Page 69 of Leo and His Love Bunny

He looks worse than I expected, and I’m pretty sure Leo is shocked.

“Dad?” he says as he walks in the room.

“Son,” John says, his head coming up as he recognizes Leo’s voice immediately.

Leo puts his hand on my back and we walk side-by-side over to the couch. I feel like maybe he’s drawing strength from me, or, maybe it’s just my imagination, but I’m pretty sure he appreciates me being beside him.

“You guys are back?” John says, and Leo nods.

“Briggs and Carson had a good time. We fed them supper, and got them sugared up too.”

John grins. “Your mom used to hate it when I did that with you.”

“I remember,” Leo said, and I wonder if he had been thinking about that while we were eating. We had talked, but I didn’t know that was something he and his dad used to do.

“It’s been years since I walked up Mistletoe Falls,” John said. He shifts on the couch, as though sitting up, and I think Leowants to stop him, but he doesn’t. “I guess I’ll probably never walk up it again.”

“Dad. Don’t talk like that. You have to be convinced that you’re going to fight and win,” Leo says, and the note of pleading in his voice makes my throat close. I shift closer to him, and his arm goes around my waist, pulling me tight.

I bring my arm up and put it around him. I can feel the tension in his body.

“I’m not going to try to pretend this isn’t serious. And most likely the end. That’s life.” John sounds pragmatic, but I don’t know how anyone could be in his position and not be afraid. Even though I feel like I’m not afraid to die, actually doing it might be something completely different. I know that death is a part of life, but I want to have a long life before I have to think about dying.

I definitely don’t want to have to think about my parents dying, and I can’t imagine what Leo must be going through right now.

“I wish you would. You don’t have any chance of winning if you’re not even trying to fight.”

John waves his hand in the air as though waving the words off. “The boys need a father. I had hoped in my heart that maybe you would... Step in a little. I know we haven’t been on the best of terms.”

John seems to want to say more, but he closes his mouth.

I don’t know what Leo’s going to say. I feel like he wants to exhort his dad to continue to try to get better, and that the idea of saying that he’ll be a father figure to his brothers is paramount to him giving his dad the okay to give up.

I’m kind of surprised when he speaks. “I enjoyed my time with them. I’d like to know them better. As a brother, you’re their dad.”

John grunts and one side of his mouth turns up. I think he might be smiling. He nods. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

It seems like they understand each other, even if I’m not exactly sure what was said, they seem to know.

They talk a little bit more, mostly about what we did that day, and about Leo taking them again sometime. And then they’re talking about Addison taking them to Leo’s games and I say, “I can go with her. I can give her a hand if she doesn’t want to go alone.”

What am I thinking? I’ve never gone to a hockey game. I wasn’t really planning on going this year, except... I know I want to. I want to see Leo do what he does best.

Leo looks down at me with so much gratitude on his face that I’m not sure I can stand it. I look over at John and he is looking the exact same way.

It’s obvious that these two are father and son. Even if one is in his youthful prime and one is battling an illness that will most likely take his life.

“I know Addison will really appreciate that. She is a little nervous about going places without me. She isn’t used to being on her own. Especially with two boys.”

“The boys can be a handful,” Leo said, and I figure he knows.

It’s not long after that that we leave, and Leo’s arm is still around me, until he opens the door, and I walk through first.

He casually takes my hand as he walks down the sidewalk and I’m reminded of the Fourth of July. It’s August now and he hasn’t held my hand since. I guess I can give him a pass for this though, since I know that visiting his dad and seeing him like that wasn’t easy.

“Thank you,” he says to me, and I nod. We walk around to my side of the car and he opens my door for me.

That’s normal, but it feels different when he’s holding my hand.

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