Fighting a New World

52

A reader actually reached out to me and told me this is what would actually happen if Jax's case was real so we don't have to imagine this time.

Carter's POV

Yesterday went a lot better than I thought it was going to. I wish I had gotten at least one good hit in on Jax's dad before I was pulled off of him but I would still call it a success.

Now that the hard part was over, all we needed now was to hear from our social worker.

Andrew said she would drop by our apartment some time today so now we had a full house. Of course our boyfriends were here, and Andrew and Patrick. Jem was here too but not for the social worker; Liam invited him to dinner so he was just hanging out until then.

I bet she's going to be stuck up, Bram grumbled as we watched animals flash across the TV screen.

Since none of us were overly social people, we had stuck ourselves in the corner of the couch to watch TV and take bets on what the social worker would be like.

Not all social workers are mean, Kyra soothed as she rubbed his back.

'Yea but with our luck, we'll get the worst out of all of them,' I sighed.

We're fresh off of our win at court, Jax said happily. Our luck might be turning around now. At the very least maybe we'll get a decent one.

I liked that at least two of us had the ability to be optimistic but Bram and I weren't buying it.

I was about to say something else when the doorbell rang.

I tried my best to not act nervous for the sake of everyone else but my heart leaped out of my chest at the sound.

My legs took me to the door without me telling them to and my hand opened it without a word.

A short woman stood in the hallway. Her red hair was done up in a messy bun, and she wore a long navy blue dress with black high heels. A small pin was placed on her left shoulder that simply said 'she/her on it. She smiled at me when she saw my frown before tucking her notes closer to her chest.

"My name's Francis," she said as she gave me her free hand to shake.

"Carter, currently at least," I said as I took her hand for only a brief second and gesturing for her to come in.

She only took a quick look around at everyone before making her way to the kitchen table.

"There are a lot more people here than I thought there would be," she said. "Do all of you live here?"

"No, only Carter and the three of us," Callum said as he pointed to our boyfriends. "This is our therapist, our legal representative, and just a random person who wandered in here." Jem frowned a bit at his introduction but didn't comment on it.

"Can we get everyone that lives here to the table then?" It didn't take long for us to comply with her gentle order. Callum and Liam sat beside me while Ryder sat in my lap.

"I just want to start with a simple conversation," she said with a small smile while placing her notes everywhere on the table. "This honestly shouldn't take long, I'm pretty sure I already know how this will end up going. What is your relationship to these other boys?"

"They're all our boyfriends, mine and Jax's I mean."

I waited for the usual frown we got when we told people about our relationship but it didn't come. Her smile only widened a bit more before moving onto the next question.

"And all of you are 18? It's Jax and Carter who aren't quite there yet?" All of us nodded in sync as if we had practiced it.

Francis wrote a few things down before looking back up at me.

"Are you honestly happy here? Are you safe?"

I frowned a bit at that question before looking at each of my boyfriends. What about any of them said they would ever do anything to hurt anyone?

"Yes, I'm safe and very happy," I said with a duh-like tone.

"Do you four mind if I do a quick walk through of the house just to do a check?"

"Sure, knock yourself out," I shrug but she doesn't really wait for my answer.

The second she disappeared into the bathroom, Andrew came up to the table with a big smile of his own.

"This is good. Home checks are always a good sign," he said as he sat down in Francis' old place.

"How is it a good thing that she's snooping through our home," Callum asked with a small scowl.

"Usually when social workers do home checks, they are willing to let the kid stay in the house. Meaning unless she finds something she doesn't like, Jax will probably be able to stay here."

My heart jumped at that. None of us had anything to hide so there's no reason for us to have to leave.

Patrick seemed to relax at those words too.

"So they won't have to leave," Ryder asked hopefully.

"We don't know for sure yet but it's a good bet," Andrew assured.

That did make me wonder though, what was considered 'bad' enough to warrant up rooting us? Like would their sex toys matter or would it have to be something like heroin.

I didn't have time to ask that question out loud since Francis was walking back to the living room with her usual smile.

"I'll just be straight forward," she began. "In cases like this, where a minor is about to turn 18 and is living with adults, we let the person stay where they are. Considering I don't see anything wrong here and you seem happy, I don't see a reason as to why we should move you anywhere."

Those words made a weight lift off of my shoulders as I squeezed Ryder's waist.

"That being said, some things will have to happen this next month until Jax and Carter turn 18. I'll come by randomly at least once a week to do home checks, just to make sure nothing is happening around here that shouldn't be happening. If there is even one questionable thing in sight during these checks, I will have to remove them from the house until they are old enough to decide to come back. Does that make sense to everyone?"

"Very much understood," Liam said, as he squeezed my hand, not even caring to hide his smile. "Thank you so much for this."

"You're all very welcome," she said while packing up all of her things but just as she was about to walk out of the door, she turned back to me and beckoned me closer.

I gave her a skeptical look before slowly easing my way over to her.

"This is my card," she said barely above a whisper. "If anything happens, I want you to call me. You have a phone, right?" I only nod as I took the small rectangle away from her. "Great. Then I'll be on my way."

No one even bothered to tell her goodbye as she shut the door behind her but the second the door was closed, we all let out a collective sigh of relief.

"We don't have to go anywhere," I breathed out as I turned to face our small crowd.

I barely have time to catch Ryder as he jumps into my arms, followed by Callum and Liam who pull us into a hug.

Patrick and Andrew eased over as if they weren't sure if they were allowed to join in but as they got closer, they seemed to not care about an invitation.

They came around to hug my back while Jem just watched us with an amused gleam in his eye.

"We don't have to go anywhere," I repeat as a smile worked it's way onto my face.

"Not unless you want to," Callum confirmed as he held me tighter.

Everything was perfect.

Jax's dad was in jail for the next 15 years and we didn't have to move in with random strangers.

All of the stress I had felt over the past few weeks had disappeared. My chest was light for the first time in a long time.

Everything was absolutely perfect.

Last updated September 8, 2021