“You’re probably right. It doesn’t change how amazing you are with Lexi. You’ve been nothing but patient to her, even when she was pretty horrible to you.” Corey rakes his teeth over his lower lip and averts his gaze. “What do you want to do until bedtime?” He looks around the room. “We could watch TV, play on the games console… we’ve got some board games somewhere.”
I put my fingers under his chin and guide him to look at me. “Actually, I thought you might paint something for me, sweet boy.”
He raises his eyebrows.
“Something for my bedroom,” I tell him. “I’ve got your version ofWhistlejacketup, but I’d like a Corey Morris original. If you’d be willing to do me the honour?”
Corey opens and closes his mouth a few times. “I’m not that good.”
“Yes, you are. Don’t ever doubt your talent, Corey, as an artist or as a teacher. I noticed your art supplies were in your room when Lexi gave me the grand tour the other day.”
“Yeah, that’s where I paint.” He sighs. “Where I used to paint.”
“And where you’ll paint again.”
“Until we move anyway.”
“You don’t want to move?”
He shrugs. “This is the house Lexi’s grown up in. It’s going to be strange moving on, especially without Archie and Blake. But I can’t afford this place on my own, so I don’t have any choice. It’s not even like it’s that nice. It’s just…”
“Home?” I venture.
“Yeah.” He rests his head on my shoulder. “I’ll get used to the idea.”
“I found it hard when Em moved out,” I say.
Corey glances up. “Yeah?”
“Very. After Dad died, she was the one who looked after me. Mum was so consumed by grief and working to make ends meet that she became pretty absent in our lives. So, it was Em and me against the world. When she left, I was pretty lost for a while and also a bit angry.”
“Angry?”
I nodded. “It was selfish of me, but at the time, I was upset that she was building a life for herself without me. I felt left behind.” I chuckle. “She gave me a stern talking to and then kicked my arse until I got into medical school. We don’t need to live together for her to continue to mother me. You and your brothers don’t need to live together to support each other. You three have a special bond. I’m sure you’ll always be there for each other.”
Corey lifts his head and smiles. “You’re right. Thanks, Daddy.”
“Any time. Now… about my Corey Morris original…”
Corey shakes his head as he laughs. “You’re not going to drop the subject until I agree to paint something for you, are you?”
“No.”
“Okay.” He takes a step back and looks at me, eyes slightly narrowed, lips pursed. “But only if I can paint you.”
“Me? I’m not sure I want to hang a picture of myself in my bedroom. It seems a little narcissistic.”
“You know the gentry and royalty got portraits of themselves commissioned all the time, right?”
“As I said, narcissistic.”
Corey rolls his eyes. “Trust me?”
I stroke his cheek with the back of my hand. “I do, sweet boy. Whatever you paint, I know I’ll adore it.”
24
Corey
