Page 16 of Second Chance

The sound of Daniel’s laughter follows him out of the car and to the door.

“Hey, how are you, anyway?” Tony asks as they troop up the stairs. “I feel bad. We talked about me for ages. How’s your first week as official dean of the department going?”

The college unofficially promoted Daniel last semester because someone had to pick up the slack left by Stacy’s absence. She might have been a murderess, but she was also a very effective administrator. Now the dust has settled, Lobell changed Daniel’s job title to encompass all his new duties. The actual process involved some more stuff about tenure and letters of recommendation, but Tony didn’t follow past the point that it is, in essence, a promotion.

Daniel shrugs. “It’s the same as being the unofficial dean of the department last semester. A lot of red tape.”

“Red tape?”

Daniel unlocks the door and kicks off his shoes. “I mean, look at Lily. She couldn’t do her finals last winter, but she was in classes all semester. Now, half her professors won’t take a late final, and the other half will, so what do we do with hercredits? And she was too late to withdraw from classes, so do the classes where she can’t submit a final count as failed classes or incomplete? What will that do to her GPA?”

“Christ, I haven’t thought about a GPA in years.” Tony unties his shoes and follows Daniel into the living room. “So figuring out administrative headaches is your job now, huh?”

“Yeah.” Daniel lets himself fall onto the couch. “Apparently, the registrar’s office doesn’t know what to do with Lily either.”

This is at least the fifth time Daniel has mentioned the registrar since they started seeing each other. Tony vaguely remembers the word from his time at community college in Poughkeepsie. But he only went past the office with the word emblazoned on the door once in the two years he spent commuting for classes, and it’s way too late to ask Daniel what it means.

“Lily was talking about heading to her psych professor’s office and outright begging for her grades to be accepted. I had to convince her that wouldn’t go over well.” Daniel sinks into the couch until he’s practically lying down. “I think she took it okay, but it must be frustrating, especially after she put in the hours with summer school and all.”

“I forget how stressful it is being a student,” Tony says. “All the insecurity about what will come next, depending on your professors for your future. I never had that.”

“Must have been comforting, having built-in job security.”

“I mean, so long as the shop keeps running,” Tony points out.

“But you have skills and a trade, and experience.” Daniel rolls onto his side to look at Tony. “Most college students don’t, you know. They’re looking to get a foundation for their futures from us, and we can’t even give them any guarantees.”

Tony thinks guiltily of Gianna and Lia. Gianna has most of her degree, but she’s getting a BA in psychology, which is apparently worth nothing without at least an MSW, and she has a baby to support. She needs all the help she can get, and there he is, complaining about having to go to work a little more while she studies. Tony can’t imagine having her ambition.

He studies Daniel, his tousled sandy hair, and how tired he looks. It’s odd. Something about the bags under his eyes and the way he’s lying there, propped up on one elbow, his whole body curled toward Tony, makes him appear both younger and older at the same time.

Maybe Tony feels vulnerable, soft-boiled, and he’s looking to find the same feeling in Daniel.

Maybe Tony can imagine them lying like this after a long day years and years from now.

“I’m so old.” Daniel turns onto his back and stares up at the ceiling. “Two beers on a weeknight, and I’m totally done for. And did I tell you my mom called today? Apparently, my dad is getting a hip replacement next week. I know I’m an adult and everything, but I was not ready to feel this ancient.”

Tony chuckles and draws him close. “Wanna get ready for bed and watch someCriminal Minds?”

Daniel presses a wet kiss to his cheek. “You read my mind.” He heads off to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Tony watches him go, then pulls out his phone and checks it.

Sorry if this is out of line, Blake texted at some point in the last hour.But if there’s anything any of us can do to help you and your sister, I hope you know we’re there for you.

Tony swallows around the sudden lump in his throat.

He sends Blake a string of heart emojis. He can’t imagine how he could possibly turn what he’s feeling into words.

Then, Tony opens his text thread with Gianna. She last wrote him three days ago, a GIF of a dog in a funny hat.

How’s your first week back at school going?he texts her.U need a babysitter to get homework done or sth? lmk

Chapter Three

Lia gurgles happily and reaches up to bat at her toy octopus.

Tony bought it for her when Ma took Gianna to the hospital after her water broke. He realized suddenly that though he’d taken Gianna to Planned Parenthood when she first found out she was pregnant, to doctor’s appointments all along the way, and to Lobell to figure out how she could pick up her studies again when the baby was there, he hadn’t thought about what it would be like when the baby was born.

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