... our son is taking a shower." A small shiver ran down my spine. "You had to word it that way, didn't you?" He smiled. "No, I didn't. I could have called him 'Alexi' and made it seem more impersonal. But you're not like that, Ken." I smiled. "Let's go." We walked together into the living room and dropped down the g-tube the bedroom. The shower was indeed running, though as I sat down in the middle of the bed I heard the water stop running and the intense blow-dryers installed into the right wall of the shower stall open up with a dull, muted roar. The door to the bathroom was only half-closed. After a few minutes even the roar went away, and the house was filled with the sounds of silence. Then I heard the shower door open, the sound of cloth on cloth (or was that fur?), and Alexi stepped out into the bedroom wearing my old terrycloth robe. Aaden shifted slightly behind me and to my left. "Alexi," he growled softly, "come here." Alexi, much to his credit, didn't even startle as he knelt on the edge of the bed and crawled over to Aaden. Aaden seemed to examine Alexi for a moment, then reached out and pulled Alexi into his lap, face up, leaning against his chest. I smiled to Aaden. My cue. I followed to crawl myself, until I was leaning over Alexi, looking down at him. I supported my weight on my right hand, reaching down with my right and touching the cloth of the robe, feeling it's rough texture under my fingertips, sliding my hand where the robe closed, under the cloth and along the fur of Alexi's chest. I looked into my son's solid grey-green eyes. He stared back at me, smiling just a little, but also surprised. I've got to admit that I was surprised at just how excited I was getting by the prospect of what I was about to do. "Alexi," I whispered as the lights dimmed further, "Are you sure this is what you want?" His gaze didn't falter, but I saw his throat flex a little with a hard swallow. |