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Jesus. This was not the conversation I expected to be having with his father.
“I do.”
He smiled sadly. “I’m glad.” Then he swallowed hard and kept his gaze fixed on the ocean views out the window. “He spent his whole life studying, reading, researching. He was never a very sociable child. I worried that was my fault. I worked shiftwork and he was home alone a lot. And when he first told me he liked men, I worried even more for him.”
Ah, shit.
“I thought he’d be destined to be alone like me, and I didn’t want that for him. I wanted him to have a family, and to know what love was.” He turned to face me, making eye contact for a second before glancing away, grimacing a smile. This wasn’t easy for him to say, but with a deep breath, he continued. “I needn’t have worried, because he has that with you. All of it. Everything I wanted for him. He has that here.”
Hmm.Here.
“He’s a long way from home,” I offered. “But what if we come to Melbourne once a year? And you can come here any time you’d like and stay here for as long as you want. Just give me the dates and I’ll make it happen. Jeremiah would like that. I’ve only been to Melbourne once. It was a while ago now. Maybe we could catch a footy match.”
He smiled genuinely then. “That’d be nice. I’d like that too.”
We were quiet then, and I wasn’t sure what to say. He’d come all this way to learn that he’d very nearly lost his son the same way he’d lost his wife, and now he was losing him to me.
“He’s happier here,” he said eventually. “In Darwin. He was never really happy where he was. As if he was constantly going against the grain. His colleagues were a contentious bunch. He never got along with them.”
“They were a bunch of arseholes who never appreciated him.” He looked at me, startled, and all I could do was shrug. “It’s true.”
He smirked and was quiet again, his gaze out to sea. “Do you... do you ever get sick of the view?”
I laughed. “Never.”
“Can’t say I would either.”
* * *
I’d not realised justhow much I’d missed sleeping next to Jeremiah until I helped him into bed, sliding in beside him, holding him tight. His head was on my chest, my arms around him, and something settled in my bones.
Something that felt like coming home.
“I missed you so much,” I murmured. It was late and he’d tried to stay awake after dinner, but he’d dozed on the couch again until I’d helped him upstairs and into bed. “I missed this so much.”
He hummed. “Doctor said no sex for a while. Nothing arduous, anyway.”
I snorted. “So having competitions as to who can get the highest heart rate is out?”
“I think I won that game.”
I gave him a squeeze and kissed the top of his head. “I don’t care about the sex,” I admitted. “It’ll happen when you’re ready. I’m just glad you’re here. Lyin’ in bed with you like this is enough for me.”
He kissed my pec. “I’m glad because laying here is about all I’m capable of doing.”
I chuckled. “I love you.”
He sighed and nuzzled in a little closer. “I love you too. I’m so thankful for you.” His voice got slower, quieter, as he drifted off to sleep. “Every little thing. Love every little thing.”
I kissed his forehead this time and smiled at the ceiling. “Love every little thing about you too.”
* * *
WatchingJeremiah talk with his dad and watchin’ them smile made me happy in ways I couldn’t describe.
Was their entire relationship magically fixed overnight? No. But it was a really good fucking start.
Even when he had to say goodbye to his father at the airport, Jeremiah was still smiling. I mean, he was kinda sad to see him go—and they had hugged goodbye—but when I got him into the car after we’d watched the plane leave, he let his head fall back on the headrest and he gave me a smile.
