Sean and Eric passed both of us, letting us have some privacy.
I inhaled deeply and pushed out a breath. “That was uncalled for. My behavior. I’m sorry.”
Don stared at me, taking a long while to respond. For a second I thought he wasn’t going to respond, or worse, he’d want to continue where we’d left off now that we were alone again. I had no problem going toe-to-toe again if that’s what he wanted but I hoped he wouldn’t.
“Sorry ass bastard,” he growled, while raising his hand for a handshake.
I grinned, taking his hand, and he pulled me in for a brief hug.
“I really would’ve hated to have to kick your pretty boy ass all over this station anyway.”
“In your fucking dreams, Donnie. Your mother wouldn’t even be able to recognize your already ugly mug once I was done with you.”
We both laughed, talking shit to one another.
“Don, Carter, out here. Students are coming.”
My eyebrow peaked. “Students?” I asked Captain Waverly, who’d just called to us from the kitchen.
“The second grade class from Excelor Academy,” Captain replied.
“You fucking forgot, didn’t you? We talked about it last week how the kids from that preppy ass school you attended were coming this week,” Don reiterated.
“Damn.” I had forgotten. My mind had otherwise been occupied and caught up in a haze of my own heartbreak.
“Let’s go,” Don stated, slapping the back of his hand to my chest.
I followed him down the hall through the main lobby and out to the garage where two of our firetrucks sat. In between the trucks were a group of twenty something children who appeared to be no older than six or seven years of age. I glanced over the children, the ache in my heart growing until my eyes landed on a familiar face. As soon as he saw me, his eyes lit up and a millisecond later he was barreling toward me.
“Mr. Carter!” Diego yelled, shocking his classmates and their teachers.
Instinctively, my knees bent into a squat and my arms went wide to receive him. As soon as I encircled his body, I stood, picking him up with me. He smelled like the baby powder his mother still used on him every morning. His skinny arms wrapped tightly around my neck. Once I’d gotten my fill of the hug, I pulled back slightly to stare at him.
“I missed you,” he blurted out.
“Not anymore than I missed you, little guy.” It was the honest to God truth.
“Mama said you were busy working and couldn’t come by to see us anymore or call.” The sadness in his voice spilled over into his eyes.
A surge of anger and sorrow filled me. Michelle must’ve made up the lie to explain my absence to Diego. That pissed me off more than I’d already been.
“Did she now? Well, we get to see each other now, right?”
“Yup!” He happily nodded. “I’m with my class and Mrs. Gerber’s class, too. They said we were going to visit some firefighters but I didn’t know it was your station.”
“Lucky for you, it was, huh?” Reluctantly, I bent low to place Diego on the ground, but as soon as I did, he grabbed tightly onto my hand, as if letting me know he wasn’t going to let me get too far. I was just fine with that. We stood like that, his hand in mine, as Captain Waverly made the introductions between the students, teachers, and the present members of our squad.
All of the children looked so amazed when they got to try on one of our helmets and sit in the back of one of our trucks. We showed them around the station, turned on the siren for them, and even let them slide down the pole from the second floor to the first. They asked tons of questions when it was Eric’s turn to present the safety lesson. He showed the kids how to dial 911 in the case of an emergency or fire, and what to do if their clothing caught on fire. They laughed and giggled uproariously while doing demos of the stop, drop, and roll practice. That and the pole slide were the only portions of the presentation that Diego hesitated on since it required that he let my hand go. Only when I reassured him that I wasn’t going anywhere did he release my hand and participate with the rest of his class.
The two hours they were with us went by much too quickly. My stomach filled with regret when the Captain began giving histhank you for comingspeech because it obviously meant they were leaving soon. Which meant Diego would be leaving.
“Mr. Carter,” Diego whispered, breaking into my thoughts.
I looked down and saw concern-filled eyes. “What’s up, little guy?” I questioned, stooping low to get on his level.
“I need to tell you something,” he whispered, his gaze darting back and forth.
I squinted, and stood, looking around. I took Diego by the hand and brought him to the kitchen so we had a little bit of privacy.
