Family

Routine. Routine. Routine. Routine. Routine. Routine. Routine. Routine. Routine. Routine. Routine. Routine.

Alex picks them up from school on Mondays and Thursdays. Jack makes breakfast and Alex makes dinner. Basketball on Wednesday is Jack's responsibility (and don't be late, the coach yelled at her last time). Music lessons on Tuesday, Alex brings them to them and Jack takes back.

The plumber is coming on Monday, show him the problem. I'm so tired right now, stressed time at work. I just cleaned, don't walk on the floor! Not now! The kids will hear! Taxes to pay, discussing heating options with the neighbors. Stop being so messy, you're being a bad example to the kids! Partners in the business of marriage.

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Alex glanced at the clock. In 10 minutes he'd have to leave the house to bring the kids back from school. He wanted to finish the chapter but apparently that would have to wait.

The time table seemed to glare at him. Two days to finish the first 10 chapters. He planned to finish the book in a month. Everything was planned. Alex knew the only way to truly achieve and gain success was with careful time planning. Time was the ultimate resource if one know how to use it. He'd hoped to finish the chapter, but he'd planned an emergency writing time tomorrow in case he didn't.

At precisely 3:30 he was outside the school, waiting. Abby and Evan entered the car. He smiled at them. He loved his children. They were the reason to wake up, the reason to live. Abby talked about her art lesson and how the teacher complimented her. Evan talked about his idea for a new song.

Alex's head was still in the story. He nodded and smiled but couldn't tear himself from working on the story in his mind. Abby simply said "Dad is writing a story so its ok." Alex forced himself to leave his mind.

They reached their cozy home. Alex loved their house. It was small and comfy, with a small garden. Alex loved spending hours making the garden perfect. Jack decorated the inside, bright yellows and warm blues. It was like a house out of the movies. He parked the car and walked up to small trail to the house. Abby was telling a story from school and Alex was savoring every second.

Inside, Abby walked to her room. Evan meanwhile walked to the TV. Alex walked to his study, immersing himself in the story. The characters came alive in his mind and time didn't seem to exist. His normal world was replaced by a vibrant world of magic. He was there, in that world. His fingers flew over the keys, writing more and more, without feeling it. He was simply the audience in his own story, observing, never judging or acting. He had a deadline, had to finish. Now it didn't matter. Worries belonged to our world, not to this one. This was where he was happiest.

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"Look man, you know what a shitty situation you're putting me in. You completely fucked up the whole Sunrise Skaters thing. You're my friend but if this doesn't work, I'll have to fire you." Jack bit his lip.

Ok yes, he acted like an idiot but it was one time. He still cringed at the thought of that night. He was over alcohol. He was done with all substances. And still, that stupid night. So he puked on their lead singer. It wasn't that bad, he tried to convince himself.

James was his friend. Still he knew James would fire him without a second glance. Friendship meant that they hung out a few times and had dinner parties. He needed this job. Evan just got accepted to a elite science camp, he couldn't miss that. They needed that money.

"James, I won't ruin this, I promise! It'll be the best gig ever. You'll see." James rolled his eyes.

"Yeah I certainly saw last time. This is why I run the company and you don't." With that, he walked out of Jack's office. Curses went through Jack's mind.

He had to make this gig work. Sometimes he even regretted giving up on music. The worse job for a person who left music is a venue manager. And Jack even failed at that. He left music for Alex and the family, the second touring became too hard. He still remembered how it felt to be on stage. People screaming your lyrics. Endless adrenaline. Nothing like this disgusting office.

His job was decent. He got to meet bands and go to their gigs, even if he also had to do all the booking and meetings. James was useless at being with people. Jack got to do all the talking, meeting band managers, talking to band tech people about their needs for the show. Maybe even if he hadn't left to pursue music he would have been the venue manager, not James. But still, all in all, not a bad job at all.

All Time Low, this pop punk band was going to play there. He would make sure it would run smoothly. That would get James to forget the puking incident. He would never drink on the job again, that was certain.

The rest of the day was spent working on that. It felt like nothing was going right. The band might not make it, there was a problem with advertisements, someone made a mistake with dates, and Jack lost the paper with the phone numbers. Jack finally went home, feeling unbelievably stressed. He felt done with all of this.

Coming home, he found Alex still in his study, his hands flying on the keys, not stopping for a second.

Jack said hello brightly, hoping being with Alex would ease how horrible he felt. Alex didn't lift his eyes from the screen.

"There's dinner on the stove." Alex muttered, his eyes still glued to the screen as words quickly appeared. Jack knew he shouldn't interrupt Alex more but he just missed him.

Sighing, he turned around and went into his daughter's room. She was on the phone and the second he opened the door she screamed at him to go away. "Can't you see I'm talking to Jessica?!"

His son was reading, curled up on the sofa. "Hey." Jack said and silence answered him.

He frowned and walked to the stove. Alex made pasta. He could see everyone else already ate. He ate alone, the dining room completely silent. It didn't bother him. That's what he wanted to believe.

Alex and him hadn't spoken really talked for months. Alex was completely focused on the book, giving it everything he had. Jack understood, but he just missed his husband. He tried not to think about it.

His phone rang. It was James. James managed to speak nonstop for 15 minutes, point out every flaw in the gig, and describe how horrible the show will be. It will be Jack's fault. Jack felt stress climb through his body, swim through his veins, and poison his mind. He just wanted James to shut up.

