Aquarelle [h.s]

epilogue

"You can use orange to colour in the shadow there" I stated as I looked over my son's shoulder at the paper sheet on the coffee table.

He gave me a nod, taking the felt tip pen and using it to colour the shadow of a cat on the dark yellow he'd used for the wall of the house that was behind it. "Are shadows on yellow really orange?"

I tilted my head. "Not quite, but it'd be hard to do them of the right colour with felt tip pens" I replied, offering Luca a little shrug, not even noticing the front door had been opened.

"What's going on here?"

I turned around as soon as I heard the question, just in time to see Harry walk into the living room and close the door behind himself, putting his bag on the floor and standing close to the entrance as he took off his long black coat.

I went back to looking at the colourful piece of paper that was on the coffee table right in front of us, following the lines of the drawing with my eyes before looking back up at him. "We're drawing" I stated, and Harry raised his eyebrows, walking closer to us and sitting on the white couch we were leaning against.

"It's the cat from the story you told me!" Luca told him cheerfully, an excited look in his hazel eyes as he turned to look at his father, and I sent him a suspicious glance.

Harry let out a nervous laugh, putting his elbows on his knees and looking at the drawing from over his shoulder. "That's lovely" he stated after some seconds, squeezing Luca's shoulder gently before taking off his shoes and standing up, walking in the other room while holding them.

"Dinner should be ready soon, bring these back to your room please" I told Luca gently, motioning to the felt tip pens that were on the table before standing up and following Harry out of the room, finding him in the kitchen easily.

I walked inside and took the table cloth, putting it over the table in the middle of the room and casually taking the clean dishes from the dishwasher as I side-glanced at him while he was sipping some water from a clear glass.

"What kind of stories do you tell him before going to sleep?" I asked him after some instants nonchalantly, too curious to let the thing continue without asking any questions. "He's always talking about how good they are."

Harry cleared his throat and put down the glass on the counter behind himself, seeming to be a bit embarrassed by the question. "Only some... things" he replied generally, awkwardly scratching the faint stubble on his jawline.

"Oh yeah?" I asked him as I turned off the stove under the sauce, already having a slight idea of what could it be, the way he quickly pushed himself off the counter to help me set the table instead without saying a word proving that I was right.

"Dad told me you said he's a cat" Luca stated loudly walking into the room again, and I raised an eyebrow, shooting Harry a quick look.

"Did he, now?"

"Used to" Harry specified with a little shrug, trying to demean the importance of his words.

Our son sat on the chair next to him, glancing up at him. "I think you're a cat too, dad" he said, a serious look in his eyes.

Harry seemed to be surprised by the statement. "Oh? Why's that?" He asked him, sounding confused and curious at the same time.

The little one shrugged, munching on a piece of bread as soon as I put it on the table. "You sleep so much on Saturdays" he then said, offering him a little shrug.

"I don't" Harry said, a frown on his face, "do I?" He asked, looking up at me as he sought confirmation of his own thoughts.

"Just a bit" I had to let him know, giving him a little smile before looking at Luca. "Dad works a lot during the week, he's tired" I explained, wanting to make sure Harry too knew it was okay to oversleep from time to time. Considering his past, I would've never considered him sleeping a bit too much during the weekend an issue. "Have you washed your hands?" I asked the child, and he shook his head.