There was some commotion in the art room that went above the busy sounds I’d passed. I made my way there, curious. When I popped through the door, I stopped in my tracks. All of my favorite kids and staff were standing around a table, cake lit and a homemade banner hung on the wall behind them that spelled out “We Love You, Javi!” They yelled “surprise!” and my hand went to my heart, rubbing, smoothing out the lumps of love that wanted to become tears of joy.
Andrew, walking tall and proud, brought me a card. It was enormous, and the front was decorated in a flurry of artwork I could tell he’d done. On the inside, everyone had signed it and left messages for me. Gordo appeared at my back at just the right moment. I leaned into him for support, choked up at all of the love and support surrounding me.
A new kid, one I didn’t recognize, shyly approached Andrew and tapped his shoulder. Then, to my stunned delight, he began to sign to Andrew. I could see he was asking Andrew if I was the one he’d been talking about. Andrew nodded, a smile like a burst of sun on his face, and turned to introduce us.
“This is my new friend, Alex. Mr. Mike said we had enough help now to have someone else like me here.”
Alex peered at me shyly, his eyes growing larger as he took in all of my tattoos and Gordo’s close proximity.
“Alex, I’m Javi. I’m so glad to meet you. Andrew is one of my good friends, and I know he’ll be an awesome friend to you. I hope to get to know you more soon!”
Alex gave a small, shy smirk, but he and Andrew were still boys, and soon were off signing and playing on their own. It was the first time in my life I’d ever been elated to be pushed to the side.
“This center works because you’re its beating heart,” Gordo whispered in my ear. “Feel proud, Javi.”
And fuck it. I did.
28
Gordo
“Do you need some water?” I asked Javi, who was stretched out on my couch with Giuliana napping on his chest.
“No, b-but thanks. You d-don’t have to wait on me, Gordo,” he replied with a teasing grin. “I’m in good shape.”
My fists closed a fraction. It seemed as if I was taking longer to recover from the accident than he was. Sometimes I still startled awake in the night, the sounds of hospital machine beeps echoing from my dreams. Javi might never understand the absolute horror of what it had been like to watch his sleeping, battered body and not know if he’d come out of the coma.
So yeah, maybe I was going overboard caring for him. I didn’t want to let him out of my sight, going so far as to pack a bag of his clothes and toiletries from his home and bring them over to my place so he didn’t have a reason to go. Doting on him made me feel...relief. Because he was there to dote on, and he so very nearly hadn’t been, in more than one way.
“You keep saying that,” I said, coming to sit on the armrest of the couch, “but I don’t see you protesting about my waiting on you hand and foot. Not really.”
He shot me a cheeky grin. “Nope. It d-does you good.”
I rolled my eyes hard. “And I’m sure you get nothing out of the deal.”
Javi shifted so he could lightly run his foot along my leg without waking the baby. Not that she would wake. When she was near Javi, she was a heavy sleeper, like she knew he was watching over her. Lucky bastard. But oh, how my heart swelled when I saw them snuggling together, two peas in a pod.
I shivered at his touch, the way his toes lightly dragged along my calf. Would it always be like this? Would I always want the way I did when he was near? When we touched? When we kissed?
I hoped to hell I would. “It’s been nice having you here, Javi.”
“Mmm,” he said, sighing in contentment. “You’re a very hospitable host. Taking care of every need.”
With that he winked, and I had to admit, there had been a lot of sex. So much sex. It wasn’t just making up for the time after Kyle and I’d divorced. It was Javi. His smell, clean and with a hint of his hair gel, that made my