Chapter Text
When Phineas Valentine was gifted a son, he was convinced God had smiled on him. It didn't matter how this came about, just that his son was healthy and bright, with his ice-blue eyes and his spun golden hair. A holy thing. An angel in his likeness.
When he grabbed onto Valentine’s finger with his tiny hand, there was a sleeping strength beneath his skin, a determination hidden behind his eyes. Valentine thanked God every morning and every night for his perfect, perfect heir.
And Valentine is no stranger to change. It’s one of the things he loves most about his beautiful country. But it’s all so different when he’s on the other side of the net. The wrong side, he thinks.
He had forgotten that time marches on; forgotten that despite every effort, no matter how much he wishes for it, the world is not selective in its change. He had forgotten that buildings will be constructed and demolished without him knowing, forgotten the days will end, the trains will run, the sun will set and rise without his saying so.
He had forgotten many of life's inevitabilities, all great and small and endlessly inconvenient.
But most of all,
He had forgotten that all sons grow up.
He named his son Johnny.