Forever With His Boss

by Rheland Richmond

  Gavin was the first one to walk into the kitchen. His hair was still messed up, and he looked groggy, as if he too hadn’t slept a wink. Sawyer hated that they had to deal with all of this in their young lives. The tightness in Sawyer’s chest told him just how much of a failure he was. He was meant to protect them. The kids surely missed Callum as much as Ford and he did.

  “How’d you sleep?” Ford asked Gavin as he took his seat on one of the barstools at the island.

  He shook his head and shrugged. Sawyer closed his eyes, but it didn’t stop him from seeing Gavin’s red eyes. Clearly, the kid had cried himself to sleep. At ten years old, the only rough night he should be having was worrying about talking to his crush at school.

  “Do we have to go to school?” Gav’s eyes were pleading.

  “Bud,” Sawyer started. “I want us to try to have a normal day today. I know that you want to stay at home. Trust me, Ford and I want to stay home, too. but we’re going to go to work and try to just get through the day. I promise you the minute we hear anything, we’ll be at the school letting you know. You can trust me when I say that.”

  Gavin nodded but still looked disappointed. Sawyer didn’t blame him one bit. Ford kept looking at him, almost pleading with his eyes, to allow Gavin and Savanna to stay home for the day, but Sawyer was steadfast in his decision.

  “Go get ready, wash your face and brush your teeth.” Sawyer nodded towards the stairs. “Don’t forget to brush your hair and get ready, then come down for breakfast.”

  He nodded and then left the kitchen. Ford walked over to Sawyer, “Are you sure we can’t just let the kids stay home?” He took in Ford’s red-rimmed eyes. “It’s only one day, and quite frankly, I don’t want to go to work, either. We can spend a family day in and just sit at home and—”

  “Do what Ford? Sit at home and worry? Is that what you want today to be about?” Sawyer knew he sounded cold, but he couldn’t help it. Someone had to keep it together.

  Ford huffed. “You don’t need to get upset with me. We’re on the same page here.”

  “I know.” Sawyer rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I can’t believe… I’m just dealing with a lot here.”

  “And you think I’m not?” Ford snapped, his eyes shooting daggers at him.

  Savanna cleared her throat, and they both turned to look in her direction. “Are you fighting?”

  “No!” Sawyer shook his head, “We’re fine. I’m sorry. We’re worried about Callum.”

  Savie nodded. “Yeah.” She looked down at the floor, and Sawyer walked over to her. He put his arm around her and pulled her to him, and she relaxed into him.

  “I promise we are going to have answers before you come home from school.” Sawyer said a prayer that he wasn’t made a liar. He pulled back so he could look at his sister. “Are you ready for school?”

  She nodded, “I guess,” Savie replied before taking a step away. She walked over and took a seat at the kitchen table. “What’s for breakfast?”.

  “Pancakes,” Ford said.

  It was one of the kids’ favorites, and it was usually a weekend special, but Ford thought it would be a nice treat. Not that it would help, but Sawyer didn’t point that out to Ford. He knew Ford was just trying… they all were.

  Savie was quiet for a minute, but he didn’t miss the slump of her shoulders or the way she was picking at her nails. “It’s weird not having Callum crying in the morning, or his babbling away in his high chair...” She looked over to where the high chair was at the end of the dining table. “I hate it.” Savie’s voice was barely above a whisper.

  “Me too.” Ford sounded like he was on the verge of tears again. His boyfriend turned the stove off and walked over to Savie. He kissed the top of her head. “Me too.”

  Ford’s eyes met Sawyer’s over Savie’s head, and it felt like his boyfriend was begging him to fix this. Sawyer felt the weight of everything on his shoulders. It was like when the weight crashed down on your chest at the gym, only this time he didn’t have anyone spotting, and it was crushing him. He was meant to protect his family and even that he couldn’t do.

  Sawyer was failing miserably.

