We departed just after lunch the next day. When we climbed into the back seat of the same SUV, Clive did a double take upon seeing Harry. "Hello, Harry!" He greeted with the most enthusiasm I'd heard from him yet. "Look at you, you're all grown up."

I didn't miss the sharp glance that Theodore cast at Clive or the pride beaming on Harry's face. "Hello, Clive, how are you this fine afternoon?" I said in greeting.

Theodore snapped, "Barrows. His name is Barrows." Control freak much?

"I apologize, but he said I could call him Clive as that is his first name," I replied humbly. I wanted to see what Theodore would do in this situation when we weren't alone, face to face.

He actually didn't respond except to tell Harry, "You call him Barrows." Harry nodded in agreement. From the look of pure wonder on his face, I could tell that nothing was going to get him down today.

As we descended the mountain and drove into Victoria, he observed everything his eyes could take in - the sky, the trees, the animals. It couldn't have looked much different than his own back yard but he was seeing it with the eyes of freedom. And the eyes of maturity. I had a feeling he was much more confident now than he'd ever been before when leaving the house, hopefully because I'd given him some permission to own his experiences.

When we drove further into town, he commented on houses and cars, all things that most of us would miss without a second look. "Look at that house! It's green. I like green," he gushed. "And that car - it's so small and orange. Orange is my favorite color." I watched in glee as he absorbed every new piece of information that his brain could possibly process.

It wasn't long before we pulled up to an airport but Clive didn't drop us at a gate for a particular airline; instead, he entered a gate with restricted access and drove to a hanger outside of which sat a small jet. He got our luggage out and onto the cart that was waiting for it, and then he handed the keys to an airport employee.

"Oh, are you coming with us?" I asked.

"Of course," he said with a modest smile. "Boss man needs someone to drive him around in Calgary."

I liked Barrows. He was a bit tough and unemotional on the outside, but I was beginning to see that he had a soft center. "Does he not know how to drive?" I whispered, but Theodore heard me.

"Of course I know how to drive," he spat. "Don't you know it's rude to whisper?"

"I'm sorry," I said as we approached the steps to the plane. "Is this yours?"

"Yes," was his simple reply. He waited for Harry and me to mount the steps to the plane but Harry looked a bit intimidated. "Have you ever flown before?" I asked. He shook his head nervously. "Don't worry, okay? It's very safe and it's a lot of fun." I grasped his hand as we boarded, thankful his first experience with flying would be aboard this luxury jet.

We took our seats in the main cabin, on a side-facing sofa, and we buckled in. Once Theodore set down his briefcase, he came to Harry with a pill in his outstretched hand. "Take this," he ordered, handing him a bottle of water as well.

"What is it?" I demanded.

"For fuck's sake," he growled. "Why do you ask so many questions? If you must know, it's Valium, to help him with anxiety."

Harry had glanced at me uncertainly when Theodore swore but I just gave him a comforting smile in return, nodding at him to take the medication. Then I answered Theodore, "I apologize if it seems rude, but as you know, I care about Harry very much and I just want to know what's happening with him."

Theodore huffed and took a seat near the back of the cabin along with Clive. I could see that Harry was getting sleepy already, but I wanted him to stay awake for take off, at least. "Look," I pointed out one of the windows. Can you feel how fast we're going?" He nodded with a grin on his face. "It will feel a bit funny when we lift off the ground but it's very safe," I assured him again. "A plane is built kind of like a bird so it can fly fast enough to stay in the air."

"Really?" He asked, enthralled with the idea. "We get to fly like birds?" I nodded, happy to see his quizzical mind at work even with a sedative weighing him down. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Theodore was staring in our direction, observing my interaction with Harry. When I caught his eye, he gave me a small but unmistakable smile.

Soon, the medication overwhelmed Harry. I grabbed a pillow and placed it on my lap and he laid his head down on it while I stroked his hair. He fell asleep quickly and peacefully. Trying not to feel like a creepy cougar, I couldn't help but marvel at Harry's perfect features - his curvy pink lips, his strong jaw line, the long eyelashes that graced his lids. Sleeping like this, he was simply a very handsome young man with one of the purest hearts I'd ever known, somehow remarkably untainted by bitterness from the apparent neglect he had suffered.

