I Loved Her

12

It had been a few days since Hallie's funeral. Leo had cried his way through it and Edward was close too. If Hallie was there she would've been pleased in how her funeral was arranged. It was perfect yet emotional.

It was currently 3am in the morning and Leo had a fever and was keeping Edward up all night. The 27-year-old was at his wits end; he had tried everything from tablespoons of Calpol to putting a warm towel on his head. Nothing worked as Leo continued sobbing and sniffling.

'Come on buddy.' Edward soothed as he sat down on the sofa, with Leo in his arms. The toddler continued crying into Edward's t-shirt, dampening it completely. He'd need to change when he put Leo to bed.

'Lee want Mama.' the 2-year-old croaked out, sticking his thumb in his mouth but taking it out instantly as he began to have a coughing fit. Edward wanted to burst into tears himself as he continued rocking the boy gently back and forth, making fruitless attempts to calm him down. He would do anything for his boy but he wanted his mama and that was the one thing Edward couldn't get him.

'You're stuck with Daddy for now.' Edward said as Leo continued blubbering, coughing and hiccuping. It was a pitiful sight and Edward was sure he would wake up the next morning sick himself.

Edward grabbed a tissue and wiped Leo's nose as Leo coughed uncontrollably. Should he call the NHS? Ed picked up the TV remote, deciding to try just one more tactic before he gave up altogether and would just place Leo down in his daddy's bed and hope he'd calm down.

He picked up his phone, shifting Leo to his side, and paired it with the TV with bluetooth. He scrolled through his gallery, looking for a few specific videos. Leo had turned his head around, curious what he was trying to do. Edward picked out a video and as it began to play, Leo stuck his finger in his mouth and laid his head down on his dad's chest.

It was a video of Leo's first birthday and Hallie had made him a huge cake, at least the size of him. She had decorated the whole living room and bought Leo the bare minimum of 25 presents.

'Hal, he's not going to remember this.' Edward heard himself say in the video. He was the one taking it so you couldn't see his face.

'Shush you. So what were we going to do? Go on like it's everyday cuz he won't remember it!? I will and he's my baby boy. If you don't want to you can go sulk in your big boy trousers. ' she cooed coming into the frame with a baby Leo, kissing his cheek.

She set him down in front of the cake as she lit a single candle. Ed could see her face ever so clearly, her auburn hair brushing past her shoulders as it got in the way of her trying to light the candle.

'Happy birthday, my little star.' she said, kissing Leo again on the cheek. The boy babbled, waving around his legs excitedly, putting a foot in his mouth.

Edward paused the video there and checked to see if Leo was asleep yet. Surprisingly he was fast asleep, gently breathing in and out as he sprawled across Edward.

Ed picked him up gently and tried to place him down in his crib but he instinctively held his dad's collar and refused to let go. He sighed as he carried him and cuddled him close as he laid down in bed too and closed his eyes. Leo might've been the reason he played the video but Edward needed it too. He needed to protect his little boy at all costs. He had promised Hallie that.

~~~
Dinner the next night was awkward. Nate had ordered from another takeout place and Edward was making snippy comments on how Nate would obviously know the best place to buy caviar.

'For goodness sake, Edward! I didn't order caviar!' Nate said as he took the takeout bag and handed the two their boxes of fish and chips.

'Yeah but your ever so rich you have to use Deliveroo to order fish and chips.' Edward said as Leo picked at his chips.

Nate shook his head and threw the remote to Leo. 'Its your turn tonight.'

Leo shrugged as he grabbed the remote and went into Netflix. He remembered his restrictions and shook his head giving the remote back to Nate. Nate rolled his eyes.

'Edward, can you let the kid choose?'

Ed sighed before nodding his head once. Nate smiled and handed the remote back to Leo. He went to KIDS and played Peppa Pig.

Edward was obviously trying to hide his smirk as Leo began to watch the series while Nate groaned.

3 episodes of a pig jumping in puddles later, they were done their food, Nate decided to be old and go to bed - or his version of a bed called a sofa - while Edward and Leo were in the kitchen. Leo was doing homework and Edward was cleaning.

'Dad? You still mad?' Leo asked, doodling in the margin.

'Yep.'

'Too mad to help a guy out?' Leo asked as Edward sighed, drying his hands on a towel and sitting down next to Leo and grabbing the pencil from Leo's hands. As usual, he wanted to be in charge.

'I don't get how to multiply fractions.' he groaned as Edward looked over at the CGP book. He stared at the question for a minute and asked.

'Jackson, are you mad at me?'

Leo shook his head, not knowing what to say.

'What subject do I teach?'

'English and History...'

'Do you think I like Maths? Or Geography? Or even better... do you think I was any good at it?'

'Nope.'

'Then why are you asking me about Yr6 maths? The only maths I know is basic counting and addition and subtraction. The rest I use a calculator.'

'The how do I do this?' Leo whined.

'Go ask your Uncle Nate. He was a math nerd. His A-Levels were basically 4 types of maths. Physics. Business. Maths and Computer Science.'

Leo nodded as he picked his book up and went to go wake his uncle up. He paused and looked over his shoulder.

'Forgive me dad? Please. Or be mad at me and scream. Maybe even hit me. Just quit the silent treatment.'

Edward made a noise of disgust as he walked over and wrapped Leo in a huge hug. 'I'm never going to lay a hand on you. I'm sorry about the silent treatment.'

Ed was abused as a kid after being tossed around from foster homes until the age of 12. He could never even imagine hitting his kid out of anger.

Leo hugged him back, feeling a huge weight lifted from his chest. He turned around again to leave but turn around again.

'Dad?'

'What now Leo?'

'What would've mom done?' Leo asked curiously. 'If she was here.'

'Screamed at you for an hour and then for the next 7 days she'd randomly bring the topic up and how you could've been killed out of the blue. It would've been terrifying.'

Leo smiled, walking out of the room and Ed leaned back on the chair, closing his eyes and rubbing them. Single parenting was NOT an easy task. You'd always have to be the bad guy and would never get the chance of being the good guy for once. But the best bit about it? They had a strong relationship, that wouldn't get demolished... no matter what happened.