[ 48 ] 2019

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"You may be older than both of us. But we'll always be your parents, and you'll always be our little boy. We're proud of you, son."

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Bobby and Claire had been watching over the family from heaven for five years when Bobby Vega decided to ask the higher power for another favor. It was nothing too big, he merely asked for him and Claire to be able to visit their son Arthur in his dreams one night. The worst he thought could happen was that God would tell him no. 

Though he had a family of his own and had been raised by wonderful people who loved him, there was still a void in Arthur Vega's heart. He always thought about what might have been if he hadn't been an orphan. If he had been raised my his parents, or even only his father, he knew his life would have been so much more different. Claire was glad things turned out the way they did though. If it hadn't been for Bobby dying and his sister adopting Arthur, her son might have lived with her and Con. He could have been a bad person like Cole or just money hungry and greedy like Clarissa. Now that she was a new person who regretted her old ways, she thought about the damage she did to her two kids who had grown up with her. They had two parents who were horrible people and had grown up to be terrible people themselves.

Calum had once told her that evil can be inherited because he had been a bad person, and Claire certainly believed that. Two wrongs did not make a right--two evils only served to make an even stronger evil. But Arthur had Bobby who had been a good person. The good in him had cancelled out the bad in her, which was the reason Arthur was a good person.

Bobby knew that things happened for a reason and he was proud of the man Arthur became, even despite all the hardships and obstacles he had in his life. Anyone else would have easily quit and would have been in their right to do so. But even though he had been watching him all his life, Bobby always wanted to meet his son. And he didn't want to wait until his son's death because he wanted Arthur to live a long and healthy life. It seemed that so far, that was what was happening. He was happily married with three beautiful kids--Kellin, Ivy, and Bobby. The first two were the kids of his wife's ex-husband Aaron Quinn. But Arthur loved them like they were his own. Bobby loved them like they were his grandchildren as well. 

His family was growing, just like he had always wanted. 

Bobby Vega came from a big family himseld. He had four siblings--two brothers and two sisters, and he was the baby of the family. His father had even more siblings than he did. Including himself, there were sixteen kids in his family back in Mexico. His mother came from a small farming family near the mountainsides of Barcelona in Spain. But Bobby had never really met them before. From what his father told him, they were wealthy farmers who didn't like the idea of their beautiful daughter marrying some poor boy on scholarship from Mexico. They cut all ties with them when they decided to get married. But his mother still loved them and occasionally wrote them letters when he was growing up. That was why Bobby Vega always knew he wanted a big family. He wanted to get married, have at least five kids, and work as a police officer for the rest of his life. 

His dream was small, and normal. But it had been thwarted when he fell in love with Claire Feeney. They only had one son, who he never got to meet. He didn't even get to see him develop in his mother's womb when he was murdered by Conrad Hood. All because he had been investigating the murder of Ashton Irwin and his family. That was probably the one thing that most hurt. That he couldn't even be there for Arthur before his birth. Claire also never got to meet Arthur because of Con. It was too dangerous for her to even try to approach him. 

Claire knew this too, about how Bobby was feeling, and she felt terrible about taking that opportunity from him. She blamed herself for their misfortune, even though he never blamed her about it. But there was no chance for them to ever have more children, since they could not procreate in heaven. They could only watch as their family got bigger on earth. They had three grandchildren now--Michael, Harley, and Bobby. More if they included Harleen's children with Arthur and the kids they had practically adopted. From there, they already had seven great grandchildren. Harley and Calum got started right away, while Michael and Hazel waited a few years before they had kids. Harley and Calum had Diego, Giorno, Hiram, Narda, and Liesl. Michael and Hazel had Daisy and Kristianne. 

Since God knew that Bobby had always been good, she immediately granted his request. It was the least he deserved.

It was on the night of Arthur's birthday that she allowed his parents to visit him. In the dream, Arthur sitting in his study in a video call with one of his hunters when there was a knock on the door. It was some time in the afternoon and Arthur assumed it was probably Harleen, calling him for dinner. The kids were seven and five respectively--the twins, and Bobby--but he knew they were either playing outside, getting ready for dinner, or getting their homework done. 

"Come in." He called, ending the video call with one of the hunters and he looked up towards the door. 

It opened slowly to reveal a strapping young man that Arthur recognized immediately. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw him. He stepped into the room slowly, hesitantly, and he was dressed in the clothes he last wore when he passed away. Black chinos, a white button up shirt, and a tanned bomber jacket. His hair was clean cut and combed to the side neatly. His brown eyes looked glassy with tears of excitement that wanted to escape. 

Arthur got up from his chair and dusted himself off nervously. It was a nervous reflex, since he quite frankly did not know what to do with himself. When he finally found it within himself to do something, the words left his lips slowly and in disbelief. "Dad...is that you?"

But he knew for a fact that it was Bobby Vega. Though he had only seen him in pictures, he knew he could signal him out anywhere. He had seen photographs of his father all over his aunt's house when he was growing up, and she told him stories about Bobby. How he was a good person and a fine police detective. She also told him about how he was brave and most importantly that he was a good father and would have probably been an even better father.

