Chapter Text
“Carl?”
Victoria comes out of the bedroom, adjusting the knot on the scarf that matches her flight attendant uniform. “Don’t forget to pick Jasper up at my mum’s tonight.”
Carl frowns, downing the last of his morning coffee. “I’m taking the overnight train to London, remember?”
“Oh shit, that’s today?”
“Yeah,” he says impatiently. “That’s today. Did you miss how I was packing my suitcase last night?”
She sighs. “Sorry, things have been so hectic lately. I thought that was next week.”
“So Jasper doesn’t have a place to stay tonight? I told you last week that you’ll have to arrange something for him for the rest of the week. Did you not speak with Ross?”
“Carl. I forgot.”
“Christ.” He lifts his arms and lets them fall by his sides. “So now what? I can’t take him with me. You clearly can’t take him with you. Can he stay with your mother?”
“Why do you have to go to that bloody wedding?”
Wow. Because… really?! She’s gonna berate him for a trip he’s planned for months, a trip that means the world to him?
“Fucking hell, Vic!” he says in a raised voice. “That bloody wedding is my oldest friend. I’m his fucking Best Man. You know that this is really fucking important to me. I can’t believe you’re even saying this!”
She spins around to face him. “If this is so important, maybe you should have communicated it a little more clearly.”
Communicated?! What the fuck? He had. Multiple times.
Now he’s really getting riled up. He can feel his temper is flaring, his voice well on the way to shouting, “Oh, for fuck’s sake, how many more times did I have to say it?! It’s not my fucking fault that you’re barely here! And that when you are, you don’t actually fucking listen to what I’m saying!”
Her voice is sharp now, too. “Oh, so this is on me now? How many times have you left me and Jasper hanging because you had to work late, or there was an overnight stake-out or you got called out for something in the middle of the fucking night?”
Carl bristles, the sarcasm thick in his voice now. “Yeah, it really fucking sucks that Scotland’s criminals don’t subscribe to your personal fucking work schedule, doesn’t it?!”
She lets out a frustrated sound. “Look. I’ll call my mum on the way to the airport. Can you at least pick him up from school? Mum’s got a doctor’s appointment at three.”
“Fuck’s sake, Vic. I have to work. It was hard enough to get time off, Moira’s already up my arse about my work hours. He is your fucking son. It’s your mess to deal with.”
She hastily looks at her watch, then mutters, “Fuck,” under her breath as she rushes into the bathroom.
Carl angrily dumps his empty mug in the kitchen sink with a loud clank. Unbelievable! He’d mentioned this trip several times. He spent an hour last night, packing his shit while Vic was on the bloody phone with one of her girlfriends. He’d even put it in their fucking weekly planner.
He hears the door of Jasper’s room opening, footsteps padding into the kitchen. The eleven-year-old throws Carl a guarded look, then averts his eyes. Yeah, their verbal sparring match wasn’t exactly discreet.
Carl draws in a long breath through his nose, then tries to get a grip on his temper. He turns to Jasper. “Morning,” he says in what he hopes is a neutral tone.
Jasper doesn’t say anything, just gets a glass from the dish rack and fills it with cold milk from the fridge.
“You want Wheetabix?” Carl asks him.
“No,” Jasper mumbles.
“Then what? Toast? Cornflakes?”
Jasper drinks the milk and doesn’t say anything else, so Carl tries to soften his voice. “Look, I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have yelled.”
Blue eyes meet his for a split second before Jasper’s gaze flits away again. “I don’t wanna stay with gran,” he says in a small voice.
Fuck. Not Jasper, too. “Yeah, but you’ll have to. Or maybe with your dad. I’m gonna be away for a few days. Your mum’s away with work.”
“She’s always away,” he says in a half whining, half accusing tone.
“Yeah, but that’s part of her job. I know it’s not great, but it is what it is. I’ll be back on Friday, yeah?”
“Can I not come with you?”
Carl raises his eyebrows. That’s new. Jasper has never asked to go anywhere with just him. Now he wonders if maybe he should have thought of that, should have asked Jasper if he wanted to come. Then again, this isn’t quite the right gig for an eleven-year-old, is it? Not with Vic not there and Carl being Best Man.
“Sorry, fella, but I can’t. Maybe next time, yeah? We can plan a trip together for a weekend when I’m back. Just the two of us. How about that?”
Jasper draws up his shoulders in a slow shrug. “I guess.”
Carl moves over to where he’s sitting and puts a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, okay, Jasper?”
“Why do you have to go away?”
“A really good friend is getting married in the south of England. He’s asked me to be his Best Man.”
“What does that mean—Best Man?”
“Means I help on the wedding day. Kinda like a number‑one teammate for the wedding.”
“How come we’ve never met your friend?”
Carl’s brow creases. “You have. Paul. He was here a few years ago with his boyfriend. Blond hair, brown eyes. Brought you a LEGO set. That police one, I think. He was also at our wedding. You don’t remember him?”
Jasper slowly shakes his head. Oh well. That visit was only a weekend thing and it was almost two years ago. And then, at the wedding, there were a lot of people that would have been strangers to Jasper. Carl can’t even really blame him.
The bathroom door opens and Vic comes back out, hurries into the kitchen.
“Mum?” Jasper looks at her. “I don’t wanna stay with gran tonight.”
She draws in a breath, sighs, then walks over to Jasper to gently ruffle his hair. “Yeah, I know. But I’m afraid you’ll have to because Carl and I are both going to be away for the night. Do you want me to call your father?”
“No,” Jasper says immediately.
“Okay. Well, we’ll figure it out, okay?”
Carl wants to roll his eyes. Vic should have figured this out last fucking week. Jasper’s life is unstable enough as it is. This is extra complication he doesn’t need in his life.
But it’s not like there’s much to be done now. And like he told Vic earlier, it isn’t even really his problem. He wonders if it should become that, though. They had talked about Carl applying for shared custody of Jasper, but he hasn’t made up his mind yet. Maybe it’s time to give that some more thought.
Vic goes into the bedroom and comes back, wheeling out her carry-on. She shoots Carl a look. “You’ll be back Friday, you said.”
“Yeah, Friday morning.”
“And you’re working Friday.”
“Yes, I’m fucking working Friday. I told you that, too.” He points at the planner on the side of the fridge. “It’s there, black on white. Why do we even have that thing if you’re not gonna use it?”
“Yeah, sorry. I gotta go. Shit, I’m already late.” She takes a step closer to him, then says, “See you Friday.”
“See you,” he greets back, and then she’s in the hall and out the door.
Carl just stands there, annoyance and disappointment roiling in his gut. No goodbye kiss, not even a ‘Have fun’ or ‘Safe travels’. What the fuck?
Jasper drinks the last of his milk and puts the glass on the table. Carl sighs. “Go and get ready, we don’t wanna be late for school. I’ll make you some toast real quick, yeah? Can’t have you go on an empty stomach.”
Jasper is already up from the chair and halfway to his room. “Okay,” he says.
Carl sighs again, grabs the empty milk glass and fishes the bread from the cupboard. Wonderful. What a great way to start the day.