They now sat in uncomfortable chairs in a nondescript waiting room, and Jack wished he didn't feel like a kid waiting on some kind of cruel and unusual punishment for brawling. Or indeed any one of the hundreds of reasons he had found his way to the principal's office when he was a child.

"Where were you this morning?" Jack said under his breath so only Riley could hear. Riley looked straight at him with guilt in his eyes.

"I was working," he replied just as quietly.

"Tried to find you." Jack encouraged the truth with the simple opening.

"I was on my cell by the barn. You know what reception is like in the house."

"I had to advise Hayley on her dress and hair. Does it look okay?"

Blinking, Riley turned to look at Hayley, who had her nose buried in a book. "She looks lovely," Riley said distractedly, and pulled his cell out of his pocket.

Jack was getting closer to pissed. Riley had his cell in his hand everywhere he went. This morning Jack had even been tempted to check the call log just to see what the hell was going on. Riley was too out of it for it to be just work. Something was happening, but he'd worry about that later. He pulled his focus back to Hayley

"She asked me to help her with knots, and I tried to be gentle," he said, holding his large and work-scarred hands out in front of him. Riley made a hmm noise under his breath but said nothing in reply, just turned his cell over and over in his hands. Jack decided there and then there would be some serious conversation to be had after Hayley went to bed tonight.

"Misters Campbell-Hayes?" Riley and Jack stood at the words and turned to face the small woman who looked like she couldn't blow over a paper tower. Gray hair and dark-rimmed glasses certainly gave her the appearance of a school mistress, but being so close to the floor? She couldn't be an inch over five feet, and Jack felt like a giant. God knew how Riley felt.

"We don't tolerate cell phones at the school," she added.

Jack watched as Riley first nodded in agreement and then looked at the floor as he realized she was talking about him. Riley pocketed the cell, and Jack gave thanks for small mercies. He wondered how his husband hadn't worn away the logo on the phone with all the rubbing he'd been doing to the poor thing.

"I apologize, ma'am." Riley used the crisp vowels of a city boy, and Jack smirked inwardly.

"Please come in." She moved into a large airy office. The walls were hidden beneath the hundreds of photos that adorned them, alongside certificates gilded with silver. Jack expected her to sit behind the desk that sat imposingly in the corner, but instead, she led them to a grouping of comfy chairs. The chair seemed to swallow Jack, and he struggled to sit upright, looking over to see Riley was having the same problem. Squirming without making it too obvious, he perched more towards the front. Clearly, the chairs were some kind of torture for parents, one way to level the playing field given her height. She forced all the tall big people to fall into a sofa abyss.

"Hello, Hayley," she said.

"Hi," Hayley replied. Her voice was steady, but she inched closer to Riley and grasped his big hand.

"Your dad told me you would like to come to school here."

She was quick to respond. "Yes, ma'am."

"I have someone to take you on a quick tour of the rooms. Would this be okay?"

They heard a knock, and the door opened to reveal a girl not much older than Hayley, dressed in the navy and red uniform Jack recognized from the prospectus.

"That would be good." Hayley seemed interested, and Jack made to move from the chair.

"Just Hayley for the time being, Mr CampbellHayes. I will be giving you a separate tour after this meeting, but we need to complete some paperwork, and it is important Hayley forms her own opinions."

"Okay." Jack wanted to shrug the words off, but he felt like a naughty school kid again. He glanced at Riley, who was grinning at him. Great, Riley could clearly see how uncomfortable he was. Well, there was a reason he and school had never seen eye to eye. Horses never judged him for getting Fs or for his inability to sit still in classes.

They filled in the required paperwork with as much information as they had been given in the lawyer's files. With the admin stuff out of the way, it seemed they were down to the gritty stuff.

"We have an experienced counseling team at Bryant's, and I should imagine they would want to have regular meetings with Hayley and also with both of you. Losing a parent is a particularly traumatic experience for any young child."

"She seems…" Riley started and then looked at Jack for reassurance. "We're worried she hasn't cried or anything similar since she arrived to live with us."

The principal made a small note in her file. "That isn't unusual. She seems, from what you say, to be well adjusted, and the counseling will ensure she receives the right help to flourish at this school. All of this of course would be carried out after full consultation with the two of you."

"Thank you," Riley said.

"Our students are such that Hayley will be among other children with similar emotional needs. This is something I think is very positive." Jack and Riley nodded. "There is one other thing that's important for me to cover here."

Jack narrowed his eyes. This sounded serious.

"It is important you realize you are not unknown to the school, Mr Campbell-Hayes." She was focusing her attention on Riley. "We pride ourselves on being a progressive school—"

"But you're worried about us being gay and married," Riley interrupted. Jack didn't like the tone of Riley's voice. He sounded resigned.

"Goodness me, no," she said instantly, "family is family. Our concern is the paparazzi that follow your story so very closely. The school is home to daughters of past governors, our elected officials, judges, and even one actor, and we have dealt before with press interference. I just need your reassurance that you will work with us to handle any problems that should arise."

"We will," Jack said, jumping in before Riley could say anything. How the hell they were going to do that was another matter altogether. The press ate up all the gossip surrounding the Hayes family. His emotions had gone from confrontational to agreeable in an instant, but Riley was still on edge.

"I can't control the papers," he said, and leaned forward in the chair. "But I can assure you I will always have my full resources at hand should there be any issues." She inclined her head in acceptance of what he said. "There's one more thing though," Riley said. "I need to make sure, need to know, whatever happens, as long as we can afford the fees, she can stay. Yes?" Silence. Absolute silence as she looked at Riley with a steady gaze.