Bobby nodded his head slowly and Arthur went around the desk to stand in front of him. One thing he noticed immediately was that he was just as tall as Arthur, which was what his aunt told him. Another thing that amazed him was the fact that he looked so young. Then Arthur remembered that he was young. He died when he was only twenty five. Arthur was about twenty years older than him now. Still, he knew this was his father and his vision blurred with tears as he leapt forward and pulled him into a hug.

"It has always been my dream to meet you." He said into his father's shoulder as he hugged him. 

Bobby's arms immediately went for the embrace too and he patted his son on the back. "I have always wanted to meet you too. God allowed me to come to you in a dream so that we could finally meet. And...I have another surprise for you." 

As they pulled away from their hug, Bobby looked towards the closed door to the study. Arthur thought about it, but could not figure out what the other surprise was. For him, it was enough merely to have his father with him for the first time. If even for one night. But he was sure that whatever his father had for him behind that door, he would accept it with all the love in the world.

Arthur nodded his head, signalling that he was ready for his surprise and Bobby placed his hand on the door knob. It was a moment that seemed to go eternally slow. Arthur held his breath in anticipation and Bobby slowly twisted the door knob to get the door open. Out in the hallway was Claire Feeney standing there, and there was a sad little smile on her face. It was a sad smile, but also a look of pride. Of all her children, she knew Arthur was the only one she would ever be proud of. Even before she became a better person. The moment he was born, Claire Feeney knew that Arthur was different and that he deserved a better life away from her and Con. He had to be raised by people who would teach him to be good just like his father had been.

Arthur again wasn't sure how to react. It was as if he were frozen. Bobby gestured for Claire to take his hand and he led her into the room. Now they were both standing in front of their son. His father twenty five and his mother thirty nine. Even then, he was still at least a year older than his mother. It was bizarre and surreal having his parents there. He had never met them before, and he was older than both of them.

Even Claire had never met Arthur. When she had been on earth as a ghost for a number of years, there was never a circumstance in which she had gotten to meet him. She had wanted to meet him, of course. But there was never the chance. 

When Bobby saw the confusion on Arthur's face, he began to explain the situation to him. "I know your mother did a lot of things she's not proud of. But she's changed and now the two of us are happy together. It would mean a great deal to the two of us if you could forgive her and accept her as part of our family." Claire hadn't exactly done anything bad to Arthur. Con was the one who took him from her and gave him up for adoption because he didn't want to raise another man's son. But Claire let it happen. 

She let it happen because she didn't want Arthur to live around Con's hatred. She also knew that Bobby's sister Elenore had agreed to adopt their son and she would do a good job raising him. He would be with family. Despite Elenore not liking Claire before, she told Arthur that his mother could not keep him because she was afraid of a man who had threatened to hurt her. That much was true and though Arthur resented her for much of his childhood and teenage years, he knew that in her own twisted way, Claire Feeney loved him. She had to have loved him and Bobby, otherwise he didn't understand why she was even there now.

"You don't have to forgive me if you're not ready." Claire offered, biting down on her lip nervously and moving a hand to touch his arm. But she pulled it back quickly. She wasn't sure how comfortable Arthur would be with her touching him.

Arthur sighed, but a small smile touched his lips. It was a sincere smile. "If dad can forgive you for everything," Everything you did, he meant to say. But he knew she understood what he meant. "I can forgive you for something small. I know you only gave me up to protect me from someone horrible. And I appreciate that you sent me to dad's family instead of letting me get lost in the world all by myself."

"Thank you, my little boy." Claire said as she started crying, she also jumped forward and pinched his cheek like he was a child. All of this was strange for Arthur. He had heard stories from Harley and Calum about Claire being a selfish and terrible person who only cared about herself and money. But the way that he saw her now, so meek and mild. It was like she had been broken and molded into a new person. But even through that mix of emotions in her, Arthur could tell that she was happy. And that was because she had Bobby in her life and that made all the difference to her. She still sometimes got twinges of mean thoughts or selfishness, like any normal person did. But she pushed the thoughts away because she wanted to be better for herself and him.

"Please don't call me little boy though." He begged her, feeling a bit embarrassed. He then pointed out, "I'm older than both of you." 

Bobby grinned and moved to stand next to him, dropping an arm heavily around his shoulders. "You may be older than both of us. But we'll always be your parents, and you'll always be our little boy. We're proud of you, son."

"And we're proud of Harley and Calum." Claire added, moving to stand to the other side of Arthur and she pulled him into a hug.

This was another thing that made Arthur feel strange. All that affection. Arthur was never really the type to enjoy hugs, he always felt like they were awkward. He was also never really one to tell someone he loved them, even if he did. It was just his way. He knew Harleen, his kids, his grandkids, and Calum knew that he loved them. Maybe it was something he would get used to with time.

For the rest of the night, the three of them sat down and talked about everything. 

-

so i've decided to just keep this at fifty chapters, as opposed to the usual fifty two. but that's because i've wrapped everything up and i dont want to drag this on much longer. i want to just jump into the new series. 

thank you all so much for reading this story. it means the entire world to me. so only two more chapters until the end. please stay tuned.

have a wonderful night everyone! stay safe.

-clary