“Daddy?” Sam addressed his father.

“Yes baby, we’re almost there” Josh replied his son who was getting impatient after several hours of sitting in the car. He needed a break and to tell you the truth so did Josh. He parked the car at the somewhat busy rest stop, it was a beautiful one, it had a great view and Josh understood why so many people stopped here. He got out of the car and went to the backseat door, opening it he struggled with the straps of the carseat as Sam wiggled in his seat.

“Sam, I can’t get you out if you don’t sit still” Josh told his son, Sam looked at his father, all innocence and Josh couldn’t help but smile at the expression on the little kid’s face.

“Come here you” he said as he lifted the boy out of his seat and settled him on his arm.

“Let’s get you changed first, what do you say?” Josh asked the boy as he studied him. The boy nodded seriously and Josh almost laughed at the response, he loved this kid so much he thought as he got Sam’s changing bag out of the backseat and started towards the bathrooms. They never considered the fact that father’s might want to change their son’s in the bathroom as well as there was never a changing table for the kids in the men’s bathroom. He always went to the women’s then, ignoring the strange glances he got when he walked in with the baby on his arm. He made quick work of changing his son’s diaper, being an expert at it; he’d been doing this for over two years and gotten the hang of it. The first time he’d struggled with it wasn’t that bad, he imagined it could have been worse. He smiled at the thought as he walked back to the car and grabbed another bag with some food in it. He moved the two of them to a picnic table in the shades, setting Sam on the bench before sitting down next to him.

“You hungry, baby?” Josh asked while he started to unload some things out of the bag. Sam nodded eagerly, his big blue eyes sparkling. Josh smiled at him.

“Good, look what I got you” he said as he produced a small plastic bag with a peanut butter sandwich in it.

“Yay!” Sam yelled excitedly, throwing his little arms in the air.

“Yeah, I thought you’d like that” Josh said happy his son liked it before he handed the sandwich to his baby boy. He eagerly accepted the food his father held out for him. He hadn’t even swallowed the last bite as he turned in his seat, his feet dangling over the bench and said,

“Play”

“You want to play?” Sam nodded in response, tired of sitting down and Josh knew it so he lifted the boy off of the bench and set him on the floor. He immediately took off running,

“Not too far, Sammy!” he yelled after the kid and Sam turned and nodded. Josh held a close eye on him to make sure he’d be ok, if anything happened to him Josh would never forgive himself. He smiled as he saw Sam running around on wobbly legs and playing in the grass, bending over carefully to inspect the grass from up close. Josh felt the stares from the people around him. Yes he was a single father so what? He wanted to yell but his attention was pulled back to his son who’d fallen down and was crying for his daddy. Josh jumped up and rushed to his son scooping him up, settling him on his arm as the little boy continued to cry.

“Shhh…” he soothed, rubbing his small back as he swayed a little.

“Where does it hurt? Let daddy see” The small child pointed at his knee.

“Here” he hiccupped. Josh sat back down on the bench he’d occupied moments before. He pulled his son’s pants leg up a bit and inspected the knee. It wasn’t too bad, a little scraped but not bleeding. Josh gently rubbed the small knee before kissing it.

“There all better” he said with a smile as the tears stopped. Josh gently brushed his son’s tears away with his thumb and the child produced a smile.

“Airo… plane, daddy!” he instructed happily, his painful knee long forgotten. Josh smiled lifting him up in the air as he stood bringing him up high and turning him around holding him by the waist as Sam automatically spread his arms, giggling loudly.

“Daddy has to get some gas, you want to come?” Josh asked three hours later, twisting around in his seat so he could look at his son who was hastily looking though a picture book. Sam nodded wildly, Josh smiling as he did so. Although he would have never left him in the car if Sam had said no, he always liked the response his son would give him when he asked if he wanted to go with him. Sam always wanted to come, where ever Josh went Sam never wanted to be left behind, he never wanted to leave his daddy’s side and it made Josh feel good. Sam loving him made him feel good.

Josh pulled into a parking spot at the gas station before he unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door. He stepped out of the car and stretched his arms high over his head, tired from the couple of hours they’d spent driving. He left the car door open so he could keep an eye on his son before he grabbed the hose and fuelled the car up. He looked around while he did so, but glancing back at Sam every 10 seconds before he focused back on something else, taking in his surroundings. Josh had no idea where he was, somewhere close to Memphis but he wasn’t sure on the exact name of this small village. It looked like a nice place, peaceful and friendly.

