A/N : A fanfic I took a long time to write. I was wondering how Johnny would learn about his dad's injury. Please review if you liked it
"Mummy, why does Daddy walk with a stick ?" a 7 years-old Johnny asked his mom, who looked up from her daughter, who was cradled in her arms in their old settee, to look at him, playing with his toy on the ground next to her.
The little boy had never brought up this question before. He had always known his dad with his cane and had never questioned it. When he had made his first steps, he clung around John's cane. Once he had grown up a little, he wanted to try it, to be like his father. Not so long ago, he had convinced himself it was a weapon to fight monsters, it was his mom's story and Johnny believed his mom's words to be the holy truth. John had never had to explain any further. But their little boy had grown up and was now at school, he started to wonder about the world.
"What brought this on ?" Anna asked, slightly worried.
"Yesterday at school, Andrew saw Daddy when he came to take me home…"
"Has anyone said something mean to you about Daddy ?"
"No, no Mummy, he just asked why Daddy had a cane. I told him the reason you gave me but he wouldn't believe me", he said, a little sad.
Anna's heart broke a little at this. Her precious son still believed in the story she had told him when he was a little boy. She didn't want him to be tarnished by the harsh reality of it. But he had to eventually, kids would ask and she didn't want him to be mocked. She knew John had been reluctant in telling him the truth. He wasn't exactly ashamed of his injury but he knew how people looked at him. He had wanted to cure it once, because he was sick of people doubting his capacities or mocking him. But in the end, some people accepted him like he was and he had regained confidence in himself. Nevertheless, when he had learned he would be a father, he had been worried that his children would think of him as a bad father or be ashamed of him because of his injury - who restricted him from doing a lot of things others dad did -. He couldn't play football or cricket with his son, he couldn't run with him either but their son had never once been mad at him for that. John had been glad of that. He had teached his son how to fish, how to read and write, and how to bake. They had a lot of activities between father and son. His cane was a long gone concern now but he wasn't prepared to deal with his son's questions about it. John wanted to forget his past as a soldier as much as possible.
"It's not the real reason, right ? Daddy doesn't have a cane because he can't fight dragons ?" He said, very seriously. Her clever, clever son.
"Come here" she said, patting the place beside her on the settee with her free hand - the other stroking her daughter's golden locks, both of her children were her exact double -. He sat next to her and looked at her, his blue eyes fixed on her.
"Would you like me to tell you ?" He nodded eagerly.
"Well, way before you daddy and I met, our country was involved in a war"
"The Great War ?", He asked as he recalled learning it in class.
"No, baby, we met after the Titanic had sunk, in 1912. This war was the Boer War. It was between 1899 and 1902. Your daddy was a young lad at that time" She didn't tell him how she was a teenager at that time or that he was married to Vera. Their son didn't need to know everything.
"Oh. So Daddy was in a war ?"
"Yes. He fought alongside His Lordship"
"Lord Donk knew Daddy before he started to work for him ?" He sat straighter, very curious about this story.
"Yes. Your daddy was his batman"
"What does that mean ?"
"He was the closest soldier, the one who helped him. So, one day, they were shoot by Boers -"
"Who are the Boers ?" He interrupted her.
"Oh they were the enemies. South Africans."
"Daddy has been to South Africa ??" He exclaimed but not too loud so as not to wake his sister. He was stunned.
"Yes. He even saw lions" she replied with a smile.
"Wow, that's amazing. Have you been to South Africa, mummy ?"
"No, never. It's really hot over there. I only went to France, Scotland and Ireland" he looked less impressed but offered one of his smiles, so like his father's.
"So Daddy fought against the Boers ?" He pressed.
"Yes. One day, he and His Lordship were faced by the Boers, who tried to shoot them. Your dad tried to protect His Lordship and took the bullet in his knee"
She was suddenly tearful. She had heard this story only once, when she had visited John's mother in London before the war. The old woman was so proud of her son and Anna had fallen even more in love with him. She had never heard John talk about it, even when they were married. She had discovered the scar during their wedding night, he feared her disgust at first, which clearly showed on his face. She had wanted to reassure him that she was not and had kissed him there; she did it again when he came back from prison to prove him that she would never think of any part of him as something disgusting. He was so grateful to have such a kind and loving wife. She had promised John that they wouldn't tell their son about Vera, prison or her attack, not until he was an adult at least. He didn't need to know about this part of their life. It was part of their story and had brought them to this day, where they were the owners of the Grantham Arms and parents of a son and a daughter.
"Daddy saved Lord Donk's life ?" She nodded. "So Daddy got his cane because he's a hero ?" she chuckled at this.
"Yes, your dad is a hero," she smiled brightly. She was proud of her husband, even when he was not. She always told him how is injury showed what a great man he was, someone who was ready to risk his own life to protect someone he cared about.
"That's even better than dragons" he said joyfully.
"Do you think so ?" She asked him, ruffling his blonde hair. He noded eagerly.
Later in the evening, when John was reading on the settee. Johnny came by his side. He looked at him with eyes full of pride. Catching his gaze, John asked
"Is something wrong, little man ?"
"No, Daddy. Mummy told me you're a hero"
"Why did she say that ?" he was confused, looking up to his wife who was knitting on the armchair in front of him. She smiled cheekily but did not answer.
"I asked her how you got your cane. She explained you saved Lord Donk's life in Africa !" He said very eagerly.
"Are you not disappointed I can't fight dragons ?" John wanted to stay his son's hero and wondered what he would think of this less appealing reality.
"It's way better ! You fought the bad guys and saved Lord Donk. You are like The Shadow !" John laughed at the fact of being compared to a comics hero but tears began to gather in his eyes. He was still his son's hero. Obviously the little boy didn't know he had to kill people who, like him, had not chosen to be in a war.
Later, when he was in bed, cuddling with Anna, he stroked her hair and said "Thank you"
"What for ?"
"For telling Johnny the truth, I feared for so long that he would stop seeing me as his hero if he knew the truth but he seems to like it more" he said honestly.
"He's a little boy, he thinks soldiers are like his comic heroes, fighting the bad guys. He doesn't understand what war really means…and let's hope he never has to find out" she said, with a slightly sad tone.
"Yes…"
"You'll always be his hero John, you know ? You're his dad. Dads are always our heroes" she told him, stroking his cheek. She thought of her own father, who had died when she was little but had been her first hero way before she had met John.
A/N : "The Shadow" is the hero of a 1930 comic of the same name, who was fighting the crime.