"Jayden": Two for Boarding Bonus Short Story

“[...] Watching the football team careen into the opposition at full force really makes you wonder if they or their coach have ever heard of the cumulative effects of repeated head injuries known as CTE.

While we walked away from the game with a narrow win thanks to the combined efforts of quarterback Hugh Trayman and kicker Alex Wright, it would be remiss not to mention the other athletes on the pitch: the cheerleaders. Captain Beth Hensgrave shone as the team’s main flyer, performing flip after flip in mid-air. Newcomers to the team Jacob Lincoln and Mary-Anne Mulligan held their own at the base of the pyramid. The routine set to Sabrina Carpenter’s Manchild was particularly inspired.”

(From: "Live from the Homecoming Game" by Charlie Sutter, published in Maroon on Navy, the student-run newspaper of Cole Valley High, released on 09/27/2026)

"What did you just say?" Phil pushed away from the table, his arms crossed.

Charlie's jaw jutted out. Had it always been so sharp, so pronounced? Or was it a development concurrent with his sudden and frankly appalling attitude?

"Charlie," Ben tried.

"Fuck off with your coach voice," Charlie said.

"Watch your language," Ben and Phil snapped at the same time.

Charlie rolled his eyes and got to his feet.

"We're in the middle of dinner," Phil said.

"I'm not hungry."

"You need to clear your plate."

"Whatever." Charlie's back was turned as he made his way up the stairs, swinging on the rope banisters to take them two or three at a time. "Cleaning service comes tomorrow."

"Charlie!" Phil bellowed.

The only response was the slam of a door upstairs.

Phil turned to Ben. "What the fuck?"

Ben shook his head. "I've got nothing."

They finished eating in silence. Ben had lost most of his appetite anyway. After, he loaded up the dishwasher, including Charlie's plate. The ebook about parenting he'd loaded onto his tablet when he realized baseball games did last that long said he ought to leave it for Charlie to clean later, but Ben wouldn't be able to sleep if he didn't clean up properly.

As he hand-washed the serving bowls and wiped down the counters, he tried to work out where Charlie's sudden outburst had come from.

They'd been talking about weekend plans, Ben recalled, and Charlie had said his school friends wanted to come over.

Phil told him he ought to wait and see how Jayden felt about it, since it would be Jayden's first weekend with them. Afterward, Charlie had gone silent and sullen, and then he'd started using swear words, which Ben didn't actually care much about, but CPS did, and they'd be here more regularly now Phil and Ben had decided to foster more kids.

Also, Charlie had gotten a new homeroom teacher this year who was significantly younger and more motivated. Subsequently, there had already been a parent-teacher evening and a personal phone call to talk about how Charlie was a great writer but his comments in class could contain less swear words.

Ben envisioned the calls they'd be getting about Jayden once he transferred to Cole Valley High and scrubbed the countertops a little harder.

"Do you think something happened?" Phil asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table. "Or did I do something?"

"You're perfect."

"You always say that."

"Be less perfect, then."

"Starting to sound less like a compliment."

Ben rolled his eyes and dipped down to kiss Phil's cheek before resuming his work on the countertops. Someone, and Ben had an educated guess as to who, had dripped a bit of smoothie by the coffeemaker and it had dried up and crusted.

"I shouldn't have yelled at him," Phil said.

Ben glanced over his shoulder. Phil stared down at the kitchen table, his strong, elegant hands folded in front of him. In the year since his official retirement from playing, Phil had allowed his hair to grow out a bit. He'd told Ben he was thinking about twists, which Ben had immediately approved of and then googled surreptitiously. Prolonged exposure to Jax had gotten Phil in touch with some people in fashion, and he'd started wearing pieces by Black designers to team functions. Some of the gossip blogs mistook this for fashion sense, but Ben knew better.

Here, at home, Phil wore sweats and T-shirts that had gotten a little baggy on him now his exercise regime was less intense. He couldn't remember the names of any celebrity who had gotten big after he'd graduated high school, and he liked to annoy Charlie with awful puns.

"He was being a little shit," Ben said mildly. "It's okay to be annoyed."

"But—"

"Having a tragic backstory doesn't give him license to be disrespectful or rude."

Phil sighed and released his grip on the kitchen table. "He never has been before."

The words washed over Ben and as they receded, their undertow dragged him back to the table. He took Charlie's seat, between Phil and Ben's chairs, close enough he could take Phil's hand in his own. "What do we do?"

In the end, they decided Ben would be the one to go upstairs and cautiously rap on the door to Charlie's room. Not because he was in any way more equipped to, but because Charlie hadn't yelled at him. Yet.

The books said to expect this kind of thing with teenagers. Ben should have believed them. He'd had this idea, terrible as it was, that since Charlie had been forced to grow up so fast, he'd skip the obstinate, angry phase.

More of a hope than an idea, born of his own incompetence.

He knocked twice.

No response.

"Charlie?"

"Go away."

"Can't do that."

A wordless sound of frustration followed.

"Look, can I come in?"

"Does it matter what I say?"

Ben sighed and let his head thunk against the door. "Of course it matters. We've never encroached on your privacy in this house and we're not about to start."

