Who Says Three is a Crowd? (Under Construction)

The Picture

You were holding William's hand as you walked up to Billy's door. He had been coming to see him every day for about a month now. You were still in shock and all of you were trying to figure out how to make this work.

Tonight was going to be the first night William stayed with Billy. It made you nervous just because he had never been away from you. But you knew he would be safe with Billy, but you came to tuck him in since this was new to him. You knocked lightly on the door.

Billy opened it and a smile immediately appeared on his lips. "Hey, buddy! Come here." he said grabbing William's hand. "There's something I want to show you." You followed behind Billy as he walked down the hallway into a bedroom.

Billy had put together a room just for him. He had a giant wooden toy chest in one corner, a twin sized bed with a race car comforter, a net full of stuffed animals, and a shelf full of collectible toy cars.

"Woahh," Little Billy said slowly. "This is so cool!" he ran to bed first and jumped on it. Then he ran to the toy chest immediately going through the toys. Billy smiled at William, watching him dig through the toys.

"It looks great, Billy." you said softly. The two of you hadn't spoken much. You were happy he had made the decision to be here for William but there were many things left unsaid. "Thanks, y/n." he said looking over at you.

"So I thought I'd get him tucked in and then I'll get outta here." you said walking over to William. You picked up the toys he had just dumped out and he climbed into bed. You kneeled next to him. Billy came and kneeled beside you.

You started to rub his back gently, it always helped him fall asleep. His eye peeped open. "Billy, um, dad?" this was all new to him too. We had given William the choice in what he wanted to call Billy. We had tried to explain the situation as well as a five year old could comprehend. His basic assessment was that he was cooler than everyone else because he got two dads.

"Yeah, bud?" Billy answered softly. It was weird seeing him in dad mode. "Can you sing me a song?" William said sweetly. "Oh, I, uhh.. " he looked at you and you nodded lightly. "Yeah.. okay," he said. He cleared his throat and started singing 'You are my Sunshine.'

Billy wasn't a singer but William didn't care. He was fast asleep within minutes. You leaned over and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Well that put him to sleep a lot faster then when Eddie sings Metallica to him," you said looking at Billy smirking. "He doesn't..." he groaned. "Oh, but he does." you said laughing.

"I didn't know you even knew any lullabies." you raised an eyebrow at him. "Only the one," he answered.  "My mom used to sing me that one, before she left." he said. You both quietly slipped out of William's room leaving the door cracked.

Billy walked you through the house, giving you a small tour. You reached his bedroom. "Well everything looks great Billy, except maybe we don't leave pocket knives laying out," you laughed as you grabbed Billy's knife off his nightstand and opening the drawer to drop it in.

Inside the drawer was a picture of you and Billy. Billy. You picked it up, smiling slightly. You were kissing him on the cheek and he had a giant grin. Your cheeks were rosy from the cold. Your hand resting on his chest. You could see the grin on your face even as you kissed him.

It was a picture from your one year anniversary. He had taken you to the fair and you had just rode the Ferris Wheel to the top. It was a great night and all these years later you could still remember it. Billy kept this picture for years, in his nightstand.

"I, um, I just hadn't gotten around to throwing that out or whatever, I really need to clean out that drawer." he said quickly. "Yeah, totally," you said as you put the picture back and closed the drawer.

"It's actually just one of my favorite pictures. I could never bring myself to throw it away." Billy admitted quietly, looking at you. "Look, y/n, I.." you cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "Please don't, Billy." your eyes were pleading with him.

He nodded slowly and leaned over and kissed your cheek lightly. Your skin tingled from the familiar touch. "You're a great mom, y/n." he said softly. "I promise I am going to be the best dad I can be for our little boy." he finished.

"I know, Billy. You're doing a great job. I'm glad William has you." you said gently to him. "I should really get going. Thanks for letting me tuck him in." you said turning towards the front door. "Goodnight y/n," Billy called after you. "Goodnight, Billy."

Six years after that picture was taken and Billy still had it. You went home and grabbed the step stool. You reached into the very back of your closet and pulled out a shoe box. You lifted lid and looked inside. There it was. The same picture Billy had in his nightstand. You sat on your bed.

"What are you doing, babe?" Eddie said as he sat next to you. "Just going through some memories, babe. It's crazy how much has changed since then." You leaned over and gave him a kiss. "Mmm," Eddie said coming back in for another. You tossed the shoebox aside and grabbed Eddie bringing him down to the bed with you.