Join the Club (SWAT Generation 2.0 7)

If I hadn’t been available, what would’ve happened?

Which is what I asked next.

“What would’ve happened if they’d called today?” I asked. “What if he really would’ve had a migraine coming on? Would you have just left him there until one of you was able to leave? Because, let’s just say, that’s downright ridiculous. How many times has he been needed to be picked up over the last couple of weeks by someone other than you two?”

A lot.

There was no way they could even count on their hand the number of times.

Which she damn well knew.

Asa may have had Booth and Delanie as a mother and father, but he was raised by our entire family.

I don’t know what I expected her answer to be, but it definitely wasn’t the words that came out of her mouth.

“He’s not your child, Bourne!” Delanie yelled. “You don’t get a say!”

I looked from Delanie to my brother, hoping to see him understanding what had happened, but instead seeing then that the asshole agreed with her. At least, slightly.

I understood they had a scare, but Jesus Christ. I’d been with him the entire time. They could trust me, for Christ’s sake.

Clenching my teeth, I held up my hands and said, “Fine.”

They needed some time to cool off.

I understood that.

Delanie, I could tell, was still pissed.

So was Booth.

Dillan was standing off to the side, looking torn. As if she knew what I’d done was just an accident. But she’d been scared right along with Booth and Delanie.

And I realized that. She was scared. They all were scared. But… I didn’t do anything wrong. And Dillan knew that.

Because, like me, she wasn’t Asa’s parent and never would be. She’d always be on the outside looking in, just as I always would be.

I walked inside without another word and passed all of them on the way in.

Heading to my room, I wondered where I was going to go.

Having them in my place meant that I had nowhere to go.

Which pissed me off even more because this was my fucking place. I shouldn’t have to leave.

But I wasn’t a dick.

I wasn’t going to ask Delanie to go.

I was going to give her time to cool off and collect herself. Then, when she apologized, I’d accept because I knew her temper got the best of her.

I decided to head to the camper at the land that I’d bought with Booth.

It wasn’t anything special, but it was a place that would allow me to decompress and get my shit together, while also not being so far away that I couldn’t respond seeing as I was on call tonight.

Delanie and Booth followed me into the living room, still looking pissed.

Delanie’s glare didn’t make me feel any better.

“But let me tell you this,” I said as I headed toward the bedroom. “You can’t have it both ways. You can’t have me picking him up, taking him to doctor appointments, and doing shit that a parent would do without actually being somewhat of a parent. I can’t be there but not be there. Not anymore. You need to choose. Either I’m in or I’m out.” I paused, looking from Booth to Delanie. “I didn’t do anything wrong today. Like planned by both of you, I was going to pick him up anyway. Originally, I wasn’t going to call you. And, since I was already going to take him to a doctor appointment, I didn’t feel the need to tell you that I was picking him up early, especially since the reason that you both needed me to pick him up was because y’all were going to be in important meetings that had to do with his custody, and I didn’t want to jeopardize that. Had there actually been an emergency, I would’ve called. I would’ve interrupted that meeting. But, there wasn’t. I was in control. Asa was fine. And, had either one of you fucking texted or left a voicemail, or you know, relayed that you were worried, I would’ve told you the same. But I didn’t get any of those things. I got a call that immediately hung up. No voicemails. No texts. No urgent anything. So I left it alone because I’d taken your son to a movie. Like I said I was going to do anyway after school. I can’t be on the outside looking in if we’re going to get married. A stepdad is a dad. They get to do the same things, and are afforded the same things, that an actual biological parent gets. So maybe think about that for a minute.”

Neither one of them said a word, so I took that as my cue to go. Because after explaining that, I only got more pissed.

I hadn’t done anything wrong!

Yet, she was pissed at me for not calling her and telling her that I had him.