Somebody Needs You

Walking down the dimply lit hallway, Luke carefully pushed open the door to his son’s room and smile as he walked inside. The fiver year old was already dressed in his favorite Spiderman pajamas and was in the process of jumping all over the bed, royally messing up the sheets.

“You're going to have to sleep in there, you know,” Luke smiled, laughing as he caught his son who threw himself off the edge of the bed.

“I want to sleep in your bed,” the boy pouted, looking up at his father with blue eyes that were almost identical to his.

“You're a big boy, Jamie,” Luke pointed out as he walked over to the bed and straightened out the sheets slightly, pulling away the covers. “And big boys sleep in their own beds,” he added smiling as he sat him down on the bed.

“Fine,” Jamie rolled his eyes in a way that reminded Luke of the boy’s mother, before flopping down on the bed and raised his arms as his dad pulled up the thick covers. The house was warm and managed to keep out the cold of December, but during the nights it could still get chilly in the rooms and so all the beds had similar thick covers, sure to keep you warm in the early hours of the morning.

“I thought you liked your room,” Luke said as he pulled down the curtains and turned off the bright lamp in the ceiling before walking back across the room.

“I do,” Jamie nodded slightly.

The room was a dream for most children. Decked out in blues and greens it was filled with toys and books, hockey sticks and crayons and Jamie spent a lot of time in it, preferring to mess about there instead of the rest of the house, much to the amusement of both sets of his grandparents, neither of which could understand where he got that from.

Smiling as he sat down on the edge of the bed, Luke brushed his hand over his son’s forehead, brushing away the blonde hair that was a trait straight from his mother and tugged slightly on the NHL inspired covers. “Then you’ll sleep just fine in here, won’t you?” he asked as his son buried himself into the pillow below his head and reached for the stuffed penguin that was his favorite stuffed animal, much to the dismay of his father.

“Okay,” Jamie sighed slightly, turning onto his side. “But will you stay?” he asked quietly, looking up at his dad with large eyes, already knowing that no one could resist them.

“I’ll read you the story and stay for a while,” Luke agreed, getting in under the covers and letting Jamie cuddle up next to him as he reached for one of the books stacked on the bedside table.

“I don’t want that one,” Jamie protested as Luke held up the large book containing several shorter stories about Winnie the Pooh.

“No?” Luke asked. “Then which one?”

“The one with the duck and the swan,” Jamie decided, placing his head back on his father’s chest.

“Okay,” Luke smiled softly, as he exchanged the books. “You are so much like your mother,” he whispered softly, opening the book and placing a gentle kiss on his son’s soft locks.

“Did she like that one?” Jamie asked, looking up at him.

“She did,” Luke nodded as he searched for the page where the particular story began on. “She used to read it to you when you were in her belly,” he revealed.

“I like it too,” Jamie decided, causing his father to smile widely. The boy loved everything he learned his mother liked.

“Of course you do, baby,” Katie smiled softly as she made her presence known, leaning against the doorframe. “You used to kick extra hard every time I read it,” she continued, pushing her away from the wooden frame and wandering into the room, sinking down on the opposite edge of the bed from where Luke was laying.

“I did?” Jamie asked, looking up at his mother like she hung the moon, and to his knowledge she might just have done that.

“You did,” she nodded slightly, reaching out and brushing her fingers over his forehead. “Now scoot, make room for mummy,” she said, lifting the other covers slightly and getting into the bed next to him, smiling over at the man that was now her husband.

The two of them had given him a fright he hadn’t felt since and never wanted to feel again, but they were still there and he loved them both more than he could put into words.

Wrapping his arm around her, he made sure that Jamie was comfortable before cracking the book open in his lap.

It wasn't a long story, but by the end of it, the young boy was already asleep and Luke carefully closed the book, letting Katie place it back on the bedside table. “I love you,” he whispered as she turned back and looked at him.

“I love you too,” she whispered, a soft smile spread across her lips as she glanced down at their sleeping son.

“Don’t ever leave me.”

“I won’t,” she promised softly, leaning over and gently pressing her lips against his before returning to her original position, not wanting to wake up the sleeping boy between them.

Life had thrown them curveballs and some had been rather easy to deal with whilst others had almost caused them their life, yet they were still together and neither of them could be happier.