I remembered his questions about meeting his match. I could easily imagine Harry growing up and sweeping a young woman off her feet. Strangely, that thought sparked an uncomfortable feeling in me, one that felt a bit like jealousy, which made no sense to me at all. Did parents feel this way about their children, some twisted sense of jealousy when they were no longer the most loved person in their children's lives?

It was a short flight and Harry was still very much sleeping when we landed. I shook his shoulder gently. "Harry, wake up," I coaxed him. "We're here."

He sat up, rubbing his eyes and still looking as if he were half asleep, which he most likely was. "Come on," I said, unbuckling and holding my hand out to him. He followed me down the steep stairs and onto solid land. Another black SUV was waiting for us and Clive climbed into the driver's seat, ready to chauffeur us to our hotel. Very nice. Front door service from the rental agency unless Theodore owned a car in every city where he conducted business. It wouldn't surprise me if he did.

When we arrived at the hotel, I was literally speechless.

Our room was....

Wait, no our suite was....

Wait, our penthouse suite was phenomenal. This man definitely had good taste. It had to be twice the size of the apartment I had shared with Helena back in Ohio. There was a fully stocked kitchen, a formal living room and a TV room that looked like a small movie theater, and much to my relief, there were three bedrooms. I had wondered just briefly about what the sleeping arrangements would be so I was glad to see that I'd have my own space.

Despite his tiredness, Harry's eyes were wide with discovery. We were in a different setting, we had luxury at our fingertips, and we could see for miles from the penthouse windows.

"Is this the tower you told me about?" Harry asked.

"No," I shook my head with a smile. "That's even taller."

He meticulously inspected every last bit of the suite, down to the fabric of the curtains and the centerpiece on the dining table. The poor kid really had been shut up in his suite for too long.

Theodore addressed us, "I have to go to a meeting and I likely will not be back until later tonight. Please do not leave the suite, we will have plenty of time for sightseeing tomorrow. You may order room service for dinner as they already have my credit card on file for the room. Any questions?"

I was slightly disappointed that we weren't going to do anything today but I knew Harry had already seen so many new things, I didn't let it bother me. "That sounds great," I said with a smile.

Theodore left and Harry yawned wide and loud. "I think you need to sleep off more of that Valium," I told him.

"Will you lie down with me?" He asked shyly.

And of course I did. But I didn't fall asleep like he did. Once he was settled, I got up and decided to touch base with my family. I'd been checking in with them pretty much on a weekly basis but I hadn't talked to Helena in a while.

"Hey, Helly," I said as my sister's face appeared in the screen. You know us, the crazy nickname family.

"Are you alive?" She asked dryly. "Haven't heard from you in ages."

"I've been gone less than two months," I countered. "And I text you all the fucking time."

"Still, if it weren't for Mom and Dad filling me in on your life, I would have thought you were dead. Or maybe that freak of an employer really did kidnap you and carry you to some far off land, never to be seen again."

"I'm supposed to be the drama queen, remember?" I laughed. And it occurred to me that I hadn't really done the catastrophizing thing since I'd been with Harry. "No, I'm fine. It's just very...busy. How about you? Things with Damien?"

"We broke up."

Wait. What did she say? Holy fuck, now I felt like trash because I didn't even know.

"What?" I said, almost in tears. "How? You guys were perfect for each other and everyone knew it!"

"Are you crying?" She said, trying not to crack up.

"You bitch!" I laughed. "You're yanking my chain, aren't you?"

"Duh, like we'd ever break up."

"I hate you."

"I think he's really going to propose in a few weeks. He told me to reserve the whole weekend and we're going to some romantic cottage up on Lake Huron. I mean, that has to be it, right?"

"Yes!" I cheered. "I think so. Otherwise, he'd better have some explaining to do. And someone has to catch it all on video and you have to send it to me!"

"Um, hello, nutjob, we're going to be alone," my sister said. "Do you think I'm going to invite Oliver along so that he can capture the special moment? What the hell is in the water up there in Canada?"

"Oh, right," I said. "Well, I want play by play details. Of the proposal," I clarified. "I don't need to know any more about your sex life. I was your room-mate for too long."

"Ew," she said.

"You're telling me," I shot back.

"So, how's the job?" She asked.

"I love the job and I love Harry. He's honestly the sweetest kid on the planet. But I can't say the same for his dad. I mean, I've told you a little bit about him, right?" I had really been trying to fill her in via texts whenever I could but maybe I'd left some gaps.

