Born for This
seven.
“Been at Pop’s? I was there this morning, babe.” Tommy shrugged as he cradled his cell phone between his head and shoulder.
Emma pinched the bridge of her nose, “Not just been there, but been inside. His house is a mess.”
“Ah that’s just Pop being Pop, nothing to get to worked up about.” Tommy could almost see the tears beginning to pool at the bottom of his wife’s eyes. “But, if it’s really important to you, I’ll swing by tomorrow morning and go inside.”
The brunette thanked her husband and hung up the phone. As she drove back to the new house, Emma would glance back at her son, who was sleeping peacefully in his car seat. Back at the house, Tommy and Brendan were splitting a well deserved six pack of beer. The nursery was completely unpacked with the majority of the furniture assembled. There were still several boxes of clothes that never even left the garage, but that was to be expected.
“So she thinks something’s wrong with Pop?” Brendan asked, cracking open his second beer.
Tommy merely grunted in response. Deep down inside, surely there was an inkling of concern for his father, but for the most part Tommy could not be bothered to express any concern. His father was an old man, things happen. The fighter took a sip of his beer as he heard the car pull up into the garage. He knocked back the rest of his beverage and excused himself from the room.
Emma was unbuckling her son from his car seat when she felt her husband’s presence behind her. The brunette turned slowly with one hand cradling her extended stomach while the other rubbed the small of her back. Tommy took that as a sign to help her get Keane out of the car and bring him inside.
“Thanks for bringing all the boxes in.” Emma commented as she collected the the empty beer cans from the kitchen island.
Brendan rubbed the back of his neck, “Maybe if you didn’t have so much shit it would have been done yesterday.”
The beer in his hand was snatched away and dumped out over the sink faster than he could recite his social security number. Emma stood proudly by the sink and smirked, “Maybe if you were in better shape it wouldn’t have taken this long.”
“Low blow.” Brendan replied, holding a hand over his heart feigning hurt.
Tommy smiled to himself as he watched the exchange between his wife and brother. He felt the soft touch of skin from his son nuzzling his face into his neck. He excused himself from the room to bring Keane to the nursery. As he walked away, he could hear in lowered voices Emma and Brendan discussing Pop.
“I mean, Bren, the place was disgusting. There had to have been at least a week’s worth of dishes just sitting in the sink.”
Brendan shrugged, “Maybe he’s just gotten lazy.”
The brunette shook her head, “It’s more than that... When I first walked in and talked to him, you could see it on his face.”
Brendan looked at his sister-in-law with great confusion, “See what?”
Emma sighed and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. She lowered her voice as her bottom lip began to quiver, “He had no idea who I was.”
Emma pinched the bridge of her nose, “Not just been there, but been inside. His house is a mess.”
“Ah that’s just Pop being Pop, nothing to get to worked up about.” Tommy could almost see the tears beginning to pool at the bottom of his wife’s eyes. “But, if it’s really important to you, I’ll swing by tomorrow morning and go inside.”
The brunette thanked her husband and hung up the phone. As she drove back to the new house, Emma would glance back at her son, who was sleeping peacefully in his car seat. Back at the house, Tommy and Brendan were splitting a well deserved six pack of beer. The nursery was completely unpacked with the majority of the furniture assembled. There were still several boxes of clothes that never even left the garage, but that was to be expected.
“So she thinks something’s wrong with Pop?” Brendan asked, cracking open his second beer.
Tommy merely grunted in response. Deep down inside, surely there was an inkling of concern for his father, but for the most part Tommy could not be bothered to express any concern. His father was an old man, things happen. The fighter took a sip of his beer as he heard the car pull up into the garage. He knocked back the rest of his beverage and excused himself from the room.
Emma was unbuckling her son from his car seat when she felt her husband’s presence behind her. The brunette turned slowly with one hand cradling her extended stomach while the other rubbed the small of her back. Tommy took that as a sign to help her get Keane out of the car and bring him inside.
“Thanks for bringing all the boxes in.” Emma commented as she collected the the empty beer cans from the kitchen island.
Brendan rubbed the back of his neck, “Maybe if you didn’t have so much shit it would have been done yesterday.”
The beer in his hand was snatched away and dumped out over the sink faster than he could recite his social security number. Emma stood proudly by the sink and smirked, “Maybe if you were in better shape it wouldn’t have taken this long.”
“Low blow.” Brendan replied, holding a hand over his heart feigning hurt.
Tommy smiled to himself as he watched the exchange between his wife and brother. He felt the soft touch of skin from his son nuzzling his face into his neck. He excused himself from the room to bring Keane to the nursery. As he walked away, he could hear in lowered voices Emma and Brendan discussing Pop.
“I mean, Bren, the place was disgusting. There had to have been at least a week’s worth of dishes just sitting in the sink.”
Brendan shrugged, “Maybe he’s just gotten lazy.”
The brunette shook her head, “It’s more than that... When I first walked in and talked to him, you could see it on his face.”
Brendan looked at his sister-in-law with great confusion, “See what?”
Emma sighed and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. She lowered her voice as her bottom lip began to quiver, “He had no idea who I was.”
♠ ♠ ♠
short but slowly getting back into the swing of things