Who Wouldn't Want To Be Me

“Unca Jordy!” Parker giggled as his uncle ‘dropped’ him onto the couch at mine and Becka’s apartment. We were going to just take him to Jordan’s place – where Jared would be staying, but Parker wanted to see my ‘house’ first.

“Is Uncle Jordy picking on you?” Becka asked, and Parker nodded. He reached his arms out to her and she picked him up and sat him on her lap before playfully wagging her finger at him.

“Jordy, no being mean or you’ll get a time out,” she told him, making Parker squeal in delight. Jared and I laughed from the kitchen as we put away groceries.

“Yeah Unca Jordy! No get time out!” Parker agreed, making Jordan laugh as he ‘pounced’ on the two of them. I stopped what I was doing for a moment, the fridge door open as I watched him with Parker. It was adorable how goofy and gentle he was around his nephews, without appearing to even have to try. He was one of those guys who just seemed to be a perfect father figure – even when he was around kids who weren’t his. I hadn’t realized I’d completely stopped putting things into the fridge until Jared put a hand on my shoulder, making me jump as I spun around.

“Easy there Cam; don’t hit me,” he said. I let out a long breath, before grinning at the redhead.

“I won’t; you just scared me is all,”

“Well you were pretty zoned out,” he pointed out, and I raised an eyebrow at him. He did as well, mocking my gesture and crossing his arms to get a laugh out of me.

“I’m serious though, you were standing there for a couple of minutes,” he insisted, and I shrugged. I hadn’t realized the time flying by, that’s for sure.

“That happens sometimes,” I allowed, moving to put more groceries away before realizing Jared had finished the job.

“You two are really serious, aren’t you?” he asked, and I shrugged again, feeling uncomfortable. I mean, I was serious about Jordan, but I didn’t know how serious things were from his perspective. I wasn’t used to relationships, and I sure as hell didn’t know how they were ‘supposed’ to work, but I wanted this to.

“I dunno… I mean,” I started stuttering, which made me embarrassed and I shut my mouth before I could make my cheeks turn a darker shade of red.

“You really like him?” Jared asked, and I nodded, not trusting my words.

“He really likes you Cam; he’s never been like this with any other girl, and I’ve known him my whole life. He’s crazy about you,” Jared told me, and as much as I wanted to believe it I just wasn’t sure.

“You really think so?” I asked, my voice quiet. Jared chuckled and pulled me in for a quick hug.

“I know so. Now get over there before my nephew has a panic attack thinking you’ve disappeared,” he told me, giving me a slight push. I just smiled at him before going and leaning over the back of the couch, looking into a surprised Parker’s face.

“Boo! Did you miss me?” I asked, and he giggled before reaching up at me.

“Yeah! Unca Cam come pway!” he giggled, and pulled on my arms. I let myself slide further down the couch, and Parker let out a holler as he thought he’d pulled me down the couch.

“Pwease?”

“You bet!” I told him, and flipped myself over onto the floor in front of the couch much to Parker’s delight. I pulled him off the couch and into my lap; tickling him and making him laugh hard enough to nearly cry. Jordan decided he was done with being left out of the fun and soon had ‘tackled’ us over and got in on the tickling.

“Unca Jordy stop! Stop!” Parker squealed, and finally Jordan let up, letting the poor little guy breathe. Parker curled into a ball just behind me, where he figured he was out of reach from his uncle. It only took seconds for Jared to have snatched him up, and a delighted scream came from Parker as his other uncle had him upside down for a moment before sitting him upright in his lap.

“Unca Jay! Do again!” Parker demanded, wanting to be held upside down once more. Jordan and I both laughed at him, and I sprawled out on the floor, keeping an eye on the little blonde and his redheaded uncle. Jared and Jordan kept him occupied for the next half-hour or so, until Parker fell asleep curled up in a ball on the couch. I grabbed a blanket to cover him up, and tucked a pillow under his head as the four of us moved to the kitchen to talk without waking him up.

“Wow, this is gonna be a fun weekend,” Jared grinned, sitting down at the end of the table and gladly taking the glass of water I offered him. I mussed up his hair as I walked over to my chair; a glass of water for both Jordan and I in hand.

“Thanks,” Jordan smiled, pressing a butterfly-soft kiss to my cheek as I sat down, a smile on my face.

“Welcome,” I replied, leaning into his shoulder a little as I took a drink. Becka had invited Sid over after dinner, so I was going to enjoy any time I had with Jordan while I could. Jared made silly faces at us once in a while, but when I’d asked he said that he really didn’t mind. He was just glad that we were happy, and that his brother had finally found somebody who was ‘worth it’ in his opinion.

“So, what are we gonna do with Park this afternoon?” Jordan asked, and it only took a moment for me to come up with something.

