The Last Love Of Arthur Morgan

Fatherhood, For Idiots

Arthur nudged John with his foot, but the younger man simply grunted and rolled over facing the wall. Growing increasingly irritated by his childish behavior, Arthur walked over to the pump in the kitchen and began filling a bucket with water.

He would kill two birds with one stone; wake John and give him a bath. He'd like to think Abigail would approve. 

He walked over to the bed where John lay, unaware of what was about to happen. He tipped the bucket and watched it unravel in slow motion. The water fell, John screamed and cursed, jumping up from the bed, soaked.

Arthur laughed.

"What the fuck, Arthur?" John yelled.

"Get your lazy ass up, it's noon!" 

"I don't wanna get up."

"Well you got no choice now." He pointed to the bedsheets which were soaked. 

John grunted and took a seat on the edge of the bed, running his hands through his wet hair. Arthur dropped the bucket on the ground and walked around the bed, stopping in front of him.

"Can't ignore the world forever, there's work to do." 

"How'd you feel if this happened to you?"

"I think you forget that it almost did...twice."

John nodded his head, looking down at the wide plank floors."Sorry."

"Stop feelin' sorry for yourself, Marston. Get off your ass and fix what's broken."

"Yeah? how do I do that?"

Arthur squatted down in front of him."Go to the bank an' get a loan, so you can build that ranch. She said you need to prove to her that the past ain't comin' back, so prove it to her."

"I don't know the first thing about that."

"You think I do?" Arthur scoffed."You go with your gut. If it don't feel right, then don't do it."

"I-I'dunno." 

"C'mon John, you know you wanna do this. You an' Abbey been talkin' about this for a while. You gotta do it, I won't let you not do it."

He remembered when John and Abigail first thought up the idea of having a ranch. Arthur thought they were insane, but had a secret desire for the same thing.

Arthur toyed around with ranching, to see if he could do it - he could and more importantly, wanted to. But now that John was so lost and pulling away from his dream, Arthur felt an obligation to make things right - kick his ass until he finally fought back. 

"She don't care about me, Arthur. If she did she'd be here!"

"She's scared, John! Hell, I'm surprised Lorna didn't leave with her!" Arthur gripped his belt."I'm not letting you let her go, you have to make this right. So let's go."

He scoffed."Go where?"

"To talk to Mr. Geddes."

"For what?"

"A raise and a good word with the bank," Arthur tossed John a shirt and shoved him toward the front door."Don't forget your hat."

"Why you doin' this Arthur?"

"Cause you got potential, ya jackass. Now go!"

Arthur gave him another shove out the door and forced him toward the large house that overlooked the entire ranch. The chimney was billowing thick smoke, which heavily scented the air.

The other ranch hands were working on the burned down barn, giving John a dirty look as they walked by them. Apparently not working can cause the others to be a little grumpy.