Wreckage From the Past Haunts Me; Shakes Me to the Bone

Sun kissed the tanned skin as it shone through the bedroom window. The dark ink of an all too familiar bat shone proudly against her skin keeping my attention for a moment. I continued to admire the sweat glistened skin of my fiancée. Her tattooed arm was positioned under her head, the Nightmare before Christmas tattoos contrasting the few empty pieces of tanned skin. Her hair, which seemed to be much darker in the light, was twisted around her face, still partly drenched with sweat from previous actives. I lightly brushed some of her hair out of her face. Soft eyelids, closed lightly, hid the beautiful hazel eyes I yearned to see. Her lips were parted slightly, making it so much easier to hear her calm, relaxed breathing. I lightly traced her lips knowing she wouldn’t wake up. Her soft lips felt like silk against my rough finger tips. Her breath was hot on my fingers sending chills down my spine. Knowing I was no longer able to sleep and not wanting to disturb my sleeping beauty any longer, I pulled myself from the warm embrace of my blankets. The cold air hit my skin making me sigh and grimace slightly. I walked over to my closet, pulling out various items of clothing. My eyes met the sleeping form on the bed for a moment, immediately noticing that she was shivering. We never have many blankets on the bed since I get warm fast and with my body heat she does as well, but since I was no longer there she was feeling the cool air. I pulled an extra blanket off of the top shelf and carefully laid it across her form. I walked into the shower and took a quick shower, not even processing what I was doing really.

After I was dressed I ventured out of my room and down the hall. I walked into my daughter's room. The soft sounds of Claude Debussy playing. Much like me, my daughter was interested in all types of music, but recently her favorite to fall asleep to, has been classical. Its times like this where I wish I could see what was going on in her mind. I knew my daughter was smarter than the average child. I just pray I know what to do when she gets older. Brilliant minds tend to get bored easily. I was brought out of my thoughts as she whispered "Daddy" quietly. She was starting to have a nightmare. I keeled next to her bed and carefully ran my hand through her strawberry blond locks. Her eyes opened, tears leaking out from her bright blue eyes. I smiled sadly and picked her up, cuddling her to my chest as she started crying.

"It's ok baby. Daddy's got you. What scared you?" I asked as I sat farther back on her bed, against the wall. She set her head on my chest and curled up in a ball. I placed on hand under her bottom so she wasn’t slipping, like she often did with these pjs, and ran my hand softly against her cheek wiping away the tears.

"Two men hit you and they didn’t stop! They took bubba!" She said crying harder than ever before. I held her tighter, kissing her forehead.

"No one is going to get bubba. Let's go check on him ok?" She nodded against my chest. I shifted how I was holding her, so she had her legs around my stomach and a tight grip on my neck. I exited her room and walked into my son's room. The room was filled with the sounds Hollywood Undead, yes it's wrong to expose a child to lyrics such as these, but he just gets hyper when he listens to anyone else. I think music in general makes him want to jump up and down and dance. The dim light from his night light allowed us to see just enough. His long-ish brown hair looked midnight black against his dark blue pillow. Chunky cheeks were marked with deep dimples. A smile was plastered on his face showing me he was having a good dream. I smiled looking down at my daughter. Aidyn's eyes fluttered for a second, allowing us to see his deep blue eyes, that have a hazel tint to them.

“See brother's ok.” I whispered quietly in her ear. She nodded and leaned down slightly. I placed a hand on her chest and lowered her so she could place a soft kiss on her brother's temple. I smiled and covered him up better as she laid her head on my shoulder once more. Her eyes closed softly, but I knew she wasn't ready for sleep yet. Closing the door to his room softly behind me, I walked down the hall to the music room. Guitars, basses, and drums lined the walls, but what I was going for was placed right in the middle. The dark wood of the piano contrasted with the light tan walls of the room. I set her down on the small sofa, watching as she laid her head down and curled up in a ball. Pulling the soft blanket off of the back of the couch, I wrapped it around her. I leaned down and ran a hand through her soft hair and kissed her forehead watching as her eyes closed. I smiled and sat behind my piano. Pressing my long skinny fingers down on the ivory keys, the beautiful sounds of the melody filled the room. Looking over at my half-asleep sleeping beauty, I noticed a smiled adorning her face as she realized what I was playing. It had taken me a while, but I found her favorite. Claire De Luna filled the empty silence that once clung to the room. I looked over to see she had fallen asleep already, but I didn't stop playing.

