That afternoon, after I’d finished choking down some hospital garbage that they called ‘food’ the door opened and my beautiful girlfriend stood there with a huge smile stretched across her face.
“Hey, you,” she greeted.
I smiled, happy to see her again. “Hi.”
She closed the door behind her and leant against it, looking at me worriedly. “So, I have someone that wants to see you. I was just wondering if you were up to a little visitor.” She raised one eyebrow curiously.
“DJ?” I couldn’t stop the grin that stretched across my face.
“Yeah, but if you’d rather wait a little while then I can just tell him no. I don’t want him to hurt you or anything if you’re not up to it.”
I shook my head fiercely. “Bring him in, I want to see him too.”
She smiled and chewed on her lip worriedly before turning and opening the door. I couldn’t see him yet, but I could hear Rosie telling him that he needed to be careful and that he wasn’t to fool around in my room. When she drew back, he stepped into the room with a nervous smile on his face, as if he was scared of what he was going to see.
He looked adorable. There were little cuts on his cheek and forehead. There were grazes on his arms. He limped as he stepped into the room, probably from his twisted ankle. All in all, he looked great, and he was seriously lucky that all that came out of it was some smoke inhalation and a few scrapes. He was wearing new clothes because, although Rosie had protested, my mom had been out and bought a load of clothes for them both this morning. He also had a brand new Woody doll hanging from one hand.
Feelings bubbled up inside me, making my stomach flutter. The last time I’d seen him properly was in that room, when I’d told him I loved him. Seeing him now, I knew I would run into a burning building for him any day of the week, the same as I would for his mom.
“Hey, Kid.”
His eyes scanned my body and his eyes filled with tears. “You got hurted.”
“I’m okay.” He didn’t need to get upset over me, it probably looked a lot worse than it was.
He pointed to my cast on my arm and a smile appeared on his face. “Momma said that you’d broked your arm and leg like I did. Are you gonna get Anna to draw on yours too?” he asked. “I could help you find a good picture if you want,” he offered. I could already see his brain ticking over with the images that I would have drawn on my cast.
I laughed and nodded. “I’d like that. Though, I don’t think I’ll get Buzz or Woody on mine.”
“Kung-fu Panda?” he offered helpfully.
Rosie giggled next to him, squeezing his shoulder. “I think Nate would rather have The Little Mermaid,” she countered, winking at me. I laughed, and DJ frowned, looking at her like she was crazy.
“But that’s a girls’ movie!” he protested.
“You’ll like it when you’re older, Kid,” I added quickly, which just made Rosie laugh harder.
DJ hobbled over to the side of the bed and raised his leg, about to climb up, but Rosie grabbed him and shook her head fiercely. “No, Baby. You need to be really careful with Nate. Remember what we said?” she said quickly as she pulled him away, lifting him into her arms.
“I just wants to give him a hug,” DJ pouted.
My heart melted again at his words. “Come give me a hug, Kid. Momma’s just being overprotective.” I patted the bed encouragingly. Rosie sighed, looking like she really didn’t want to let him, but then set him down on the bed. Immediately, he scooted over to me, wrapping his arms around my neck, hugging me tightly. I had never known my place in the world as surely as I knew it in that moment.
He pulled back and kissed my cheek. “Does you hurt bad?” he asked, frowning worriedly.
I smiled and flicked his nose. “I’m all good. Stop worrying. A couple of days of hospital food and then I’ll be out. It’s no big deal,” I assured him. He smiled and settled on the bed next to me. I glanced up at Rosie, she was just smiling down at the pair of us with an adoring expression plastered on her face. “Think maybe I could have a quick word with DJ in private?” I asked her hopefully. I really needed to speak to him and see how he felt about us getting married. I wanted him to be able to tell me if he didn’t want that. I just prayed with every bone in my body that he did.
