Chapter Fifteen

Though his eyes were closed, Jonathan was already awake when he heard the creaking of his floor and felt a small weight being placed beside him. It was another few seconds before he heard a squeaky voice call out to him.

“Jaayyy... Jaaayyyyy...” He ignored the voice and kept his eyes shut tight. The voice just pressed on, and he even felt a hand pushing his arm. “Wakey-wakey! It's little Tyrone Bunimo here-”

“Bunimo?!” Jonathan opened his eyes and sat up, turning to face the disturbance. Ty was being held next to him by what appeared to be a set of floating hands, but soon Chris's head popped up from the edge of the bed.

“That's his middle name,” Chris said. “Did you not know that?”

Jonny stared at the two for a bit, then rolled his eyes. “Obviously. Bunimo??”

Chris, trying not to let his grip on Ty slip too much, carefully held up one of his hands in defense. “It was all Kirsten, I promise.”

“Is that even a name?” Jonathan asked, shaking his head and narrowing his eyes.

“Seems so.” Chris stood up and brought Ty with him, letting the baby rest in his arms. “Are you gonna get up or what? Penny said she's making breakfast now.”

“Yeah,” Jonathan droned, “I'll be down in a few minutes.”

Chris left the room, bouncing Ty a little as he walked. Jonathan thought he even heard Chris start to sing, his voice carrying through the hall. He smiled to himself and thought about getting up. Then he thought about it some more for quite a few minutes, until his legs finally decided to receive the signals from his brain and moved to the floor.

The carpet felt soft under his feet, and it took him another minute or so to coax himself into actually getting up this time. In all honesty what made him do it was the picture he had of Chris sitting downstairs, probably talking to Ty about things Ty really had no interest in whatsoever. He loved that side of Chris.

Sure enough, as he walked into the kitchen the first thing he saw was Ty in his high chair, Chris leaned in close and muttering a bunch of things to him. Jonathan sat down in the seat opposite Chris and just stared for a while.

“And Jonathan is what we call 'eavesdropping',” Chris said. “It's a big word, I know, but you'll get it one day. It means that Jay is listening to our conversation even though he's not a part of it, and also even though it's not much of a conversation. 'Conversation' is another rather large word, huh? But it's basically just us talking.”

“Or Chris is attempting to have a conversation with you, but it's not working out because you can't talk back,” Jonathan said to Ty. “Though that works well for him, because now he doesn't have anyone telling him to shut up.”

“Except you.” Chris smiled brightly and condescendingly, and Jonathan narrowed his eyes at him. Then, from somewhere on the table Jonathan managed to find a few crumbs of whatever had been for dinner the night before that he picked up and threw at Chris. “Jonathan!!”

“Christopher!!” Jonathan whined back in his best mocking tone. Chris tried to pull off his best angry face, but he couldn't hold it for very long and he ended up laughing. Jonathan smiled back at him, and Chris rested his chin in his hands and stared at Jonathan.

“You have such a nice smile, Jay,” he said. “And a nice laugh, and nice eyes, and-”

“Chris, you could go on all day,” Penny said as she walked over to the table carrying two full plates. “Move your arms, please, so I can set these down.”

Chris looked up at Penny, then did as he was told and pulled his arms back. Penny placed a plate in front of each of the boys, then headed back to the stove to fix her own breakfast.

“Thanks mum,” Jonathan said as she was walking away, and in return he received a noncommittal grunt. He went to grab his fork, and along the way he noticed Chris already shoveling his food down his throat. “Careful, you might choke.”

“And then you'd have to give me CPR,” Chris said with his mouth full of eggs. He finished chewing, swallowed, then continued sarcastically, “What a shame.”

Jonathan looked at him blankly for a few seconds, then shook his head slightly. “I don't know CPR.”

“It's not that hard to learn. You want me to teach you later?”

“Chris!” Penny yelled across the room. Chris spun around in his chair and smiled innocently at her. “Don't say those things around your son. Or better yet, around me.”

“Sorry,” he sheepishly replied, then turned back to Jonathan. “I guess that's out, then.”

“It's OK, I'd rather not ever need to use CPR. Even on you.” Jonathan appeared to drift off for a moment, then he added, “Especially on you. What if it didn't work?”

Chris's eyes bugged and he nearly dropped his fork on his plate. “Oh... well, that would be awful.”

“Exactly,” Jonathan said. He decided not to add anything more to the topic, and so he went back to eating. Within a minute Penny sat beside him, and by that time Chris had finished eating and was in the middle of bringing his plate to the sink. After the clink of the plate as it the bottom of the sink sounded, Chris opened up the refrigerator and pulled out a jar of baby food.

“What do you say, Ty, banana?” He looked up at his son, who was staring back at him. Jonathan glanced up at them as well, once again smiling to himself at Chris's quirky behavior. “Good.”

