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They were just about to start the deposition when a frantic knock on the glass door pulled Mike away from his papers. He looked up to see Donna at the door, gesturing for him to join her in the corridor. He tried to give her his best 'can't you see that I’m busy’ look but her stare was unrelenting and Mike had learned a long time ago that Donna very rarely took no for an answer.
“Will you excuse me for a second?” Mike addressed the room in front of him, exchanging a look with Rachel as he stood up.
“Donna, can we make this quick? We really need to get this deposition started.” he said in a hushed voice closing the door behind him.
“Sorry Mike but it’s urgent” Donna answered, a hint of worry in her voice. “The school called, there’s been an incident -”
“Incident. What kind of incident?” Mike cut her off, “Is William ok?”
“Yes, don’t worry he’s ok” Donna continued. “But they need one of his parents to go in and speak to the principal”.
“Right now?” Mike asked, relieved but still concerned.
“Yes, right now. They said they tried to call a few times” she clipped back.
Mike didn’t envy Donna having to explain to the school secretary why William's parents weren’t able to answer the phone at just any time of day. Mrs King had a reputation that could give even Donna a run for her money. He pulled his phone out of his pocket - 3 missed calls. Shit.
“Harvey-” Mike started to speak.
“Harvey is still in court, we won’t be able to reach him for a couple of hours”. Donna continued, answering Mike’s question before he even had a chance to ask.
“Ok, I’ll go. Could you let them know I’ll be there as soon as I can?”
She gave him a displeased look but nodded nonetheless and started walking back towards her desk.
Mike walked back into the conference room and whispered a hurried apology in Rachel’s ear. He knew she was more than capable of running the deposition by herself but that didn’t stop him from feeling guilty about leaving her at a moment's notice. He gathered his things and sped out towards the door hoping he could flag down a taxi to take him to the school.
----
Thankfully, they hadn’t been pulled into the school very often, so although Mike had seen the outside of William’s school almost every day for the last six months, he had only seen the inside a handful of times. He was greeted by the formidable secretary who had clearly not forgiven him for ignoring her phone calls no matter how unintentional it had been. They waited awkwardly in the principal's office for a few minutes before Mike heard a familiar voice behind him.
“Daddy!” William exclaimed as he ran towards his father, arms out ready.
Mike scooped him up into his arms. “Hey buddy, what happened to you?” he questioned, doing his best not to let his son see how worried he was. Willam had a cut below his lip and there was clearly a bruise beginning to form on his left eye.
“Mr Ross, thank you for coming in.” The school principal had followed William into the room and held her hand out to shake Mike's. He placed his son back down on the floor next to him and reached out to take her hand.
“Now William, your Daddy and I need to have a quick chat about what happened earlier today. Maybe Mrs King could let you do some colouring in her office whilst we talk?” She said kindly.
Mrs King looked less than happy about the idea but took William by the hand and led him back down the corridor.
Once they were alone, Miss Bakewell walked to sit behind her desk and gestured for Mike to take one of the seats in front of her. She had an expression on her face that Mike couldn’t quite make out. He gulped thinking the word he was looking for was disappointed.
“Sorry to have had to call you in like this” Miss Bakewell began. “But I’m afraid that William got himself into a fight during afternoon break”.
“A fight? Really?” Mike was stunned, William was one of the most gentle kids he had ever known, he’d never been violent at home. Surely there had been some kind of mistake.
“Yes I’m afraid so. The boy he was fighting is the same year as William, we’re not sure how it started but both boys were very angry”.
“Didn’t anyone notice, try and stop them? They’re only 5 years old, surely someone was watching them?” Mike was the one who was angry, he didn’t believe that his son would be the one to start something like this.
“We managed to get them apart quickly but not before they had each landed a few bumps I’m afraid” she sounded genuinely apologetic about that.
“Ok, so erm what next?” Mike asked, William had never been in trouble before and he imagined that school discipline procedure had probably changed a bit since his day.
“Well, I’ll need you to sign an accident form and then I think it’s best if you take William home for the rest of the day. The boys aren’t in the same class so we’ll make sure they’re kept apart at break times for the next few days. He’s not said much since it happened, perhaps you can try and talk to him, see what might have caused this?”. She smiled at Mike, clearly she knew that William wasn’t a bad kid.
Mike smiled weakly and nodded, still in disbelief at the whole situation.
