The Stallion Man/ a7x [COMPLETED]

Second Heartbeat

*Matt's POV *

I was playing video games with River, so far he was winning. We were playing Call Of Duty and surprisingly, I sucked.

I groaned and threw the controller when I died. River shot me a sad smile and ran his fingers through my hair, "I'm sorry, daddy. Wanna go get ice cream to cheer you up?"

I sighed as I nodded, smiling, "Alright, let's head off."

I got up and made sure my keys were in my pocket. I smiled as I grabbed River's hand and headed towards the front door. Soon enough we got in the car, River instantly turning on the radio.

We drove downtown and I smiled when I passed a certain shop. It was made by wood, that was dyed red. Stickers and a bunch of graffiti were on the black front door. A table with one bench on each side stood under an umbrella. It hadn't changed at all.

I shrugged and stopped the car on the single free parking spot. I cut the engine and River and I got out of the car. I put my hand on his shoulders and walked with him inside the shop. Sure enough, the guy who was once twenty - five when we were ten was still standing behind the counter. He looked over us and broke into a smile, "Oh hello Matthew. Haven't seen you in ages. Came here to steal beer again?"

I laughed as we shook hands, "No, even if it feels tempting. I actually came here to buy ice cream for me and my son."

Mister Williams smiled as he looked down at River, "Oh hey there, little dude. What's your name?"

River waved, a smile on his face, "I'm River. Nice to meet you."

Mr Williams smiled wide,"Hey hey hey, I see River has better attitude than you when you were a kid, Matthew. Is he your only one?"

I shook my head, watching as he made our ice creams from the ice cream machine, "Nope, I have a younger one, his name is Cash. Guess who my wife is..."

He smiled as he handed me the ice cream, handing one to River, "What was your girlfriend's name?... Valary! Is she now a Sanders, huh? Dibenedetto was way too hard for pronouncing, anyway."

I nodded, smiling wide, "Yep, I agree. Hey, since you don't have a lot of customers, do you want to drink a beer and catch up?"

The old man nodded as he went over the counter and grabbed two beers from the cooler, "Yeah, let's head outside to the bench."

We all walked outside and sat on the benches under the rainbow colored umbrella. River licked his ice cream happily as Paul, who I called Mister Williams since I was young, and I clinked our beers together and took a sip.

I sighed in content as River leant against me, making me wrap an arm around him. Paul smiled as he looked at us from his position opposite us, "So, you said the guys have kids as well?"

I nodded with a small smile, "Yeah. I was the first one to have kids, River was born in two thousand and twelve and Cash was born in two thousand and fourteen. Zacky, or as you called him, Zachary divorced his long term girlfriend, Gena and then met his second wife, Meaghan. Well, they got married after they had their first kid, Tennessee. Their second kid is only a few months old, his name is Ozzy. Johnny was the next one to have a kid, he and Lacey are still together, their seven years anniversary is coming up soon. They had their kid in two thousand and seventeen, named him Franklin. Oh, and Brian actually married Valary's twin sister, Michelle, so we're actually brothers-in-law. They had their son, Nicolangelo, a few months after Franklin was born. And yeah, that's pretty much about it."

A frown appeared on Paul's face as he leaned his elbows on the table in front of us, "Wait... Wasn't there another one? A tall, scary looking boy? What was his name... Jer-Jeremy? Joey?... Oh, James."

Even River felt kinda uncomfortable. I sighed and rubbed his arm, "Yeah... His name was James. He is... No longer here with us. This year is the tenth year anniversary of his death. He died in an accidental drug overdose when he was twenty-eight."

The older man sighed as he shot me an apologetic look, "I'm... So sorry, Matthew. He was an amazing guy, even if he was an odd one. I'm sure he is up in heaven now."

I shrugged as I smiled, "Well, yeah, I guess. Thank you. He was a Saint in his own way."

-

I got home and River instantly ran into the kitchen where I could hear Michelle and Valary's voices.

I walked in there and rose an eyebrow when I saw that Michelle's eyes were bloodshot. I made my way to her and wrapped my arms around her, " 'Chelle, what's wrong?"

She sighed as she wiped her eyes, "Brian... He had a nightmare last night. He was screaming Jimmy's name and when he woke up, he locked himself in the bathroom. Nicci is at Papa Gates' house until we figure out what's wrong. Can you please go talk to him, Mattie? You've saved his life before, you should know what to do. I-I tried, but-"

I nodded as I pulled back, "Alright. Stay in here for a while, I'll stay at Brian's to knock some sense into him. Everything will be okay, okay?"

After I hugged Michelle, kissed my wife and said goodbye to my kids, I packed a bag with some clothes for a few days, maybe a week, depending on how bad he is.

I shook my head as I walked down the street, I decided to walk there since it's only five minutes away. Soon enough I saw Brian's house in the distance.

Hopefully he didn't do anything stupid.