I couldn’t tell you what I was playing anymore, or even how long. The only thing I could tell you was that the once darkened sky was now bright, allowing the room to become brighter and the piano to, well glow. I let my eyes wonder from the keyboard, up to the TV where videos of the cameras outside were displayed. I noticed a new 2010 Cadillac Escalade had pulled up to our house parking in our drive way. A man nearly 6 foot tall got out of the driver’s side, not facing the camera, however I recognized him immediately. Johnny 3 Tears never was one to blend in very well. He opened the passenger door allowing Leah to get out, her blond hair shining in the light, looking white. I got up and walked out of the room, making sure to get to the door before they rang the door bell.

“That’s just fuckin creepy.” Johnny said as I opened the door before he could knock.

“He’s got a camera installed.” Leah said as she smiled up at me. I looked at her confused before nodding.

“Come in. The kids are still asleep, so is Trista.” I said as I finally looked up at the clock. It was about 8:30, when I got up it was close to three, “They should be up soon though.”

“Speak of the devil.” He said after. My still too sleepy baby girl walked out from the hallway, her Avenged Sevenfold blanket trailing behind her. Her strawberry hair was a mess, matted with sweat and sticking to her face. My heart sunk, knowing she had another nightmare and I wasn’t there to make it better. She rubbed her eyes through her hair, yawning widely as she did. She stopped right next to me and looked up. Her blue eyes were still glossy from her sleep. I put my arms out, but she shook her head. Walking over to the couch, she patted it. I nodded looking over at Johnny. He nodded too, following me. As soon as I was sitting down she curled up in a ball on my lap, wrapping my arms around her. I pulled her up so she was resting on my chest, watching as she shook her head, getting her hair out of her face, and laid her head down. I took a deep breath, wishing I knew how to help her. It kills me to know that my daughter was having these dreams and I didn’t know how to help. Johnny and Leah both sat down on the edge of the couch, allowing me to sit at an angle with my back against the corner of the couch. Leah stood up and walked over to us, taking the blanket out of Vicki’s hand and covered her up.

“Nightmares?” She asked quietly, rubbing her back lightly.

“Yeah last night it was about two men beating me and taking Aidyn. I talked to my sister the other day and she said these nightmares have been happening ever since Vicki met her ex, who was also Tegan’s ex, but more detail has been added over the year.” I explained, wrapping my arms tighter around her as she gripped my shirt. Her breathing was becoming lighter, more even.

“She must have been tired man. She’s already out.” Johnny commented. I nodded but groaned when I heard an excited voice from the back. Johnny laughed and motioned for me to stay down. I said a quiet ‘Thank you’ as he got up and walked down the hall. I rubbed Vicki’s back as I let my head fall back. Now that I was sitting still my lack of sleep was affecting me.

“Do you want to go back to bed? Me and Johnny can watch Aidyn.” Leah asked. Concern laced her voice and I knew her concern was sincere.

“No I’m ok, just haven’t had coffee today.” I said, chuckling a bit, before yawning. She smiled over at me before getting up and walking into the kitchen. Knowing all of my friends make themselves at home, I wasn’t worried about what she was doing, confused, but not worried. I heard the water turn on it and it was clear to me what she was doing. Johnny walked out from the hall way with my son bouncing on his arm. I laughed at the energy of the young child as Johnny bounced him higher.

“Daddy!” He yelled before throwing his hands over his mouth as he saw his sister sleeping. I smiled at him and his concern for his sister. He might only be one, but he knew when his sister was having a bad day. He sat with Johnny on the floor, quietly playing with Johnny’s hands and phone. Roughly a half an hour had passed, and now Aidyn was watching tv with us, actually into the movie since it was Sherlock Holmes. He was clapping his hands at the times when Sherlock did something he liked. Trista walked out of the hallway, her hair a mess, but still looking perfect, wearing nothing but my DMCM shirt. I was going to say something about Johnny and Leah being here, but the look that was cut my way told me to just keep my mouth shut.

“Don’t talk to me. I need coffee.” She said as she walked into the kitchen. I laughed and shook my head at her smile as she walked out of the kitchen. Johnny chuckled at the fact that she didn’t go get dressed but came and curled up next to me in the tight fit, nearly hanging off of the couch, I put my other arm around her so she wouldn’t fall off.

"What are the plans for today?" Trista asked as she blew on her coffee.

"After Vicki wakes up we can go to the park. Maybe that one can burn some energy off." I said pointing to my son that was play fighting with Johnny. She laughed and nodded as Aidyn actually knocked Johnny down. We all started laughing as Johnny started rubbing his jaw.

"He sucker punch me." He said laughing, "God damn for being so little he's got a hard hit."