He signed all of the relevant paperwork and then Miss Bakewell walked him back to the entrance to find William. He poked his head round the door to the office and saw William busy drawing a picture.
“Hey buddy, you ready to go?” Mike said softly. William’s face lit up when he saw his dad smiling at him and he hurried over to show him the picture he had drawn.
“For you,” he said, presenting Mike with the piece of paper he had been holding. “That’s you, and me, and daddy” he pointed at each of the three people he had drawn. “When we went on the boat last summer!” Mike couldn’t help but smile, how could his sweet little boy have ended up in a fight with one of his classmates?
----
William sprinted through the door and jumped onto the couch the second Mike unlocked it, clearly the novelty of getting to leave school early was top of his mind.
“Woah there big man” Mike exclaimed, pushing the door closed behind him. “Let's get you changed out of these mucky clothes” he ran over and started to tickle William as he spoke. His son squirmed underneath him collapsing into a fit of giggles.
“Hehehe Daddy stop!” he squealed. “That tickles!”
“Ok, I promise to stop tickling” Mike replied, continuing to tease his son. “If you promise to let me give you a bath… and then maybe I’ll even make you Pizza.”
This caught William’s attention. “Pizza?!” he said wide eyed.
“Yeah whatever pizza you want!” Mike replied, he loved seeing William excited. “But bath first,” he added, giving him a more serious look.
“Okay” William sighed standing up from the couch and sloping through to the bathroom. Mike tidied up their things before joining William, he knew he’d want help getting the bubbles just right.
----
With bathtime finished, Mike was helping William change into his pyjamas, his favourite dinosaur ones picked out especially. Once he was dressed and ready in his matching dressing gown and slippers Mike took the opportunity to speak to his son about what had happened.
“Buddy?” He started slowly, still kneeling on the floor in front of him. “Do you want to talk about what happened at school today?”
William looked down at his shoes, the excitement from earlier leaving his face. It broke Mike's heart.
“Hey, it’s ok” Mike continued, taking hold of William's hands. “Whatever you say, I’m not going to be angry. I just want to understand, so that I can help you.”
William looked up at his father “you promise?” He held out his pinky.
“Promise” Mike replied, linking his pinky round William’s and giving him a reassuring smile.
“He was being mean about you” William started to speak looking back down at his feet. “He said that it was bad that I had two daddies and that I must have done something bad to deserve it.” The words kept coming faster and faster. “And…and he said that his daddy said that you would be going to hell but I didn't know what that means but I said that I loved having two daddies and then he said that you couldn’t love me as much as his mommy and daddy love him and…and… and… then I hit him”. He gulped down the last few words through his tears.
Mike felt as though he’d been punched in the gut. He wrapped his arms around William's tiny body and held him close.
“William, you listen to me” he began, trying to hold back his own tears. “Me and Daddy, we love you so much. You are the most important thing in the whole world to us and nothing is ever going to change that”. He pulled back to look his son in the eye. “People are sometimes going to say some not very nice things about us because unfortunately there are people out there who aren’t very nice and they like to make others feel bad.”
“Why?” William questioned.
“I don’t always know Buddy”. Mike sighed, he and Harvey had worried about this kind of thing happening, they’d hoped William would have been spared it at least until he was older. “Sometimes they are jealous, sometimes they have been taught things that aren’t true. You know it’s not as common for someone to have two daddies or two mommies but that doesn't mean it’s a bad thing. Families come in all different shapes and sizes but all that matters is that you know that we love you, more than anything.”
“I love you too Daddy” he launched himself forwards into Mike's arms giving him the biggest hug he could manage.
Mike held him tight and planted a kiss on the top of his head. “Now, I think it might be time for Pizza” he said, composing himself.
William liked that idea, he jumped back up and made a beeline for the kitchen.
“Hey wait for me!” Mike shouted after him. He was always amazed at how quickly his kid could bounce back from tears and live in the moment. They probably needed to continue their conversation but that could wait until Harvey was home.
----
Making pizza was a messy business, by the time they had everything ready for the oven the whole kitchen was covered in flour and a whole manner of other ingredients. Mike could just picture the look on Harveys face if he were to find them in this state. Like many things, Harvey and Mike’s cooking styles were a little different, Harvey was definitely the chef of the family but Mike could make a mean pizza when he put his mind to it.
