She's the Drug That I Need

As he drove down the main street of Laguna, Brian sang along with Axel Rose, drumming out the beat on the steering wheel as he made his way to Sarah’s house for his visit with Jenni. It had been a little over a month since his first visit, after which Sarah and Brian had discussed regular visits and had arranged for him to visit every Saturday and Wednesday.

He pulled up into the driveway, stepping out of his car with a gift bag in his hand and making his way up to the front door. He knocked and waited with a smile on his face as heard the sound of small foot steps making their way towards the door.

"Hurry up mommy, it's daddy." he heard Jenni yell followed by more footsteps and the door opening.

"Daddy!" Jenni yelled as she jumped at him, wrapping her small arms around his legs.

"Hey princess." he said with a chuckle as he bent down to lift her into his arms.

He smiled at Sarah as he stepped further into the house, closing the door behind him.

"We go outside?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"If that's okay with your mom." he replied glancing at Sarah who nodded.

"I got you a present" Brian said as they made their way outside.

“Bri!” Sarah warned lightly as he handed Jenni the large gift bag that was almost as big as her.

“Hey, I’ve been good so far. This is only the second thing I’ve bought her. I’ve wanted to buy her a lot more. I mean I do have two sets of birthday’s and Christmas’ to make up for.” He said in his defence.

Sarah sighed and smiled, “Okay, fair enough, just make sure you don’t go overboard with her. I don’t want her spoilt.”

“Which is why I haven’t turned up her with a trunk full of gifts every week.” He told her with a smile.

“Look mommy!” Jenni squealed pulling the last bit of wrapping paper off her present.

“What is it sweetie?” she asked crouching down to her level.

“It’s Disney Princess Mommy.” she said excitedly.

“Oh, wow, look, it’s a play tent.” Sarah said as she read the label.

“A play tent.” She repeated with a smile. “For the garden?”

“Yeah, I guess it could go in the garden.” She replied.

“Do you want me to put it up so you can play in it?” Brian asked kneeling down beside them.

“Yes please.” She cried excitedly.

“I’ll be in the house if you need me.” Sarah said as Brian took the tent out of it’s plastic cover.

Sarah busied herself with house work for the next hour, popping her head out from time to time to check on Jenni and Brian who seemed to be having fun in her new play tent with her dolls and teddy bears.

After preparing some sandwiches and opening a large bag of chips for them all to share, Sarah filled two glasses and Jenni’s beaker with juice and placed them on the tray before carrying them out and over to the play tent.

“Thought you two might like something to eat and drink.” She said crouching down to look through the small door, smiling as she saw Brian sat in the far corner, her legs crossed under him as he slouched over slightly to fit into the small space.

“Come in mommy.” Jenni said calling her in with a wave of her hand. Sarah carefully passed the tray to Brian before sliding herself into the small tent, pulling her legs under her as she settled herself. “Thank you mommy.” she said as she leaned across to grab a sandwich and her beaker.

“You’re welcome sweetie. How are you liking your new tent?” Jenni asked with a smile as she took a sandwich of her own.

“It’s brilliant.” She said with a mouthful of bread.

“Good, and I hope you’ve thanked your dad for it.” she replied.

“Thank-you daddy.” She said with a beaming smile.

“You’re welcome princess, I’m glad you like it.” he replied.

“I was thinking.” Sarah said quietly, raising her gaze to meet Brian’s. “I was wondering if you…well if you would like to meet Seth. It’s just that we’ve been talking and we thought that now that you are a permanent fixture in Jenni’s life, well then it would be nice if you two got to know each other.” She rambled.

“Um, yeah okay. I guess it would be a good idea to meet him. I mean he’s a big part of Jenni’s life and what with you marrying him and everything.” he replied, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

“Today?” she asked quietly watching as Brian paled slightly. “You don’t have to, it can be some other-“

“Today will be fine.” Brian told her with a smile which she returned.

“Okay, cool. I’ll ring him and let him know he can come home.” she told him, a confused look slipping over Brian’s face as she took out her cell phone. “He finished work an hour ago, but has gone to a mates house just in case you weren’t up to meeting him.”

Brian chuckled as he watched her dial Seth’s number, listening to her tell him that he could come back and that they were out in the garden.

“There’s actually something I was wanting to ask you too.” he said once she had placed the phone back in her pocket.