  With nothing to say to help Ford or Savie, he walked over to the stove and turned it on again, picking up where Ford had left off with breakfast. As he stood there his back to them, he let the emotions he’d been holding crash into him like a tidal wave. A tear rolled down his cheeks, and he bit his lips trying to hold his sorrow in.

  Sawyer closed his eyes and tried telling himself to hold it together. He couldn’t cry in front of Savie. What would she think? Arms wrapped around him, and he leaned back into Ford.

  “You’ve got this,” Ford whispered in his ear. Ford moved so he was between Sawyer and the stove, And Sawyer was quick to turn the burner off. Ford’s eyes held his. “Everything will turn out to be okay.”

  They’d said those words so much over the past few hours, all Sawyer could do was hope like hell they were true.

  “Want me to take over?” Ford asked.

  He shook his head. Sawyer needed the distraction.

  Ford placed a kiss on his cheek before stepping out of his way, and he continued to make breakfast. He could hear Ford talking to Savie, but he wasn’t paying much attention to the conversation, his mind only on Callum. Why hadn’t they heard anything yet?

  Sawyer messed up a couple of the pancakes, but managed to get it together. It turned out it was perfect timing, because when he was making the last batch, he heard Ford say, “Looking better, Gav.”

  Sawyer turned around and found Gavin slumped down into his seat. Instead of commenting on that, he said, “You do, bud.”

  Gavin glanced his way, shrugged, then looked away again. He couldn’t blame the kid.

  He turned back to the skillet in time to get the last pancake off before it burned.

  He split the pancakes up on the plates Ford had pulled out earlier, then took them over to the table.

  “I’ll grab the butter and syrup,” Ford said, getting up and going over to the fridge. When he opened it, Ford looked back. “What would everyone like to drink?”

  When Ford didn’t get an answer from the kids, Sawyer said, “Orange juice should be fine.”

  Ford grabbed the carton of juice, and Sawyer walked back to the cupboard to get the glasses. Usually, the kids would get the table set, but today wasn’t one of those days.

  “Anyone need anything else?” Sawyer asked.

  They all shook their heads so he returned to the table and slid into his seat, but his eyes immediately landed on the highchair. It was beside his chair, so it would have been him making sure Callum got more food in his mouth than on the floor. The empty seat made the knot in his stomach get even tighter, and Sawyer lost his appetite.

  Ford’s hand slipped into his, and Sawyer looked over at him. Ford squeezed Sawyer’s hand and motioned in the direction of the kids. When he looked over at them, their eyes were on him, so Sawyer picked up his fork and cut a bit of pancake and lifted it to his mouth.

  The name of the game that day was “Faking It.” Sawyer had to keep it together for the kids even though he felt like a passenger on the Titanic with no hope of rescue.

  The conversation was non-existent at the table. Sawyer knew everyone’s mind was on the family member missing, but no one brought up his name. When it was time to say goodbye to the children, Sawyer's heart started pounding in his chest. He loaded the dishwasher, buying time before they had to walk the kids to the door.

  As they stood at the front door, Savanna turned to him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight.

  “Everything will be fine. I just know it.”

  Sawyer swallowed hard. He wasn’t used to Savanna being the mature one rather than the pubescent, sulky teenager.

  “You have a good day.” Sawyer kissed her cheek, then turned to Gavin who was in Ford’s arms. He looked between them. “We’ll come to the school the minute we hear anything about
Callum. I promise.”

  Gavin nodded and pulled away from the hug. “Bye,” he said. He waved and stepped out on to the porch, and so did Savanna.

  The closer they came to the stairs, the tighter his chest felt.

  “Stop.” Sawyer ran out of the house and pulled Savie and Gavin to him. “How about you go back to your rooms.”

  Ford’s arms went around his waist. “Savie, Gav, go upstairs. No school for you today.”

  The kids walked around them and back into the house. The two men heard their footsteps go up the stairs, and the moment their doors closed, Sawyer turned to Ford and immediately lost it. They held each other and the tears wouldn’t stop coming.

  “What made you change your mind?” he heard Ford choke through the tears.

