Learning to Fall

“Daddy, daddy, daddy!” My twenty two month old toddler screamed, running into the lounge waving a DVD in his hands.

“Logan, Logan, Logan!” I chanted back, catching him as he fell into my lap. He held the DVD in front of my face, making sure to leave it only centimeters away so I had no choice but to look at it.

“Wiggles!” Logan screamed, completely hyper active from having his uncle Mikey come over and the knowledge Frank would be here soon.

I gently pulled his arm down, so the DVD wasn’t obstructing my view. “No, Frank will be here soon to play with you,” I explained to him, watching as his face became angry.

“Want to watch now!” He whined, frowning at me.

“Just let him watch it, man,” Mikey said from his place on the couch, not looking up from a comic I had brought him back from work. I glared at my brother, before moving Logan off my lap and taking the DVD from him and striding towards the DVD player.

“Thank you Mikey, because you know so much about being a father,” I replied sarcastically, slipping the disc in. Mikey always took my kids side, he was a complete pushover. “I hope you enjoy an afternoon of ‘hot potato’ now.”

I left Mikey to endure The Wiggles, as well as Logan singing along badly, by himself and instead went hunting for Ella, discovering her in her bedroom frantically pushing many of her belongings in the closet.

“Ella, what are you doing?” I asked. She whirled around quickly, clearly startled by my presence.

“I didn’t want Sophia to see my room all messy,” she explained, getting down on her knee’s to push a pile of clothes away. I got down on my knees myself and crawled over to her Baby Born things, scooping them up in my arms and dumping them in the closet.

“You know, if you just kept your room clean you wouldn’t have to worry about this,” I mentioned, kicking her dressing gown under the bed along with her slippers.

“I know,” Ella replied as she dragged her bed covers up, “but this works too.”

I laughed and wrapped my arms around Ella, before purposely falling onto the bed with her.

“Daddy,” she giggled as I started tickling her. “I just made this!”

The sound of the doorbell ringing suddenly echoed through the house, quickly followed by a “Fank here” being squealed. I could hear Logan racing towards the door, his little footsteps being followed by someone’s much larger ones. Mikey was obviously going with Logan, not stupid enough to let a toddler answer the door by himself.

“Fank!”

Ella and I looked at each other and smiled, before I let her go and stood up. Together we walked down the stairs and into the front foyer, where Mikey was introducing himself to Frank, and Logan was attached to his leg.

“Sophia!” Ella cried, instantly latching herself onto her friend when she reached her side. “Want to see my room?”

Sophia nodded her head in response, gave me a quick smile and followed Ella up the stairs and into her newly cleaned room.

“Hello, Frank,” I greeted, giving him a cheesy grin.

“Hello, Gerard,” Frank replied, shooting me a cheesy grin of his own back. We smiled at each other for a moment before Logan grabbed Frank’s hand and started tugging on it.

“Come watch Wiggles with me!” Logan demanded.

I rolled my eyes. “No, Logan, Frank doesn’t want to watch the Wiggles.”

Logan turned to look at me through angry eyes, but was scooped up by Mikey before he had a chance to reply.

“Come on little dude, lets go get some food,” Mikey told Logan over his protests at being picked up. “You can have some of my special chocolate.”

I smiled sheepishly at Frank. “Sorry about him,” I started, but Frank waved a hand.

“It’s fine, Sophia was a demanding two year old once too,” Frank said understandably.

I nodded, not mentioning that Logan wasn’t even two yet and how I was dreading that. “So games night!” I said brightly and gesturing for Frank to join me in the lounge. “It’s a bit of a tradition in my family. My brother and I used to do it when we were little, and when I had kids, well, Mikey was very adamant about continuing it.”

“That’s cool,” Frank replied, surveying my spacious lounge. “I try to play games with Sophia, but after a while it gets a little humiliating losing to her.”

I laughed and ruffled Frank’s hair. “How cute, you can be on my team then. I am very good at games!”

Frank rubbed his hands together excitedly. “Good!”

“So, as you are the guest, it is only fair that you get to chose the game,” I said to him, pulling open the cabinet where the games were stored. Frank gave a low whistle, pretending to be impressed.

I laughed and pushed him in the side.

“No, it is a good collection,” he giggled, pulling out a few. “My personal favorite is Monopoly, but Sophia loves Trouble.”

“I like Trouble!”

Frank grinned. “Lets play that then.”

I nodded eagerly. “We will have to get in teams for that,” I said. “There’s not enough damn colors.”

“Swear, Daddy!” Ella yelled from upstairs. I could be in England and whisper a swear word, and my kids would hear it.

