Josh turned over the things he could do in his head...
Making him two feet taller and buff would require some tweaking of both space and time. It would solve the problem, but Josh wondered if Caleb's life would be any better that way. The media attention a 6 foot 6 inch tall 10 year old would get would probably hurt Caleb more than help him. Josh, seeing Caleb's soul, could tell the boy didn't like a tremendous amount of attention. Also, Caleb might not take to his newfound enormous body well. The power could possibly destroy him.
Making him 18 would require a lot of fiddling with the timeline. Josh could fiddle with the timeline as much as he wanted to. But would it solve the problem and not make even bigger problems? He'd loose his dad later on in life and it would affect him differently. If he lost his dad at 13 as opposed to 5, Caleb might turn to drugs. He'd have a place of his own, but he'd be a drugie. Josh knew that wouldn't help at all. It was trading one evil for another, and the other would be Caleb's doing.
That left a third option: Bringing Caleb's dad back from the dead... or actually making it so he wouldn't die in the first place. That'd be easiest; not that it mattered. But now that Josh thought about it, it was the best thing for Caleb. Josh nodded to himself. He'd bring back Caleb's dad from the dead. Josh thought of how he'd do it and then did it. It wasn't anything glamorous or crazy like a column of lightning, but the mountain had been moved by the faith in Caleb's eyes.
Finally, Josh answered Caleb. Josh pointed across the street, "That's what I mean," he said with a warm smile.
The short redhead looked in the direction Josh indicated and saw something wonderful. Walking across the street was a man dressed in GI military cloths with a backpack over his shoulder. He was the man Josh had seen in Caleb's memory. He was well over 6 feet tall and had red hair like his son. Even in adulthood, he had freckles on his face. Caleb's face lit up as bright as the sun. He looked at Josh in awe before running forth. "Daddy!!" Caleb cried.
Caleb's dad caught his 10-year-old son in a loving embrace long overdue. "Caleb!" he said, "I'm home, son."
"How, daddy?" asked Caleb. The young boy looked up at his towering father.
"It's a long story, son," said Caleb's dad, "what matters now is I'm back." Josh knew. Caleb's dad had been captured instead of killed. The military had listed him as KIA because no terror organization had come forth claiming him in their possession and they never found his remains, taking it that they'd been buried under the sand. Caleb's dad eventually escaped and returned to the States, but word hadn't gotten to Caleb or his mother... until now.
"What about... Marty?" asked Caleb.
"He's been arrested, son," answered the tall red haired man, "We won't be bothered by him anymore and I have more good news! I've bought a nice little house in town, much better then where you're living now. The military's discharged me and an old high school friend of mine hired me. We'll be together, Caleb, my son, a real family again!"
Caleb smiled brightly at this. Josh could feel the overwhelming joy coming from Caleb. It made Josh feel happy that he did something wonderful for someone. He smiled as he watched.
"You didn't introduce me to your friend," said the man suddenly.
"Oh," said Caleb, "this is... uh..."
"Josh," said Josh. He shook the man's hand and caught a glimpse of the man's life. He was a good man and a good dad.
"Nice to meet you, Josh," said the man with a kind smile. He turned to Caleb, "Ready to head back to the house, Caleb? Your mom doesn't have too much to move, but it is a good lot."
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