Rosie chewed on her lip and nodded, her eyes flicking to DJ for a split second before coming back to me. “You want to do that on your own?” she asked. I nodded in confirmation, and she smiled warmly. “Okay.” She looked back to DJ. “You be extra careful, okay? I’ll just be right outside with Nanna and Grandad,” she told him, looking at him sternly.
“I will, Momma,” DJ vowed. She smiled weakly and bent to kiss his forehead, before she placed her lips on mine gently.
Once the door closed, I looked down at DJ and smiled nervously. “So, I have something I wanted to talk to you about,” I started, unsure how I should phrase it. He looked at me curiously, his big brown eyes wide and waiting. “So, you know that I told you that I loved you and Momma, right?”
He nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, I tolded Momma for you, exactly like you said. I said that you love us more than chocolate cake,” he replied, looking a little proud of himself for remembering to do what I told him.
I smiled. “Right. Well, because I love you and Momma more than chocolate cake, I was wondering if you minded if your momma and I got married. Like… be a family.” I winced, waiting for his answer.
He frowned. “Married? Like Auntie Anna and Uncle Ashton are married?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “I know I’m not your daddy, but I want to be like your daddy. If that’s okay with you.”
His eyes widened, and he shook his head fiercely. “I don’t want you to be like my daddy.”
My heart sank. I was probably asking too much. I couldn’t really come in and expect the kid to accept me after five months. I obviously still had a long way to go to establish that relationship.
“You don’t? That’s okay,” I replied, trying to hide my disappointment.
He shook his head firmly. “I don’t want you to be like my daddy is. My daddy never comes to see me, he doesn’t play with me like you do, and he always makes Momma cry. I don’t want to not see you if you turns like Daddy. I love seeing you all the time; I’d miss you otherwise. Don’t be like Daddy,” he begged, his eyes glistening with tears.
Wait, what? He thought me wanting to be ‘like’ his daddy, meant that I wasn’t going to bother with him anymore and that I was going to make his mom cry?
“DJ, I didn’t mean it like that,” I said, shaking my head and wiping the tear that ran down his cheek. “I meant that I want to live with you and take care of you and your momma, just like a daddy should. I know I’m not your real daddy because your daddy is Josh, but I want to be like what a daddy should be. We’ll all live together; Momma and I will get married. Maybe one day you’d get a little brother or sister?”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “If you gets married, we’d get to live with you? Like all the times?”
“Yeah. We’d be a family like Anna, Ashton and Cameron are.”
He grinned then and nodded eagerly. “Yeah! We could play building all the time, and you could showed me how to ride my bike some more, and you can let me eat candy for breakfast!”
I laughed at that. “Yeah, I’ll do that, apart from the candy for breakfast one.” I winked at him. He grinned happily, so I flicked his nose teasingly. “You should have been born a Peters.”
“I’m not Peter, I’m DJ,” he replied, shaking his head.
I smiled. “Yeah, I know. So, there’s something else I want to talk to you about too. I’d really like to adopt you. How do you feel about that?” I asked, wincing again.
He looked at me like a curious little puppy, his head cocking to the side. “What’s a-dot?”
“Adopt,” I corrected, grinning. “Well, it’s a piece of paper that says I would be your daddy. It would mean that your name
would change to be the same as mine,” I explained, shifting on the bed, trying to get more comfortable. Where he was pressed against me, it was making my ribs hurt.
He frowned. “So, we’ll both be called Nate?” he asked sceptically.
I burst out laughing and shook my head. “No, Kid. Your last name. Your name is Damon Josh York, right? Well, if I were to adopt you, you’d be Damon Josh Peters. When Momma and I get married, she’ll change her name too, then we’ll all have the same last name of Peters,” I explained.
“I getted your name?” he asked, he looked down at his Woody doll. “Can Woody getted it too? He’ll feel left out otherwise.”
I grinned as my heart swelled. “Yeah, I’ll adopt Woody too.”