“You look like you might need another bath!” Mike teased William. He looked back at his Dad, face covered in flour and his hands sticky with cheese. “I’m just teasing,” Mike continued, smiling at Williams' expression. “Now why don’t you get yourself cleaned up a bit and then you can choose a DVD for us to watch whilst we eat.”
“What, you mean eat in front of the TV?!” William questioned excitedly. “Daddy doesn’t like that.” He gave Mike a stern look, as if he was trying to work out whether he was being tricked or not.
“I think we can make an exception tonight” Mike said, lifting a finger to his lips. “I won’t tell if you won’t”.
William giggled naughtily. “I already know what I want to watch!”
“You go get it ready then, I’m going to put the pizza in the oven and give Daddy a quick call.” Mike reached over and ruffled his son’s hair as he spoke. He watched as he jumped down from the stool to wash his hands in the sink.
He didn’t manage to get through to Harvey’s mobile so instead left him a voicemail filling him in on all for the details from the last few hours but leaving out the conversation he had had with William, that was something he’d rather speak about in person. The timer on the oven started to beep so he took the pizzas and cut them up for him and William to share. Then making sure to grab them both some juice he wandered over to the couch to find William ready and waiting.
“Cars, again?” He asked, laughing. He could have predicted that that would be the film William picked. Dinosaurs and cars, he really was both his father’s son.
“Yeah, it's the best!” William exclaimed.
They sat and ate their pizza together watching Cars for what felt like the gazillionth time. At this point Mike was pretty sure he could reenact it word for word, but it made William happy so that made him happy.
As the end credits rolled around Mike looked down to see that William had fallen asleep, his head resting on Mike’s lap. Carefully he scooped him up and took him through to his bedroom.
----
It was just past 8pm when Harvey finally arrived home. Mike had papers sprawled out on the dining table and was in the middle of reading the transcript of the deposition he had to leave earlier. The door key clicked in the lock which brought his attention back to the real world, he smiled when he noticed Harvey coming in through the door.
“Hey you” he said as he stood up and made his way over to Harvey. He gave him a quick kiss hello before helping him take off his jacket.
“Hey” was all Harvey said in reply, he slumped his head down on Mike’s shoulder and let out a sigh.
“Bad day?” Mike questioned leading Harvey through to the kitchen.
“Long day” Harvey replied. “I thought we were going to get an easy deal but Bennet had other plans.”
“But you won in the end though?”
Harvey gave him a look. “Of course I won, it's what I do.” He took the glass of scotch that Mike had just handed him across the counter and took more than a large sip. “Thanks. How is he?” He questioned, gesturing in the direction of William's bedroom. “Your message said he’s got in a fight, that's not like him?”
“He’s ok, tucked up and asleep, has been for about an hour.” Mike replied, avoiding the second part of Harvey’s question. “Pizza? We saved you some.” he asked, turning the oven on as he spoke.
“Oh you made pizza without me did you?” Harvey jested raising his eyebrows at Mike.
“It is the best medicine” Mike quipped back but then he sighed and ran his hands through his hair leaning back against the kitchen counter. “He told me what happened, it was about us Harvey.”
Harvey looked back, confused.
Mike put Harvey’s pizza in the oven before turning back around to face him. He leant down placing his elbows on the counter opposite Harvey rubbed his hands across his face letting out a deep breath.
“Some kid in his year started getting on at him about the fact that he has two fathers. Apparently this kid’s dad had told his son that we’ll go to hell for being gay and that we don’t love William as much as ‘normal’ parents would.” He was paraphrasing but the message was still the same.
Now it was Harvey’s turn to feel like he’d been punched, or slapped across the face.
“Anyway” Mike continued. “William tried to stand up for us, but this other kid kept going on at him and so he punched him.”
Harvey couldn't decide whether to be angry or proud. He must have made a face because Mike snapped at him.
“It’s not funny Harvey!”
“I’m not laughing Mike,” Harvey said, suddenly angry, the reality of the situation hitting him. “Five year olds don’t just go around saying stuff like that, he’s been fed it by his parents.”
“Yeah of course he has, but that doesn’t make what he said any better” Mike tried to interject.
“It makes it worse!” Harvey interrupted. “Some douchebag father had told his douchebag son that our kid isn’t worthy of love just because he happens to have two fathers! Who was the other kid anyway?”
