Page 72 of Xavier

The front lobby to Mercy General was nice, if not a little boring. Though, I supposed as far as hospitals went, that wasn’t exactly a bad thing.

Dexter waved for me to follow him, leading me down the main entryway to a large gift shop that was located right as you walked into the hospital. Thankfully, it was much quieter trapped behind these glass walls.

I spotted the flowers toward the back of the shop—located in a small corner that had a bodega-like set-up with a few bucketsof premade bouquets and then a few that had loose stems you could put together yourself.

I opted for the loose ones, grabbing a pre-cut piece of decorative cellophane to wrap the stems in.

Dexter hovered next to me, nodding in approval or shaking his head with each flower I held up. Together, we put together a nice looking bouquet that was both colorful but not too flashy for a ‘get well soon’ sentiment.

“Nice,” I said, holding it up while Dexter tied a piece of twine around it.

He smiled at the flowers, leaning in to breathe in their scent. “I think he’ll like them.”

“Me too. Would you believe me if I said I never got someone flowers before?”

Dexter snorted. “So dad will be your first? You should tell him when he wakes up. He’s a secret sap.”

“Secret or covert?”

That had Dexter smiling again.

We headed up to the register, getting in line behind an older woman and her husband who was holding her hand. The sight was sweet, reminding me of all the sappy love stories I couldn’t help to daydream about whenever I thought of Xavier.

Which was often to an embarrassing level.

One would think that after a solid year, I would’ve gotten over the butterflies by now.

“Were you serious about living with dad?” Dexter asked.

Turning to him, I raised a brow. “Only if he wants to.”

He stared at me for a long moment. “Why haven’t you already?”

“He didn’t want to leave you behind and not see you.”

“What about after I’m gone?”

I shrugged. “We’ll see. I’m trying not to be pushy.”

“But youwantto be,” he guessed.

Holding back a groan took monumental effort. See, knowing Xavier, I knew exactly where Dexter got his smarts from, as well as his keen eye. What Ididn’tlike was when it was turned onme.

“Did he bring up the marriage thing yet?” Dexter asked. “I told him to.”

Balking, I said, “Dexter. Leave the matchmaking up to the adults.”

He rolled his eyes at me. “What’s four months going to change? I’ll still think the same way, you know.”

“What, that you want me and your dad to get married?”

“I want him to behappy.” He sounded annoyed as he spoke. “He needs to stop focusing all his energy on me. What’s going to happen when I go to college? I don’t want him dropping dead like a fly because he no longer has a purpose anymore.”

I loved hearing that Dexter cared about his dad just as much as Xavier cared about him. Not that I had any doubts that deep down inside, their bond had yet to be totally shattered despite Xavier’s constant worrying that he’d fucked up beyond repair.

Seeing Dexter just as protective over his dad was a welcome sight, one that I hoped Xavier got to see one day. It would at least show him that trying to mend this bridge was worth it in the end; that getting sober and taking back his life had gotten him his son back.

And wasn’t that a goddamn beautiful thing?

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