Written by MichaelMarch 24, 2021March 31, 2021

Episode 1071

Previously…
– Tempest planned to introduce Isaac to their younger brother, Chase, who was adopted by Alex and Trevor.
– Travis and Rosie tried to settle into a routine with their foster child, Gabrielle.
– Jaq was stunned to receive an anonymous threat in their mailbox.

DIE, YOU SICK FREAK!

The cutout magazine letters stare back at Samantha Fisher from the single sheet of paper that Jaq Pearson is holding out for her to see.

“Who would send you this?” Samantha says with horror.

Jaq shakes their head. They stand outside the Brooks family home, which Jaq and Finn Campbell are now renting; their plan to go out for a casual dinner now seems a million miles away.

“I have no idea,” Jaq says, still holding the page out toward Samantha.

But Samantha holds up both her hands. “I shouldn’t touch that. It’s evidence.”

“Oh. I guess you’re right.” Jaq drops the sheet to their side, their face still overcome by a dazed expression.

“I’m so sorry,” Samantha tells them. “That has to be so scary, and…” She fumbles for her next words, and the sentiment fades off into the light breeze that is floating by.

“People are such assholes,” Jaq says. “It’s always like this.”

“Like what? Has this happened before?”

Jaq regards the note grimly. “Not this, exactly. And not here. When I was growing up, even before I came out as non-binary, there was always a mean message on my locker, or people whispering at school… and even now, even though I’m in a much bigger town and it’s 2021, this still happens.”

“I am so sorry, Jaq,” Samantha says, instinctively wrapping Jaq into a hug. Jaq rests against Sam’s body for a long moment.

“I’m used to it,” Jaq finally says.

“You shouldn’t have to be.” Samantha pulls back and takes her phone from her pocket.

“What are you doing?”

“We need to take this to the police.”

“The police? Sam, it’s– it’s a mean note.”

“It’s an anonymous threat,” Samantha says firmly as she pushes up her glasses on her nose. “We can’t take this lightly.”

—–

Travis Fisher keeps one ear attuned to sounds coming from the back of the apartment as he lights the two white taper candles standing on the small dining table. When his girlfriend took baby Gabrielle into the bathroom for her bath, Travis sprang into action. He stuck the salmon that he prepped earlier into the oven alongside some asparagus, and while it cooked, he dimmed the lights, set the table, and pulled out the candles. He is just putting the finishing touches on things when Rosie Jimenez emerges from the bedroom.

“And she’s out,” she says before stopping in her tracks as she notices the scene before her.

“What’s going on?” she asks, as a surprised smile lights up her face.

“Since it’s kind of tough for us to have a date night out right now,” Travis explains, “I thought I’d bring the date night to us.”

“This is so cute.”

“Dinner will be ready in five,” Travis says. “In the meantime…” He takes the chilled bottle of sparkling wine from the refrigerator and pops the cork, the volume of which causes him to freeze. “Please tell me that didn’t wake her up.”

They remain as still as they can, listening for sounds from the baby monitor, but thankfully they do not hear Gabrielle cry out.

“Whew.” Rosie swipes a hand across her forehead. “This is seriously so sweet of you.”

Travis fills the glasses on the table with champagne and hands Rosie one.

“I don’t think this is where either of us saw ourselves a few months ago,” he says, “but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Being in the trenches with you like this…”

“It’s been really great,” Rosie agrees. “To figuring things out as we go.”

He laughs. “To figuring things out as we go.”

As soon as they clink glasses and take sips of their champagne, however, Rosie’s iPhone — which is sitting on the kitchen counter — roars to life, lighting up and vibrating wildly against the countertop. They both glance over, ready to ignore it, but when they see the name on the screen, that is impossible.

“Why would Samantha be calling me and not you?” Rosie says as she reaches for the phone.

“I don’t know. Make sure everything’s okay,” Travis says, watching with concern as Rosie answers the call.

—–

“Can I have another story?”

Chase Marshall-Brooks lies in his Paw Patrol pajamas, tucked cozily into his twin bed, looking up at the adults who are hovering in his room.

