Volume VI: And Introducing Harley Morrow As - Herself

36. Long Live the King

        I woke up and stretched out. There wasn’t much that was new or interesting that I could tell immediately after getting up. I looked around. Nothing was different. I was in the same place

I was when I went to sleep. I got up and walked around. I should probably go and check in on people. The family would be around. It was a bit too quiet to get excited.

        I walked slowly, looking around to get the feel of my surroundings. It was a new day. Serkis was pacing around, bouncing the baby - Layne was passed out on the couch. Sylum was probably off at work - Grey would have things to do. Poor Layne, I couldn’t help but laugh. He had no idea what was going on or how to deal with it. Serkis smiled at me when she caught my eye as I edged into the room. The kid was calm, sedate. Serkis was cut out for this a little better than she cared to think. It was funny in a really weird way.

        “Good morning, kid,” she said. She motioned over to the kitchen. “Coffee’s hot.”

        “Is it any good?”

        She raised an eyebrow. “I made it myself.”

        I laughed. Course it was good. She could make the world’s best coffee, and she could do it with half of nothing. That girl had all kinds of talent. It really was something else. I went off and got myself a cup, filling Serkis’ as well. I brought it back with me and sat down in a chair near the couch. Layne was still out cold.

        “Isn’t he something?” Serkis asked. I put her cup on the table for her as she nodded her thanks. I laughed. He had this childish quality to him when he slept. It was something worth watching, saving, knowing. I didn’t have a camera or paper to sketch on. She was right though - it definitely was something.

        “Yeah. He looks so...”

        “Exhausted. But he looks peaceful and all that other stuff too. He always looks like that.”

        “Always?”

        She smiled. “Yeah. No matter what.”

        I smiled back at her. “You would know.”

        She laughed, still bouncing the baby. “Yeah, I would, wouldn’t I?” The child was calmer now, sedate, probably fed and taken care of. Serkis was happy enough. She kept at it for a while longer. “Want to hold him?”

        “Sure,” I replied, shrugging. I put my cup down and held my arms out for him, which she handed over carefully. I cradled him in my arms, just as she showed me, careful of his head, making sure he was all right. It was...there’s something about holding a child that small, that young, that...innocent. Something that none of us were anymore. Not even me.

        Serkis took her cup and collapsed next to Layne. She’d been up awhile - it was obvious. She just barely brushed up against him when his eyes fluttered open a little. He wrapped an arm around her, she curled up closer to him, and he went right back to sleep. He came out of a state of unconscious peace just to be with her. Serkis was all smiles.

        “Now this is a family,” she whispered, taking a few more sips of coffee before resting her head on Layne. I held onto the kid until she dozed off, until Sylum came home.

       He walked in, took a look at the scene and laughed. I shushed him as much as I could.

                “What’s so funny anyway, Mr. Bishop?”

        “The kid with a kid.”

        “I’m eighteen years old. I’m barely still a kid.”