Where The Fireflies Sing.

Chapter Thirty Four: Addison Thatcher

I walk into my house after chatting with Joseph and see Coopers already got his backpack open and his action figures spread out on my living room floor, I walk over to him and reach forward to grab the King Kong one and begin moving it. "Grr I am going to save that woman!" I say using the King Kong to stomp towards the barbie he has hanging off the side of the couch. "No! you mustn't save her!" he cries out and grabs his Godzilla action figure and makes it 'Swim' towards my action figure. 

We play for a little while before I set up a board of some fruit snacks, mini pretzel dogs and some chicken nuggets. I grab the remote and sit down on the couch Cooper coming to sit next to me like he always does, while I smile down at him I turn on Scooby doo his favorite movie. "Addy do you love my dad?" He suddenly asks out of the blue a quarter of the way through the movie and when I look down at him with a raised eyebrow he has tears welling in his eyes. I grab ahold of him and pull him onto my lap so I am eye level with him and I reach forward to gently hold his eyes up to mine with a finger under his chin. "Buddy, I love your dad with all of my heart" I say honestly and he searches my eyes his tears dripping down his cheek, I swipe them away and hold him into a tight hug placing my chin on his head. "But daddy loved mommy and now mommy is gone" he says sadly and my heart breaks for him a little, his voice is thick with tears as he buries his face into my neck holding me as if he doesn't want me to go. 

I search my brain for what to say but I feel that I have to figure out why he thinks mommy went away first so I don't say the wrong thing. "Why do you think mommy is gone?" I ask softly, running my fingers through his hair and holding him close to me. "Mommy is gone because she loved daddy and he kicked her out" he says with a sad tone and I instantly feel frustrated at the fact that Delilah told her son lies and just let them fester and eat him away. Suddenly I understand why he's gotten quiet since me and Joseph have started dating and when I told him I loved his dad he broke into tears. He doesn't want to lose another mommy and I don't know how to assure him I'll stay and his dad really needs to be here to set him right because I don't know the full story. "Buddy why don't we call your dad and he can explain it to you? I promise I'll stay right here next to you so it won't be so hard okay?" I say and he pulls back from my neck which is wet from his tears and looks up at me with darkened blue eyes. "Okay" He murmurs and I grab my phone before sending Joseph a text that he should be here because 'Joseph is heartbroken and thinks he kicked his mommy out and she loved him and that's why his mom is not in the picture'. A couple seconds later he responds with a 'be there' text and then not even five minutes later he is knocking at the door. 

I transfer Joseph onto the couch and get up walking to the door and opening it for Joseph, Today was supposed to be the first day alone with his kid but I just couldn't let his son go on thinking his dad was the bad guy in this whole messed up situation. "Hi firefly" Joseph says looking up at me in the door way with the same saddened look his son is currently holding. "Hi baby, we're in the living room" I say moving back and giving him ample room to come inside. He gives me a knowing look and then steps inside heading over towards the couch where he scoops his boy up. I watch them from afar for a while my heart swelling with love as I see Joseph embrace his son tightly, Cooper wraps his arms around Joseph's neck and hugs him close as if he will lose him too. "Hey buddy what's wrong?" Joseph murmurs and sits on the couch, setting his son down onto his lap. "Daddy why can't mommy come home?" he asks and Joseph turns towards me his eyes full of unshed tears and they never run down his cheeks as he turns back to his son his attention fully onto him. "Buddy mommy can't come home because she decided a long time ago that this wasn't the life she wanted" he says honestly and Coopers face scrunches up in confusion as if he can't hardly believe it. "But mommy said you kicked her out because she loved you" he says and Joseph shakes his head holding onto his cheeks with his big hands and looks down into his son's eyes. "Buddy mommy left me before I even knew you were in her tummy, then she told me that she didn't want to be with me because I didn't fit in with her lifestyle" Joseph answers honestly and I walk behind him. I place my hands onto his shoulders and squeeze tightly so that he knows I am there for him durning this difficult moment, Joseph's voice is full of emotion as he talks to his son. "But why daddy? Why didn't she want me?" he asks and Cooper breaks down into tears. Joseph pulls him to him and hugs him tightly while kissing the top of his head, I can feel my eyes getting wet from tears so I reach up and swipe them away before walking over to the couch to sit next to the two people I love most in this world. 

"Buddy, I can't talk for your mom but I know anyone would be blessed to have you as there son and I know I can't replace your mom but I can promise I am not going anywhere" I say and run my hands down his back softly, Josephs arm envelopes me and holds both of us close to him his hand rubbing down my back in the same motion I am doing to his son. "I don't want to lose my family" Cooper says and pulls his head back from his fathers chest and looks over to me with tear stained cheeks, I wipe them away and gently rub my hand down his back. Joseph glances over at me and looks into my eyes with darkened blue eyes and then wraps me and his son into a big hug. "Cooper bud we aren't going anywhere" Joseph says and after we all are feeling better we decide to finish the night off with some movies and pizza which was Joseph's request. 

After I put Cooper to bed in the guest bed I sit down on the couch next to Joseph where he wraps his arm around me and pulls me into his side. "I am sorry I know you probably would have enjoyed a kid free night I just couldn't let him go on thinking it was your fault Delilah isn't here" I say with a big yawn and lay my head onto his chest, his heart beating in my ear sending a comforting chill down my spine. "I know firefly I am not upset at you, I am just upset at myself for not realizing he was this heartbroken sooner I mean I should have recognized the signs but I guess I've been so wrapped up in our arguments and the new baby on the way that I put it on the back burner" He admits and I can tell he is angry from the way he is holding his hands into fists. I wrap my hand over his fists and gently pull his fingers apart so that I am holding his hand while I place a soft kiss over his chest his shaky breaths causing his chest to rattle under my ear. "Baby you can't blame yourself there's been a lot happening and if you had known you never would have let me think those things" I say and kiss over his chest before leaning up and kissing over his cheek. "I know firefly, I just hope we can show him we aren't leaving. I never expected that Delilah would fill our sons head with these kind of lies but when I first got him he was pretty with drawn and unwilling to get to know me so it seems like maybe that is what caused it." He says and leans his head down to kiss over my forehead. "I know it must hurt to see that Delilah caused such a traumatic experience for Cooper and I hope that the memories you have given him the last three years has been enough to help rewrite some of that." I say in response and he nods before standing up and holding his hand out for me. "Are you and our baby ready for bed firefly?" he asks and I take his hand and walk with him up the stairs and up to our bedroom. 

When we get there I throw on a pair of silky panties and one of Joseph's t-shirts before crawling into bed next to where he is laying with only a pair of boxers on, his sexy abs on display for me. I trace one of my fingers over the curves of his pecs as I lay my head onto his shoulder and he pulls me close to him with his arm behind my back and his hand on my hip. "I love you firefly" He whispers and places a soft kiss over my forehead and then lays his head atop mine, I in response kiss his chest before cuddling further into his side until there is no possible way of getting closer to him. I breathe in his comforting scent before closing my eyes and listening to his soft breathes as he falls asleep, I find it much harder to fall asleep and end up tossing and turning until sleep eventually claims me the thoughts of Delilah's lies consuming me.