“You’ve had two stories. I think that’s enough,” Alex Marshall says.

The toddler scowls but then brightens as another thought hits him. “Where is Isaac gonna sleep?”

Isaac Banks, who has just come over tonight to meet his biological half-brother, smiles. “I’ve got to go sleep at my own house.”

“But when are you coming back?” Chase asks, and then, before Isaac can even begin to answer, Chase looks to his other father: “When is he coming back?”

“Soon,” Trevor Brooks says with a reassuring nod of his head.

“Real soon,” Isaac adds.

“And Tempest, too?” Chase says. He sticks the tip of his tongue out slightly through his front teeth; Alex and Trevor have come to recognize this as one of his telltale signs of brewing excitement.

“I’m gonna come back as soon as I can,” Tempest Banks tells him. “And we’re gonna play and read more books.”

“Can we go in the backyard and play ‘Tempest Tries to Catch Chase’?”

Tempest snickers. “You got it. Tempest is gonna have to stretch if you wanna play it for as long as we did tonight.”

“Yay!” Chase exclaims, slapping his hands together with glee.

“But now, everyone has to go to sleep,” Alex says, being careful to keep his voice calm and level. “Everyone’s tired and ready for bed.”

Knowing the routine all too well, Trevor yawns loudly.

Chase lets out a heavy, melodramatic sigh, but the adults all proceed to say their individual goodnights to him — complete with hugs and kisses on his forehead — and then turn out the light and file out of the room, back to the main living area of the bungalow where Alex, Trevor, and Chase reside.

“I’d say that went well,” Alex comments when they are all settled back in the living room.

“Very well,” Trevor says. “He’s usually a lot shyer around new people.”

Tempest grins and elbows Isaac, who’s seated next to her. “It’s ‘cuz I vouched for him.”

“Yeah, that’s it,” Isaac says. “He’s a great kid. I’m glad I finally got to meet him. And you guys, too.”

“Likewise,” Alex says. “We’re happy that you’ll be staying in town.”

“Me, too. And I’ve got to thank you for taking such good care of Chase. I mean, I didn’t even know I had a little brother, and thinking about what could’ve happened to him…”

“He’s cool here,” Tempest says. “He’s safe and he’s happy. I know I didn’t think it at first, but he’s better off here than he would’ve been if I had tried to get custody.”

“Mm-hmm,” Isaac says, but there is something reserved about his agreement. Sensing this, Alex and Trevor lean forward.

“What’s up?” Tempest prompts her brother.

Isaac considers his words for another beat before looking over the coffee table at Alex and Trevor. Finally he says it:

“There’s one thing that does worry me about Chase growing up in this house.”

—–

“I’m glad you called me,” Rosie says. Although she is in street clothes — a reddish-orange zip-up athletic top and jeans — she has latex gloves on her hands and uses a tweezer to place the anonymous note into a plastic bag. Now she, Samantha, and Jaq are gathered in the entryway of the Brooks house.

“We’re really sorry to pull you away from Gabrielle,” Jaq says. “I didn’t think we needed to involve the police, but Sam insisted.”

“Travis can hold down the fort for a few hours,” Rosie tells Samantha. “We can try to pull fingerprints from this. Jaq, you were the only one who touched this after you opened it?”

Jaq nods to confirm this.

“There’s no return address or stamp,” Samantha says, “so that means someone must have put it in the mailbox themselves.”

“Right,” Rosie says. “Is there a doorbell camera installed? That would make this very easy.”

“We don’t,” Jaq says. “Trevor had talked about installing one, but it hadn’t seemed that necessary. This area is so quiet.”

“You’d be surprised how often there aren’t cameras in places where they could solve a case instantly,” Rosie replies. “Someone has to have walked right up to the front door to leave this letter for you.”

“What happens now?” Samantha asks.

“I’ll take this to the station and have it tested for prints. Then we’ll check them against our database to see if they match anyone on file.”

“And what if they don’t?” Jaq asks, their voice quivering slightly.

