Episode 934: Take A Chance On Me?

Not so long ago, it would have been a struggle to believe Jesse might still be alive to see this day on the calendar, let alone doing physical labor in the sweltering heat of the summer sun.

It felt like a miracle.

A day didn’t pass by that Bowie wasn’t thankful to still have their boy with them. Nor did a day go by when he didn’t think about the man responsible for his son’s recovery.

As always, he couldn’t help wondering it it was right to keep quiet about the good Xavier had done. He didn’t like knowing something his wife didn’t, he hated secrets, he’d been hurt by too many of them.

It felt wrong not to let Jesse know that his rock star dad had saved his life.

But Xavier wasn’t Jesse’s dad, not really. Sebastian continually harped on that, reminding Bowie that he was Jesse’s dad in all the ways that truly mattered.

Bowie mostly agreed with that. Mostly.

He loved Jesse and Jesse loved him. It wasn’t every teenage son who would choose to spend the summer working alongside his dad. That decision meant the world to Bowie. Would that have been Jesse’s decision though if the kid knew his other dad could do something as cool as take Jesse out on tour with him?

Bowie shook off the thought as he’d been doing for months now, with Sebastian’s help. It helped to remember that this guy had dropped Ava cold on their wedding day. What if he coldly ditched Jesse? Then there was the drug stuff. Yeah, Xavier had been clean at the time of the operation, but forever? Did Jesse need that influence or unreliability or sadness in his life? Surely it was better if a guy like that wasn’t in Jesse’s life?

What kind of father would Xavier be? That was the million dollar question, and Bowie didn’t have the answer.

He did know the kind of father he was, there was no limit to his love for Jesse, blood relation didn’t even enter his mind. That was his son. Bowie would never ditch him, never choose drugs over him. He would protect him even if it meant depriving him of a second dad. A second dad who maybe wouldn’t be a horrible disaster, maybe the guy would try, maybe he would be one more person to love Jesse with his whole heart. But there was no way of knowing that for sure without taking a major risk.

Episode 935: You've Got A Friend