Heroes...And The Rest Of Us.

I'm sitting at my desk in Jack's bedroom by myself, drawing some sketches for a tattoo that Jack wants to have done on his ribs. I have one foot up on the chair and the other down on the ground, spinning the chair from side to side while I work. Jack is outside on the deck, and I have no clue where Adam is. Somewhere in this house.

I put my pen up and stick the end of it into my mouth, and look over what I have drawn so far.

Jack said that he wanted a realistic looking angel that was holding a cross, and after that, he gave me complete freedom with whatever I wanted to add to it. So far, I've got the angel and the cross, and I've added some roses and some clouds in the background. I want to do some lettering, but I have no idea what to put down.

I hear the french door that leads out to the deck open, and hear Jack come inside the house quickly.

"Ice cream man!" he yells through the house.

Before I realize it, I feel my feet hit the floor and start moving as fast as I can towards the front door. Jack is already at the front door and is trying to open it when I get there. I see Adam run out of the bedroom and he falls into line behind me.

Once the door is open, the three of us run as fast as we can down the hill to get to the ice cream truck that is down in Highland Park, which is right behind our house.

I was in such a hurry that I forgot to put shoes on, which is fine until we hit the unpaved path that leads through the woods in our backyard, to the Park.

Jack hits the road first and I'm right on his heels. I see the ice cream truck parked on the side of the road, and a bunch of kids and their mothers standing beside it. When they see us running towards the truck, I see a group of mothers look at us like we're insane. As I've stated before, our neighbors hate us. I'm not really sure why, they just do.

All of the kids are standing next to the truck ordering their ice cream, and their mothers are now standing off to the side watching. Adam, Jack, and I, all run up next to the kids and stop to wait our turns. We're all panting wildly from our run.

I see the guy in the truck give us a look, then go back to what he was doing. I realize that we must look pretty strange, waiting in line for ice cream with a group of people who are all three to four feet tall.

"Sophie babe," Adam says to me, "do you have any money?" I reach into the pockets of my jeans and pull out a dollar bill. I look at him in his running shorts and shoes, and figure that it's a safe assumption that he doesn't have his wallet.

"I'll get it," Jack says.

"I can run back up and get some money, it's fine," I say.

"I said that I would get it, mama."

"You don't have to, though. I can go get some money."

"Get up there and order your ice cream, woman. Jeez," he says, pushing me up to the side of the truck to order.

We all order mint chocolate Drumsticks and Jack pays for them. We decide that while we're eating that we'll walk down to the dock.

Right after Adam left on tour this last time, a twelve foot stretch of beachfront went up for sale. When I found out, I immediately called and asked him about it and we bought it. Our house didn't come with any beachfront, so anytime we've wanted to go swimming, or just hang out by the water, we've had to use the public dock. Now, the public dock is all fine and dandy, but if you use it at night, you have to be off of it by a certain time or you will get fined.

Usually, nobody is around to fine you. But, since our neighbors hate us, anytime they see us out there past the curfew, they call and have someone come out and fine us. This has happened three times now. With our own dock, we can come and go as we please, and no one can say anything about it.

We walk out to the end of the dock and sit down, dangling our feet into the water. After the run through the woods, the cool water feels really good on my barefeet.

We all finish our ice cream at about the same time. Jack stands up when he's done and takes off his shirt and shoes. I don't think much of it, until he starts to unbutton his jeans.

"What are you doing?" I ask him.

"Going swimming," he answers, simply.

"In your underwear? We're in a public place. There are people that live in those houses up there!" I say, pointing at the houses across the road from where the docks are.

"So what? You think they've never seen underwear before?" he says, and jumps into the water, creating a large splash.

Adam gets up and starts taking his shirt and shoes off too, and before I know it, he's in the water with Jack. I stand up on the dock and watch them swim for a couple minutes.

"Come on, Sophie babe. Come swim with us!" Adam says to me. I see Jack behind him mocking the way he said "Sophie babe," I roll my eyes at them both.

"Babe! I'm not dressed for swimming at all!"

"So what? You think these people have never seen underwear before?"

"We're so going to get our asses kicked already! You know these people are just waiting for a reason to call the cops on us, down here. Me swimming in my underwear would be a pretty damn good reason," I say.

"Oh come on, you're not that hot, mama!" Jack says. I raise an eyebrow at him and glare. Both him and Adam laugh at me.

"Fine," Adam says. He swims over to the edge of the dock and pulls himself out of the water, and up onto it. He's dripping water everywhere. He walks over to me and tries to hug me, but I push him back.

"You're going to get me wet," I say to him.

"I just want a hug." he wraps his arms around me again and this time and tap his back lightly with my hands.

"Yup, that's nice, babe. Now let go of me, you're getting me wet."

He lets go and turns away from me, like he's going to get back in the water. Then, before I even realize what he's doing, he turns back and comes running at me, grabbing me around my waist and shoving us both into the water.

I flop on my back and feel my whole body go under, with Adam's body coming down on top of me. His fist connects with snap on my jeans when we hit the water, and I feel like I've just been punched in the gut. I pretty much have, actually. I come back up out of the water, spitting water out of my mouth.

"You asshole. You punched me in the crotch!" I scream. I look around to get my bearings, and see a couple and their kids on the next dock over, looking at me with startled looks on their faces.