  Pulling away so he could look at Ford’s tear-stained face, he took a couple of calming breaths before responding. “The thought of them going to school, worrying about their brother… it just isn’t right to do that to them. They would be distracted all day. If I’m snapping at the littlest thing, how will it be for them when they have less control over what is going on?”

  Ford nodded before burying his face back into Sawyer’s shoulder.

  Sawyer cleared his throat. “And I couldn’t face the thought of them being so far away from me,” he mumbled before kissing Ford’s head and then laying his cheek against it.

  Sawyer stared at his computer screen not really seeing it. He wasn’t even sure how much time had passed. When he focused on the document, it was a mess. Sawyer leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

  Why hadn’t they called him? He knew the cops were out searching, but Sawyer had no idea if they even had a lead. Besides, they’d put a trap and trace on his phone, but that was useless if they didn’t get a call.

  Sawyer heaved a sigh and picked up his phone. He started to dial Officer Palmer, but before he could finish punching in the number, the caller ID popped up and showed Officer Palmer’s number. Sawyer quickly answered it.

  “Hello?”

  “Mr. Lancaster?” he asked.

  “Yes!” His heart was racing in his chest, and he prayed with everything in him it was good news. It felt like eons without a word.

  “We just heard from an officer in Wilshire County,” Officer Palmer said. “Callum has been found, and the kidnappers have been arrested.”

  “Oh my God!” Sawyer fell against the desk, his heart felt like it had just been released from a vise. “How is he? Is he hurt? Can we go to him?”

  “He isn’t hurt. The officer says he appears to be happy and healthy. The kidnappers apparently took good care of him, but they obviously didn’t plan well and were found hiding out at a motel.”

  “Thank God for that.” Sawyer wanted to call out for Ford, but waited. “When… where can we get him?”

  “I’ll send you the address and police station number to your cell.” Officer Palmer seemed to be smiling. “Call and let them know you are on your way, and make sure to bring proper identification with you. Once you get to the department, speak to the officer that has apprehended the kidnappers. I’ll include his name. The kidnappers are being held over there until they can be transferred here. You’ll be hearing from me soon.”

  “Thank you Officer Palmer.” Sawyer took his first full breath in fuck knew how many hours. “Thank you.”

  “Talk soon,” the officer said. Sawyer hung up and sat there for a moment, breathing in and out to get his heart rate down. He closed his eyes and muttered, “Thank you. The nightmare is finally over.”

  Sawyer was out of the office, and hurrying down the hallway and practically ran into their bedroom, “We have to go.”

  Ford looked up. He was on the phone, but Sawyer continued to motion for Ford to hurry up. They didn’t have a second he wanted to waste.

  “I need to call you back,” Ford was on his feet as he spoke, and Sawyer could tell he was five seconds away from hanging up on whoever was on the phone, “Okay… I’ll call you no later than tomorrow, bye. Bye.” He pulled the phone from his ear and hit the end button before looking up at him with wide eyes “What happened? Is it Callum? Please tell me they’ve heard something.”

  “I just got off the phone with Officer Palmer, and it’s more than just hearing something. They found Callum and arrested Cynthia and Larry. We need to get out there.” He held his hand out for Ford. The station was a couple of counties over, and they had over an hour to travel. but knowing where Callum was made everything feel right.

  Ford rushed over to him, throwing his phone on the bed before winding his arms around Sawyer’s neck so tightly, he had trouble breathing.

  “Oh my god, Sawyer. Oh my god.”

  Sawyer could feel the wetness against his throat.

  Ford sniffled. “We’re going to get our boy back. We have to leave now.”

  When Ford started rushing around the room trying to get ready but looking more lost like a man whose wife has just gone into labor, at least from what he’d seen in the movies Sawyer reached out and stopped him.

  “Babe, why don’t you call your mom and ask her if she can watch Savie and Gavin while I go and get them ready.

  Ford blew out a breath, nodded, and went to grab his phone, but not before reaching up and kissing Sawyer. As Ford started to call his mom, he went down the hall to get his other siblings ready.