"Yeah," she answered. "Cold, power-hungry control freak?" Okay, guess I mentioned him.

"Yeah, that about sums it up," I said. "He's just so controlling and I really think Harry's been neglected. But I can't exactly prove anything because he seems really well-adjusted for the fact that his father spends zero time with him. He's healthy, he has plenty of food and he's always supervised, well to some extent, at least. I don't think his other nannies paid much attention to him but he doesn't even seem starved for attention. Although he has a pretty poor image of himself after people telling him he's stupid."

"That should be enough to report Daddy Dear to CPS," she said.

"I wish," I said. "But I have a good enough idea of how the system works, at least in the US. They're not going to investigate unless it can be proven that he's been physically abused, neglected, or emotionally abused."

"Well, he has been emotionally abused," Helena reasoned. "Or at the very least neglected."

"I know! But what I'm saying is that he doesn't show significant signs of that, so I really don't have much to go on." I hesitated before telling her the next part. "And to be honest, I can't stand the idea of having him taken from his home and put into the system somewhere. That would completely sever my ties with him and....I don't know....I really think he needs me."

"How old did you say he is?"

"Seventeen.  He'll be eighteen in February."

"So then, you try to get him emancipated in February. I mean he'll be a legal adult. You just have to prove that he can care for himself."

"That's the other thing," I told her. "I honestly don't think he is intellectually disabled at all. He's very smart and he's cruising through school without a problem. He just seems a little simple, child-like. But I was talking to Charlie and he said that it's a good possibility that Harry just hasn't been taught how to grow up yet. He said it's more of a learned behavior than instinctive, so I'm trying to coach him the best I can."

"Wow," Helena sighed. "That's heavy stuff. And I agree, if he's really attached to you, it would be really hard for him to be forced out of  his home and into the system if that's all he's ever known. At least there you have a huge influence on him and you can hopefully be a buffer between him and his dad. And then maybe you can help him to get out on his own once he's 18."

"Yeah," I said. "Oh and right now, we're in Calgary! On a trip!"

"Just you and Harry?"

I saw Harry walking into the room out of the corner of my eye. I motioned for him to come and sit next to me. "No, I convinced Theodore to take us on a trip. I wanted to help promote some father-son bonding. Hey, Harry's sitting right here." I panned the camera to capture his face. "Harry, this is my sister, Helena."

"Hi Helena," he said shyly.

She was visibly shocked at his deep, sleepy voice. "Hello, Harry. It's nice to meet you."

"This is cool," he said, grinning widely.

"What?"

"That you can see her on your phone," he said.

"It's a very nice way to keep in touch," I agreed. "I was just telling Helena how smart you are and how much you're learning."

He looked down at his long fingers, intertwined in his lap, as a blushing smile crossed his face.

He's so cute! Helena mouthed out and I nodded.

"And I was telling her that we're visiting Calgary." I turned back to Helena. "Harry took his first airplane trip today."

"What did you think?" She asked him.

He shrugged a little. "Cool. I slept a lot, though." Then he asked Helena, "Are you a nanny like Jules?"

She laughed, probably not realizing he called me by my nickname. "No, I'm not a nanny. I work in an office for a company that makes jam. Have you heard of Smuckers?"

He nodded. "I love grape jelly."

"Well that's the company I work for. Except I don't make the jelly. I work in human resources so I help people when they get hired and I help them with their benefits, that kind of thing. Maybe some time you can come and visit with Jules and I can take you down to where they make the jelly."

He grinned widely saying, "I'd love that!"

"All right, Harry," she said. "I have to get going. My boyfriend is coming to pick me up in a few minutes. It was nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," he said happily.

"'Bye, Julie Bean," she said.

"'Bye."

Not even a minute after we hung up, she texted me: You weren't kidding. He seems very normal, maybe just a little childlike.

And then a few minutes later came another text from her: He's so adorable! Is he too young for you?

I texted one word in reply: Weirdo!

Harry and I ordered room service. He was so excited to see the choices on the menu and he couldn't decide for the longest time. We finally ordered a huge variety of food and a few different desserts. We enjoyed our dinner listening to my 80's playlist. After that, we cued up a few Disney flicks in the movie theater room, first Beauty and the Beast and then The Little Mermaid. He enjoyed both of them very much and I enjoyed watching him see them for the first time. In fact, I considered it a great privilege to introduce him to so many new things.

* * * * *

I'm in love with both of them <3