con, and who knows what else since October" Peter stated.

"I drawed our family" Jaxon said as he came out, holding a paper close to him, the image was facing away from us right now.

"Our family?" Peter asked.

Jaxon nodded and turned the paper around, showing us his picture, "see, me, daddy, Satchy, Elizabeth, Peter, June, Mozzie, Sara,Bugsy" he said and pointed to each drawing on the page.

"That's nice" Peter told him with a smile.

"It really is bud" I smiled.

"Thank you" he set the picture down on the table.

"He's six and draws better than I do" Peter whispered.

"Don't beat yourself up, I've been giving him lessons for years"

"Mozzie!" Jaxon yelled suddenly.

"I'm so glad you're okay" Mozzie told him as he picked him up.

Jaxon squinted a little bit, "why wouldn't I be okay?"

"He doesn't understand" I mouthed. Mozzie nodded, "Jaxon, I'll tell you later okay?" Jaxon nodded. The three of us talked for the rest of the morning while Jaxon played.

"Neal, can I talk to you in private for a minute?" Peter asked.

"Yeah" I stood up and followed him.

"How exactly do you plan on explaining to Jaxon what happened?" He asked me once we were in the hallway.

"I need to think about it but I know I can. He should know, just because he's a kid doesn't mean he should be lied to"

Peter sighed, "Neal is this about what you were told about your father? Cause I think it is. And this is far different than your mother protecting you from that."

I thought about all of that for a moment before I responded, "so I should lie to protect him?" Peter nodded when I asked that.

"I'm going to head home now, I'll see you in the morning" he announced, he headed downstairs and I stepped back into the room. "Moz, you mind keeping an eye on him so I can sleep?" I questioned since I was tired from everything.

"Of course I can" he responded.

"Alright, thanks" I said before heading over to my bed.

"Now remember you need to play quietly now" I heard Mozzie tell Jaxon before I fell asleep. I was able to sleep for a while and was woken up when I received a hard kick to the jaw from a small foot, I groaned as I woke up, "Sorry, Sorry, Sorry" I heard Sara say as I sat up a bit, she scooped up Jaxon, he was asleep next to me.

"Where's Mozzie?"

"We traded off when I got here about two hours ago"

"What time is it?"

"8:30. I'm sorry I couldn't come in before work. I'm glad everything's okay though" she whispered.

I nodded, "it's okay, you still made it"

"I can go put him in his bed if you want"

"He can stay. I'm gonna be up for a little while now, I got plenty of sleep for now, I probably should get a little bit more before tomorrow morning. But for now it's just you and me"