  Sawyer pulled into the parking lot of the police station. He should have asked more questions from Officer Palmer, but all he’d cared about was that Callum was found and he was safe.

  Ford whipped his door open before Sawyer even turned the car off and was out on the pavement. Sawyer barely had the shifter in park before he, too, jumped out and hurried into the station right behind Ford. They approached a long desk where a woman was sitting in a chair, lounged back, and filing her nails. The population of this county was smaller than the one they lived in and clearly not nearly as busy.

  She looked up when they entered, then back to her nails. “May I help you?” You would think it was a complex project she was dealing with and was being inconvenienced by their presence.

  “Hi, we are here to pick up our son.” Fuck that was the first time he’d called Callum his son, and Sawyer realized that was truly how he saw him. “His name is Callum. I called about an hour ago to let you know we would be coming.”

  She looked up at that, finally giving them her full attention, then picked up the phone, all the while staring at them. Sawyer almost felt like a bug under a microscope. By the time she looked away, he wasn’t sure if they weren’t found wanting.

  “The people are here that are supposed to pick up the little boy.” With the phone clutched to her ear with her shoulder she looked at them. “You Sawyer and Ford?”

  “I’m Sawyer, and this is my partner, Ford.” He squeezed Ford’s hand. Sawyer wasn’t sure if it was to stop Ford from hopping over the table and running around looking for Callum or to keep himself from screaming, “Just hurry up and hand me my son!”

  She focused back to her conversation. “They’re both here.” Then she nodded. “Will do,” before hanging up, and getting to her feet. “First I need some identification from both of you.”

  Sawyer and Ford both pulled out their driver licenses, which she took with an almost bored demeanor.

  She grunted, looked between them and their licenses several times before handing them back, and said, “Follow me.”

  She finally dropped her emery board on the counter and waited for them to come around before leading the way. Sawyer looked around nervously, his heart pounding hard in his chest. She stepped back and pushed a door open and then motioned for them to enter. Ford went in first and made a squeaking noise when his eyes landed on Callum.

  Sawyer stopped and looked to where his brother was sitting on the floor playing with some blocks someone must have found for him. first thought was he hoped they’d washed them first. Callum looked up and grinned, and they both ran to him, kneeling down. Ford sat on the floor and lifted C
allum into his lap, and Sawyer kissed the top of his head.

  Even though Officer Palmer said he’d been found, there was still a little bit of fear that it wasn’t quite real.

  The officer that was sitting at the desk cleared his throat. Sawyer broke off from the embrace and turned to look at him. “Sorry,” Sawyer said, before getting back on his feet, then he helped Ford up.

  The man nodded. “I’m Officer Werling.” He nodded toward Callum. “I’m the officer that located your son.” Sawyer heard what he wasn’t saying. “I need to speak with you in private. I’ll have someone watch the boy, so we aren’t interrupted.”

  Sawyer heard Ford make a choking sound, and he stiffened before replying. “I’m sorry, but my brother has just been kidnapped, and we are not about to let him out of our sight. I think whatever you have to say can be in front of a two-year-old.” After everything his little family had been through, he was not about to leave one of them to a stranger. Fuck that.

  As he finished, a woman came into the office and introduced herself. “I’m Officer Jenny Scott. Your boy will be in great hands, I promise you.”

  Sawyer’s heart did a little flutter when she called Callum their boy, and he felt like a proud papa, even though he was just the brother. But that was not about to distract him from protecting his own.

  “Thank you, Officer Scott, I really appreciate it, but I was just informing Officer Werling that Callum will be joining us.” Looking over at Officer Werling, he stood straighter and held his gaze. “Are we going to have a problem?”

  Officer Werling was silent for a moment, then nodded to the other officer. “Thank’s Jenny, but Mr. Lancaster is right.”

  Jenny smiled and squeezed Callum’s arm gently before walking back out of the room.

  “Have a seat,” Officer Werling directed them.