“Okay,” Matthias smiles as he curls his fingers around Jax’s.
I follow the two of them into the room. Harvey is awake and the smile on his face when he sees Matthias almost lights up the whole room.
“Look out, here comes trouble,” Harvey chuckles as he beckons my son toward him.
Matthias runs to the bed and clambers on.
“Be careful,” I shout.
“Leave him be. He’s fine,” Harvey insists.
“Does your face hurt?” Matthias asks as he gets himself comfortable on the bed.
“Naw,” Harvey shakes his head. He looks so much more alert that he did in the early hours of this morning.
“When are you coming home?”
“Soon as I can. Maybe a few days. Hey, have you been looking after Blue for me?”
“Well, I only got here yesterday, but yeah, I took him out for his pee this morning, and then I helped Aunt Molly with his food. He slept by my bed too. I think he’s kinda sad. He misses you.”
“I miss him too,” Harvey says as tears prick his eyes. “But he has you here now, so I’m sure he won’t be too sad.”
“Hey, I made you something,” Matthias says as he reaches into the pocket of his jeans and pulls out a pebble.
“Did you know about that?” Jax whispers to me.
“Nope,” I say, watching intently as Harvey examines the small rock. It has something painted on it in red, but I can’t see it from here. But suddenly Harvey’s eyes are brimming with tears and he puts a hand over his face.
“My nana helped me make it. It’s okay if I call you that, right?” Matthias asks.
Harvey’s chest starts heaving as his body is wracked with sobs.
“What the fuck does that say?” Jax mutters as we both walk to the bed.
Harvey is clutching the stone in his hand while Matthias stares at him.
“Did I do something wrong, Dad?” he asks Jax who puts a hand on his shoulder.
“No, son. But, what did you paint on your rock?”
Harvey wipes his eyes and opens his mouth to speak but his words are choked by another sob.
“Grandpa,” Matthias whispers. “Harvey is your daddy, and you’re my daddy, so he’s my grandpa like Papa, right?”
“That’s right,” Jax replies before he plants a soft kiss on the top of our son’s head.
Harvey takes Matthias’s hand in his. “That is the best gift I’ve ever gotten.” he sniffs. “Thank you.”
At this praise, Matthias beams proudly and I watch the three of them. Three generations. I’m happy that my son has another grandparent in his life. As far as I’m concerned, the more people that love him, the better. But mostly I’m happy that Jax is allowing his father back into his life. He deserves to be surrounded with people who love him too.
When Matthias has askedHarvey at least two dozen questions and told him all about his and Jax’s plan to get a puppy just like Blue, I take him with me to get him a juice box and the rest of us a coffee. I know that Jax needs to speak to him without Matthias around.
“That was a really sweet thing you did for Grandpa Harvey,” I say as I hold his little hand in mine and we walk through the hallways to find the cafeteria.
“I wanted to make him something he could keep forever,” he says with a proud smile. “Rocks last forever, you know?”
“They do, huh?”