Just Like Paradise

“Mama!” Jake wailed as he balled handfuls of TJ’s shirt in his hand. “I wan’ Mama!” He insisted with pink, puffy cheeks streaked with tiny baby tears. Brianna and Abby had been gone for three days on a trip to visit Cornell, one of the few schools she had been looking at now that she was going to be a junior.

TJ was less than thrilled that she was planning on going to school on the east coast, sure, he was a proud Papa that his baby girl was intelligent enough that she could shop around in the Ivies, but at the same time, it killed him that she would end up so far away. He couldn’t keep an eye on her with five hundred miles between them.

“Hey big man.” Nate grinned as he walked into the kitchen to see his little brother looking mighty upset. “What’s the matter, huh?” He asked, picking Jake up and placing him on his hip.

“I wanna’ Mama.” Jake sniffled pathetically, sticking his face in Nate’s neck and tangling one of his soft hands into Nate’s necklace, a thin silver chain with the number forty-eight as well as the number two, Ana’s own jersey number. Ana wore an identical necklace with a slightly more feminine appearance.

Nate had recently committed to play for Boston College around the same time that Ana found out she had been accepted to BU. Within walking distance was good enough for them.

“Mama will be home soon.” Nate assured as Ana happened to walk into the front door. “Hey baby.” Nate grinned, putting his free arm around his girlfriend as TJ fished something for lunch out of the fridge.

“Hi there.” Ana smiled as he kissed her temple before kissing Jake softly on the forehead, watching the toddler blush. His crush for her was painfully evident as he blushed and turned shy whenever she was around.

“Hi.” Jake giggled, his sad disposition quickly evaporating at the sight of his big brother’s girlfriend. TJ sealed his mouth shut as he flashed Ana a quick smile. Sure, he loved Ana and he knew that she was keeping Nate in line, but to be frank, he always thought that they were way too attached for being so young, they were moving so quick. He had seen Facebook exchanges between the two. He knew that if Nate were watching Jake for the weekend when TJ and Brianna would go up north to visit Tyler, she would refer to it as time to “play house.”

He’d hate to think that they were already thinking of kids of their own. Both Oshie men knew that if they got a woman pregnant – girlfriend or not – before they were married or at least engaged, they’d have their mother to answer to.

He knew what it was like to be young and in love, and Ana was a saving grace when it came to keeping Nate out of trouble with a certain kind of girl that went after Oshie men. He just wasn’t sure how he felt when they “played house” when they were gone and what exactly that entailed.

“Here TJ, I can make some sandwiches.” Ana smiled insistently as he shelled out a few ingredients onto the expensive countertops.

“Are you sure?” TJ asked, pulling a plate down from the cupboard. He wasn’t one to argue with that.

“Yeah of course.” Ana nodded. “You want one too, babe?” She asked, turning back to Nate with Jake on her hip as he watched her in a daze. He nodded with a grin as he headed into the family room. TJ watched his son warily as they both sat down on the couch, flipping on the television while Ana made lunch.

“So Mom and Abb are where again?” Nate asked, flicking through the channels looking for something to watch.

“They’re stopping at Cornell and Dartmouth, then they’ll be home.” TJ sighed, missing the two women in his life terribly.

“It’ll be okay, Dad.” Nate grinned with a small laugh, realizing how much it was tearing his Dad apart to be separated from his wife and daughter for so long. “I know it’s hard.” He insisted, patting him on the back softly.

“When you meet the right person, it’ll feel like a part of you is missing whenever they leave, whether they’re a room a part or across the country, you’re not complete till they’re near you again.” He sighed, getting rather philosophical.

“I think I might know what you mean.” Nate said, looking back towards the kitchen to catch a glimpse of Ana’s skirt as she moved around the kitchen making lunch, Jake watching her happily as he perched on a countertop.

TJ sighed, wondering how to word his next phrase without sounding like he was belittling his son’s relationship. “I know you love Ana, but you guys, you’re still in the honeymoon. You need to go through hardships, fights you think will tear you apart, distractions, temptation, separation… when you get past all of that, then come talk to me about love.” TJ said, patting Nate on the shoulder with a grin, Nate nodding in response of the advice his Dad was giving him.

“Jake doesn’t do well without Mom.” Nate pointed out.

“You, Ty, and Abby were just the same.” TJ laughed. “God that seemed like yesterday. You would cry and cry and cry when she left just to get her hair done.” TJ shook his head. “Nothing I could do would make you stop crying until she came back.” He reminisced. “Shit… if you ever have kids, which I know you will… never take days like that for granted.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how you got to be eighteen so fast, I literally remember every single detail of the day you were born.” TJ said, allowing Nate just a moment to nod as they locked gazes before Ana entered with plates full of sandwiches, fresh cut fruit and chips.

Nate could only hope that one day he’d have a life like his Mother and Father had.

---

“Daddy!” Abby smiled as she flounced into his room shortly after she and her mother returned the next day. TJ barely had time to open his eyes from his mid-afternoon nap when Abby all but flung herself on the bed, wrapping her arms tightly around her father’s thick upper body.

“Hey baby girl.” He smiled at the familiarity of her fruity shampoo. “How was your trip?” He asked, nervous to hear if she had decided on a school she was in love with yet.

“I had so much fun.” She gushed. “I loved Cornell, the campus is seriously like the most beautiful place have ever seen. It has so much history and the buildings are beautiful and the rooms I would be staying in are like really big for college dorms. Oh and I found a sorority I’d love to pledge, like… I just had the best time.” She said excitedly.