"And that would be?" she asked sensing his hesitation to continue.

"Well, obviously she has an extended family down in Huntington who are all eager to meet her, in fact Kenna has started to threaten me with cutting the strings of my custom if she doesn't meet her soon." he said with a shy smile.

"Okay, then how about next Saturday, instead of you coming here, I'll bring Jenni down to Huntington and you can have her for the whole day so she can meet anyone you want her to." Sarah replied.

“Really?” Brian asked with a smile.

“Yeah, really. It will be nice for her to meet them. They are her family after all.” She said returning his smile.

“Thanks, this really means a lot to me.” he replied as the sound of footsteps made their way over towards the play tent.

“No worries.” She said before turning to poke her head out of the tent, smiling up at Seth as he joined them.

“What’s all this?” he asked as he squatted down to peer through the opening of the tent.

“It’s a Disney Princess tent. Daddy got it for me.” Jenni announced before anyone else could speak.

“It’s lovely.” He said glancing over at Brian who seemingly didn’t know where to look.

“Um, babe, this is Brian. Bri this is Seth.” Sarah said a little apprehensively.

“Nice to finally meet you.” Seth said offering out his hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you these past couple of weeks.”

“Likewise.” Brian replied as he leaned over unsteadily to shake his hand.

“Come on princess, help me take these back inside.” Sarah said earning a small moan from Jenni before she followed her mother out of the tent, allowing Brian to emerge as well.

“She’s talked about you non stop for the past six weeks you know.” Seth said as they watched the girls walk back towards the house.

“Really?” Brian asked proudly.

“Yep, told everyone about her daddy.” He said with a smile as he walked over to take a seat on one of the chairs, extending his arm out to offer Brian a seat too.

“Funnily enough I’ve been talking a lot about her too.” Brian said as he sat down, a small laugh in his voice. “My mates must be getting fed up of me by now.”

“Hey, it’s understandable, you’ve got almost three years of catching up to do.” Seth said and Brian nodded.

“Yeah, I’ve missed so much of her life already, and I’m not planning on missing anymore. Going on tour is going to be hard from now on that’s for sure.” He replied.

“Oh that’s right, you’re in a band. Sarah’s kind of music, not mine sorry.” He said.
Brian smiled and shook his head, “No worries dude, we’re not to everyone’s liking.” There was a short silence before Brian turned to Seth “Listen dude, I just wanna say thanks for being okay with all of this. This can’t be easy for you, having some guy turn up and be in their lives like this.”

“Honestly, there’s been a part of me that’s been waiting for you to turn up from the moment I started dating Sarah. She was honest with me from the start, telling me that there was a small possibility that Jenni’s dad would turn up at some point, so it’s something that I was preparing myself for.” Seth told him. “I’m happy for you to be their, our lives. All I ask is that you don’t hurt them.”

“I’m not planning to dude. All I’ve ever wanted to do since the moment I found the pregnancy test in her trash can the morning she left was to find her and be a father to the child she had.” Brian replied sincerely.

Seth nodded quietly, turning his head at the sound of small footsteps running towards them. “Seff, you phone’s ringing.”

“Okay sweetie, thank you.” he replied standing up and making his way back towards the house, taking the phone off Sarah who had stepped back out side.

“You two seem to be getting on okay.” she said with a smile as she sat down in the seat Seth had just vacated.

“Yeah, he seems like a good guy.” Brian replied returning her smile.

“Listen, um, would you like to stay for dinner?” she asked.

“I’d love to, but I’ve got to head back.” He replied with a saddened smile.

“Oh okay, well, maybe next time you’re up.” she replied as they both stood up again.

“Most definitely.” He told her, lifting Jenni up into his arms. “I’ve gotta go now princess, but I’ll see you on Saturday okay?”

“Otay daddy.” She replied with a beaming smile. he kissed her cheek and then her forehead before passing her over to Sarah.

“I’ll call you Friday to arrange details for Saturday yeah?” she asked as he walked out towards his car.

“Yeah, I’ll get things sorted with dad and Suzy.” He said as he pulled his keys out of his pocket.

“Bye daddy.” Jenni called as she watched him get into the car, waving frantically.

“Bye princess.” He called back as he backed out of the driveway, looking forward to the weekend.