Page 58 of Reaching Roland

We headed inside where Indie looked surprised to find three tables full of the boys from Toby's Crew Group Chat, with their Daddies, along with his best friends from The Tap and their Daddies. The co-founders and some of the volunteers from the Takoda Outreach Center were at the next table over.

“Holy shit, what are you all doing here?” Indie asked.

“Where else would we be tonight?” Toby asked, bouncing around the table like Tigger on steroids and throwing himself at Indie. I knew those two had gotten off to a rocky start, so it warmed my heart to see Toby rocking Indie back and forth, giving him additional confidence. Since Toby was one of Cameron's dearest friends and one of the boys he'd watched out for until he found a Daddy of his own, I wasn't surprised to see him grinning like crazy, despite how stressed we all were.

One by one, everyone rose from their seats and came over to give Indie a hug and words of encouragement. Anson, the counselor who'd originally helped Indie, slid up to me and Kenny. “This is some turnout, huh?”

“It is,” Kenny said. “I've helped out at the big events on-site at the Outreach, and you know I'm always happy participating in the back-to-school haircut fundraisers at the salon, but I've never attended one of these fundraisers before. Do you always have this big a turn out?”

Anson chuckled. “No. Especially not with this whole group of people we know here, not that we expect them to buy tickets and come to something like this. They all donate plenty of money and an abundance of time.”

I was only listening to them with half an ear as I kept an eye on Indie. Christian, the owner of The Tap Tavern, had one hand clasped on Indie’s shoulder while he held his other hand. I knew for a fact that he made huge contributions to the Outreach, but more importantly to me, he’d taken Cameron under his wing and mentored him in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to as his father. My esteem for him grew even higher watching him give Indie that same consideration.

“It's nice they’re all here to support Indie,” Anson continued. “But look how packed this place is without our tables. There’s so much potential for new donors, and I think Indie’s story will really impact them.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “As soon as Indie told me that you'd been invited here to raise awareness, I knew you’d do well. There are some deep pockets in this room.”

Anson nodded. “You used to hang out here a bit, right?”

“I've spent my fair share of time here. It’s been awhile, but it doesn’t look like things have changed too much.” Which, when I thought about it, seemed kind of sad. That was the rut I’d been stuck in, and I hadn’t even known it.

“I guess I should go get ready to start,” Anson said. “I'm speaking first. Eek.”

The three of us laughed as he held out a hand to shake Kenny's and then my hand. “Good luck, man.”

“Thank you. And don’t worry. I think Indie’s going to do great.”

I forced a tight-lipped smile as he walked away. I wasn’t at all worried about Indie nailing the speech part of this. He was charismatic and fun, and people flocked to him. My concern was his piece-of-shit father doing something to embarrass and humiliate him. I couldn’t promise that I’d be able to keep my shit if that happened. Despite what I’d said to Miss Georgina. I also thought Bart needed to get his ass handed to him.

Once Anson was gone, I realized how far Kenny was standing from me. It was only a few inches, but we’d been together when we first entered the building. “What are you doing over there,shortcake?” Wrapping my hand around his waist, I pulled him in closer.

“Sorry, Daddy,” he said quietly. “I know you have old friends here, so I wasn't sure if you want anyone to realize we're here together-together.”

“Look at me,” I demanded. He tilted his head up, and I bent down and kissed him firmly, with enough tongue that everyone would know exactly how it was between us. As I pulled back, Kenny graced me with a blinding smile.

The gossips—otherwise known as our friends—hooted and hollered.

Kenny curtsied and blew them all a kiss, making everyone laugh.

Eventually, it was time to begin, and people started taking their seats. I'd been careful not to look around because I didn't know how I'd react to seeing Bart, but of course, once we were seated, I realized that he was in my direct line of sight across the room. He scowled at me, and I resisted the childish urge to flip him off.

Anson did a fine job of stating why he was here and explaining the Takoda Outreach Center. When he announced that they were specifically here tonight to talk about the Career Center and the Tiny Home Park, Indie and Cameron stood up, and my son walked my chosen son up to the stage. No one would know by looking at him how nervous Indie was. He ran up the stairs and strode confidently onto the stage when he was introduced. “Hello, my name is Indie Wadsworth.”

From farther back in the room, someone said none-to-quietly, “Isn’t that Bart’s son? I thought he was named after his father.”

Instead of ignoring it, Indie held his head high and said, “It was, but I changed my name to Indie because my father tossed me out.”

The whispering began immediately, and Bart stood abruptly, scraping his chair back against the floor. He’d always been an obnoxious attention seeker. “Lies,” he yelled.

Indie stared his father down, then cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone. “My story begins?—”

Again, Bart yelled, “Don’t listen to him. You can’t believe a word he says. He's a liar and a thief.”

“Oh hell no,” I said, rising to my feet. No way was I letting this guy talk aboutmykid that way. He might’ve been able to intimidate him when he was alone under Bart’s roof, but Indie had Cameron, me, and Kenny, Miss Georgina, and all the others who’d shown up tonight. He wouldn’t win this battle.

Before I said a word, one of our mutual acquaintances, Pete, stood up next to Bart and said, “Either sit down and shut up or get out.”

Bart rounded on him. “You know what he did to me.”

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