Heroes...And The Rest Of Us.

I try to call Adam on my way back over to Austin's place, but he doesn't answer so I dial the home phone. It rings twice and then I get an automated message.

"We're sorry. The number you are trying to call has been disconnected. Please try again." I pull the phone away from my ear and stare at the screen.

"What the hell?" I say out loud to myself. It's been 3 hours since I told Adam that I'd be back in one hour. He's probably pissed off at me and unplugged the phone.

I pull into Austin's apartment complex and park in the same place as before. As I walk up the stairs, Adam calls back.

"How's it going?" He asks when I answer.

"It's going."

"The mayor of hell was here."

"Your mother?"

"Your mother."

"That's why you unplugged the phone I take it?"

"Yeah. She called first and I didn't want to deal with it when you weren't here, so I unplugged the phone. Little did I know that she was going to get all worried and come over here to make sure I hadn't beaten you to death."

"How nice."

"Your mother hates me."

"No she doesn't. You come from a country club family, in her eyes I could have done much worse."

"Well, that's a relief."

"Your mother hates me."

"She's miserable, she hates everyone. I her eyes I did way worse." I laugh.

"How's the Austin and Jackie thing going?" He asks.

"Well, she's definitely pregnant. Austin is definitely the father and he's freaking the fuck out. I'm walking into his apartment for the second time today because he just called me and said that he had to talk to me."

"Goody for you."

"Tell me about it." There's an awkward silence and he coughs a little.

"Are you pissed at me?" I ask him.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"No."

"Oh....well, I should get going." I say, knocking on Austin's door. Once again, Cody answers.

"OK."

"Babe? I love you, OK?"

"I love you, too." And he hangs up. I sigh and hang up, walking into Austin's house. At first glance there is no one in the living room or kitchen areas. I turn to Cody.

"Where is he?"

"In his bedroom. I think I heard water running in there a while ago."

"Great." I walk down the hallway to the master bedroom and knock on the door.

"What?" He yells through the door.

"What are you doing in there?"

"I was in the shower. Come on in."

"OK." I open the door and go in. He's standing in his walk-in closet wearing only his boxers when I come in.

"Would you like to explain to me what you wanted me to come back over here for?" I ask, plopping down on the edge of his bed.

"I was thinking about what you said to me earlier, about if I could live without Jackie or not, ya know?"

"And?"

"This isn't about if I love her or not, that's never been the question. It's just, I'm not sure if I'm ready to have a kid with her yet."

"This is about if you love Jackie. If you really loved her and knew that she loved you back, you would never have questioned if that baby was yours."

"I know it's mine. I just said that shit because I was fucking scared. It was just a combination of everything. Like, why did she wait so long to tell me what was going on?"

"I don't know the answer to that, Austin. I do know, that it isn't going to do you any good telling this shit to me. You need to call your wife and talk to her about it."

"What about the baby?"

"That's something the two of you need to discuss."

"Did she say that she wanted to keep it?"

"She didn't say anything to me about the baby. Frankly, it's none of my business." He sighs and sits next to me on the bed.

"You should call her, Steener."

"OK...could you give me a minute?"

"Yeah." I get up and walk out of the room and go back out to where Cody is standing in the kitchen drinking a beer. I glance up at the clock on the wall. 4:00.

"This is not how I wanted to spend my day." I tell him.

"How did you want to spend your day? Did you have a bunch of really good plans?" He asks.

"At home, with my husband... alone." I smile at the thought of it. He smirks and takes another sip of his beer.

"Where's Dani? I can't imagine her being cool with you spending the whole day over here drinking beer with Austin while he pouts."

"She doesn't know. She's in Madison visiting her Grandparents." I nod.

"Gotcha."

"Are those two going to be OK?" He asks.

"Austin and Jackie?" He nods.

"Oh yeah. They'll be fine."

"Alright, then I'm going to skate. I'll talk to you later. Tell Adam hi for me." He comes over and gives me a light kiss on the cheek.

"I will."

"And, tell Austin to call me."

"I will."

"See ya, Gontier."

"See ya, Hanson." He walks out the front door and almost as soon as he does, Austin comes stomping out of the bedroom.

"She won't fucking answer." He spits.

"What do you mean she won't answer? Did you try it more than once?"

"Yeah! What do you think I was in there doing all this time, playing with myself?" I roll my eyes and grab my own cell phone.

"Let me try." I go down the hallway and stand by myself in front of the bathroom door, and dial Jackie's number. She anwers on the first ring.

"Hello? Sophie?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm at my mom's."

"Why didn't you answer Austin's calls?"

"I was scared, I hadn't heard from you yet. I thought he was calling to yell at me again."

"He called you and yelled at you?"

"Yes, it was terrible."

"He was calling to try and work things out."

"Oh, well have him call me back."

"Will do." I hang up and go back out to Austin.

