Take Me Dancing

I cooed Garrett from the light sleep he had fallen into hours early. He rolled over and looked up at me with those blue eyes that always made me melt.
"Yeah?" He asked softly, yawning after.
I smiled at him from where I sat on the edge of his bed, "Pat called, Theodore is adamant that he wants to go home, right now. So I've got to go meet them. Pat is coming to pick me up,"
Garrett pushed himself up so that he was resting on his elbows and replied quietly, "I could drive you if you want. So Pat doesn't have to go out of his way, you know,"
"Don't worry about," I shrugged, "He can come get me,"
Garrett nodded and sat up, pushing his blankets off of his jean clad legs. I watched as he stretched.
"You know, Your birthday is coming up soon,"I murmured and chuckled at the grin that overcame his face.
He nodded with a smirk on his face, "That is one of the few things I do remember. I'm going to be 23, right?"
I nodded.
"Wow," He mused, "It's like I fell asleep and woke up almost seven years later,"
"Yeah. You've come a long way from the 16 year old you were when I met you," I bit my lip and pushed my bed head away from my eyes.
"How did we meet, again?" Garrett questioned, picking at a thread on his blue jeans.
"Garrett," I whined, "You need to figure these things out on your own,"
Garrett chuckled at me with a goofy smile on his face before he answered, "How is telling me how me met going to affect me?"
I thought about that for a moment before I shrugged, "Okay, rockstar, but this is the only thing I'm telling you,"
"Deal," Garrett grinned, leaning against the wall that his small bed rested against and folded his hands in his lap, pretending to be a kid listening intently.
"We in highschool," I stated, remember the day in my mind perfectly, "I had heard a lot about you from the guys so I finally gave in and attended a party that Kennedy was throwing."
Garrett grinned and I couldn't help but grin back as I looked back at him "And I was right. You were everything I had heard. You were awkward, a little shy but charming none the less. We started talking and ended up being the only sober ones left by the end of the night, sat all alone on Kennedy's roof."

I grinned as the memories flooded my mind and took over, "But that's all I'm telling you, Garrett. I mean it,"
He just rolled his eyes and nodded, "Okay,"
My cell phone started ringing from my pocket so I hoped up and grinned down at Garrett, knowing that it was just Pat on the other like telling me that he was outside.
"I'll see you around, okay Gary?" I questioned as I walked towards the closed bedroom door.
Garrett nodded again, "Yeah, of course,"
Garrett got up and gave me one last hug, whispering "Thank you," into my hair as he did so.
"Of course," I repeated, letting him know once again that I would always be there to help him when he needed me. I said goodbye to Kim and Michael with hugs and walked out the front door with a sad smile on my face.