His mouth stretched into a huge smile as he nodded. “Okay, cool beans.”
I ruffled his hair and smiled down at him. He’d just agreed and, although it wasn’t yet official, I was now a dad. I had never been more terrified, or proud, of anything than having that title. I could barely even comprehend the emotions that were crashing over me as I looked at him, so I didn’t even try to work it out; instead, I just leant forward and kissed the side of his head softly. His resulting smile made my heart ache.
After a couple of minutes of us just sitting on the bed, talking about what pictures I was going to ask Anna to draw on my casts, Rosie poked her head in the door. She looked a little nervous as she chewed on her lip. When I smiled reassuringly and waved her in, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
“You two okay in here?” she asked, stepping in.
DJ grinned and nodded. “Momma, Nate wants to a-dot me and Woody. He wants to be my daddy,” he boasted. “We all getted new names!”
Rosie laughed to herself, her eyes sparkling as they met mine. “He wants to adopt both of you? Wow, that’s nice of Nate, huh? Peters is a pretty nice name,” she said breathlessly, heading over to sit on the bed with us. She took my hand and I interlaced our fingers, grinning.
“DJ likes the idea of us getting married,” I told her proudly.
“That’s a coincidence, because I like the idea too,” she replied, blushing. She sighed and nodded towards the door. “My parents want to come in and say hi before they leave.
I nodded. “Okay, I could get the other person done today then too. Then you’ll be free to tell whoever you want,” I agreed.
Her mouth twitched up into a smile as she bent forward and pressed her lips against mine softly. When she pulled back I had the strong urge to grab her and trap her there forever, I just felt like I couldn’t get enough of her attention. She pulled back, and I didn’t even need her to say the words, I could see what she was thinking. ‘I love you’ was clearly written across her face. I smiled and kissed her again before nodding to the door.
“Let him in then, let’s get this official,” I suggested.
She grinned, chewing on her lip as she pushed herself up and headed to the door, opening it and waving them in. As soon as they stepped into the room, Tracy immediately ran over and hugged me carefully.
“Oh goodness, Nate, you were so brave saving DJ like that. Thank you so much,” she gushed, her awed eyes glazed over with tears.
I waved my hand dismissively; I didn’t need everyone to keep telling me they were grateful. I didn’t do it for glory. “You don’t need to keep thanking me. Anyone would have done the same thing,” I muttered, shifting uncomfortably under her intense gaze.
Rosie made a scoffing noise in the back of her throat. “No, they really wouldn’t.”
“No, they wouldn’t,” Tracy agreed. “You’re a real hero.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’m a regular Superman,” I joked.
DJ grinned next to me. “You can’t be Superman,” he protested. He looked back at Tracy and smiled. “My daddy’s a hero like Batman, because he can’t fly either.”
I burst out laughing then immediately winced when it hurt my ribs. I grinned down at DJ, who was giggling to himself at his joke. “That was classic. Good job,” I congratulated, holding out my hand for a high five. He grinned and slapped his hand on mine.
When I glanced up at Rosie, she was chewing on her lip, her hands clasped together, just looking at us like we were the sweetest things in the world. That was when his words hit me. ‘My daddy’s a hero like Batman’. My daddy. DJ had just called me his dad for the first time.
A moronic grin stretched across my face because of that choice of word. I guess he really was happy that I was going to adopt him.
George stepped forward and held out his hand to me, his eyes beaming with gratitude. I shook his hand as he seemed to struggle for words to say. “Well, you look like something the cat dragged in,” he finally joked. “Don’t know what you see in him, pumpkin. He looks like he hasn’t washed in weeks,” he said to Rosie.
I burst out laughing and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, she could do much better,” I agreed, smirking at Rosie.
She rolled her eyes in response. “You two play nice,” she scolded, shaking her head with mock annoyance. She looked down at DJ and smiled. “Baby, I should really get you back to your ward,” she stated, looking almost apologetic.