“What about the zoo? Wouldn’t he love that?” I asked, and Jordan immediately agreed.

“Yes! That would be fantastic! He loves animals, and we can take him to the petting zoo exhibit they’ve got open too!” Jordan exclaimed, and even Jared got excited.

“Yeah! He’d love all of the underwater animals,” he piped up. I couldn’t help but tease him, as he seemed as excited about the prospect of going to the zoo as Parker would be.

“Pft, you just want to go and see the tigers and the penguins,” I rolled my eyes, and Jared stuck his tongue out me while looking sheepish at the same time. Jordan and Becka started to laugh at him then, and Jared pouted in his seat.

“Whatever,” he grumbled, before taking a long drink out of his glass, giving me a playful glare over the rim of his class. Becka gave him a shove, and then Jared started laughing along with the rest of us. He was used to always being the youngest, and while Becka and I were younger than him he seemed to forget that and still fall into his role as the ‘little brother’; egging on the teasing as much as he tried to complain about it.

“So… the zoo sounds good?” I asked for clarification, and Jordan and Jared nodded. I knew Parker loved animals just about as much as he loved hockey, so the zoo seemed to be the best choice. And while Eric and Tanya might not be so happy, I knew Parker would love a few new stuffed animals to take home and add to his huge collection. His uncles were more than happy to help along his love of animals and stuffed toys, so his room was filled with them. Tanya usually teased that he could get lost in his room full of stuffed animals if he wanted to – and that’s when Parker had discovered playing ‘Adventures’; more than once they’d heard yelling and ran upstairs to find Parker “fighting” a wild animal in the jungle, his trusty Cubby by his side.

“How long do you think he’ll be asleep for?” Becka asked, and I shrugged, looking at the guys for an answer.

“Depends on how much sleep he got last night; if how excited he was is any indication, he could be out for a good hour,” Jared told us, taking another drink of water. Made sense, and Jared knew his sleeping patterns the best out of all of us; Charlotte wasn’t too far from Raleigh so he was there whenever his schedule allowed him to be.

“So we’ve got about an hour to catch a nap and get energized for being hauled around the zoo,” Jordan informed us, and we all laughed but agreed that laying down or napping seemed like a good idea. Flights always seemed to tire me out, without any real reason, so the chance to curl up with my blanket and pillow and get some Z’s was more than okay with me.
I grabbed Jared and Jordan each a blanket and pillow, before realizing there wasn’t exactly enough room for all of us in the living room. Becka had retreated to her bedroom; the door shut and I had no doubts she was talking with Sid, so I offered my room to Jared.

“No, it’s okay,” he assured me.

“Seriously Jared; it’s okay; no need for all three of us to be sleeping on the floor,” I repeated, but he shook his head.

“No, I’m comfy here; why don’t you two sleep on your bed?” my cheeks must have turned a slight tinge of pink when Jared laughed at me.

“I don’t mean get to it or anything like that! Come on, you guys don’t get a lot of time together as it is; don’t pass up a chance I’m willing to give you,” he teased, pinching my cheek playfully while Jordan stood up and offered me a hand.

“Kid’s got a point,” he told me. A moment later I took Jordan’s hand as he helped me to my feet.

“Okay, thanks Jared,” I said, and he shrugged it off, assuring me it was nothing. I asked him to wake us up as soon as Parker even appeared to be getting up – so we didn’t have to awkwardly explain to him why his uncle Jordan and I were cuddled up in bed together – and so that we could get ready to go to the zoo as soon as Parker was ready to go. He agreed and curled up on the pile of blankets we’d left him on the floor in front of the couch, and appeared to fall asleep almost immediately. Parker was still out for the count, and so Jordan took my hand and led me down the hallway to my bedroom, and flipped the covers back before picking me up bridal style and setting me down on the mattress. I giggled a little at him, before he crawled onto the other side of the mattress and pulled me into his side, making himself comfortable and pulling up the comforter.

“I could get used to this,” he sighed, nuzzling his face into my hair. I inhaled deeply, the smell of his aftershave a welcome familiarity as I wondered what he was referring to.

“What exactly do you mean by this?” I asked, and he shrugged a little, softly rubbing my back.

“This. You and me together like this; having my family come up and stay with us, and…” he trailed off, and when I lifted my head to look at him and wonder why he’d stopped midsentence all he did was press a soft kiss to my lips, then with a playful wink tell me to try and get some sleep. After a second of staring into those amazing baby blues I let my head drop back to his chest, pondering what else he could have wanted to add to the list but didn’t say out loud.

“Sweet dreams Cam,” Jordan whispered, and I felt a smile on my lips as my eyelids became heavy.

“Sweet dreams Jordy,”