“Some guy called Kyle, I don’t think William knows his last name” Mike replied.
This struck a nerve.
“I do.” Harvey downed the rest of his drink. “It’s Patterson. This is personal.” He took a deep breath but it wasn’t enough to calm him down. “Shit!” He threw his empty glass at the opposite wall and leaned forwards putting his head in his hands.
Mike was about to reach over to comfort his husband but they were interrupted.
“I’m thirsty” a small voice called from the doorway.
Harvey’s head snapped round and his tone shifted instantly. “Hey champ, stay there, I’ll come and get you.” He stood up from his stool and walked over to pick up his son, being careful to avoid any shattered glass.
“What happened?” William questioned.
“Oh nothing” Harvey smiled down at him. “Daddy was just being a bit silly and he broke a glass.”
“Silly Daddy” William replied as Harvey placed him down on the stoll he had just been sitting on.
He lent down to place a kiss on the top of his son’s head, noticing the bruises for the first time. He exchanged a look with Mike, feeling sick to his stomach.
“Now while I get it tidied up, maybe Daddy can make you a hot chocolate?” He suggested ruffling his son’s hair as he spoke.
“With cream and marshmallows?!” William replied excitedly.
“Ooh I don’t know, do you think we can have cream and marshmallows?” Harvey aimed his question at Mike suggestively.
Mike made a face as if he was trying really hard to decide whether they could have some. “With cream and marshmallows” he finally replied, gaining a cheer from William and Harvey.
“Three hot chocolates with cream and marshmallows” Mike announced triumphantly just a couple of minutes later, placing one down in front of each of them. “Aaaand one pizza for Daddy” he spun back around presenting Harvey with the final pizza they had made earlier.
“Wow, I’m impressed,” Harvey said with a smile of thanks in Mike’s direction. “The two of you managed to make three whole pizzas without burning the house down”.
“Oh ha ha” Mike replied, resulting in an enormous giggle from William.
----
William finished up brushing his teeth and jumped down from the bathroom stool, ready for bed again. Harvey followed him through to his bedroom and tucked him back in with a smile.
“Are you angry?” William questioned, looking up at his father.
Harvey crouched down next to his son’s bed and lifted a hand to stroke though his blond hair.
“I’m a little bit angry,” he said softly, not wanting to lie. “But not at you.” He smiled, shaking his head, “Your father and I, we love you more than anything and we’re not angry at you, not today, not ever.”
William nodded his head and yawned into his pillow. “I know, I love you too,” he said sleepily.
Harvey felt his heart swell, how could he be so lucky? “Night champ, I’ll see you in the morning.” He gave William one final kiss before leaving him to sleep, switching off the light and closing the door on his way out.
----
He returned to the kitchen to find that Mike had moved back to the couch. He’d poured them both another glass of scotch and held one out to Harvey as he heard him approach.
“Thought you might need another,” Mike said as Harvey joined him on the couch.
“Thanks” Harvey took it gladly. He finally kicked off his shoes and sunk into the cushions, feet up on the table in front of them.
“What should we do?” Mike asked.
“Ah I don’t know” Harvey sighed. “He asked me if we were angry.” He stared up at the ceiling trying to clear his head. He sat for a minute, just thinking about everything that had gone on today. He was used to tough cases but William's question had shaken him more than he expected. “Are we good parents?” He asked eventually.
Mike took his time before replying. He shifted himself around so that he was facing Harvey, propping himself up with one elbow on the back of the couch. He reached his free hand over and took hold of Harveys arm.
“Yeah we are,” He nodded. “Parenting isn’t all that different to being a lawyer, there’s always going to be people out to get you, but there’s no right or wrong way to do it.”
Harvey turned his head to look at Mike. “But what if he grows up to resent us? What if he ends up hating us because he’s targeted because of us?”
“We just have to do the best we can,” Mike shrugged. “Help him to learn that everyone is different and that although he might meet people along the way who try to use that against him, he’s stronger than they are because he’s kind and understanding and most of all, loved.”
“When did you get so wise?” Harvey smiled.
“I had a good teacher,” he replied with a smug shrug.
Mike scooted himself across on the couch so that he was leaning against Harvey's chest. “We always knew this might happen, I’d just hoped that he would’ve been a bit older, more able to understand.”
