“Can you remember basic free rights?” Matt tried as he sat across from Tuck, who was looking down at the law book on the table in front of him like it had been written in another language.

The other man shrugged a little. He knew everything about the right to free speech, to life and to the things needed to live, but when it came to any further than that, his mind clouded over like a stormy sky and he could barely get his words out the right way, let alone work out how to use them in a courtroom. He didn’t want to make Matt angry at him, and as the man across from his sighed and let his hazel eyes fall back down onto the book in front of him; Tuck wondered how he would cope when they were working together every day.

“I’m sorry Matt, I’m trying I really am! I just…I never got the best education, OK? That’s why I’m trying so hard now, to give Alex all the things I didn’t get” Tuck said as he glanced over the page again, hoping that something was absorbed in by his brain. No such luck.

“I know you are buddy, I know. Maybe I should get Jimmy in here, he’s the teacher” Matt muttered, glancing outside. Someone was yelling, and he could hear shouts and laughter from…children?
As soon as he heard the high pitched laugh of a child, both he and Tuck looked up and then at each other. No child would ever set foot in here, because none of them were evil enough to be locked away for that long.

Suddenly, the door to their study room was crashed open and two children ran in. And to the two men’s surprise, they saw their own children right in front of them.
“Kennedy?” Matt almost shouted in surprise as he ran forward, grasping his little girl in his arms tightly.

“Alex?” Tuck said at the same time as his friend and Matt glanced over to see Tuck with his arms around a little boy, a little smaller than Kennedy was. When he looked up, he saw a pair of sparkling blue eyes in the doorway and Jimmy was smirking back at him, on his head a dark blue police hat.
“Thought I’d take some of the kids on a field trip. Seeing as both of their parents live here, I figured I was OK” Jimmy said as he walked in, sitting down at the study table and glancing over the books of law.

“Daddy! Uncle Jimmy said I have to give you this. Alex has one too!” Kennedy cried, wriggling out of her father’s tight grasp to hand him a slightly crumped piece of paper.

Tuck looked down at the paper in his hand, barely having the courage to look up at his son, who was biting his nail and waiting for his father’s response. On the paper he had drawn two stick figures, one taller and one slightly smaller. Written in slightly wobbly cursive were the words ‘Daddy And Me’.
“It’s beautiful, little man. I’m gonna put this up in my room so I can look at it every day, OK?” Tuck said as he pulled his son into a tight hug, lifting him up and carrying him back over to the table where Jimmy, Matt and Kennedy were now sat.

“Daddy, what are all these words?” Kennedy asked as she pointed out the word ‘Legislation’ on the soft page of the book.

“Well…that’s what we’re trying to teach Mr Tuck over here. Maybe Uncle Jimmy can help us out, hm? How does he teach you words in class Alex?” Matt asked, looking pointedly over at his friend until the man got the point and jumped up and grabbed a marker pen, writing the word in big letters across the whiteboard on the other end of the room.

“Alright so legislation is the act of making laws. If I were president, I would make it a law that you had to eat at least one pie every day. What about you Kennedy, if you were president and you had to make a law- what would your law be?” Jimmy asked, pausing to write out his explanation that Matt had helpfully mouthed to him. If only the man could sit across the room in all his lessons, he’d never get caught out by that again.
“I would wish for infinity hamburgers!”

“No, Princess, that’s not a law. What could you do with those infinity hamburgers?” Matt smirked as he watched his daughter jump up and down excitedly on his lap, thinking carefully of what to say.
“Everybody gets infinity hamburgers every day- and a pink unicorn!” she announced and the three adults in the room smiled, Jimmy giving Kennedy a little thumbs up.
“What about you Alex?”

“I would make a special day where Daddy’s get to come out of prison so they can spend time with us” the boy said softly, and Jimmy smiled again, especially at the look that ran through Tuck’s eyes when he heard what his son had just said. If Jimmy could make that happen, he would’ve done it without a second glance, but he wasn’t on friend to friend terms with Obama, so for now, he’d have to focus on his field trip.

“So Mr Tuck, do you remember what legislation is now?” Jimmy asked as the other man looked up, a small smile crossing his face.
“It’s the act of making laws…and the act of making my child happy” he said, planting a soft kiss on the boy’s head.

“Times up Sullivan! You were lucky I owed you a favour” the guard announced as he walked in, gesturing to Jimmy and the two children that were currently clinging tightly to their parents.
“Come on kiddies, you’ve got to say goodbye to your Daddies now” Jimmy said softly, not wanting to make the situation any more upsetting than it already was. Kennedy, being the elder of the two, slowly got down from her father’s lap and put on a brave face as Matt knelt down in front of her, kissing both of her cheeks and her forehead.

“You’ve been a very grown up girl, Kenney, and I’m very proud of you. Are you going to pray with me tonight?” Matt asked softly and his daughter nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck. It broke Jimmy’s heart that they had to be parted like this so many times. He was still counting down the days until Matt could be free.

“I love you baby, you promise me that you'll never forget that. I’ll see you soon, yeah?” Matt asked as she clung to his neck and even though her voice was muffled, Jimmy could still hear her little voice whisper,
“I love you too Daddy”

After a moment, Matt and Kennedy parted and she walked over to Jimmy, clutching his hand tightly as Alex gave his father a final hug and followed her actions.
Matt and Tuck watched Jimmy lead their children out of the room and the silence as the door closed deafened them. Their children had been gone for less than ten seconds and already there was an aching in their hearts that they couldn’t contain.

“I will do this. Even if it kills me, I will win that court case for your friend. Because that way, I know my kid is in the best possible hands this world can offer him” Tuck said softly as he edged closer towards Matt, who was still relieving the moment he saw Kennedy ran through the door in the back of his mind.

And he only snapped out of it when Tuck, picked up his hand and held it, as tight as a child to a parent.