"How's he doing?" Pat questioned as I sat down in the passengers seat of my own car.
I shrugged, "As good as to be expected," I murmured and clicked my own seat belt in saying "Hi," to Theodore as he shouted about his day with Uncle Patty.
"So you have fun?" I asked the boys, who both nodded with dimpled grins on their faces.
"Good," I grinned as Pat pulled out onto the street, heading back to mine and Garrett's home.
The boys and I sang along to Right Girl' the entire ride home and Pat was busting with laughter when we pulled up and got out.
"Do you guys do this a lot?" He questioned between chuckles.
Theodore nodded, "Mommy, Daddy, Zeno and I sing all the time!"
I chuckled as I unlocked the front door, Pat following behind me with Zeno in his arms.
The boys scurried up the stairs and Pat and I made our way into the living room, both of us taking a seat on the couch to talk some more.
"He was torn apart when I walked in there," I murmured, my gaze meeting Pats brown eyes.
"Yeah," Pat said, "He was shocked when Nathan just came out and told him. None of us thought that he was going to do that. We talked to him yesterday when he flew back and he said that we were going to sit him down and tell him,"
I bit my lip as I thought about the new information, my thoughts swirling and switching from one thought to another.
"Jenni?" Pat's voice cut through my thoughts. I looked to him so he knew that he had my attention and he began talking again,
"Since telling Garrett about Josh didn't mess up his health, maybe telling him about you and the boys won't hurt him either?"
Before Pat could finish I was already shaking my head in disagreement, "No Pat,"
"But-," He went to argue but I held up a hand to stop him,
"No! I want him to remember his children not re-meet them," I said with the tone of a plead in my voice.
Pat sighed and leaned back against the couch, "But he'll remember in time, Jenni! It might jog his memory,"
"No," I growled, "Gary will figure it out on his own,"
"And what if he doesn't?" Pat asked seriously.
My heart ached at the thought and I sighed, "He will. He's already remembering some things,"
Pat nodded slightly, "Like what?"
"Theodore's favorite color, His age, and the fact that he feels something for me," I ranted quickly, "He's catching on to little things. He knew that we've cried over Josh once before,"
Pat looked at me, surprised, and then pulled me into a tight hug. Neither he or I said anything while I rested my head on his shoulder, listening as the boys came trotting down the stairs.
"Momma!" Theodore shouted as Zeno said, "Mommy!"
"What?" I shouted, faux excitement lacing my tone as they both jumped into my lap. Theodore helped his younger brother up onto the couch and then turned to me with bright blue eyes, that I had seen for years and years before, that belonged to his father.
"One of Daddy's songs is on the t.v!"
"Really? What channel?" I asked, picking up the remote and turning to the channel that Zeno told me, 71.
"Momma look! There's Daddy!"
"Mommy? Why Daddy ressed dat way?" Zeno asked quietly, only to receive a loud laugh from Pat.
"He's just messing around, Zeno," I told him while smirking as Pat showed up with a two tone face.
"Why?" Zeno questioned, his big eyes focused on me.
I looked to Pat, he shrugged and said, "Because Daddy is funny,"
Zeno nodded, soaking in the new 'information'. Theo looked to Pat and tilted his head to the left, staring at the man.
"What?" Pat asked conscientiously.
Theo tilted his head to the right and glanced at the t.v again before he spoke, "Are you funny Untle Patty?"
I laughed loudly while Pat pouted, "Of course!"
"Oh," Theodore murmured, then hopped down from the couch. He helped his little brother down and they ran upstairs, Theo shouting that they were going to watch Daddy from his room.

Pat left a few minutes later, saying that his mum was expecting him home. Once I said goodbye I made my way into the kitchen to cook for the boys before bath time. Like always, I turned on my ipod, picking a song that would reflect my mood as I cooked.

Grilled cheese and tomato soup was the healthiest thing that I could be bothered to cook for my growing boys. Seeing how that, and a few other things that could easily be popped into the microwave, was all the cooking I ever did. Garrett usually was the one cooking extravagant meals every night for our sit-down, family dinner. And when Garrett went away, I had learned to cook a few things so Zeno and Theodore would have something to eat besides take out food. Although, quite a bit I did order in Happy Walk seeing as any kind of chinese chicken had been my guilty pleasure since I was a little kid.

I called for the boys to come eat and Theodore rolled his eyes as he climbed into his chair, the almost burnt cheese covered bread in front of him. I stuck my tongue out and picked Zeno up from the floor, buckling him in to his chair and put the plastic tray in front of him.
"Bon a petite!" I joked, sitting down in between them and drenching my cheese sandwich in the milky tomato soup.
"Momma," Theodore scolded, taking a bite of his own.
"Dank you, Mommy," Zeno murmured, picking up a piece of the grilled cheese that I had cut up and sticking it in his mouth. I offered him some of my soup jokingly, knowing that he didn't like it. The two year old just blatantly ignored me and ate another piece.
I let my Ipod play while we ate and I ended up having to tell Theodore not to sing with his mouth full, a lot. And Zeno would giggle and throw food at the older boy that sat at the other end of the table. Which ended up in a full fledged food fight between the two.
And when I ended up taking their plates away Theodore pouted and said,
"Daddy would've played with us," Before he raced up the stairs, ignoring me as I called for him.
I sighed, disappointed and looked to my youngest son. Zeno stared back at me before the smart two year old muttered, truthfully, "It's true,"