Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me

“Come on Unca Jordy! Come find Unca Jay!” he insisted, pulling on Jordan’s hand.

“Okay, okay, just one second; we have to wait for Cam,” he said, and Parker looked expectantly up at me as I shouldered my bag and picked up Parker’s backpack.

“All ready!” I told him, and he shot towards the door, making both of us laugh.

As soon as we opened the door he was gone – heading down the hallway towards Jared’s room so we could get going. Jordan called after him, and Parker waited impatiently at Jared’s door for us. Once we were within ten feet of him he began knocking loudly and nearly yelling for his uncle to come open the door. It swung open to reveal a very disgruntled looking Jared, who obviously hadn’t been awake for very long.

“I slept in – I’ve got all my stuff together and ready to go, I just need to get my shoes and jacket on,” he told us, and we nodded. We still had a few minutes before we had to head to the airport.

“Come on Unca Jay!” Parker urged him, making Jared laugh as he got ready. He put his shoes on and slipped into his coat before picking up his bag in one hand and Parker in the other.

“Did mom and dad already say goodbye?” he asked, and Parker nodded.

“Yup!”

“And did you say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa?” again Parker nodded excitedly.

“Yup! Now we go to Pittburgh!” he announced, making all three of us laugh. We walked downstairs and met up with Sid and Becka, who looked like they’d just got there. Becka fawned over Parker while we packed the bags into the rental car, and Sid watched her, a small smile on his face.

“Hey now, no getting any ideas like that yet,” I warned him, playfully pushing him with my shoulder. He looked surprised, before his cheeks began to turn a little pink at being caught.

“I’m not! Not right now anyways… maybe five or six years down the road,” he allowed, and I laughed. Becka loved kids, but not enough to become a mom until she was probably thirty. She wanted to have a career and travel and ‘live her life’ before settling down and doing the whole suburbia, white picket fence thing.

“You might have to wait more than that; Becka’s in no hurry to have kids, at least she wasn’t the last time we’d talked about it,” I said, and Sid’s face fell a little. It was no secret he wanted to settle down and start a family; he loved the Lemieux’s kids like they were family, and he was always more then eager to keep an eye out for any of the guys’ kids.

“Well, maybe she’ll change her mind?” he asked hopefully, and we both shared a look before laughing. Becka changing her mind wasn’t likely.

“All right Park; ready to go?” I asked, and he all but jumped into the car and into the car seat we’d moved into our vehicle from the one Eric and Tanya had rented. I buckled him in, and got in next to him, while Becka sat on his other side.

“How’s Neal getting to the airport?” I asked.

“His cousin’s going to give him a ride,” Sid answered, and I nodded, content to keep Parker occupied rather than try to hold a decent conversation. I wasn’t much of a morning person, so while it wasn’t really that early, I knew I would struggle to keep up with what they were talking about. Parker was easier to manage; his attention span was about the same as mine and if the conversation missed a spot or jumped around he really didn’t mind.

We got through customs and got our bags checked in record time, leaving us to wait in the airport for an hour; an hour that seemed like an eternity to poor Parker, who wanted to leave as soon as was possible. I took him to Tim Hortons and got him a muffin and some juice, and walked around with him for about twenty minutes in an attempt to relieve him of his boredom, but that only lasted so long. Finally Jared pulled out his laptop and found a streaming website with some cartoons, so Parker sat on his lap and watched Bugs Bunny while Sid and Becka talked, and I basically nodded off in my chair.

Someone shook my shoulder, and in scaring me awake I nearly fell to the floor. While I didn’t find it all that amusing apparently my friends did as they all burst into laughter once I had caught myself. I picked up Parker and started making my way towards our gate, pretending to be pissed off at them while Parker thought it was all good fun, and even wagged his finger at his uncles and my friends, which had James, Jordan, and Jared all but howling in laughter as they followed us.

“Aw come on; we’re just teasing,” Jordan said, and I just huffed as I made my way to my seat, being careful to watch Parker in front of me and make sure no one stepped on him.
“It wasn’t very nice,” I grumbled, and heard him sigh.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he whispered, and had we not been in public I would have shivered. He shouldn’t say things like that, not when we’re around other people, because all of a sudden we went from being best friends to being us around other people who didn’t – and couldn’t – know about it.

“Jordan,” I hissed, and he just gave me a look that said he didn’t know what he’d done. I let out a long sigh then, and after sitting in the window seat so Parker could be between us gave him a pointed look.

“What? All I said is I would make it up to you Cam,” he insisted, so I decided to just let it go. I was probably just in such a bad mood because I hadn’t got a lot of sleep last night. Either that, or God forbid I was PMS-ing.

“Unca Cam? Can I have a nap?” Parker asked, tugging on my sleeve lightly. My poor mood dissipated immediately, and I nodded.

“Of course you can Park; do you want to wait until we take off first?” I asked, and he nodded, yawning and fisting sleep out of his eyes. Jordan was going to get my carry-on bag but the light for the seatbelts came on and we had to wait until we were in the air. I’d thought ahead and bought gummy bears for Parker to chew on while we ascended; the chewing motion helped me from having pain in my ears, and it seemed to work for Parker because he never said that his ears hurt. Once the light went out and the captain announced that we had reached our flight altitude and could move around Jordan got my bag for me, in which I’d packed Parker’s blanket. The little guy had trouble sleeping without it – unless he all but passed out from exhaustion as was usually the case when all of his uncles were together – so I’d taken it out of his backpack so we’d have it with us.

Parker wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and snuggled up against me, before trying to climb over the armrest and into my lap. I picked him up and set him down on my knee, and after a moment of tucking the blanket in around him he fell asleep with his head in the bend of my elbow where my arm sat on the armrest. Seconds later he was out for the count, making the same soft noise all the other Staals made in their sleep.

“That was quick; I thought he’d be through the roof,” Jordan admitted, moving to the middle seat. We talked for a few minutes until I was struggling to keep my eyes open.

“Sorry, I’ll shut up and let you get some sleep,” he apologized. I shook my head, fighting a yawn, but he shrugged it off.

“You’re tired Cam; just go to sleep; I’ll probably do the same,” he said, and the next thing I knew I’d fallen asleep.