She's the Drug That I Need

With Jenni secure in her car seat, Sarah turned to kiss Seth on the lips with a smile. “I can still come with you yanno.” He said talking a gentle hold of her hips.

"No, I think it's best if we keep this just me and Jenni. For the time being anyway." she told him.

"Whatever you think is best." he said kissing her lips again. "Are you going to talk to him about what we discussed last night?"

Sarah sighed "I don't know babe, it's a lot to ask. And we've still got a couple of months to work things out."

"Okay, again she is your daughter and you know best. Have a safe journey and let me know when you get there okay." he replied.

"Will do. Love you." she said leaning up to kiss his lips again.

"Love you too babe."

Getting into the car, Jenni and Sarah both waved good bye as Seth watched them back out of the driveway. "Do you want some music on Princess?" she asked glancing back at her daughter through the rear mirror.

"Yes please mommy." she cheered.

Slipping a Good Charlotte CD into the player they both began to sing along as they made their way towards Huntington.

**

House work had never been Brian’s favourite chore, and he usually tried to avoid it as much as possible, but wanting to make a good impression with Sarah and Jenni, he had spent most of the morning cleaning. He wanted to make sure that the house was spotless, with not a speck of dust to be seen, or any object out of place. He wanted this visit to go perfectly. He wanted Jenni to have fun; he wanted Sarah to feel comfortable around his friends and family; he wanted everyone to love his daughter; he wanted to make this visit a regular occurrence.

Finally satisfied that the bathroom was clean enough, Brian removed his yellow rubber gloves as he walked out of the room, hearing the front door open.

“Reinforcements have arrived!” Zacky yelled as he, Jimmy and Matt walked through the front door carrying grocery bags.

“Where do you want all this shit.” Jimmy said as he took a bottle of beer out of the bag he was carrying and cracked it open.

“Kitchen please guys.” He said as Val walked into the house behind the guys.

“Okay so I got a potty, some wipes and one of these anyway up beakers cos I guessed she’s too old for bottles now right?” she said as she and Brian followed the other guys through to the kitchen.

“Val, you’re a star.” Brian said kissing her cheek.

“Not a problem sweetie and Zack picked out some child-friendly snacks and drinks too.” she said pointing at the grocery bag that Zack was unpacking.

“Cheers guys, I really appreciate this.” Brian said with a smile.

“No worries dude, we know what this visit means to you, we know you want it to be perfect.” Matt said.

“Which is why they only let me get one case of beer.” Jimmy grinned.

“So what time are they getting here anyway?” Matt asked.

“Um, soon I guess, Sarah text me about twenty minutes ago to tell me they were leaving.” Brian replied glancing at the clock on his cell phone.

“I can’t wait to meet her.” Val said with a smile, “Sarah too.”

“And not to hate on her because Michelle said she was the reason we split up?” Brian asked cautiously.

Val chuckled and shook her head, “No. I’ve told you before Brian, I may love my sister and may not have been overly please about you cheating on her with Sarah, but I also know her better than anyone. I knew things weren’t right between the two of you. Now, I’m going to take these up to the bathroom.”

Watching her leave and making sure she was out of earshot Matt turned to Brian, a worried look on his face. “Um, listen dude, Sarah isn’t going to let slip about what happened between the three of us is she?”

“No dude, why would she?” Brian replied with a shake of his head. “And anyway, it happened while you and Val had split up.”

“I know dude, I just don’t want things to get fucked up between us again, especially not this close to the wedding.” Matt explained just as there was a knock at the door.

Leaving his friends to finish sorting stuff out in the kitchen, Brian made his way to the front door, taking a deep breath before opening it..

“Oh, Hey Dad.” He said breathing a sigh of relief as he found his dad, step mom and sister stood on the doorstep.

“You could look a little more pleased to see your old man.” Brian Haner Sr. said as he stepped inside the house.

“Sorry dad, I just thought it was Sarah and Jenni.” He replied, kissing Suzy on the cheek before ruffling McKenna’s hair.

“You still nervous about her coming?” Suzy asked as they made their way further into the house.

“A little yeah. I just want today to be perfect yanno.” He replied with a smile.

“I know son, and it will be, just stop worrying about it.” his father said as Brian’s phone rang in his pocket.

“They’re here.” He said glancing at the message on the screen before turning and heading back towards the front door. he made his way to the end of the driveway where Sarah had parked and was getting Jenni out of the car. “Hey.”