Once all four of them had been fed well enough, they moved their location to the living room. Penny decided to watch some documentary on the National Geographic channel, and Jonathan and Chris sat on either end of the couch. In the middle of them was Ty, being held up by Chris, his feet just barely touching the cushion.

“Wow, Ty, you're so tall,” Chris told him. “You're basically a giant.”

“He does have your genes, Chris, you never know,” Jonathan said. “He could end up being a giant.”

“Giant Ty... it's almost like saying giant eye...”

“Well, he could end up with those, too.” Chris leaned forward a little and widened his eyes a frightening amount, and in response Ty laughed. Jonathan shook his head, and turned to see what was on the television set now. Penny was still watching the National Geographic channel, and at that particular moment they were showing a rather horrifying depiction of a possible ending to the world.

Jonathan's interest decreased and he looked back at Chris and Ty. Ty was no longer standing with help from Chris, but he was sitting with his back slightly against the couch. Chris's hands were on either side of his body, there so if he fell Chris could catch him. For a few seconds Ty sat forward, but as he started to wobble Chris helped him sit back again.

“Not bad, kiddo,” Chris said, smiling proudly. It was one of those moments where he was utterly amazed by everything and anything Ty did, even something as simple as blinking. “Wanna try again?”

Chris pulled Ty forward a little, and then let go, but still kept his hands close. Ty managed to sit for a little longer than before, and even Jonathan smiled at that. Having been an only child, and the youngest of three, neither Jonathan nor Chris had ever really been around a baby before, and thus they were both excited seeing Ty progress in ways such as this, though it certainly meant a lot more to Chris.

“Aw, Ty, Penny was right,” Chris said, picking Ty up and sitting him back down in his lap, “you're gonna grow up too fast. Stop growing up. Do you want to stay tiny forever?”

Ty blinked at Chris, unaware, and Chris sighed. “No, you're right, that wouldn't be much fun. And you have too much wisdom in those big, blue eyes to stay like this. You need to grow up so you can spread your knowledge around to those less fortunate. Like Devon.”

Chris was rather surprised to see that Ty laughed at this, and once again he felt proud of his son.

There was not much to do in the quiet house, yet the day still passed by in a flash. Chris was really sad to have to bring Ty back to Kirsten's, and as he walked back home he realized that it was a pain he would have to deal with for the rest of his life, at least until Ty was an adult himself and off on his own. But Kirsten's seeming eagerness to allow Chris to spend as much time with Ty as possible was certainly an uplifting prospect.

When Chris returned home, Jonathan was waiting for him on the porch, sitting in one of the three green plastic chairs that occupied the space. Chris, due to the fact that he had been staring at his feet, didn't notice until he had reached the first step and finally looked up. He stopped on the stair and leaned against the railing.

“Hey,” Chris softly said.

“Hey.” Jonathan smiled at Chris, though for some reason Chris thought he looked a little sad. He took a seat in the chair beside Jonathan.

“What are you doing out here?”

“I just felt like coming out here,” Jonathan replied. He was looking down at the chair, tapping his thumb restlessly on the arm. “You know, we only bought three of these chairs because no one else ever came over, really. It was just me, my mum, and my dad...”

Chris scooted his chair closer to Jonathan's and he grabbed Jonathan's hand. “Oh, Jay...”

Jonathan looked up at Chris and tried to smile reassuringly. “It's OK. I mean... I hated him. And if he were still alive, then you certainly wouldn't be here with us, and we wouldn't be together.”

“Yeah, but still, I know what it's like to not have your parents around. It's tough, if not only because you're just used to them being there, then one day that changes and nothing is ever the same, even if it's for the better.” Chris's eyes were shining, and as he gave a small sigh he laid his head on Jonathan's shoulder. Moments later he felt Jonathan's chin rest on top of his head, and even though the sun was setting and the air around them was cooling very quickly, Chris felt a warm sensation tingling through his body.

“Chris,” Jonathan quietly began after a long silence, “I'll always love you.”

“And I you, dear Jay,” Chris replied. “I don't think I could love anyone else as much as I love you.” Chris lifted his head, pointing his blue eyes and Jonathan's green ones and trying to convey through them as much of his emotion and he could. “Even when we're not together anymore, I'll be there for you. If you ever need a friend... or someone to listen...”

For a reason he could not explain, Chris felt the tears start to fall down his cheeks. He tried to stop them, but it didn't work. Then Jonathan brushed his hand against Chris's skin and tried to wipe them away. Chris smiled at him, laughing through his embarrassment. Jonathan leaned forward gently kissed Chris, not caring that Chris's lips tasted a little salty from the tears that had slid down so far, only worrying about making Chris feel better.

And Chris knew Jonathan would always be there to lift his heavy heart.