Daniel's Dream (2 page)

Chapter Two

Nick couldn't believe what had happened. One of his worst fears had come true. Some punk kid had dared to deliberately hurt his Danny-boy. Daniel had been through so much in the past two years. Both of his parents had been killed instantly in a horrible car accident. Since then Danny had been living under his Uncle Josh's guardianship and although they had always loved each other, both were living with the grief over the loss from losing Danny's parents and Josh's twin sister, Jolene.

There were many nights that he and Josh had discussed the grief and guilt Josh had been feeling that first year and a half with Danny. Even though both Josh and Danny had tried, they had never been able to breach the wall between them.

Nick remembered the first time he had laid eyes on both Danny and Josh. He had been sent by an employment agency to apply for the Nanny position that Josh had advertised for. Once he met both of them, his protective instincts had kicked into overdrive. Both Josh and Danny had the saddest eyes he had ever seen.

Soon after Nick had been hired, they started to establish a family together. Not only did Danny feel like the son he'd never had, Josh was the love of his life. They had just really started to build a tight-knit and happy family.

Now as he looked down into Danny's light green eyes and tear-streaked freckled face, it flabbergasted him that Danny had experienced such hatred from another. This was a new experience for both of them. He was furious with the kid who had dared to raise his hand to this loving child, and sorrowful to see the pain in those amazing eyes that reminded him so much of the man he loved.

He hugged Danny to him and the boy's shoulders shook from weeping silently against him. Nick's heart broke seeing his young Danny-boy so devastated.

"Shhh… Danny… everything's going to be all right. I'm here now," he coaxed, as he ran his hands up and down Danny's trembling back. The powdery feel from the chalk on Danny's shirt angered Nick even more. But now wasn't the time to give into his warring emotions. Danny needed him to be calm, so he took a deep breath and forced himself to simmer down.

"He… he wouldn't stop. Why does he hate me so much?" Danny's sobbing voice almost brought tears to his eyes.

He took another deep breath and gently disengaged himself from Danny's firm grip. He knelt down on the ground and looked the young boy at eye level. "I don't know, Danny. He's probably just a very unhappy boy that wants to take his anger and sadness out on other people."

Or he's some little shit that takes pleasure on picking on others that can't defend themselves.

"Mr. Kirkland? Is he going to be alright?"

Nick looked up into the concerned brown eyes of Danny's teacher. He had met Mr Thompson at the last parent-teacher conference and they'd developed an instant mutual respect. Mr Thompson showed great compassion when he'd heard about Danny's past, and his encouragement and understanding disposition allowed Danny to thrive in his classroom as well.

"I think so, he's understandably upset and frightened right now."

Mr. Thompson leaned down and placed his hand on Danny's trembling shoulder. "Daniel, how about you and Mr Kirkland come into our classroom for a while?"

Danny didn't answer. He wrapped his small arms around Nick's neck firmly and clung to him as if Nick was a lifeboat in the middle of the endless sea.

Nick glanced around and noticed that not only parents but students had gathered around them. Danny's teacher was right. They needed to get Danny away from the onlookers and somewhere safe to calm down.

"Come on, Danny. We'll go to your classroom with Mr Thompson and make sure you're okay, all right?" Nick made sure his voice sounded calm and soothing.

He was reassured by Danny's slight nod against his neck.

That's my boy
.

Nick stood with Danny in his arms and worked his way through the crowd of onlookers. Several people expressed concern for Danny and patted him on the shoulder as they passed by. He followed Danny's teacher into the school and down to the empty classroom.

Mr. Thompson ushered Nick to his chair behind the teacher's desk. Nick eased down on the seat with his precious bundle still wrapped up in his arms. Mr Thompson pulled up a small chair and sat across from him and gently started patting Danny on his back.

"Daniel, Andrew's going to be suspended from school for the rest of the year. You know we don't tolerate bullying here at school, so maybe after Andrew receives his consequences, he'll think twice about his actions before he does something like this again."

Danny raised his head from Nick's shoulder and looked up into Nick's eyes. Nick could tell from the fear and desperation he had on his face that Danny wasn't convinced that this would change the boy's cruel behavior at all.