“Come on buddy” Josh told his son when he was done, reaching into the car to release the straps of the carseat and lifting Sam out of the car moments later.

“Daddy, I walks myself” Sam complained, squirming in his father’s grip to be put down. Josh smiled at him before setting him next to him on the floor, taking his hand before he could run off. Sam was asking to do more and more himself, at least as much as that were possible for a two year old. Together they walked inside the building to pay for the gas, the process slower because of Sam but Josh didn’t mind. He had all the time in the world. When Josh paid for the gas Sam inspected the shelves curiously. At the store all the best things were stored at the register and Sam was experiencing the advantage of that as he reached for a pack of whinegums with his free right hand.

“Daddy” Sam addressed his father, tugging on his dad’s hand which he was still holding.

“What is it Sam?” Josh asked, looking down at his son who was holding the pack of whinegums up for his dad to see.

“This buy too” he said seriously stretching up to give it to his father.

“What do we say when we would like something?” Josh intrigued with a small smile as Sam let his arm fall back to his side, pondering the question for a second, his eyebrows knitted in concentration to remember.

“Please?” Sam offered, stretching up once again and this time, much to Sam’s delight, Josh took the bag from him.

“This too please” Josh said to the boy behind the counter who was smiling a little. Josh smiled back before paying for additional item, saying goodbye before he and Sam walked back to the car hand in hand. The little one carrying the sweets in his hand with a happy smile on his face.

A couple of minutes later they’d pulled out of the parking spot at the gas station and Sam was now struggling with his bag of whinegums. He was unsuccessful at opening them and Josh was watching amusingly. He’d forgotten to open them when they left the gas station and Sam hadn’t said anything so Josh had assumed Sam wanted to try himself, knowing he would soon give up. Josh just waited till that time would come and continue to watch his son in the meantime.

“Daddy, it not open” Sam told his father reaching out as far as he could to hand the bag to his father.

“Hold on a second, Sammie” Josh responded as he steered the car off the road and pulled into a small parking spot already anticipating the request. Josh had known it wouldn’t take long for his son to give up and he pulled off the small road to help his son with the bag. It looked like the main road of the town. There were a few stores on either side of the street, not much but it looked very nice all together. Josh figured it wouldn’t be long till they would get back on the freeway.

“Come here, baby” Josh said to his son as he twisted around to get the bag from him. He opened it in one pull and handed it back to his son who nodded happily and accepted the bag.

“Just a few alright Sammie, we wouldn’t want you to get sick” Josh told his son, knowing he would have to remind Sam of this after a few whinegums. He started the car once again, ready to take off.

Before Josh could even register what was happening; the passenger side door opened and a man stepped in, taking a seat next to him. He pointed a gun in Josh’s direction and said,

“Go!”

Josh looked between the gun and the young man. The boy released the safety pin of the gun and repeated his order.

“GO! Drive!!”

Josh obeyed this time and pressed the gas pedal down, speeding off. Small sobs could be heard from the backseat as the loud instructions scared Sam.

“It’s ok baby, everything is fine” Josh told his son soothingly as he steered the car, praying the sobs wouldn’t aggravate the man next to him. The child slowly calmed down to his father’s soothing voice. Josh didn’t know how he managed to get his voice under control like that but he was grateful he could.

“Daddy, whots go on?” Sam’s timid voice called from the backseat a few moments later while he sniffled in between. Josh cringed.

“Shh, Sam, it’s alright. Everything is ok” Josh told him softly not knowing what else to say.

The captor looked between the young man behind the wheel and the kid in the back seat and marveled at the resemblance; the same dark hair and the rare shade of blue eyes. He gave the kid a small smile. He didn’t want to scare the kid, he loved kids but how was he supposed to know this car held a father and a kid? And although he didn’t want to scare these people it was too late to turn back, things had gone too far, he had no choice but to go through with it now. The boy with the gun looked back through the window, looking at the street where he’d run moments ago. Police was swarming the place but no one had noticed the car he’d stepped in. He thought he was safe and breathed a sigh of relief as he turned back around facing his captive.

“Please don’t hurt him… us” his captive’s fearful voice cut through him. He looked at the young man, his eyes shimmering with tears from fear, fear of losing his son. The boy didn’t respond he just stared out the window,

“Go onto the freeway” he said somewhat kindly, directing him with his gun.

Josh nodded quickly, driving up the freeway as he glanced back in his rear view mirror to his son, happy to see he’d fallen asleep. He did inherit one good thing from me Josh chuckled to himself as he kept a close look on the young boy with the gun beside him.