Harvey moved his arm, pulling Mike in closer. “The world can be a cruel place, no matter how old you are. You know that better than anyone.”
Mike took another sip from his drink, thinking. “I think I’m going to go back to school tomorrow. Speak to the principal again about what happened”.
“I’ll come with you,” Harvey sighed finishing his drink and planting a kiss onto Mike's forehead.
----
They’d both cleared their calendars for the first few hours of the day so when the morning came they could all travel to the school together. This was a novelty for William, usually at least one of them had to rush off first thing and the other would drop him off at breakfast club. But today was different, Harvey made pancakes for breakfast and they spent a rare few hours in the morning together before heading the school on time for class to start. 'Pizza and pancakes? These are the best two days of my life!' William had exclaimed when he had found them on his plate.
Breakfast finished and everyone dressed, they headed out of the door.
“Why isn’t Mr Ray driving us today?” William questioned from the back seat.
“I thought it might be nice if I did this morning champ,” Harvey replied. “Daddy and I need to go in to speak to Miss Bakewell again so we thought it would be fun if we all went in together.”
“Ok,” William just smiled and stared out of the window. Harvey thought Mike was probably right, the most important thing is that William knows he’s loved, and if something as simple as diving together to school can show then maybe he'd start doing it every day.
They parked a little ways along the street, choosing to walk the last bit together but as they approached the gates, Harvey saw Kyle’s parents across the courtyard. He recognised the father immediately, he was hard to forget. “Recognise them now?” he directed at Mike.
Mike did his best to look over discreetly and his eyes widened as he made the connection. Mr Patterson had appeared as an expert witness in a case a few months ago and Harvey had all but obliterated him in court. Mike hadn’t been at the trial but he had been there for the celebratory drinks afterwards, it had been a big win and by the sounds of things Mr Patterson was a man to hold a grudge.
His attention was pulled back by William’s tug on his hand.
“Miss Johnson is over there!” he told his father.
Miss Johnson was William’s class teacher and he loved her. He was always talking about all of the cool games she had in her classroom, his favourite one being the model racetrack she let them play with on Fridays. The same one as he now has in his bedroom at home because it was top of his Christmas list and Harvey hadn’t been able to say no. Mike was pretty sure Harvey got it more for himself than for William but that was a fact that Harvey adamantly denied whenever questioned.
She walked over to meet them. “Morning William, do you want to go and get settled into class? We’re still waiting for a few more people to arrive so you can choose a book from the shelf to read until we get started.” She smiled down at William as she spoke before turning her attention to Mike and Harvey.
“Thanks for coming back in, it’s nice to see you both again.”
Harvey bent down to give William a kiss goodbye. “You have a good day champ” ruffling a hand through his son's hair as he spoke.
Mike crouched down to join them “be good yeah, and have fun.”
“But not too much fun,” Harvey added with a wink. “Now you go and join your friends and we’ll see you tonight when you’re done”.
William gave them each a quick hug and sped off towards his classroom, not a care in the world.
“Just as keen as always,” Miss Johnson said with a laugh. “I’m glad yesterday hasn’t put him off, I’d hate to see him lose his enthusiasm for school.”
“Yeah he seems ok,” Mike replied. “We had a good chat last night about it all”.
She smiled back at them, “I think Miss Bakewell should be free to see you if you head over to her office. I’ll let you fill her in on the details”.
Mike clocked the expression on Harvey’s face, he was ready for a battle and wanted to get it started. They both smiled at Mrs Johnson before heading back towards the main entrance and the principal's office.
----
They had barely made it through the doors before they were stopped in their tracks by a familiar voice.
“Harvey Specter, here to start throwing punches around?” Mike turned to see Mr and Mrs Patterson waiting in the corner of the entrance hall. He was a large man, grey and balding, he reminded Mike of his old history teacher, this was both intriguing and terrifying at the same time. He was standing with a grin on his face, he’d come here to have it out with them, clearly fully aware of who he was dealing with.
Harvey remained facing away, he didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of a reaction. “What?” The man continued, “your boy seems to have learned that going around picking fights is ok, I just presumed he must have learned that from you”. He shrugged egotistically. Clearly not satisfied with the reaction he was getting, Mr Patterson marched over to them and tugged roughly on Harvey’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s rude to ignore someone when they’re trying to have a conversation with you’, shoving him round to face him finally.