“And that was Cornell?” Tj asked. “How about Dartmouth?” He asked.

“Umm, it was nice, but it’s campus is less than six thousand people while Cornell has about eleven thousand and I just am a little burned out on small schools if you know what I mean.” She winked, referring to the fact that her Mother and Father had always sent her to private schools.

“So is Cornell the one?” TJ asked, fighting a frown when it was very obvious that so far, Cornell seemed like a favorite.

“I think so, I love it there, you’ll have to come if I go to register… well, when I register.” She smiled, knowing he wasn’t quite happy that she was in love with a school so far away. “Don’t worry Daddy, you’re never farther away than a quick flight.” She assured him as she curled up into his side in her new, warm Cornell sweatshirt.

“It’s just so far away.” TJ sighed, cuddling up to his little girl, stroking his big hand over her soft hair.

“You didn’t mind when Ty went to Minnesota or when Nate committed to Boston.” She pointed out as Jake toddled into the room, helping himself up onto the bed.

“But Ty and Nate are big, strong Oshie men.” He grinned at the smile that pulled at her lips as Jake sucked on a few of his fingers, playing with the hem of the silk throw blanket. “You’re my only baby girl. Besides, Nate and Tyler can’t get pregnant.” TJ finished before Abby could deck him in the shoulder.

“Oh shut up!” She laughed, shaking her head before picking up Jake who was quick to bury his hands into her soft hair, resting his head on her chest. “You know I’m smarter than that, besides, those boys are more likely to get another girl pregnant before I wind up pregnant.” She pointed out. TJ sighed uneasily, knowing that -unfortunately - that was true. “Go say hi to Mom, she missed you.” She nudged her father out of bed, watching as he pulled a shirt on beore disappearing into the hallway. “Just me and you, little man.” Abby laughed as Jake gurgled happily.

“Mm, hello sexy lady, I missed you.” TJ insisted, burying his face into Brianna’s neck as he wrapped his arms around her stomach. “Never leave me for that long again.” He insisted.

“Oh, you’re cute. You used to leave me for twice as long with much younger kids.” She teased, turning in his grasp to meet his lips with hers in a soft kiss. “But yes, I did miss you a whole lot, too.” She laughed softly as he continued to kiss her softly on the cheeks.

“I’m gonna miss the kids, but is it so bad to be excited for when the last two big ones are out of the house and it’s just the three of us?” He blushed softly.

“No way, I’ve been waiting for this day since they turned thirteen.” Brianna giggled as they walked into the family room.

“Mm, then we can sleep in, walk around naked… be naughty whenever we please.” He sighed with a laugh as they fell back onto the leather couches with a soft thud.

“I contacted Steve today, he’s going to email us a few photos of the place in Eden Prairie we liked.” Brianna whispered quietly. “I said we were more interested in the place off 22nd in Minneapolis, so he’s going to swing by again and send us the details from the current owner.” She finished.

It was true; the Oshies’s were looking into moving back to Minnesota when Abby left for school. They both missed it terribly, and while they had strong ties to St. Louis, they both agreed that Minnesota would be good for their “empty-nest” lifestyle. Besides, their closest friends also had ties to Minnesota and they knew it would be no struggle to get Kara and Bergie up to visit.

“Good, I really did like that place in Minneapolis more.” TJ agreed. “It had a bigger yard and we’re going to need space to flood for the winter.” He pointed out.

“You know, one of these days you’re not going to be able to bend over to tie your skates on, and I’m going to have to haul your ass down to the ER because you’re going to have thrown your back out from trying to skate with your fifteen year old son.” Brianna laughed, shaking her head as he tangled one of his hands in her hair, noticing it was as soft now as first time he got to run his fingers through it.

“I’m not nearly old enough for that, even when Jake turns fifteen.” He said pointedly. “It’s when I try to outskate our grandkids, that’s when you should get the ambulance on speed dial.” He joked, resting his head on her shoulder before closing his eyes tiredly.

“Yeah, yeah.” Brianna shook her head, raking her nails up and down the polo that covered his back with a soft hum, grinning at the way he would still mewl under her touch. “While I wouldn’t mind waiting another six or seven years, I can’t wait for grandbabies.” She sighed.

“Grand kids are going to be great, because we can do all the shit with them their parents won’t, spoil ‘em, fill ‘em full of sugar and giving ‘em a good whirl before sticking them back with Mommy and Daddy.” TJ grinned as Brianna agreed with a nod.

“Unless they raise their kids just like we raised ours… spoiling them to death, giving them everything they ever wanted.” She laughed.

“We may have spoiled them, and sure they got everything they wanted for Christmas and their birthdays, we got to go on dream vacations, they all got their own cars and their own bedrooms, but I have to say, all in all, they turned out damn good.” He said, rubbing his hand up and down Brianna’s thigh. “If I had to do it all over again tomorrow, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.”

“Well I’m glad you think that way, because we happen to have a son who is struggling with potty traning right now, and tomorrow, you get to experience it all over again.” Brianna grinned at TJ whose face scrunched cutely. She kissed his nose delicately before giving him a more genuine smile. “But you’re right, we have smart, beautiful, well-mannered, polite and kind children who are going to go on to do very great things.”

And as the older Oshie children were ready to move on to the more exciting portions of their lives, the Oshie parents were ready to move on to the more relaxing part of theirs.