Wasn't Expecting You

Beau

We arrived at the park on Barker street at 9.50am. It was my old neighbourhood. Of all the areas in San Diego Beau could have ended up, he was in the same neighbourhood I grew up in and potentially, he was living mere streets away from his mother and sister for the first five years of his life. That hurt.

"Are you sure you want me to come with you? I think this is something you should do on your own," Joey asked me for the hundredth time.

"Yes, I don't think I can do this without you there," I reassured him again.

"Carla will be with you though. Don't you think it's a bit much for him to have too many people?"

"Joey, please don't fight me on this. I need you," I begged.

"Ok, fine. I just don't want to scare him."

"This whole thing will already be surreal for him," I muttered, opening the car door and feeling the already warm morning California sun hit my skin.

Joey succumbing to my pressure, exited the car too and we walked hand in hand to a picnic bench. The playground was unusually quiet for a warm weekday morning. Despite not being the classiest neighbourhood, it was cheap enough for young couples to afford without being a bad area, so I would have expected a few more young families out.

My eyes landed on one young mom who looked to be only a few years older than me, she was rocking a pram while watching a toddler play on the slide. For just a moment I let myself imagine that as my future, smiling to myself.

"One day," Joey whispered to me, following my gaze and somehow reading my mind.

"In the very distant future," I laughed.

My attention was pulled from the young mom when I heard a couple of car doors slamming shut and looked up to see Carla exiting a car with a man who looked to be about 30, then watched her go to the back door of the car where she let out a little sandy haired boy.

He looked shy, eyes to the ground, so all I could make out from here was his hair colour and that he seemed slightly tall for his age. He took hold of Carla's hand as she crouched down to his level and pointed towards us. The little boy, my brother, looked towards us quickly before looking back to the ground again.

I'm nervous too buddy.

Joey and I both stood up in anticipation of this meeting as the three of them made their way across the gravel path toward us.

The man approached first, as he got closer I could tell he was a bit older than I first thought, maybe mid 30's. His dark hair and light brown eyes friendly and welcoming.

"You must be Morgan, I've heard quite a lot about you. I'm Daniel Green, Carla's colleague and your brothers social worker," he introduced, holding his hand out to shake.

"Hi Daniel, lovely to meet you. This is my boyfriend Joey," I introduced as the two men shook hands.

"Hi guys," Carla greeted next. "Beau, would you like to say hi?" She encouraged.

The little boy gripped her hand noticeably tighter, too shy to look up, instead moving to hide behind Carla's leg. Joey and Daniel moved away from us and took a seat at the bench in an effort to give Beau and I some space.

Following Carla's lead from near the car, I crouched down so that I would be at his level. As I did, he slowly looked up at me. I was slightly taken aback at just how green his eyes were. They reminded me so much of my own when I was his age. I could see some of myself in him and also so much of my mom.

"Hi Beau, my name is Morgan. It's really great to meet you," I said softly.

"Beau, would you like to say hi?" Carla tried again.