Harvey staggered a couple of steps but kept his composure, smoothing back down the sleeve of his coat. “What do you think gives you the right to touch me?” Harvey said, his voice steady, squaring up to Mr Patterson for the first time.
“Harvey, come on, he’s not worth it” Mike interjected before either man could lay another finger on each other. He lent in to whisper in Harvey's ear “not here, at least wait until we’re off the school premises.” Harvey agreed of course, he had no intention of having a punching match with anyone this morning, especially not in front of a bunch of elementary schoolers. But it did amuse him to see the look on Mr Patterson's face and see how far he could push it.
“What’s that?” Mr Patterson continued. “Need your girlfriend to fight your battles for you?” he sneered.
Harvey shook his head, a smug grin appearing on his face now too “no David, I don’t need anyone to fight my battles for me. Unlike you” Harvey remained calm, choosing his words carefully. “What? Are you going to deny that you have been feeding your son homophobic rhetoric? Because in my experience, 5 year olds don’t go around spouting that kind of thing of their own accord.” He took a step forwards towards Mr Patterson, raising himself to full height so that he was just a few inches taller than the other man. “No, clearly you have a very backwards view of the world and you’re teaching your son the same. Now, if you’ll excuse us, my husband and I are going to have a word with the principal about what really happened yesterday”. He started to turn away, satisfied that he'd put Mr Patterson in his place, or riled him up Harvey didn't really care, he had the upper hand now.
The next few seconds were a bit of a blur. Mr Patterson lunged at Harvey, his fist connecting squarely with his jaw. Unprepared for the impact, this sent Harvey staggering backwards into Mike and the solid wall behind them. Mike felt a searing pain as his head impacted with the brick wall and his vision blurred for just a second. Harvey turned to look at Mike and he could see his lips moving, he looked concerned but Mike couldn't work out was he was trying to say. He must have made a face at him though because Harvey turned around just in time to see Mr Patterson marching back towards them, fists up. He heard a gasp coming from Mrs Patterson as her husband took another swing at Harvey.
Harvey managed to block the punch with his forearm, forcing Mr Patterson to back off. “I’m not going to fight you David,” he said, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction”. And with that, he turned away smoothly, grabbing Mike by the waist as they walked off down the corridor leaving Mr Patterson standing in the entrance hall looking as if he was about to explode.
----
They sat waiting in the principal's office, Mike was bouncing his knees up and down in his chair and making Harvey twitchy.
“Will you stop that?” Harvey muttered under his breath.
“Sorry” Mike apologised. “But all this waiting around is making me nervous”.
Harvey gave him a bemused look. “Mike, you’re not in trouble, you're the parent here, not a naughty school child” he laughed at his husband.
“I know,” Mike replied, rubbing his sweaty palms over his knees. “But I feel like I’m 10 again, it’s the tiny chairs and overly colourful decorations.”
Harvey rolled his eyes.
Not long after they were joined by Miss Bakewell and, to Harvey’s annoyance, Mr and Mrs Patterson.
“Thank you all for coming in,” Miss Bakewell spoke, sensing the tension in the room. “Now I’m hoping that we can all have a civilised discussion about what just occurred in the corridor and about what happened between William and Kyle yesterday”. She walked around them, taking a seat behind her desk and gesturing to the other couple to help themselves to the remaining empty seats.
“I tell you what happened, their son attacked my son unprovoked…” Mr Patterson started gesturing towards Harvey and Mike.
Miss Bakewell cut him off before he could continue.
“Mr Patterson, with all due respect, you have just attacked another member of the parent body in the middle of the school corridor. I would appreciate it if you waited until I asked for your opinion before giving it.”
Mike saw Harvey smirk out of the corner of his eye.
“Now, Mr Specter, Mr Ross”, she nodded in their direction. “I understand that you spoke to William about yesterday's incident and that you have some concerns about the language Kyle was using.”
Mike was about to open his mouth to speak when he was interrupted.
“The language that my son may or may not have been using is not the concern here. Their son is a loose cannon who has caused significant injury to my Kyle, and I want to see justice done”. Mr Patterson had stood up from his chair and was waving a finger in the direction of Mike and Harvey again.
“Mr Patterson, please sit back down” Miss Bakewell said sternly, trying to keep situation under control.