“You know the drill, bro,” Mikey said, coming in carrying the half filled swear jar and being followed by a chocolate covered Logan. I groaned and fished a loose dollar out of my pocket, stuffing it into the jar.

Frank started giggling. “It’s getting kind of full there.”

“It’s so hard, Frankie,” I whined, giving Frank my most impressive pout. He rolled his eyes and pulled me into a half hug, patting my shoulder affectionately. “Shall we call the girls?”

Frank nodded, and left me to walk half way up the stairs. “Darlings, would you care to come and join us?” I called up, and soon heard little feet running towards me. “We’re going to be playing trouble.”

“I like that game, Gee,” Sophia said cutely, as the two made their way down the stairs.

“I had a feeling you did,” I replied, grabbing onto both their hands and walking them down the rest of the way. Logan had made himself at home in Frank’s lap and was telling him all about the chocolate he had just ate, while my brother set the board game up.

“We’re going to need teams for this,” I announced. “Frank and I want to be red.”

“Damn it, I wanted it to be red,” Mikey complained, before stuffing a dollar into the jar Ella held out for him.

“Well too bad, Mikey,” I retorted and stuck my tongue out. “Plus, you have to be with Logan, which will be funny because you both suck!”

Logan got out of Frank’s lap and walked over to Mikey, giving his arm a hug. Mikey patted his head affectionately before choosing to be blue.

“Wait, me want to be with Fank!” Logan said, pointing at Frank.

I linked arms with Frank possessively. “Too bad Logan,” I replied, as my son glared at me some more.

“Now, now boys, no need to fight over me,” Frank said with a smirk.

“Sorry, Frank.”

For the next few hours we played the simple board game, Frank and I winning a few times but generally coming in second to the girls who were lucky in the game. Frank and I also turned a blind eye to their blatant cheating a few times as well. The fun and games ended when Logan, fed up with losing threw away the blue piece he was moving across the room and stomped over to sit in front of the TV.

Mikey rolled his eyes at me, and my drama queen of a son.

“I wish I could do that when I didn’t want to play,” Mikey said, standing up to indicate he was no longer willing to play either.

I looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was getting late. “I think he might be just tired, I’ll put him to bed.”

“Daddy, can Sophia and I go and play in my room for a while?” Ella asked me.

I looked at Frank, who gave a small nod. “Yes, only for a little while,” I replied, smiling as she grabbed Sophia and whisked her away.

“I’m going to show myself out,” Mikey said, giving a wave. “Nice to meet you, Frank.”

“Nice to meet you too, Mikey,” Frank replied, smiling.

I crossed the room towards my grumpy son and knelt in front of him. “It’s time to go to bed, little one.”

“No,” was Logan’s defiant response. I sighed and placed my hands under his arms, quickly picking him up.

“Frank’s going to come too, won’t that be fun?” I looked over at Frank hopefully.

“You can show me your room, Logan,” Frank said, helping convince the small toddler that going to bed would be better then usual.

We walked up the stairs and into Logan’s blue room, lit up only by the small lamp in the corner.

“Is this your room, Logan?” Frank asked him in what I now knew as his ‘baby voice.’

Logan smiled proudly at Frank. “Yes, mine,” he replied, not resisting me placing him on the change table.

“Do you want to pick him some pajama’s, Frank?” I asked. “They’re in the bottom drawer.”

“Sure,” Frank said easily and opened up the bottom drawer, pondering what sleep attire Logan should wear that night. After a few seconds of rummaging around he produced a blue and red onesie, holding it up for me to see. “This is cute, Spiderman!”

Frank brought it up to Logan, who was letting me change his diaper for once. Usually he tried to do it himself.

“You want to be Spiderman tonight, Logi?” Frank asked him, to which Logan clapped his hands eagerly. I took the pajamas from Frank and slipped them on Logan, doing up each of his small buttons quickly so that he was soon fully dressed and ready for bed.

I picked him up and leaned him towards Frank. “Give Frank a kiss goodnight,” I instructed.

Logan gave Frank a sloppy kiss on the cheek, to which Frank retaliated by kissing his cheek back a number of times. “Good night, Logan,” Frank cooed, before I put Logan into his crib, kissing his cheek just once that was still damp from Frank’s saliva.

I switched the lamp off, letting the only light in the room come from the small nightlight near the floor.

“Sweet dreams,” I whispered, before shutting the door gently.

Frank and I then went to check on the girls, and saw them playing with Ella’s large collection of Barbie’s. By the looks of it, the Barbie’s were on their way to the ‘beach.’