Beneath him the door gave way and he stumbled inside. The room was aglow with the dim illumination from the string lights Charlie had draped over ever piece of furniture and outlining the window. A stack of school supplies teetered haphazardly on the edge of the desk, but otherwise, the room was exceptionally neat for a sixteen-year-old. All the closet doors were closed, the few clothes not hidden behind them folded on a stool by the window. There were no plates, no cups, even the trash can had been emptied recently.

"You promise?" Charlie asked.

"Of course. We've never…where is this coming from?"

"I heard you guys talking to Mara. About…about…"

"About fostering Jayden?" Ben asked.

"Yeah. You were saying all this stuff about doing regular checks of his schoolwork and, and monitoring his phone usage and—"

The breath heaved out of Ben in a relieved sigh. That was what this was about? "Jayden's a different kid than you, Charlie. He's repeating a grade because he never finished his schoolwork and he can't stay off TikTok for more than ten minutes put together."

"But won't it be unfair if there's different rules for us?"

Ben shrugged. "I don't think so. Maybe he will, and then we'll talk about it. But I know coming into your space unasked and going through your things is a trigger for you, and I wouldn't do it unless I was seriously concerned for your health or safety."

"Okay." Charlie's arms dropped from where they had been wrapped around his waist and hung by his sides. He'd finally hit a growth spurt this summer and had shot up to almost Ben's height, but he hadn't yet gotten used to it. He still tilted his head up to look at Ben.

"Is that…" Ben cleared his throat. "Is that all?"

Charlie remained silent.

"You blew up at Phil a bit there, kiddo."

Glancing away again, Charlie asked, "Is he really mad at me?"

"Worried."

Charlie scuffed a foot across the floor. His foot caught in the wide leg hole of his baggy pants and he had to bend down to free it.

"You're allowed to be mad, you know," Ben said. He crossed the floor and took a seat at the edge of Charlie's bed, and Charlie followed and sat beside him. "Or upset, or frustrated, or—"

"Thanks, I know my feelings are valid."

Why were teenagers like this? So resistant to emotional honesty? Had Ben ever been this bad?

"Are you still okay with us fostering Jayden?"

Charlie was silent for a long time, and when Ben looked over, he found the boy staring down at his own hands. It wasn't the enthusiastic "of course" Ben had been hoping for.

"If you aren't," Ben started, and then paused. Then what? If they pulled out now, Jayden would be at the shelter for the foreseeable future. Mara had worn out most of her good will with the high school Jayden attended last year trying to help him, and she'd admitted she was running short on patience with the boy herself. He needed a change of pace and the kind of focused attention he couldn't get when the adults in his life had up to twenty other charges.

Besides which, if they changed their minds, Phil wouldn't be welcome at the shelter for a while. Mara would be so disappointed.

Jayden would be…

It didn't bear thinking about.

"He's always in trouble," Charlie muttered.

"Jayden?" Ben laughed. "Yeah, I know. That's why he's coming here."

"I know, but I like not fighting all the time."

Ben digested the words slowly.

"So…you picked a fight?"

Charlie's ears flushed. "Shut up."

"Just trying to follow the thought process."

"It wasn't a plan or anything. I'm…I'm worried everything will be different. I'm happy here, I don't want anything to change."

Ben was aware enough time had passed he ought to answer, but he couldn't find words. His throat was clogged and the part of his brain he used to find the right words had gone offline. "I," he tried, and then stopped to clear his throat. "I'm so glad you feel that way."

"But everything will change," Charlie said plaintively.

"Not how Phil and I feel about you." Over the last year and a half, Ben had gotten better at physical displays. They didn't come to him naturally, but he understood when he was supposed to reach out and now was the right moment. His hand felt heavy and awkward on Charlie's back, but Charlie slumped into him all the same. "We love you, kiddo. That's forever. And we want you to be happy with us no matter what. Okay?"

Charlie nodded into his shoulder.

"You know, we want to foster more kids because of you," Ben said. "Because we love you so much, and we're so happy you're with us, and we want to give other kids the same chance. And give ourselves the chance to love more people this much."

A wordless sound of frustration was muffled against Ben's shirt. "I can't be mad about that."

"And you get along with Jayden, don't you?"

"When he's not being an idiot."

"And he watches the same shows and listens to the same music," Phil said from the doorway, where he must have taken up residence at some point during this exceptionally long hug. "That'll be a lot more fun than my music is."

Charlie peeked up at him. "Phil. I'm so sorry, I—"

"It's okay," Phil said. "I've heard worse."

"No, but I—"

"I shouldn't have yelled. It's going to be okay, you know. Even with Jayden here. We can still do things just you and me, and just you and Ben. And maybe doing stuff with him, too, will be fun for all of us."

Charlie nodded slowly. "Can you…can you get over here?"

Phil took a seat on the bed on Charlie's other side, and when he reached around to hug Charlie as well, the weight of it made Ben collapse backward onto the bed.

He blinked up at the ceiling to the sound of the laughter of the two people he loved most in the world. For a moment, his heart was so full he couldn't stand to hold it all in himself. Then, he imagined feeling this much for another kid who needed him, and someday, if he and Phil and Charlie and Jayden all agreed, another, and then he had to close his eyes for a moment.

"You okay?" Phil asked in an undertone as Charlie wriggled out from between them.

"Just happy I get to have this."