How long had this been going on?

Apparently by Danny's expression, Mr Thompson had the same thought. "Daniel, has Andrew picked on you before today?"

Danny's eyes looked down and he stared at Nick's shoulder.

"Danny? Will you please answer Mr Thompson?" Nick gently wiped Danny's tear-streaked freckled cheeks.

Danny slowly looked back into Nick's eyes and he slightly shrugged his shoulders.

"Come on, little man. Tell us what's been going on."

Danny took a deep shuddering breath and nodded. "Andrew has never liked me. He's always said mean things to me and he never lets me play kickball or basketball if he's playing. He told me that I'm a freak because I'm short and not good at sports, and because you and Uncle Josh are boyfriends, I'll end up being a fag like both of you."

Even though he tried to keep his face neutral, Nick couldn't help but cringe at Danny's words. He and Josh had many discussions about this possibility, and even though he thought they were prepared for this, it still hurt just the same. Mr Thompson wasn't thrilled by that statement either.

"Danny, I wish you would have come to your Uncle Josh and me sooner. I'm sorry you've had to deal with the terrible things that boy said to you."

Danny shrugged and gave him a watery smile. "You and Uncle Josh have always told me to turn the other cheek, so I did. It hurts my feelings when he says those things, but most of the time I just try to ignore him. Today's the first day he hit me."

Nick couldn't get over how brave and sweet his young ward was. He was pretty positive that had it been him, he would have whacked the boy upside the head if he had done that to him.

Mr. Thompson kneeled down beside them both and put a reassuring hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Daniel, I wish I had known that Andrew had been picking on you. You know we don't tolerate bullying in our classroom. If anything like this happens again, will you come to me and tell me?"

Danny looked at Mr Thompson and nodded and wiped his eyes. "I just didn't want to get anyone in trouble."

"I understand that, but sometimes it's more important to tell an adult when someone is picking on you. Andrew's behavior is unacceptable, Daniel. He has to learn to treat others like he wants to be treated. He also should learn to tolerate and accept that everyone isn't going to be like him and his family," Mr Thompson said.

"I just wanted him to like me." Daniel mumbled and looked down at his lap.

Nick swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and he hugged Danny's small body against him. Nick was always amazed how ignorant and horrible people could be when it came to allowing others to live their own life. He had hoped that his relationship with Josh wasn't going to affect Danny, but it looked like that hope may have been in vain.

As Nick looked down at the special child sitting on his lap he couldn't help but wonder if this was just the beginning of things to come.

Chapter Three

Nick paced the floor anxiously and checked the time on his watch for what he knew must have been the hundredth time. Where the hell was Josh? He knew that his fiancée should have been home at least fifteen minutes ago. He walked over to the kitchen window and looked out into the backyard to once again check on Danny.

Danny and his beloved basset hound, Fred, sat on the porch steps together. His slight shoulders were hunched over as he picked at a thread on his shirt. Fred leaned heavily against his side and licked his cheek, making him giggle. He watched Danny's small arm reach around and hug the dog to him.

Damn, Nick loved that dog.

If anyone could get Danny out of a funk, it was Fred.

Nick wished Fred could do the same for him. Unfortunately, doggie kisses didn't do anything for him. Nick needed Josh. Josh's calm demeanor and voice of reason was something that both Nick and Danny relied on.

Nick rubbed his hands up and down his arms trying to ward off the uneasiness that threatened to overwhelm him. He couldn't forget the vision of Danny being attacked by that horrible boy. Even with him being parked among the congested school traffic, he witnessed the attack quite clearly. As soon as he saw the bully hit Danny with the erasers, he dashed out of his car and ran toward them, but he didn't get there in time to stop the attack, and the guilt weighed heavily on his shoulders.

He knew he should have left the house earlier to pick Danny up after school. If he had, he would have been able to park closer to the front of the school, and he could have gotten to Danny sooner. He was supposed to protect Danny and knowing that he failed to do so, made him feel sick with remorse. He anxiously twisted the gold promise ring that Josh had given him. Over the past year, touching that ring had become a comfort to Nick whenever he was nervous.

Nick spun around and sprinted toward the foyer when he heard the front door close.

