21. Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Scott
M orrie had fallen asleep on my lap as I'd chatted with Perry about the dinosaur coloring book Santa had given him. He was exhausted from the day and the fun in the bathroom before we'd come here probably hadn't helped matters. I hadn't been able to keep myself in check though when I'd walked in to find him clean shaven. Morrie with a beard was handsome, but without it, he was something else. I could see the planes of his face and the angles that made up his jawline, cut sharp beneath his slightly rounded cheeks without the scruff covering them. I wondered, looking around the club, if anyone had ever seen him like this before.
"He likes you," Perry whispered from across the table in a stage whisper. "He lets you touch him. I don't even get to do that. Don't fuck it up."
"Should little boys be saying that word?" I asked, offering a small smile.
"No, but best friends can." He gave me a small, stern glare before his smile came back to his face. He busied himself with coloring in his book, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he concentrated hard on shading in the brontosaurus green.
Across the room, I could see Silas watching the table with a strange look on his face. I motioned for him to come join us, but he simply shook his head and wandered off towards the private rooms. Looking back at Perry, I wondered again if there was something there. If there could be something, should Silas ever take a chance on a little who liked dinosaurs and was a good best friend to my boy.
Morrie snuffled a bit against my chest, his eyes slowly opening as he yawned wide. I could feel him moving on my lap and I loosened my grip a bit as he woke up.
"You ready to go home?" I whispered into his ear.
"Okay," he murmured back, still half asleep.
"I think we're going to get going, Perry," I said, looking across the table. "Are you going to be okay on your own?"
"Oh yeah," he sighed, turning his brilliant blue eyes up to me. "I'm always alone. It's okay. Hobie will come color with me even though he doesn't need to color."
"Are you sure?"
"Yup. I'm okay. I promise. Cross my heart, hope to die."
"Stick a needle in my eye," Morrie mumbled, smiling in his half awake state as he jostled more on my lap.
I let him go and he stood up, stretching out in his onesie before pulling the hood back onto his head. He touched the antlers for a moment before his arms came down to his sides again. I stood, ready to leave, but Morrie didn't move towards the door at all. Instead, he dithered a bit, shuffling on his feet like he was nervous. Perry cocked his head to the side, clearly as confused as I was.
"Merry Christmas, Perry," Morrie whispered, slowly opening his arms.
"For real?" Perry squealed, sliding out of the booth as fast as a jackrabbit. He lunged at Morrie, throwing his arms around my boy and squeezing him so tight I thought Morrie's eyes were going to pop out of his head. Morrie's arms slowly wrapped around his friend and the two of them stood there, hugging each other for the first time in the middle of the club.
"I love you," Morrie whispered as Perry let go of him. He reached up to wipe tears out of Perry's eyes. "Don't cry."
"I love you," Perry replied. "I'm just happy, that's all. Morrie, you hugged me."
Morrie nodded, a slow smile of satisfaction curling his lips at the edges. "Call me tomorrow?"
"Yup," Perry agreed.
"Have a good night, Perry," I offered, as Morrie came back to my side.
He waved, crawling back into the booth to keep coloring as Morrie and I headed for the door.
"I'm proud of you, Morrie," I murmured into his ear, pulling him into my side. "And I have a present for you. Go grab your coat and meet me by the car."
Eyes wide in surprise, Morrie shot off like a rocket, heading for the locker room meant for boys, subs and pets. I pulled out my phone and sent a text message, giving Russ a warning that we were on our way back so he could get out of the house before we got back. Morrie had clearly noticed that I had been on my phone all night, and though I'd told him it was work stuff, that couldn't be further from the truth. While he'd been worrying about sitting on Santa's lap to get his gift, I was busy behind his back building a different gift I hoped he'd like.
I couldn't wait for him to see it.
As we arrived home, Morrie looked absolutely wrecked. His eyes were drooping shut and his footsteps were slow as we climbed the stairs from the garage into the house, though he'd told me he was excited for his surprise. I had considered picking him up and carrying him into the home as I'd watched him fumble on the stairs, but I wasn’t certain I could do that and unlock the house at the same time. Instead, I stayed behind him, making sure he didn’t topple right over. When we were inside and he was off the staircase, I felt a lot better about his safety. It had been the toughest couple of weeks for him and I knew it. He wore his exhaustion on his body like a coat and I had watched it seep into him over the course of the night until he'd fallen asleep at the club.
“Morrie, I want you to put your shoes neat by the door and then head to the spare room okay?”
He yawned, stretching his arms up to the sky. “Why?”
“I want to show you something.”
“I hate that room,“ he mumbled, with a huffy little sigh attached. Still he lined his shoes up neatly then headed for the hallway that led to the spare room. I followed behind, stepping in front of him as he reached the closed door.
“What's going on?" he asked, his eyes darting nervously between my face and the door.
"I have a big surprise for you and I hope you like it."
As I reached for the doorknob, it was my turn to be nervous and I could feel my palms sweating a bit. I took a deep breath and turned the knob, pushing the door open to reveal the room to Morrie. He took a step backwards into the hallway, his hand flying to his mouth in surprise.
"Daddy, what is this?"
"Go take a look," I said, gesturing to the room.
Morrie walked past me into the room and turned a slow circle, taking it all in. While we'd been at the club, Russ and some of his construction crew had been turning the spare bedroom into a place I was certain my boy would appreciate. Stacked in corners were all of the books from his living room, and piled onto shelves salvaged from Morrie's old apartment were all of the trinkets and knick-knacks he'd collected over the years. I'd snuck Russ the key to the place when I'd popped by earlier with instructions to empty the place and bring it all to my home. The floor was covered in soft blankets and pillows that I'd bought online specifically for him and had delivered to the apartment buildings I was renovating so he wouldn't see them before tonight. Even the yellow quilt that was once in here had been moved to the living room couch. In its place lay an ocean printed blanket and the knitted blanket I'd bought at the Christmas market, both untucked and flung onto the mattress haphazardly with little fish stuffies from the aquarium scattered all around it. The entire place made my skin crawl, but as Morrie turned to me it was all worth it.
"It's so messy in here," he murmured, looking around the room. "Why did you make it messy?"
"I wanted you to have a place you could feel comfortable, Morrie. I got some friends to do this for you while we were out. I hope you like it, because I want you to stay here. I'd like it if you lived with me instead of finding a new place for yourself. I'd like the rest of the house to stay clean and tidy, but in here, you can be as messy as you need to be. It's all yours, if you'd like to stay."
"Stay?" he asked, turning to look at me. "You want to keep me?"
"Of course I do. You're my brave, smart boy," I responded as he launched himself into my arms. I caught him mid air and he wrapped his legs around me, pressing against me hard in the way I knew he loved. "Stay?"
"Yes, Daddy. Yes." Morrie unwrapped himself from around me and landed back onto the soft blankets at his feet. "You really did all this for me?"
"I thought the room could use a makeover anyway."
"Daddy, this isn't a makeover."
"It isn't?"
"No, it's a messover and I love it."
Morrie looked around the room once more before moving towards me and tilting his face upwards like he was looking for a kiss. I happily gave it to him, pressing my lips against his, kissing him until he melted, breathless into my embrace.
"I love you, Morrie," I confessed, heart swelling. "Merry Early Christmas."
Morrie breathed hard, then reached up and cupped my face in his hands, rubbing my cheekbones with his thumbs as I'd done to him so many times since we'd met. "I love you too, Daddy."