“But I’m not readys to go yet, Momma,” he whined.
She shrugged. “The nurse said you could come and say hi, then you had to come straight back,” she explained. She nodded towards me. “You gonna say bye to Nate?”
DJ turned back to me and sighed sadly. “I gots to go,” he grumbled. “But, I’m gonna leave Woody here with you. He’ll look after you when you’re on your own, okay?” He held out his new Woody doll to me.
My heart melted all over again. “You keep him, Kid. You know you don’t sleep without Woody,” I protested, pushing the doll back to him.
He shook his head fiercely. “Momma’s sleeping in bed with me tonight but you’ll be on your own. I want you to keeped him here. He’ll look after you,” he replied, putting the doll on my lap and bending forward and kissing my cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrows. Momma said I have to stay here tonight, but I can go home tomorrows. Will I be coming home with you?” he asked hopefully.
I smiled but shook my head. “I need to stay here for a few extra days. But you and Momma are gonna go camp out at my apartment. How does that sound?”
He nodded eagerly, smiling now.
“Anyway, you’d better go. Thanks for Woody. You sure you don’t want to take him with you?” I asked, patting Woody on the head jokingly.
“You have him for the night and I’ll get him back tomorrow.” He bent forward again, hugging me tightly.
“Night. I love you,” he whispered in my ear.
I closed my eyes and hugged him back. “I love you too, DJ,” I whispered. He pulled back and grinned, climbing off the bed.
Rosie immediately took his place, her eyes filled with happy tears. “I really didn’t think it was possible for me to fall in love with you any more than I already was, but I was so wrong,” she said quietly so that her parents couldn’t hear.
I smiled and stroked the side of her face. “It’s the Nate Peters magic,” I joked, winking at her.
She laughed and nodded in agreement. “We’d better go. I’ll see you in the morning, okay? You need anything?” she asked, looking like she really didn’t want to leave.
“I’m all good,” I assured her.
She bent forward and kissed me softly before whispering in my ear. “I’ll come back later, when he’s sleeping. If you need me at all then tell the nurse and she’ll call upstairs in the children’s ward.” She looked at me sternly, and I nodded in agreement. She turned back to her parents. “So, are you guys leaving now then?”
“Yeah, we’re getting the train home. We’ll come back tomorrow around mid-morning,” George replied. He turned back to me and smiled. “I’m glad you’re doing good, Nate. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Actually, George, do you think you could hang back for a couple of minutes? I just want to talk to you about something real quick,” I requested.
>
He nodded in agreement, so Tracy, Rosie and DJ, said their goodbyes to me again and then left to go back to his ward. Once we were alone, George smiled down at me knowingly. “I think I know what this is going to be about.”
“Well, if you already know then that’s going to make this speech a whole lot easier. Maybe I’ll just give you the abridged version,” I joked, nodding towards the chair that was at the side of my bed. He laughed and sat down. “Right, so here goes nothing… I know I’m not the greatest guy in the world. I’m never going to earn a fortune or change the world, but I promise to make them both happy. So, I just wanted to ask your permission to marry your daughter.”
He didn’t look shocked at my revelations at all. He smirked at me as he sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. The same hard expression was on his face like when I first met him, but I knew it was an act. I knew he liked me, so this was just a joke – at least, I hoped it was a joke; otherwise I was in big trouble.
I grinned before adding, “Just so you know though, George, I’m doing the right thing by asking here, you know, the old fashioned thing, but if you say no then I’m marrying her anyway.”
The hard expression fell of his face as he rolled his eyes playfully. “So, you want to marry her. Have you knocked her up?” he asked, raising one eyebrow at me curiously.
I shrugged confidently. “Not yet, but I will.”
He laughed and shook his head. “I bet you will too!” he replied. “I should cut that thing off while you don’t have a chance to run away from me,” he joked, nodding down at my crotch.
I laughed, remembering his threat from a few weeks ago about