Adam and Jack are laughing like wild hyenas. I splash them both in the face and swim over to them.

"Assholes. You are both assholes," I whisper to them so the kids don't hear me. They both continue to laugh at my expense, so I splash around with them for a little while. I smooth my wet hair back out of my face and we all tread our feet in the water for a few minutes, then we get out and start to walk back home.

Since we had no towels with us, we all drip the whole way home. I have Adam carry me up the path through the woods, so that I don't damage my feet any further.

As soon as we get into the house, we all dry off and change out of our wet clothes.

I walk through the house towel drying my hair after I get done changing in the bedroom. I notice that Adam has already changed and is outside on the deck, drinking a beer in one of the lounge chairs. Jack comes out of his bedroom, holding the drawing of his tattoo that I was working on earlier.

"What do you think?" I ask him.

"It looks really good."

"Well, it's not done yet."

"It looks good, mama. Thank you," he says, wrapping one of his big arms around me.

We walk out to the deck and sit with Adam. I sit in one of the regular chairs and prop my feet up on the railing.

I look at Adam and Jack in silence, and think about all the things we've been through in the last six months. It hasn't been that long since we met Jack in that hotel room, and took him to Vancouver with us, but a hell of a lot has happened since then.

I've had some of the worst and best times of my life in the last six months, with these two. Adam and I have been through a lot since we met Jack. It's taken it's toll on us both, I think. But, in the end it's always made us stronger as a team, and as a couple.

"What are you thinking about?" Adam says to me, snapping me out of my trance.

"What?" I say.

"What are you thinking about? You look like you're off in your own little world." I smile.

"I'm thinking about us. All three of us, and all the shit we've done together. All the shit we've been through together."

"Me making your lives a living hell," Jack says with a smirk.

"Not at all. It's been tough, but you guys have given me the best and worst times of my whole life," I say.

"What's the worst?" Jack asks.

"I bet I can guess," Adam says.

"You probably know it," I tell him.

"When Jackie, here relapsed." I nod at him. Jack looks down at his hands.

"Mmmhmm."

"I'm sorry," Jack says.

"You don't have to be sorry. We have you back now, that's what matters to me. It baffles my mind how the three of us could have gone through this shit, and made it to be how we are, sitting here right now." None of us say anything after that.

"What's been the best?" Adam asks.

"The best is yet to come, love."

"And how do you know that we're going to be the ones that give it to you?"

"You have no choice. You're giving me the best times everyday, though. Everyday that you're here with me, healthy." he takes a sip of his beer and I yawn, stretching my arms up over my head.

"Tired?" Jack asks me.

"Mmhmm."

"Then take a nap."

"I think I will." I get up and go into the house by myself, and lay on the couch. A second later, I hear Adam come in. He lays on his side next to me and wraps his arm around my body possessively, like he does everynight when we sleep together. I lay on my back and look over at him. He watches me with a blank look for a second, then uses his fingers to press my eyelids shut. I smile and try to go to sleep.

I hear the door open and shut again, then I hear Jack walking through the living room.

"Where are you going?" I hear Adam say to him. I open my eyes and see him walking through the living room towards the front door, with his phone and house keys in his hand.

"I have to go to work. Mike just called me and said that they needed a tech for the night," he says.

"Who's driving you?"

"Mike. He just called and said that he's in the driveway."

"When are you coming home?"

"I don't know. I'll call if I'm going to be late."

"OK." Adam puts his head back down on the throw pillow that we're sleeping on and closes his eyes again, and I do the same.

I hear Jack still in the house doing something, and when I open my eyes to see what he's doing, I see him putting a large pile of money down on the coffee table.

"What are you doing?" I ask him. I see Adam open his eyes again. Jack picks up the money and hands it to me.

"Here, it's the money I've made so far."

"Why are you giving it to us?"

"Because, I've been living here totally rent free. You guys paid for my rehab, and I've done absolutely nothing to repay you for it."

"Baby, this is your money. You earned it, you should keep it," I say to him.

"If I keep it I'll just get into trouble." he says, "I don't want to hear anything about this, OK? Just take the money."

He turns and walks out of the house. A second later, I hear Mike's car take off out of the driveway.

I look at the money in my hand, and then I look at the door.

"Crazy ass kid," Adam says with his eyes still shut.

"What the hell are you going to do with him?" Keeping his eyes shut, he raises his eyebrows.

"What am I gonna do with him? He's your kid, not mine."

"Bullshit. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have him."

"That's true. Fine, he's both of our kid. Now what are we going to do with him?"

"I think we'll keep him around until he's sick of us." he nods.

"Yup, sounds good to me. Now, lay back down here, and lets sleep." I smile and lay back down.

I snuggle back into the warm spot next to him and he puts him arm back around me.

"I love you," I say to him right before I fall asleep.

"I love you," he says, giving me a little kiss on my cheek. I roll over to face him and rub my hands up and down his arms.

"You're not sleeping," he says.

"Neither are you. It's not my fault you're irresistible, and we're alone in this big house for the whole night..." he opens one eye and looks at me.

"You're shameless, you know that? I thought you were tired?"

"I was tired, but now that I'm laying here, I'm not so tired," I say with a little smirk. I rub myself against him and shove my leg in between his.

"If you keep rubbing against me, we're not going to make it to the bedroom," he says.

"Who says that we have to make it to the bedroom?"