Never Say Never

Chapter 14

 Aly grinned, holding out her arms when she spotted Eli coming out of the school with Jeremiah, waiting for the usual running hug she received that almost knocked her over now that her boy was getting bigger. But instead, her little boy just trudged slowly over to her, his head hung down toward the sidewalk beneath his feet. Her heart seized, just like it always did when her son looked anything but happy.

It was one of those moments of being a parent that reminded you how inextricably your heart was linked to theirs, your happiness, your very life. There was nothing that would smash through a good day with the force of a wrecking ball like seeing your child heartbroken. And right now, Eli looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to that beautiful little organ in his chest.

"Uh-oh, it doesn't look like someone had a very good day," Steve muttered softly next to her as Jeremiah walked up to him, not looking much happier than Eli. He ruffled his son's hair. "Hey kid. How was school?"

Jere shrugged, "Okay."

"Just okay? No crazy stories to tell today?"

"Not really." The boy sighed, the sound so big it took up his whole body, glancing over at Eli who was standing stiff and quiet next to Aly.

Aly didn't like this. Both boys were far too subdued. Their usual excitement and chattiness after school was nowhere to be found. Eli's arms were wrapped tightly around his middle as if he were protecting himself from some unseen danger or trying to hold something in that was threatening to fall out.

"Hey buddy," she said softly, placing her hands on his knees, leaning over so her eyes were at his level. "Everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," he snapped shortly, turning his body quickly as she reached for him, rejecting her touch. "Can we just go home?"

Steve shared a worried look with her. She stood up straight, offering her son her hand but he didn't take it, her heart breaking just a little at his refusal of even this small comfort.

Steve stepped forward, dropping to his knees in front of Eli, "Did something happen at school?"

"I said I want to go home," he stubbornly replied, refusing to look at Steve.

"I know and your mom's going to take you home but you know, if something happened, you can talk to us. Talking about stuff usually helps me feel better."

"Nothing happened and even if it did I don't want to talk to you about it," Eli growled and then stomped away.

But he paused when he got to the curb, remembering he wasn't supposed to walk into the parking lot alone. So instead he just stood, arms folded, glaring off into the distance. It should have been comical how he still followed the rules even when he was so angry but Aly was unable to find anything remotely amusing about this situation.

Aly could see the hurt etched across Steve's beautiful face. But he recovered quickly, rising to his feet. Stepping into him, she kissed his cheek, offering him a sympathetic smile. She appreciated that he was trying to help but this one might have to be on her. She just hoped he wasn't taking Eli's rejection too hard.

"Thanks for trying. I'm sorry he said that. He doesn't mean it. Not really. He's just upset right now. He adores you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah." He was trying to shake it off but not doing the best job of it. She could see Eli's dismissal had rattled him. It had to be jarring when the kid usually worshiped the ground he walked on most of the time. "Yeah. It's fine. I just thought...you know...maybe he'd talk to me guy to guy or something but it's fine."

"I'm going to talk to him," she assured him, resting her hands against his chest. "I'll figure out what's going on."

"Sure looks like he might be a tough egg to crack."