‹ Prequel: The Pros and Cons of Loving
The Pros and Cons of Growing Up
Part Thirty-Nine (Updated 12/23)
Eric’s POV
“You WHAT?”
Just imagine yourself walking home from class. You get to your street and smell smoke. Well, you’ve smelled the smoke but now it’s a lot stronger. Not only this, you see fire trucks. Three fire trucks, an ambulance, and two police cruisers on your street. In front of your house.
The result is, I’ll have you know, just short of a heart attack. I practically ran up to the house where I saw Aiden talking to a fireman.
“Sir, you can’t be here.” another fireman told me, stepping in front of me.
“Like hell I can’t. This is my house!” I moved past him, rushing to Aiden. “Aiden, what happened?”
“On the bright side,” Aiden began with a weak smile. “Dad says we can stay at his house!”
“Stay at… why can’t we…” Then I saw it. What was it? Why, the huge gaping hole that once used to be my kitchen! My eyes widened in horror and I looked back and forth between my husband and our house. “Aiden, what happened?” I gasped. “Are you alright?”
“Everything is okay.” the fireman who was talking with Aiden, who appeared to be the chief, told me. “You have significant wall damage—.”
You think, genius?
“The structure for the kitchen will definitely have to be redone, but it could have been a much worse situation. Luckily enough the small second sink exploded under pressure, putting out a great deal of the flames before we got here.”
“You mean that dinky sink your dad put in saved our house?” Aiden, who still looked shook up, snorted. “Dad’s going to love this.”
The fireman stepped away to fill out paperwork leaving the two of us alone.
“What happened?” I hissed when he was out of earshot.
“I was trying to help. I put the microwavable bags with chocolate in the microwave and went to the bathroom.” Aiden sighed.
“For how long?!”
“Two minutes. It said—.”
“Aiden, thirty seconds! You put it in thirty seconds, check on it, then restart it! You can’t just—you— you can’t just put a plastic bag in the microwave and not expect it to explode!”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry. I—.” Aiden trailed off.
“What the hell happened?!” We heard Frank yell from somewhere. “Let me in, this is my son’s house!”
Aiden went off to find Dad, who was trying to force his way between two rather tall firemen in their suits.
“Its okay, he’s my dad.” Aiden said, moving around them.
I watched from afar as Frank gasped and threw his arms around Aiden much like I had, only he kissed the top of his head and began patting down his hair. “Aiden! Aiden, what? What?”
“Dad, its okay.” he laughed, leading Frank over to me.
“Eric!” Frank pulled me into a hug, roughly pulling me into his chest. He was strong for such a short guy. “What happened here, boys?”
“Aiden,” I said into Frank’s shoulder as I hugged him back (He didn’t seem content to let me go anytime soon). “Caught the house on fire.”
“And your sink saved us.” I could hear the grin on Aiden’s face practically. It aggravated me. Here he had caught the house on fire and was joking. My heart still had yet to recover from seeing fire trucks outside of my house. Leave it to Aiden to make light of a bad situation. There were times it was acceptable. This was not one. Sometimes his immaturity could amaze me.
“My sink… what?” Frank finally released me from his bear hug and looked between the two of us.
“The pipe exploded under the pressure and put out a lot of the fire it sounds like.” I sighed, setting my backpack on the ground at my feet.
“Sounds like?”
“I just got back from classes before you got here.” I explained. “Aiden caught the house on fire by putting plastic into a microwave.”
“You say that like I’m supposed to know plastic catches fire in the microwave.” Aiden grumbled, looking down.
“Well I think the next question is where are you two going to stay? A grin slowly spread across Frank’s face. “You know, Gerard and I have an extra bedroom…..”
“You WHAT?”
Just imagine yourself walking home from class. You get to your street and smell smoke. Well, you’ve smelled the smoke but now it’s a lot stronger. Not only this, you see fire trucks. Three fire trucks, an ambulance, and two police cruisers on your street. In front of your house.
The result is, I’ll have you know, just short of a heart attack. I practically ran up to the house where I saw Aiden talking to a fireman.
“Sir, you can’t be here.” another fireman told me, stepping in front of me.
“Like hell I can’t. This is my house!” I moved past him, rushing to Aiden. “Aiden, what happened?”
“On the bright side,” Aiden began with a weak smile. “Dad says we can stay at his house!”
“Stay at… why can’t we…” Then I saw it. What was it? Why, the huge gaping hole that once used to be my kitchen! My eyes widened in horror and I looked back and forth between my husband and our house. “Aiden, what happened?” I gasped. “Are you alright?”
“Everything is okay.” the fireman who was talking with Aiden, who appeared to be the chief, told me. “You have significant wall damage—.”
You think, genius?
“The structure for the kitchen will definitely have to be redone, but it could have been a much worse situation. Luckily enough the small second sink exploded under pressure, putting out a great deal of the flames before we got here.”
“You mean that dinky sink your dad put in saved our house?” Aiden, who still looked shook up, snorted. “Dad’s going to love this.”
The fireman stepped away to fill out paperwork leaving the two of us alone.
“What happened?” I hissed when he was out of earshot.
“I was trying to help. I put the microwavable bags with chocolate in the microwave and went to the bathroom.” Aiden sighed.
“For how long?!”
“Two minutes. It said—.”
“Aiden, thirty seconds! You put it in thirty seconds, check on it, then restart it! You can’t just—you— you can’t just put a plastic bag in the microwave and not expect it to explode!”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry. I—.” Aiden trailed off.
“What the hell happened?!” We heard Frank yell from somewhere. “Let me in, this is my son’s house!”
Aiden went off to find Dad, who was trying to force his way between two rather tall firemen in their suits.
“Its okay, he’s my dad.” Aiden said, moving around them.
I watched from afar as Frank gasped and threw his arms around Aiden much like I had, only he kissed the top of his head and began patting down his hair. “Aiden! Aiden, what? What?”
“Dad, its okay.” he laughed, leading Frank over to me.
“Eric!” Frank pulled me into a hug, roughly pulling me into his chest. He was strong for such a short guy. “What happened here, boys?”
“Aiden,” I said into Frank’s shoulder as I hugged him back (He didn’t seem content to let me go anytime soon). “Caught the house on fire.”
“And your sink saved us.” I could hear the grin on Aiden’s face practically. It aggravated me. Here he had caught the house on fire and was joking. My heart still had yet to recover from seeing fire trucks outside of my house. Leave it to Aiden to make light of a bad situation. There were times it was acceptable. This was not one. Sometimes his immaturity could amaze me.
“My sink… what?” Frank finally released me from his bear hug and looked between the two of us.
“The pipe exploded under the pressure and put out a lot of the fire it sounds like.” I sighed, setting my backpack on the ground at my feet.
“Sounds like?”
“I just got back from classes before you got here.” I explained. “Aiden caught the house on fire by putting plastic into a microwave.”
“You say that like I’m supposed to know plastic catches fire in the microwave.” Aiden grumbled, looking down.
“Well I think the next question is where are you two going to stay? A grin slowly spread across Frank’s face. “You know, Gerard and I have an extra bedroom…..”
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Filler, filler. I know, I know. And its pretty short. Sorry. But I'm telling you! I've got ideas I'm playing with, and they'll be really interesting if they play out how I want them to! Let me know what you think and thanks for the comments! <3