With just a glance we decided to let them play a while longer, the girls playing together was something too cute to stop and they were having such fun. Plus, both of them relished in playing with another girl as they had previously had little opportunity to do so. I gestured for Frank to follow me down stairs, and lead him into the kitchen.

“Like a glass of wine?” I offered, peering up into the cabinet where I kept the bottles.

“Sure,” Frank replied, now surveying my kitchen with interest. I pulled down one of my nicer bottles of red and uncapped it, pouring a generous amount into two glasses.

“You could just crash here if you wanted,” I said casually, focusing my attention on the wine and not Frank’s reaction.

“Are you sure? What about your wife?”

I shrugged. “She’s at some business meeting in the city, won’t be home tonight.”

“That would be good, then,” Frank replied. “Thanks.”

“Save’s you driving home, plus now I have opened this bottle it would be such a shame to have to put a stopper in it.”

Frank laughed. “That is so true, I would be a terrible guest if I didn’t at least help you finish it.”

“Sophia can stay in Ella’s room if you like, or with you, either way.”

“I think she would much rather stay in Ella’s room, old dad is no longer what she wants.”

“It’s sad when you realize you are no longer the apple of their eye,” I sympathized with Frank.

Frank nodded his head in agreement, getting a sad look in his eye. “That’s for sure.”

I playfully pouted at him. “Do you need a hug Fankie?”

Frank pretended to sniff and put his arms around my waist. I giggled a little before wrapping my own arms around him, making soothing noises.

“Much better,” Frank said and smiled, before pulling away. I smiled back at him before holding up the bottle of wine.

“Want to bring this bad boy out and go sit by the pool?”

“Sure, that sounds good,” Frank agreed, standing up and following me out the glass sliding door. I lead him to a nice spot around the side of the pool and sat down on the cool pavers, setting the half full bottle of wine next to me.

Frank sat down next to me and leaned back to look at the stars. “It’s nice out here at night,” he said. “Your house is kind of incredible, Gerard.”

I waved a hand airily. “It’s not too bad,” I agreed. “Though, I wouldn’t mind living in a complete dump if it meant I’d have my kids with me.”

Frank was silent for a moment. “You know, it’s really impressive how much your kids mean to you.”

“Really?”

Frank gave a nod. “Yes, really. It kills me not being able to see Sophia as much, I live for the hours we spend together.”

I took a sip of my wine and thought for a moment. “It makes me lucky to be my own boss, I get to decide when I work and don’t. I get to spend more time with the little dudes, plus my brother is over here, like, five times a week. He doesn’t have his own kids, so he likes spending time with mine.”

Frank laughed and said, “Who wouldn’t want to spend time with yours?”

He had meant it as a rhetorical questioned, but I couldn’t help mutter, “Their mother.”

“Ah,” was all Frank said, and judging by the look on his face, he empathized with my situation. “So, have you seen Angelica around the school?”

I smiled inwardly at Frank’s attempt to changing the subject. “Angelica? Your girlfriend?”

“Yes, my girlfriend.”

I winced a little. “I have had the pleasure, actually,” I admitted.

“She didn’t…hit on you, did she?” Frank whispered, his face looking deadly serious, and if not a little scared.

I shook my head, laughing at the same time. “No, she didn’t hit on me,” I informed it, much to his obvious relief. “But, I think I would have preferred it if she did.”

Frank raised an eyebrow.

“She was running late, and poor little Sophia was left wondering where her mom was,” I explained, gesturing with my hands. “So we waited half an hour with her until her mom came.”

"Fuck..." Frank replied quietly. He then took a long sip of his wine, and sat still for a full minute or two, contemplating what he had just been told. "I'm so sorry, Gerard, I had no idea... thank you for staying with my Sophia."

I smiled at him, rolling my eyes a little. “Frank, it was really no big deal and there was no way we were leaving her there.”

Frank turned to look at me, his eyes shining with gratefulness. “No, really. Thank you very much, Gerard,” he said sincerely.

I put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re welcome, Frank,” I replied quietly. I was taken by surprise when Frank threw his arms around me, flinging his small body across the gap between us to express his gratitude. I gave a laugh and patted his arm affectionately.

“I didn’t mind, the kids just played together. I was actually about to bring her home with me,” I confessed, to which Frank simply squeezed me tighter.

“That’s so nice!” He exclaimed and finally let go. “If it ever happens again, just call me and I’ll come and pick her up.”

“It was fine, I know you’d do the same for me,” I said, smiling at him.

“Of course,” Frank was quick to agree. “What are friends for?”

He raised his glass, holding it out towards me. I brought my own forwards and clinked glasses with his, giggling happily with my new best friend.