She looked up, Jenni resting on her hip looking sleepy. “Hey, I take it the welcoming party is here to greet us.” She said nodding up towards the house.

Brian turned, noticing the cars in his driveway and then the group of people who had gathered in the window of his living room. “Yeah, they’re all hear, all eager to meet the two of you.” he said as he turned back to face them, watching Jenni rub her tired eyes. “Is it time for her nap?”

“No, she just falls asleep easy in the car. She’s been asleep since we left Laguna.” She replied with a smile. “Hey sleepy head, are you going to say hello to daddy?” she asked the infant.

Slowly she raised her head off Sarah’s chest, turning to look at Brian, a large smile appearing on her face as she wriggled out of her mother’s arms. “Daddy!”

“Hey Princess.” He said picking her up into his colourful arms.

“Is this your house?” she asked looking up at it.

“It sure is, and you know what, there are a lot of people inside who are excited to meet you.” he told her as they made their way back up the driveway.

“Who?” she asked with furrowed brows.

“Well, my dad, step-mom, sister and the other guys in the band and all their girlfriends too.” he told her.

“They’re all here?” Sarah asked.

“Um, yeah, when they found out they all insisted on being here. It’s kinda turned into a bit of a party; Matt’s going to get the grill going.” He explained.

“Matt’s here?” she asked feeling herself blush as Brian nodded.

“Um, yeah and Val is too, so he’d appreciate it if…” he said.

“Oh, yeah of course, no one needs to know about what happened that night.” She replied with a smile.

“Thanks.” Brian said as he made his way into the house, finding everyone gathered in the living room staring at the three of them. “Okay guys, back off a bit, you’re going to scare her.” he said as he felt his daughter tighten his grip around his shoulders and nuzzle her face into his neck.

Watching as everyone relaxed a little, Brian glanced at Sarah before whispering in Jenni’s ear, “You ready to meet everyone princess?” she shook her head, tightening her grip once more. “Okay, how about they meet mommy first?”

“Yeah.” She whispered quietly still not lifting her head.

“Okay, everyone this is Jenni’s mom Sarah. Sarah this is, well everyone.” Brian said with a smile.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you finally.” Brian senior said taking a step forward, his hand held out to great her.

“Nice to meet you too.” she replied with a smile as she went on to be welcomed by the others in the room.

Feeling Jenni lift her head slightly, Brian turned to her, “You ready now? They’re really not all that scary.” He said quietly looking into her brown eyes.

“I stay with you?” she asked quietly.

“Of course baby girl, I won’t let go of you. Now would you like to meet your grampy?” he asked quietly, smiling as she nodded. “Dad, she wants to meet you first.”

Stepping forward with a smile, he slouched slightly so that he could make eye contact with his granddaughter. “Hello there sweetie.”

She lifted her head higher, a small smile creeping onto her lips as she looked at him. “Hi.” She whispered quietly.

“She’s the spit of you son.” He said lifting his gaze to meet his sons.

“I know.” Brian replied as Suzy and McKenna stepped closer. “Sweetie, this is your nanny Suzy and your aunty McKenna.”

Jenni cautiously lifted her head a little more, whispering a small hello to the two of them. “Brian told me you like Disney Princess stuff, so I brought you my old Jasmine doll.” McKenna said offering the doll up to her new niece.

The small child’s eyes widened taking the doll out of McKenna’s hands. “Fank you.”

“You’re welcome, do you want to come play?” McKenna ask.

“Can I daddy?” she asked turning to face Brian.

“Of course you can sweetie, you can meet everyone else later.” He said setting her down. “Just be careful by the pool.” He called after them as they ran of hand in hand towards the back yard.

Stood next to Matt and Jimmy as Matt manned the grill, Brian watched as Jenni played with McKenna, Johnny and Zack played in the pool and Sarah talked with the girls on the patio.

The scene seemed perfect to him and the fact that it couldn't be a reality tugged at his heart strings.

"It's never going to happen dude." Jimmy said as if reading his mind. He looked up at his best friend and let out a long breath.

"I know man, I guess it's just not meant to be." he replied.

"If you know it, then maybe it's time to move on. You've spent the past three years hung up on this chick, hoping that when you found her she would coming running back into your arms. Now you know that isn't going to happen, maybe it's time to find someone else." he said with a sympathetic smile. Brian opened his mouth ready to protest, but realised Jimmy was right.

Even before she had left, Brian had longed to have something more with Sarah, too scared to make a move partly because he had been with Michelle and partly because he was scared of losing her altogether if he pushed his feelings. It was in fact time to move on.

