Javier's Chico

15.

Arthur had a kid once before. He knew what he was doing, Javier could never trust anyone with his kid and even at times, he couldn't trust Mateo alone with his family. He liked to be with his son all the time, just in case he needed him. But Arthur's previous parenting skills were the only reason Javier agreed.

As Mateo's eyes lay on Javier, his little arms reached out for him. He lay his sleepy head on his chest and curled up, still unwilling to wake up, "Mateo, ¿te gustaría ir a pescar?"

"¿Pescar contigo?" By the village they used to live in was a small lake. Javier learnt to fish there when he was much younger, he remembered catching fish for the whole family and he really got the hang of it. Then he'd go fishing for himself and Mateo, and he'd sit Mateo down at the edge of the water while he caught fish.

"No cariño, con Arthur." Mateo looked up and down at Arthur.

"Papá..." He whined, clinging tightly. Javier worried he was too distracted from his guard duty, that Dutch or Bill would come over and yell at him.

"I can't, Mateo. You can fish with Arthur, or stay with John."

"I go with Arthur?"

"You want to?"

"Mhm, not like here.." His English was barely understandable at times, and Hosea was having a real difficult time trying to teach him English.

Javier handed the boy back to Arthur, he was still barely awake and as soon as he went in Arthur's arms, he let out a tired sigh and burrowed himself into the other man.

"C'mon then, let's get your clothes changed," Arthur certainly felt a little odd, now realising he was gonna have to change the clothes of this kid, Javier didn't seem to mind too much, "That's alright with you, ain't it?" He asked, question directed at Javier.

"Ah..." He could tell Javier was a little uncomfortable with the idea of someone he barely knew changing his kids clothes, "I will do it. Hold my gun."

He didn't mind the trustable gang members taking Mateo out on their horses for a while. He too agreed that watching the boy sit around camp all day picking flowers or playing with absolutely no one because they were too busy, it was a miserable thing to watch. But he definitely had a line where he was uncomfortable with the gang around Mateo, he didn't mind John helping since Mateo was a slippery little kid and hated getting changed, but that was it.

He hummed, finding a clean white shirt and a blue jacket for the boy, a pair of dark brown trousers and his little boots. By now he was starting to fully wake up, but his eyes still looked tired. He also hadn't eaten that morning so Javier picked an apple from Pearson's cart for him to eat.

Arthur stood guarding while he waited for Javier to come back, hand in hand with his sweet boy. He handed the apple to Arthur who looked a little confused by the action, "Before you fish, make sure he eats. He had no food yet."

"Got it, anything else?"

In fact yes, there was a lot more he had to say about watching Mateo, but nothing Arthur wouldn't already know from having a kid of his own, "No, just make sure he eats."

"Alright. See you later then."

"Mhm," Javier's young bones were already starting to crack every time he kneeled down, he got to his son's height and kissed the tip of his nose, "Diviértete, muchacho. I'll see you soon. Te amo."

"Adiós papá, te quiero más." The boy fell right into Javier's arms for a tight hug, and it was such a sweet thing to watch. Arthur reckoned Javier could do it, he could parent this kid in such a bad situation, he tried his best for Isaac but now, he could watch Javier do what he couldn't.

"Nunca, mi amor. Have fun."

~~~

Hours passed and Javier stood tall still. Dutch brought over a bowl of soup for him while he took a short break, only to return back to guarding. He was getting tired, but when Arthur returned, Javier would finally be relieved of his duty.

Arthur's horse came riding in a few hours after leaving, with Mateo perched on front, but the happy feeling he felt quickly disappeared when he saw Mateo was absolutely sopping wet, covered by Arthur's coat. The one promise Arthur made, he broke.

"Javier, I swear this was an accident—"

Javier dropped the gun and grabbed his boy right off of Arthur's horse, holding him close to warm him up. He was shivering like crazy, but he was laughing. Javier on the other hand, was not.

"What happened? Why weren't you watching him? I said, no water."

"Yeah...well. He said he knew how to fish so I let him try, with a smaller rod of course. Somethin' big caught on cause the next thing I know, he's on the floor tryna reel this thing in. He fell, he didn't go underwater or nothin', honest. I shoulda been holding the rod with him though, it was my fault an' I'm sorry."

Javier stayed in silence. As angry as he was, he was grateful Arthur wasn't coming up with some half-assed excuse or lie. He didn't try to blame Mateo for it either. "Mateo, ¿te caíste?"

"Sí, papá. Lo siento.." The boy's lip trembled with the cold, he needed fresh clothes.

"Let's get you changed, eh? You will take over guard duty now?" He looked at Arthur.

"Sure. I'm real sorry Javier. I shoulda been payin' more attention. Don't be mad at him, will 'ya?"

"Thank you for the honesty. See you later Arthur."