"You can call her back now. She said she would answer." I tell him. He takes his cell phone back into his bedroom and shuts the door. I sit down on the couch and watch tv until he comes back out. A few minutes later, he comes and sits on the couch next to me without saying a word. He wraps his long arm around my shoulders and pulls me over to his side of the couch.

"Whats up, friend?" He asks.

"Nothing. What's going on with Jackie?"

"We're going out to dinner at five to talk things over. Try to decide what we're going to do, ya know?"

"I see, so my work here is done? I can go home now?"

"Yeah, I guess. Can you help me find something to wear to dinner that looks like I deserve to be forgiven?"

"Forgiven?"

"Yeah, like I'm a forgivable guy."

"Oh boy." He laughs and pulls me by my wrists up off the couch and into his bedroom. He shows me a bunch of shirts and some pants.

"Put on the black pants with the laces up the sides. Those are hot." I tell him. He starts taking his pants off right in front of me.

"Whoa, dude! Not in here, go in the bathroom."

"What's the big deal? You've seen it all before."

"Yeah, but not recently. And, not while we were both married."

"Oh, please. Do you really think Adam and Jackie are going to get all upset if you see me in my boxers? I was just wearing my boxers and you didn't say a word."

"You're wearing boxers under those pants?"

"Well yeah. What did you think I was going commando?"

"Eh." He finishes taking his jeans off and puts the black pants on.

"Do I look fat?" He asks.

"Definitely." He gives me wide eyes and I laugh at him.

"You are such a chick, Winkler. No, you do not look fat, are you kidding me?" He looks at his ass in the full length mirror thats balancing against a wall in the bedroom. I look in the closet and find a black button up shirt, and toss it at him.

"Here, put that on." I tell him. He puts it on and turns to face me, raising his eyebrows.

"Roll the sleeves up to your elbows."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I like it when Adam rolls his sleeves up, I bet Jackie will too."

"Well, if it's good enough for Adam, it's good enough for me." I walk over to him and stand in front of him. He holds out his arms and I roll up his sleeves so their even.

"Perfect, now put your boots on." I say, stepping back to take a look at my handy work. He sits down on the edge of the bed and pulls his cowboy boots on, then stands up and looks at me again.

"Do I look like a guy thats worth forgiving?" He asks.

"You should take flowers. Flowers would help the situation." He nods.

"Yeah...what kind of flowers?"

"Roses are always good. White ones are my favorite." He nods again.

"Got it, roses." I check my watch. 4:47.

"You should get going if you don't want to be late. I'll clean up around here a little for you, and I'll lock up when I leave.

"That would be awesome. Thanks so much, Soph." He hugs me tightly, almost sufficating me.

"Don't mention it." I smack him back hard, trying to get him to let go of me.

After he leaves, I quickly go through the apartment and pick up a little. I make the bed and set out some candles for later tonight, then I take out the garbage and throw it in the dumpster. I turn off the tv and clean the kitchen counter off, taking all the beer bottles and putting them back in their box that they came in and setting it in a cupboard under the sink next to the garbage can. It's ten after five when I finally leave the apartment.

I drive back to my house and park in the driveway in front of the path that leads down the hill. I walk in the house and throw my keys on the table in the foyer next to Adam's and drop my purse on the floor. There are lights on, and the tv's on, but I don't see or hear Adam anywhere. I walk around the corner and see him asleep on the couch, laying on his side with his arm hanging off the edge of the couch. The dogs are laying next to him on the floor between the couch and the coffee table.

Simba is asleep, but Mabel is awake. She lifts her head and looks at me when I come in. I smile at the sight of the three of them. Mabel gets up and carefully steps over Simba's body, and comes over to me. I crouch down to her level and pet her head.

"Hey girl. Did you keep my boy in line while I was gone? How about Simba? Did they give you any trouble?" I say to her quietly so I don't wake them up. She licks the side of my face and wanders over to Simba, and licks the top of his head. He opens his eyes a little and then shuts them. She starts to lick Adam's hand thats hanging off of the couch and he sleepily moves it back. She nudges his shoulder with her nose.

"No, Mabel." he says to her without opening his eyes. She stares at him for a second and then barks loudly in his face, causing his whole body to jump and his eyes to open.

"What the fuck, dog?" She barks again and looks over at me. He sits up a little and looks over the edge of the couch at me.

"Hey, Babe." I say to him with a little smile. Simba looks up at Adam and Mabel, and then he looks over at me. He stands up and stretches.

"She's home guys." Adam says, sitting up on the couch. I go over and sit next to him, laying my head on his shoulder. He puts his arm around my back and rests his hand on my shoulder.

"Did you get everything sorted out with Austin and Jackie?"

"I guess."

"Are you hungry? Do you need me to get you anything?" He starts to get up to get me something if I need it, but I pull him back down and force us to lean back against the couch.

"Just stay here with me, that's what I need."