"It's going to be hard now she's in my life now though." he mused watching as she made her way over to the pool to help Jenni out.

"I know dude, but she's getting married soon. You have to leave her be." Matt added.
Brian simply nodded watching Sarah wrap a towel around Jenni before taking her inside.

A little while later he watched her walk back out, Jenni fully dressed and cuddled into her.

"Everything okay?" he asked as she approached.

"Yeah, she just missed her afternoon nap so she's getting grumpy now and tired, so I'm going to head home." she explained.

"Oh, okay, I'll come see you out." he replied. She gave a brief good bye to the other's promising to see them all soon before Brian walked the out to the car.

"I'll see you both Wednesday okay." he said as Sarah fastened her into her car seat.

"Of course, same time, same place." she replied with a smile.

He nodded with a smile, standing back on the sidewalk as Sarah got into her car, watching as a disgruntled expression spread over her face as the car wouldn't start.

"I'll have to call Seth to come and get us."she said as she got back out of the car and began to dig through her purse for her cell.

"No need, I'll drive you home." Brian said with a smile.

"No, I'll -" she began to protest.

"Let me drive you both home." he said. "Here, put all you need into my Escalade while I tell the guys where I'm going." he added passing her the keys from his pocket.

"Thanks for doing this Bri." she said as they pulled out of the driveway.

"Not a problem. It's probably just the battery, so I'll get it sorted and drive it down for you tomorrow." he told her.

"There's seriously no need." she told him.

"I know, but it's really not a problem." he replied as the faint sound of snoring came from the back seat.

"I told you she falls asleep easy in the car." she said with a smile holding Brian's gaze for a brief second before he turned them back to the road.

"We've had a really nice day today." she said.

"Good, I have too." he replied with a widening smile. "And um, there's been something I've wanted to ask you, but this is the first chance I've had." he paused briefly before continuing. "I was hoping that maybe this could become a regular thing. Maybe bring her down once a month or something?" he asked.

"I think that's a really nice idea and I'm sure Jenni would like that too." she said returning his smile once more. "And maybe once she's more settled with everything and everyone she could start spending time just you and her, maybe even spend the weekend with you?" she offered.

"Really? That would be great." he said. She nodded in reply thinking about asking him something else but deciding against it. Now wasn't the time. Instead she leaned over to turn on the radio, keeping the volume down low not to disturb Jenni, and began to sing along.

Pulling up into the driveway, Brian gently shook Sarah awake. "Guess she takes after you for sleeping in the car." he teased as she opened her eyes.

"Guess you're right." she replied stretching before joining him in getting out of the car. "I'll carry Jenni, but can you grab my purse and her bag?" she asked gently lifting her sleeping daughter out of the car seat. Brian nodded his understanding before grabbing their things and following her up to the front door where Seth stood confused.

"What's going on?" he asked with furrowed brows.

"Brian will explain." Sarah whispered quietly as she passed him.

"Her car wouldn't start so I drove them home." Brian told him walking into the house and placing the stuff he was carrying on the sofa.

"That's very kind of you." he said reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. "Here, take this for gas. I insist." he added holding out more than enough notes to cover the price of gas.

"No, I couldn't, it was nothing." Brian said taking a step backwards. "She's my daughter dude, I wasn't about to see them stranded."

Nodding, Seth put the notes back into his wallet, his wallet back into his pocket. “Thanks anyway and um listen,” he began with a quick glance towards the stairs. “I don’t know if Sarah got around to asking you, but we were wondering if you’d be willing to look after Jenni when we go on honeymoon.”

“Oh, um, no, she hadn’t said anything, but um, yeah I could do that. it would be nice spending time with her by myself for a week or so.” Brian replied with a smile.

“Actually it’s a month, we’re planning on kinda touring the South Pacific islands.” He replied with a smug grin. “Would that be okay?”

“Um, yeah, I guess so.” Brian replied a little taken aback.

“Great.” Seth replied glancing towards the stairs as he heard Sarah on the stairs. “Um, I’ll talk details with you some other time okay but thanks again for driving the girls back. I owe you.”

“Yeah cheers Bri, and seriously Seth and I will work out getting the car back.” Sarah said joining them.

“Of course, we’ll sort something out, you’ve done enough.” Seth said with a smile as he placed an arm around Sarah’s shoulder.

“Okay, well um, I guess I’ll see you then.” He replied with a smile as he headed towards the door.