Javier's Chico

7.

He woke up the next morning to John and Mateo waking him up. It was clear they were trying to scare him, but Mateo's contagious little giggle woke Javier up before they had the chance.

"¡Buenos dias mi corazoncito!" Javier sat up and cuddled with his boy, Mateo was still sleepy and hadn't fully woken up just yet. His hair was a wild mess too; his pretty curls could be such a nuisance to maintain at times. "You slept good?"

"Yes papá! I miss you!" A tight hug that morning was just what Javier needed.

"I missed you too, my boy.."

"He got up this mornin' an' didn't even fuss. He wanted to scare you awake, I think he's hungry now."

Javier placed Mateo on his own bedroll to change his clothes; a white undershirt and a little blue vest, black jeans and the tiniest boots Javier had ever seen. He brushed through his soft hair with a comb and styled it nicely. John watched Javier, and something was rather different, something he hadn't noticed before, he just couldn't place it. Something on Javier's body looked out of place.

"I'll take him for breakfast while you get ready." John said rather awkwardly, still trying to figure out what was different. Javier nodded and gestured for Mateo to go with John. The boy did as he was told, with a big smile as always, and took John's hand.

Javier dressed in a similar outfit, but with a gray jacket and his sombrero since it seemed to be quite sunny out. He couldn't wait till Mateo was a little bigger and he could find cute little sombreros for them to match, for now, all the one's Mateo tried on either covered too much of his face, or completely covered his head. Back home, Javier had so many clothes for him, that he couldn't take. In fact all of Mateo's toys and clothes sat abandoned in the small house they lived in with Javier's sister.

He emerged from the tent to find John happily kneeling in front of the wooden crate Mateo was sitting on, letting him finish off the remaining rabbit from last night for his breakfast. John actually listened too, making sure Mateo ate with a spoon instead of his fingers, and made sure he wiped his hands and his mouth clean when he was done.

"You look like your pa." John smiled, poking at Mateo's little nose. He really did, just shorter and curlier hair and his face was a little more rounded than Javier's. But still, it would be impossible to deny that Mateo was Javier's boy.

"Didn't know you and Javier were so close." Dutch had been observing from afar, Javier seemed at his happiest talking to John, and the boy had never trusted anyone else except John and Arthur to be near him.

"He's pretty nice. I wasn't so sure why you brought him in but he's a good guy." He said with a smile as he wiped Mateo's mouth with a cloth, just as Javier did every morning and after every meal.

"You fellers question my plans but they're always right. I knew Javier would be a good ally, he's got that look."

"What?" Bill snorted. "You find him in a chicken coop practically food for the vultures an' you think he looked like he belonged here? You're losin' your head Dutch. They ain't even supposed to be here. Fuckin'.." A word that Mateo heard well, and he knew it wasn't a good one. John's head snapped around instantly, bewildered as to why even a man like Bill would spit out that kind of shit in front of a child.

"You're mean!" Mateo pouted in Bill's direction, only prompting him to laugh, even when the boy's eyes flooded with tears. John, still in disbelief over what Bill said, picked Mateo up and took him away—he would've continued spilling that sort of shit if he hadn't.

"Don't talk to Bill, he ain't...very nice to you or your pa." He tried to remember how Javier soothed him, bouncing him on his hip a little, stroking his hair and hugging him. But it seemed he hadn't quite gotten the hang of soothing children yet.