“No, I will not be silenced. My son was viciously attacked on school grounds, he’s been left traumatised by what happened” he continued his rant. “Mr Specter, you may be able to get away with flaunting your power around in court but I donate a lot of money to this school and I will not let it be infested by people like you.” Mr Patterson practically spat out the last two words.
“People like us?” He replied, standing up from his seat. “Would you care to elaborate on that? Because ‘people like us’ just want our son to be able to come to school and not be harassed by a jealous little bully.”
“Harvey” Mike cut in, giving him a warning look.
“Sorry,” Harvey cleared his throat. “It’s not Kyle's fault that he’s been raised by a bigot.” Harvey straightened his jacket and sat back down. He knew he had the upper hand again.
Mr Patterson looked as if he might implode.
“Aren’t you going to do anything about this” he directed at Miss Bakewell. “He’s going around spouting lies about my child.”
“Mr Patterson, if you can’t remain calm then I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” She replied, her voice stern. “I had hoped that we could settle this together but based on the evidence in front of me I think it’s best if you and your wife wait for me in the office. I’ll come and find you once I’ve had a chance to speak to William’s parents.” She walked over to the door, holding it open for them.
“Parents ha” Mr Patterson scoffed under his breath, barely audible.
It was Mike’s turn to stand up. “If you have something to say, why don’t you say it to our faces. You clearly have a problem with Willaim having two fathers, why not just say it how it is?” He took a step towards him, Mr Patterson may have been larger than Mike but he wasn't afraid of standing up to him, not when he was defending his family.
“Ok yeah, yeah I do have a problem with it” Mr Patterson spat. “I’ve held my tongue long enough, people like you aren’t fit to be parents, it's not right and quite frankly it-”
“That is enough!” Miss Bakewell shouted over him. “I will not ask you again Mr Patterson. Please” She gestured towards the door. “I’ll deal with you in a minute.”
He finally relented and grabbed wife’s hand, roughly pulling her to her feet. “Don’t bother, we’re taking Kyle out of this school. I won’t have him educated somewhere that panders to that kind of lifestyle.” He pursed his lips as he spoke, disgust clear on his face.
“Very well” Miss Bakewell said, the hint of a smile on her lips. Mike and Harvey looked at each other silently, pleased by the side that she was taking.
She watched as the other couple walked out of the room, waiting until they had turned the corner before returning her attention to Mike and Harvey.
“Please accept my apologies for the way you have been spoken to today. I can assure you that the school does not share in their values” she smiled at them. “Now, if you’re comfortable, I would like to hear what William told you about yesterday.”
Mike relayed his conversation with William from the previous evening and when he had finished Miss Bakewell looked at him sympathetically. “Thank you,” she said. “I’ll have a word with the other children involved, we’ll make sure that this doesn’t go any further.” She shifted her gaze a little, looking uncomfortable. “I hate to have to say this but we can’t let William’s actions go completely without repercussions, he did assault another child, even if it was in retaliation to Kyle’s harassment.”
“We understand,” Harvey replied. “We’ll talk to him.”
“Thank you” Miss Bakewell smiled back. “In that case, I think we can draw a line under this. He’s a good kid, and he clearly has parents who love him.” She stood up from behind her desk and walked behind them. “I’ll make sure you have a clear route to the door. Thank you both again for coming in.” She shook their hands before walking them back to the entrance.
Harvey took hold of Mike’s hand as they walked. No small minded parents were going to stop him showing off his husband with pride.
—-
The look on William’s face when he saw them both waiting for him at the school gates was worth all the hell they got from Louis for leaving early. He came running out the minute he spotted them, his backpack flying along behind him.
“Hey there champ!” Harvey bent down and scooped William up into his arms and planted a kiss on his forehead.
“We were learning about volcanoes today!!” William announced excitedly as he shoved a drawing into Mike's hands.
“Wow buddy, this is awesome!” Mike replied, looking at the picture in front of him. “Why don’t you tell us all about it while we go to get ice cream?” He said suggestively, giving William's hair a ruffle.
“Ice-cream! Yes please!” He grinned and Mike couldn’t help but smile back.
“Important question though buddy”, Mike said seriously, causing William to frown. “What flavour are you gonna get?”
“Hmm.” William took his time, considering his options, he looked just like his Dad when he was thinking. “Chocolate!” he finally announced triumphantly.
Harvey put William back down they each took a hand as they walked together out of the gates.