“There are a few other forensic angles we can try,” Rosie says. “In the meantime, let me know if anything else like this happens, or if you notice anyone strange hanging around.”

Jaq bites their lower lip. “Do you think I should be scared?”

Rosie shakes her head. “You should be careful. That’s all. For all we know, this is a cruel, one-time thing that some jackass thought was a funny joke.”

“It isn’t funny,” Samantha says as she puts an arm around Jaq.

“No, and we’ll make that very clear to whoever left this, as soon as we find them,” Rosie says, punctuating the statement with a determined bob of her head.

—–

Travis finishes re-wrapping the salmon in its foil pouch and then transfers the asparagus to a plate, which he also covers in foil. He knows that the chances of salvaging this particular meal to eat later are rather low, but he might as well try. And he can’t fault Rosie for springing into action once Samantha told him what had happened to Jaq. If not for the fact that Gabrielle is sleeping in the next room, he wouldn’t have hesitated to go along with Rosie.

He drops into one of the chairs at the dining table. The two candles’ flames continue to flicker in the dim room. With a sigh, Travis unzips the pocket on his hoodie and reaches inside. His fingers curl around the ring box, which he pulls out and stares at for a few seconds before he pops it open.

He spent so much time and energy stressing out over selecting this ring, and yet the past few months have stolen away the opportunity for a romantic proposal, over and over again. He meant what he told Rosie earlier — that he wouldn’t trade this experience fostering Gabrielle together for anything — but he does want to put this ring on Rosie’s finger soon. And tonight was going to be the night, albeit on a much smaller scale than he once envisioned.

Closing the box, he sticks it back in his pocket.

Another time. But soon, he thinks as he blows out the candles.

—–

Alex and Trevor sit on one of the matching loveseats in their living room, stationed across from Tempest and Isaac, who has just revealed that he has reservations about Chase being raised in this household.

“We’re all ears,” Alex says, sharing concerned eye contact with his husband.

“The thing is,” Isaac says carefully, “Chase is Black. And y’all are not.”

“I think they got that,” Tempest chimes in.

“I’m serious.” Isaac gives her a look to match. “Whether or not he grows up in a white household, that little boy is Black. The world is gonna treat him Black. And I know I’m late to the game, but I want to make sure you get what that means.”

“We have books for us to read and understand,” Trevor replies, “and we have books for Chase that have Black faces in them. And toys with them, too.”

“That’s good,” Isaac says.

“And that’s why we need both of you,” Alex adds. “Tempest, speak up, please, if you don’t think this is the case — but we’ve tried to include you as a big part of Chase’s life.”

She nods. “You have.”

“Now that you’re here, we’d love for you to be as involved with Chase as you want to be,” Alex continues. “We’re in total agreement here: he needs Black role models, and there are things Trevor and I will never fully understand about what it means to move through the world as a Black boy.”

“You won’t,” Isaac says, “but I’m glad you both get it. Don’t get it twisted, I know Chase is lucky to have a loving home and two dads who are obviously good people. But I felt like I had to speak up. I was on my own as a Black teenager, and then going through college and med school… I want to make sure Chase is prepared to handle that kind of world.”

“We’re on the same page,” Trevor says, as he places a hand on Alex’s knee. “We’re grateful to have you and Tempest here to be a part of his life.”

Finally Isaac’s tense expression relaxes into a smile. “Good to hear it. You can bet I’m gonna be around, now that I know about Chase.”

“Thank you both,” Alex says. “It’s really great to meet you, Isaac. We’re looking forward to getting to know you.”

“You guys, too,” Isaac says.

Trevor rises from the loveseat. “Now that Chase is in bed, how does everyone feel about a little wine?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” Tempest says as she stands to help Trevor, and the four of them relax into more casual conversation, careful not to be too loud for fear of awakening Chase.

END OF EPISODE 1071

Will Travis ever find a time to propose to Rosie?
Can the police keep Jaq safe from harm?
Will Isaac and Tempest remain big parts of Chase’s life?
Talk about all this and more in the comments below!

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