Chapter 39

“Yeah, he would. Would’ve liked you, too, eventually. And he’d have been chuffed to be a granddad.”

“I think John’s a nice name.”

Mike squeezed his fingers.

“What about his middle name?”

“Leonard.”

Stephen raised his eyebrows.

“He’s not my dad, and he never will be,” Mike said, “but he’s been great for us. He’s good for mam,and he was good to me, too. Never tried to replace Dad, never made out I ought to forget him, but he was there when I needed someone on my side, you know? When I needed a dad, and my own couldn’t be there.”

Stephen hummed softly.

“I meant what I said at the wedding. And he’ll be our littl’uns’ granddad, whether they’re boys or girls, however we have ‘em. So I want—if we have a little lad, I want him to have both his granddad’s names. Blood and family.”

“John Leonard Parry,” Stephen said, sounding it out. “I think that’s a good name. And a great idea.”