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    The Decisions We Make
    The Decisions We Make
    The Decisions We Make
    Ebook173 pages2 hours

    The Decisions We Make

    By RJ Scott

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Daniel Keyes is an orphan, fostered by the Walkers. The product of a lonely childhood, he is thrown into the chaos of the Walker family and into the life of his new foster brother Jamie.

    This story is the journey of Daniel and Jamie finding their place in the world. Through Jamie being a victim of hate crime to coming out to family and friends, there are many decisions the boys have to make before they become men.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRJ Scott
    Release dateOct 31, 2012
    ISBN9781301463152
    The Decisions We Make
    Author

    RJ Scott

    RJ Scott is the author of the best selling Male/Male romances The Christmas Throwaway, The Heart Of Texas and the Sanctuary Series of books.She writes romances between two strong men and always gives them the happy ever after they deserve.

    Read more from Rj Scott

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      Book preview

      The Decisions We Make - RJ Scott

      Chapter One

      Then

      "Do you think he loves Star Wars or crappy Transformers like Mark?" Sue Walker looked down at her middle child and smiled at his question. His bright blue eyes shone with excitement, and he hopped from foot to foot. Jamie never actually sat still for anything longer than ten minutes in any one go. Not even when he played video games; he was constantly on the move in his seat.

      Jamie was the most laid-back of her children. Nothing ever appeared to faze him. He was comfortable in his own skin—athletic, above average bright, and just a very happy open child. Sue had wanted more children after Megan, he youngest, but an emergency operation after her daughter was born meant no more children for her. That didn’t mean her heart had stopped wanting more though, and when Megan turned two, Jamie nine, and Mark thirteen, that was when she’d spoken to Don about fostering. He agreed immediately. They were financially secure, and Sue wasn’t alone in wanting a large family.

      She and Don, her husband of twenty years, had sat all three kids down and explained they wanted to put themselves forward as a foster family. There was no sense in agreeing to care for a new child if her own family was hesitant. Sue was honest with them all, and one by one, her family told her it was a wonderful idea. She couldn’t have been prouder of a single one of them. Mark, her eldest, who asked if they could get a girl with boobs. Her middle boy, Jamie, who needed reassurance he wouldn’t have to share his room. Lastly, her youngest, Megan, who was just worried it would be yet another boy. All three were excited in different ways to add to their family.

      So today, it was happening. Their first foster placement would be here soon, and his name was Daniel Keyes. The authorities had explained he was quiet, shy, and a gifted kid, one who needed love and attention to make him blossom as a child. Sue had patience and love to spare. She was determined Daniel would be safe here.

      "He's only four months younger than you, so I'm sure he will love Star Wars." Wasn’t that what most nine-year-olds liked at the moment? It was certainly what Jamie adored.

      Jamie took the news in stride, and she loved him for it. Feeling secure was never an issue for Jamie Alexander Walker.

      An' he's not staying forever?

      No. Fostering means he will stay just as long as he needs to until a new family is found for him.

      And I really don't have to share my room?

      No. Dad is setting up a bed in the spare room.

      The wide grin that Jamie gave her was confirmation enough he was happy about that situation. She only hoped her other two were as easy to win over. Daniel, the boy they were going to be given, was an orphan. He’d lost his father to cancer and his mother to apparent suicide. He was going to be a more than a little lost and lonely nine-year-old, and it would be Jamie's good nature that took the brunt of any emotional problems Daniel might have. Being the same age meant the same class at school and similar interests.

      So the only thing he'll use is the den? Jamie looked up at her. The den was Jamie's domain, where Vader battled with Luke and Han flew to the rescue. Sue nodded and then dropped to her knees in front of Jamie. The den had been taken over by the arrival yesterday of a piano.

      Daniel plays the piano, and apparently, he is very good at it. It will be great for him to have something he can have here that is his. She subsided into thought at the worry of just how damaged Daniel might be by everything he had seen in his short life.

      I'm really excited about him coming. Please don’t be sad, Jamie offered gently. Sue realized her son had picked up on her sudden quiet mood, and she hugged him tight. He might be a bundle of excitable drama, but under it all, he really was the most sensitive of her kids.

      I'm fine, sweetie. Are you going to meet him at the door with me?

      How long is it gonna be?

      Ten minute’s time.

      'Kay, Mom. I'm going to check his room and make sure it has some more good stuff in it.

      Mark was away at football practice, and Megan was at a party for a friend. It was just her and Don and Jamie. Jamie was back at her side, peering out through the frosted glass of the front door. He couldn’t keep still and was again hopping from foot to foot with excitement.

      Calm down, sweetie; Daniel is kind of shy, she warned him.

      Okay, Mom, I’ll try. If Jamie had any faults, it was that he had an overabundance of confidence, enthusiasm, and general all round hyperactivity. They weren’t a family that could be labeled as quiet by any stretch of the imagination. They were a boisterous crowd, but social services said that would be good for Daniel, and when Sue was handed Daniel’s file, her heart just melted.

