Forever & Always (Forever & Always #1) (boyxboy)

Jesse's Fifteenth Birthday

“Humor is a spontaneous, wonderful bit of an outburst that just comes. It's unbridled, its unplanned, it's full of suprises.” 

― Erma Bombeck

My casts came off the following Monday. The doctor was impressed that they had healed so well, and as quickly as they did. Mom was with me the whole morning. We had a nice chat about everything Chris related and went for ice-cream after. Noah was excited to see me without the casts on again.

“Let's get you home. Your daddy's waiting for you. He'll be happy to see you without those,” Mom said and we hopped into the car. She smiled at me and I smiled back.

She went to work after that and daddy and I spent a few hours together. He was acting strangely and I was worried about him. At first I thought it was something bad, but he sat me down when I went into the kitchen to talk to him.

He was shuffling around in the kitchen and he looked extremely nervous. He kept touching his head and scratching non existent facial hair. When I sat down he looked me over, it was a weird thing for him to do. Finally, he spoke.

“Jesse, you know I love you, right?” He asked me as if I had not known that. He had proved it to me over the last few months, years even.

“Yeah. You know I love you too. Right?” I asked him. I was kind of shocked that I was even asking, but something had obviously happened when he had asked me if I knew that he loved me.

He hardly thinks I don't love him. Would he think that? Why would he?

A slow smile etched on his face and he nodded. “Of course I know that. I know your heart Jesse. It's one of the reasons Noah fell in love with you. It's one of the reasons I love you.” He paused. 

“The thing is Chris is worried about what I think of everything. He came to me the other night, after you went back to your old house. I don't know why he feels like that, but I wanted to let you know.”

He smiled at me and stretched. “I'm glad you have a chance to get to know your biological father. I'll always see you as my son because that's what you are, but I want you to build a relationship with him too. Okay?”

I was blown away. Chris had thought we were hurting daddy? He never said anything. Heck, I hadn't even worried about it. Daddy was daddy, it was one of the reasons I loved him. He knew how I felt and what it meant to me, to be able to know who I was and where I came from.

“I planned to. Not that I don't love you, you know I do. But, he's a nice guy and has no one. I think he could be a valuable family member one day. Not just to me. To our family.” I smiled at the last part of the sentence. Our family.

“That's my boy. You're a good man Jesse. I know the type of person you are. You are the type of person who wants the best for others.” He smiled. “I'm proud of you, son and the person you are. Grace is too.”

“You will always be the first dad I had. But Chris is a nice guy and we have a lot in common. I think we could become a unique family one day. But for now I am just glad you aren't upset.” I hugged him tightly and sat back down in the chair.

We smiled at one another and he threw me a coke before I walked up to our bedroom. Mine and Noah's. The room had become more like ours over the past few weeks. Noah's clothes were scattered on the floor. A few of his jackets and jeans.