"I'm hoooooommeee! How are my two favorite people doing?" He heard Josh's tenor voice sing off-key.

His feet dashed toward Josh's voice, and it seemed like minutes passed before he stood directly in front of his lover's smiling, welcoming face.

Between Nick's body language and facial expressions, Josh immediately realized something was wrong. His smile vanished and a look of concern crossed his handsome face.

"Oh my god, Nick… what's wrong?" Josh's warm hands cupped his face and his light green eyes looked worriedly up at him.

At six feet, Nick stood a couple inches over Josh's five foot ten inch frame, but there were times Josh's comforting presence made him appear larger than life.

"It's Danny…" he began.

A look of pure terror washed over Josh's face. "What about Daniel?"

Nick took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves before he continued. "He was harassed and attacked at school by a fellow classmate this afternoon right before school let out. Danny and this horrible boy were dusting out the erasers in front of the school, and the boy said some cruel things to him and started hitting him with them."

A look of astonishment fell over his lover's face. "Our Daniel was bullied? Who would pick on such a sweet child?"

Nick nodded and brought his own hands up to Josh's waist. "Apparently, this Andrew boy and his father believe that Danny is a freak because he lives with a couple of
fags
. According to them, our
kind
isn't welcome here and we should just pack up and leave before our disgusting lifestyle influences others."

Josh's green eyes blazed with anger. "What the hell? Is he all right? I thought that school has a no-tolerance policy! Has this been going on long?"

"He's a little shaken up, but he's fine. We had a long talk with his teacher and evidently Andrew has been picking on him for some time now. Danny chose not to say anything because he wants the boy to like him and he didn't want to get him into trouble. Today is the first time Andrew took it to another level and attacked Danny. Mr Thompson and the principal assured us that bullying is not tolerated at school, and Andrew has been suspended for the rest of the year. They're also going to make sure that Andrew and Danny don't have the same class together next year so this doesn't happen again."

Josh nodded and pulled Nick close to his warm body. The smell of rubbing alcohol lingered with the fresh scent of his cologne. At first, Nick thought that the aroma was an unusual combination, but since Josh often came home from his job from the hospital in his scrubs, that smell soon became a comfort to him.

Josh pulled away and looked up into Nick's eyes as he cupped both sides of his face. "It's going to be alright, Nick. We knew something like this could happen. Now that it has, we'll deal with it like we should… as a family." He stood on his tiptoes and pressed his warm lips against Nick's cold ones in a quick kiss.

"Now, gorgeous, how about you order us a big cheesy, pepperoni pizza and I'll go see how Daniel is doing. We'll watch one of Daniel's favorite movies and maybe pop some popcorn… what do you think?"

Nick pressed his forehead against Josh's for a moment and nodded slightly. He knew that Josh would put everything into perspective. Nick took a deep cleansing breath.

Josh was here. Everything would be better.

"Okay, babe, you make the call for the pizza and I'll go talk to our boy," Josh said and then gave Nick one more quick peck on the lips before he eased himself out of their embrace and walked through the house and out the back door to join Danny.

Nick took his iPhone out of his front blue jeans pocket and scrolled down until he got to the number to the pizza parlor. After he ordered the pizza and breadsticks to be delivered, he went to the kitchen and tried to busy himself pouring sodas for all three of them. He looked out of the kitchen window and saw Josh sitting beside Danny with his arm around the young boy's slight shoulders. Fred leaned heavily against Danny's other side, and the sight of Danny being surrounded by so much love and support filled Nick with a wave of contentment.

Nick used to dream of finding a partner and having a family, and ever since Josh and Danny had come into his life, the love that they all shared between them made a happier reality than any dream he had ever had.

He watched Danny wrap his skinny arms around Josh and hug him tightly.

God, he loved those two.

Josh stood up and swung Danny into his arms and started spinning around in circles. Fred immediately joined in the fun and started barking and bouncing around them. He heard Danny squeal with delight as Josh continued to spin around and around. He stopped and set Danny on his feet and both of them wobbled around comically as they tried to get themselves steady on their feet. The scene brought a smile to Nick's face and he began to feel immediately better.

Maybe everything will be alright.