Flip the Coin [BL]-Chapter 405. Warmth

Henry’s POV

The kid flinched, the tiger growled for a second, and we heard the old lady taking a deep breath to gather air to shout back when Ethan coughed slightly.

"Mrs. Howard. He can apparently hear us; there is no reason to yell."

A few more breaths as she apparently tried to calm down before she spoke hatefully,

"How are you not messed up by eavesdropping on an old lady that is RELATED to you?"

"AS IF I WANTED TO HEAR YOU! YOU CAN’T EVEN HEAR YOURSELF, OR WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING SO LOUD AS IF FOR ME TO LISTEN TO YOUR SOB STORY?"

"WHAT ABOUT YOUR SOB STORY? YOUR PSYCHOTIC FRIEND YELLED AT ME IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE AS IF HE WAS AFTER MY LIFE!" Apparently, she couldn’t hold back in the end.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE! I HEARD YOU YELLING FIRST BECAUSE OF THE FIELD!"

"Did you hear that???" She addressed Ethan.

"I nearly forgot. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY FIELD???"

"YOU CAN’T GET ANGRY NOW WHEN YOU DIDN’T EVEN REMEMBER!" Kenny yelled, and I patted his stomach to whisper in his ear.

"Stop the yelling; the child is scared." I didn’t care, but he shouldn’t overexert himself.

Before Mrs. Howard could gather more air than ever before to answer, Kenny yelled,

"STOP YELLING! YOU ARE SCARING THE CHILD!"

Next, we heard a chair fall and Ethan’s strained voice.

"Mrs. Howard, please stop. Don’t do that. He is a patient; he is a patient." He apparently held her back from coming down and fighting it out.

"Mrs. Howard, how about another drink and a nap? The other rooms are farther away from their room; your privacy is guaranteed there."

Kenny chuckled and took a look at the child.

"Sorry."

The kid stood up from Kitty and came to hug Kenny.

"How are you, boy?"

The child nodded, and I put my head on top of Kenny’s to avoid getting headbutted by the kid.

How annoying.

Upstairs, Mrs. Howard was talked into really going back to bed and calming down, so the screaming match was luckily over faster than thought.

"Sorry for the screaming," Kenny sighed.

"Now go away or you’ll get dirty."

The kid didn’t let go but snuggled up to Kenny.

So annoying.

I squeezed Kenny with my arms around his stomach, and the kid squeezed back with his arms around Kenny’s neck.

Fucking annoying.

"Okay, okay... I need a shower." He patted the kid’s back, and the boy finally backed up to return to the tiger.

I looked up at the IV and noted that Kenny’s was already empty.

"Should I come with you?"

"Pfft. No." He leaned back comfortably while I cautiously removed the needle from the back of his hand.

When I was finished, he stood up and walked steadily to the bathroom, closing the door after him.

I sighed, listening to him turning on the shower before I removed the needle from my own hand and stood up.

"I’ll go shower in the next room." I addressed the kid and pointed at the adjoining room before I went to the closet and took out comfortable clothes for Kenny.

I went inside his bathroom and knocked before entering and placing his clothes on the closed toilet lid.

He was already showering, naked and ravishingly handsome, no matter if full of earth or blood.

"Thanks, I forgot."

I took another long look before I flashed him a grin and closed the door.

"Don’t go inside," I warned the tiger and kid before I took clothes for myself.

"You are both responsible for guarding this room. Got it?"

Hearing my words, Kitty’s ears perked up, and the kid nodded at me solemnly, as if he had just received a really important task.

I pressed my lips together and looked at them just as solemnly before I walked sideways through the doorframe to avoid dirtying the new mattress.

Inside my own bathroom, I hurried the fuck up to be the first to finish. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

When I was dried and clothed anew, I went to the closet and took new bedcovers and everything out.

I had forgotten to tell them that we needed blankets and pillows.

The moment I was ready to push the mattress inside our room, I, however, noticed a stool standing on the other side of the mattress, on the backside of the staircase, with two blankets and pillows, already covered and ready.

That must have been Ethan.

Perfect.

When I looked inside the room, I found the kid and Kitty standing at attention, ready to attack.

...

Seeing their brave demeanor and their eyes that looked so much like Kenny’s... thinking of the boy yelling through the phone that he was not a ’baby,’ the one who had gone through so much neglect... I couldn’t help but see them in a bit of a different light.

I nodded earnestly at them.

"You were a big help. Good job."

The kid broke into a big smile and turned to Kitty, who gave a happy little growl.

I turned back to the mattress and decided to pull it in instead of pushing it.

I could hear the shower still running inside the bathroom, along with movement, so Kenny was okay.

After placing the mattress under the window, I brought the bedcover inside and shook it out.

The kid came forward and snatched a corner of the cover to help put it on.

Our eyes met after we both secured a corner.

Wasn’t this kid practically Kenny’s clone at this point—just a really obedient version?

Made from his blood...

He was DEFINITELY NOT his son.

I nodded at the kid, and the kid nodded back before we finished putting on the cover.

Then I brought the pillows and blanket in before rolling the IV holders out of the room, and we were ready to receive Kenny.

The kid stood obediently on the side of the bed, and the tiger sat behind him.

I clenched my jaw...

... and then I motioned for them to come on the mattress.

Kitty threw himself across the pillows at the head of the bed before I could stop him, and the kid also lunged at the bed, leaning obediently back onto Kitty’s body and covering himself with a blanket.

I wanted to drag the unbelievably brazen tiger away when the bathroom door opened, and Kenny came out freshly showered and clothed, in the midst of drying his hair with a towel.

"You got everything ready! What a big pillow." He chuckled.

"How are you?" I went to him and took his arm to look at his wrist—the wound had naturally healed, and there were no bite marks left.

"...You fucked up really bad today—first sneaking out, then oversharing, then being...clingy in front of the staff sergeant and Danny," he hissed.

"I’m so sorry..." I put my head on his shoulder, asking myself what I could do for him to forgive me.

His voice softened.

"And I fucked up with fighting you and spreading my blood and stuff. So we are... even."

I raised my head happily and pecked his lips.

He grabbed my hair and pulled my head back.

"You are doing it again." He looked at the audience, and I winced.

I didn’t even do anything much—just a peck.

They have already seen it anyway.

He had taken out his contact lenses, just like I had, so I could again see the enchanting color that accelerated my heartbeat with each of his glances.

"I am sorry..." I whispered, showing as much regret over my past actions as I could muster up.

Kenny patted my head before dragging me to the mattress.

The kid made space so that Kenny could lie in the middle, as we all leaned back on the tiger pillow.

Kitty yawned loudly when everyone was in position, with me having an arm around Kenny’s neck and the kid holding onto Kenny’s arm, when he pulled a phone out.

"Are there still cartoons somewhere online? Let’s take a look."

I tried to pull him closer to me while he searched for something, eventually finding one that was child-friendly.

But the kid wasn’t outdone; he would come after Kenny no matter how much he had to lean over, and Kitty would grunt because we all moved, so I had to give up and... share.

For now.

Watching a boring cartoon, with strong heartbeats around, warmth from the back and the sides, a freshly made bed, and a freshly showered body, together with the sunlight fighting its way through the cloudy sky—Kenny was instantly out, forcing me to take over the phone so that everybody could still continue to watch.

Not that I was able to stay awake that much longer either.