      The car pulled up, and a short boy, dark hair flopping over his eyes, a bag clutched in long fingers, stepped out of the vehicle and stood uncertainly, looking up at his new house. He spotted Sue, and a small smile crossed his face, then he turned, exchanging words with his companion, before nodding and holding onto her hand. He lowered his head as he neared the door, not lifting it even as Sue welcomed his placement officer and him in. He just scuffed his feet on the doormat.

      Hello, Daniel, Sue said brightly. She noticed her son had stopped hopping from foot to foot and instead was staring at the new boy. She could feel him visibly bristling with excitement but trying to keep it inside.

      ’Lo, came the soft reply, still no eye contact.

      Why don’t you let Jamie show you your room, Daniel? his mom said.

      Daniel lifted his gaze, his gray eyes filled with an expression of fear. Sue wanted to say something clever to dispel the young boy's fears, but Jamie interrupted in his usual take-no-prisoners fashion.

      "Yeah, Daniel, come with me and see. We got like painted bits, and posters, and I didn’t know what you was bringin’, but I put like loadsa books in your room and some Star Wars stuff and some trading cards. I mean they're the ones I have two of, but you know you can always swap ’em if you already have ’em, and I’ve also got like this second controller for you to play with me. Come on. Quick."

      Jamie grabbed at Daniel’s arm, just reaching farther as Daniel backed away a bit startled at the touch, and giving him no chance to argue, Jamie dragged him up the stairs.

      Chapter Two

      Daniel let himself be dragged along by this boy called Jamie, who pulled him into a room at the end of the corridor at the corner of the house, overlooking the yard and with views of California hills. It was far from a large room, but it held a bed that looked soft and welcoming, and just like he’d said, Jamie had put posters of people up on Daniel’s wall. Not sheet music, not a pinboard of timetables and practices, but some guys in uniform with a ball. Basketball, Daniel thought. What team he wasn’t sure. He didn’t actually know a whole lot about sports, and the idea of a contact sport where he might hurt his hands had always scared him. Well, scared his mom anyway. Athletics, group games, had inevitably clashed with extra practice for this recital or that exam. The boy—Jamie—dropped to the bed, waving a hand and enthusiastically indicating the whole room.

      Whaddya think? he said.

      Daniel thought he detected excitement, and swallowing, he pasted a smile on his face and hoped he looked enthusiastic enough for what he had been given.

      It’s fine, he said gently.

      Don’t cause trouble. It’s only for a few months. You can do this, you can talk to people, you can form words and look happy, you know you can because you have been practicing in front of a mirror.

      Cool, wanna play Madden? the boy asked, crossing to the room opposite his and coming back with a gray box trailing wires, tripping into the room with a broad grin.

      I’m a bit tired, Daniel said softly. That answer always worked now. Those few words were guaranteed to get sympathy and were a surefire way to get people to leave him alone.

      Okay. If the boy was upset he didn’t show it. He just dumped the confusion of wires on Daniel’s bed and flopped down after it, sprawling completely over the quilt.

      Daniel coughed and looked at the boy, at his height, his long, lanky arms and legs, with his short, spiky blond hair and his smile. What was his name again? Jamie. It didn’t go down well to not remember names. But with a head full of music, things like names weren't a priority. Okay. He could do this.

      Where’s my piano? Daniel asked softly, his voice a little husky from lack of use.

      Oh yeah, it was delivered on this huge ass truck, and they were swearing and everything when they put it in my den. Well, like, it’s not my den now. It's your den. Whatever, come on then. Jamie started to leave the room, looking back expectantly. Daniel blinked then followed, down the stairs, past the kitchen where Sue and the social worker sat drinking coffee, and through a door at the back, leading out to flooding sunshine and warmth.

      And there she was, standing in the corner, his only real link to his parents.

      He crossed to her and sat on the seat, running fingers over highly polished wood.

      He was aware of Jamie watching him curiously.

      This is wrong.

      He and the piano both belonged in shadows and musty rooms, rooms that his music stayed in, rooms where he felt safe. Sitting in sunlight, breathing in California air, was all wrong.

      He wouldn’t be able to play here. That much was certain.

      If he couldn’t play, he wouldn’t be happy.

      It's only for a few months.

      He just wouldn’t play.

      It will kill me, but it won’t be for long.

      Jamie looked at Daniel, his head to one side. You going to play? he said curiously.

      Daniel didn’t look up even as Jamie launched into more words.

      'Cause Ellie can play like this Chinese thing, and she got up and did it in ’sembly, and it was rubbish. 'Cause like, Ellie, she has this piano at home, and she has this man come over and show her how to play, and she has had lessons for three years, and if that Chinese thing is all she can play, then that is just rubbish.

      Daniel looked up at the boy who couldn’t seem to stop talking, blinking at him from under his long fringe. "I’m not

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