After another 5 minutes of pointing out that there is a problem with every aspect of the gig, James finally finish. Jack ran his hand through his hair. He couldn't leave his job. He wanted to stay. This job was important to him. Why did he have to ruin everything?

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Dammit. The world was falling apart. The tv screen was fuzzy. Characters that were once crystal clear to Alex became blurry. He couldn't see. It felt like all his characters were glaring at him, asking "now what Mr. Oh Great Author" and demanding an answer. The page wasn't inviting anymore, but blaming. Alex reread his writing and hated all of it.

In a defiant action, he shut the computer. He couldn't focus. Nothing was working out. He had a vision and it left him. He was like a blind man, stumbling to find the path again.

He walked to the kitchen. Jack had left his plate on the table, not even bothering to put it in the dishwasher. Alex hated how all the housework was his responsibility. Jack was even adding more work instead of helping! How was that fair? With a sigh, he cleaned up after him, mentally ranting.

Jack walked back into the kitchen after finishing that horrible phone call. "Can't you clean up by yourself? Do I have to do everything?! It's not enough that I need to do everything in this house, now I need to clean after you!" Alex said angrily.

"What? Alex I was in the middle of eating. Alone too, I might add." Alex felt sheepish but Jack wasn't done.

"Not that you'd notice, you don't notice anything. You barely see me. Goddammit I'm so done with this." He was minutes from loosing his job, this marriage felt pointless, and it felt like the world was targeting itself against Jack.

"You only see yourself. I finally come home and the only thing you care about is you!" Alex looked hurt but Jack didn't see that. Jack wanted something to finally work out, to finally go his way.

"Jack what the fuck are you talking about? I'm in the middle of writing. It's fucking important to me! You'd think it would be important to you too, because you care and hopefully love me but no. I guess it's all about you eating alone. And then you call me selfish!" Jack froze.

"Don't curse next to the kids." It was all Jack could say.

Alex felt like he was punched in the gut. Abby and Evan were there sitting on the couch observing the fight with big eyes. Alex took a deep breath.

Throwing a cold glare at Jack, he said "It's bedtime now guys, let's get ready." He read a story to Evan and wished Abby a goodnight in a mechanic tone. Abby seemed to just ignore the fight. Evan asked quietly if they hated each other, to which Alex replied of course not, and explained that they loved each other. He ignored how angry the mention of Jack made him.

Finally he came back to the living room. Jack was there with a bottle of Jack Daniels. Alex stopped. Jack always had problems with alcohol. Alex swore never to tell the puking on the lead singer of Sunrise Skaters, despite how funny it may seem.

Jack tried rehab, tried AA, tried it all. In the end, just deciding enough was what helped. Alex knew how dangerous drinking could be for him now. Even with his anger, he couldn't let Jack do that.

"What are you doing?" Alex demanded to know.

"Having a fucking drink, what do you think?"

Alex sighed and swallowed back his anger. "Okay Jack, you need to stop drinking and go to sleep."

"Haha remember when we fought and you said I'm selfish. Fuck you." He slurred.

Alex handed Jack a cup of water with ice. "Come on Jack, drink this." Muttering to himself, Jack drank the water obediently. "Good now let's go to sleep. You have work tomorrow."

"Fuck work, he's going to fire me anyway. I'm failing at everything." Jack laughed, despite the lack of humor in his words.

"Jack that's not true."

"It is. Look at me. Everything sucks. My job, my life, this marriage. I swear, the kids are the only decent thing here."

Alex looked down, fighting the urge to scream. What did he do wrong? He loved Jack, he really did. What was wrong? Alex forced himself not to think about that now. He tucked Jack in bed. In a matter of seconds, Jack was snoring softly. Alex curled up as well and tried to sleep. It took a few long hours for that to happen.

Finally it was morning. Jack woke up with a headache that was all too familiar.

"Dammit." He got up despite the ringing and puked. He'd hoped that maybe he was just sick but he remembered yesterday vaguely. "I'm such an idiot." he muttered.

Alex woke up from Jack getting up. He heard Jack puke and walked to see if he was ok. With a deep breath, Alex said firmly "We need to fix whatever's wrong here. I love you. I know I don't show it enough, and that I've been ignoring you a lot, but I truly love you. I don't want to lose you for just a story."

Jack smiled, despite the sickness, feeling warm inside. He loved Alex, truly and completely. Thinking about his words yesterday made him feel sick.

"I'm so sorry for everything yesterday. I shouldn't have been drinking or saying all those things. I didn't mean it. I love you. Do you want to maybe go out and get a coffee after we bring the kids to school? We can talk then."

Alex smiled. "I'd love that. But don't you have work?"

"I'm done with that. That place made me miserable. I'm thinking of pursuing a career in music instead. Let's go."

After dropping the kids to school, they found a small cafe. With two warm coffees they talked. They worked it all out. They didn't move for 4 hours, ignoring Alex's strict timetable. They were brutally honest, not hiding anything.

But they were also caring, finding the solutions to the problems. Alex got to fall in love with Jack all over. Jack forgot how much he missed talking to Alex, how amazing his husband was.

Because in the end, they were family, and all the problems in the world wouldn't change that.