Dr. Jedikiah Price

     Guess who accidentally took a 7 hour nap??? 

He was glad Killian knew what a real family was like now. He and Roger had tried to give Killian some semblance of a family but he was certain that they had failed overall but maybe it was enough that they helped Killian realize that family didn’t need to be as awful as the family he grew up in.

  “What a strange woman,” he giggled, “I couldn’t face Bathory without fleeing, Much less with a weapon as simple as a knitting needle.” So that was the kind of woman she was, no surprise really. Jedikiah had a type, he suspected and it made sense. 

“He scared me so much and yet she would go against him like it was nothing. I think that’s what drew her to him. 

Killian was not usually the one Jed woke up to find crawling into his bed. No, rather than the small boy it was usually his much larger older brother who came in after a trying night with Marla. He was always trying to protect her but it just led to more fights and more nights where Jed lost his blankets to his little brother.

Tonight was different though. Jedikiah had brought Killian home so he could get some rest. The child had come down with the flu a few days ago and no one deserved to be alone when they were sick. Jed had bypassed all the rules and carried the feverish boy to his car so he could take care of him properly. 

Jedikiah almost regretted waking Killian up now that he was half asleep again. He leaned over and shined the light down Killian’s throat. It certainly looked red and swollen but it was probably irritated from the coughing. He would still need to keep an eye on it just in case. “Mmm, could be worse.” 

The tea kettle whistled in the other room. Their grandmother always said it was best to make tea in a kettle. “Let me get the tea and then I’ll come back to bed, okay kiddo?”

 Killian smiled a bit and shrugged his shoulders to himself. His throat felt scratchy and it made him miserable, but to be fair he could still swallow without extreme difficulties so that was a plus. 

       As a school counselor, Killian didn’t have to make late night visits to his clients, but every now and again there was an emergency like this one. The minute he was free, he checked his voicemail. His heart started racing the minute he heard the voice, and then his children. Why would Jedikiah have them? 

“It’s no problem. I know I messed up a lot and I hurt you but I always had a reason even if they seemed pointless in the long run.” he rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess what I’m trying to say is I wouldn’t hurt your kids. I learned my lesson. If I even thought I was capable I would have called John.” he smiled. “Kids have a way of doing that. You used to tell me you didn’t want kids. I’m glad you changed your mind.”

Jedikiah frowned. “I can see that. John lets his past weigh on him, even now. Morgan and Jed worked him over a lot in an effort to get him to come around. I am sorry for my part in messing up your friendship. I miss those days when you and John got along easily.” 

“I suppose so. You definitely are better but you’re still Killian. If it wasn’t for the issues you faced in the past you wouldn’t be the man you are today.” he smiled. “Your kids really look up to you. I don’t really know them but if I had to guess I would say they’re just rebelling, as teenagers do.”

   Jedikiah apologizing over the phone had been one thing but watching him now, hearing him, Killian couldn’t quite process that it was all happening. Even if it wasn’t a direct apology but more admitting that he had hurt him. That’s all that mattered to him. All he needed was to know that he hadn’t deserved what had happened to him. “Thank you. I’m sorry I didn’t trust your word.” 

 A laugh escaped him and he awkwardly messed with his cup. “Let’s just say, I wasn’t very happy about it at first but, I…” He remembered Tony coming and telling him, that they had messed up, that she was pregnant with twins and he remembered his terror. “Lily, she uh, she smiled at me after she was born, it was…there was something about that smile.” Killian wiped at his eye a bit and fell silent. “Ah, don’t have the energy for mushy stories.” 

“Hopefully one day…then again it’s been a bit awkward since he thought he killed me.” No hard feelings and all, but he didn’t quite understand how angry John could keep being after he was the one that had killed him but then again. “I also might have a little something to do with sleeping with his sister but…” 

Jedikiah smiled when he saw Killian wipe the corner of his eye. “Of course, you should sleep. It would be a shame to wake the kids now and you hardly have enough energy to get home tonight anyway. 

“If you need me to knock some sense into him, I’ll get Morgan to do it. He hasn’t figured out how to dispute her when she tells him to do something in a stern voice.”