"Hell yeah taught my boy right!" Trista responded smugly. I laughed and kissed Trista's forehead making her giggle and snuggle into me. Leah shook her head at the man who was now fighting with a one year old. I laid my head on Trista's shoulder, still laughing at the idiot.

"Wow...kid hits harder than Kurlzz." Johnny said still amazed that Aidyn hit him that hard.

"Dude that's a given." Leah said laughing at Aidyn’s cheap-shot while Johnny was checking his phone. He rubbed the spot that Aidyn hit. He glared making Aidyn giggle. He started laughing as Johnny tickled him.

"Vicki should be waking up in a little bit so we should go ahead and get Aidyn dressed." I said as I felt Vicki move on my lap.

"Yeah I need to go get dressed too." Trista said pouting.

"You're such a kid." I said shaking my head.

"Well one of us has to be." she responded sticking out her tongue.

"Hey I'm just a huge kid. You're supposed to be mature!" I exclaimed, quietly for once. I felt Vicki stir in my arms under the blanket.

"I don't wanna be mature!" she poured crossing her arms.

"Mommy grow up." We heard Vicki mumble as she stretched. It caught all of us off by surprise. I bit my lip trying not to laugh at the sight of Trista's blown away face. Johnny wasn't even trying to cover up is laughter. Leah looked around like she hasn't heard the comment that Vicki said, but the ever growing smile on her face said otherwise.

"I am being grown up. Your daddy is the one that never is." she argued.

"I'm not the one the arguing with a two year old that just woke up." I said smiling down at both of them. Trista shook her head and pouted making all of us laugh. The faint sound of a car pulling up was brought to our attention making me look over at Johnny.

"Deuce asked what the address here was." Trista jumped up and ran outside completely ignoring the fact that she wasn't wearing any shorts and it was fairly cold outside.

"Aaron, they're being mean to me." We heard her yell making us laugh. We heard his footsteps stop just short of the door, but I couldn't tell why.

"Deuce get Trista inside before she catches something or someone. Trista get your stupid ass inside and put some pants on.” I heard Matt's voice yell from two houses down. I started laughing at Matt’s perfect timing.

"Aw man don’t make her do that. I love staring at these long legs."

"Aaron get your hand off my thigh!" I heard Matt laugh before Deuce walked in, Trista on his hip like a kid. Vicki giggled at her mom.

"You two go get dressed so we can go to the park. It's already like eleven." I said laughing, "We can go out to lunch after out on the pier." Vicki jumped up from my lap and ran down the hall. I laughed at my daughter as Trista got up and walked down the hall.

"Here I'll go get Aidyn dressed so you can have your man talk." Leah said picking up Aidyn and walking back. Johnny laughed and looked over at Deuce shrugging. I got up and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a cup from the cabinet and handing it to Deuce, doing the same with Johnny before getting a cup for myself.

"So why are you in the neighborhood?" I asked Deuce taking a drink of the coffee that Leah made.

"The house up the street is for sale and you know how I'm looking for a house for my mom. This area's safe. Matt up the street, two houses down from you. There's no way any gangs are around here. My mom’s my life man. I ain't lettin anything happen to her." he said as he leaned back against the counter.

"This neighborhood is a good one. Nothing is threatening around here. If she lives here we'll keep an eye out for her." I said as I heard footsteps in the living room.

"Thanks man. That house is the nicest anyways. She deserves something like this, bout time I get her out of West Hollywood." He said as he closed his eyes. He rubbed his hand down his face.

"Babe what did I do with my purse?" I heard Trista ask from the living room.

"Check the studio!" I yelled back laughing. We walked back into living room seeing Leah walk back out with Aidyn not far behind her.

"So you found mom a house." she asked.

"Yeah I need a smoke so I'll take you down to it real fast before you guy’s leave." she nodded and followed him outside. Johnny grabbed up Aidyn as he tried to follow Leah.

"Hey she's mine little man." He said throwing Aidyn up in the air.

"You guys ready to leave?" Trista asked as she walked in.

"We will in a few. Deuce went to show Leah the house he's going to buy his mom. It’s right down the street." I explained. She nodded and made a come here motion with her finger to Johnny. The confused look on his face matched mine as we looked at each other. He followed her back into the hall, using Aidyn as a shield. I sat in silence for a few moments wondering where my daughter was, curiosity got the best of me as I started walking towards the back rooms. I went to her room first, seeing if she was having trouble putting on her shirt like she normally did. She can dress herself for the most part, but still had a lot of trouble. I looked in to see she wasn't there, her bed was a mess and there were toys on the floor, but no little girl.

I sighed and walked down the hall farther into my office that I gave to the children to play in since Seward had bought them an entire "house" and "store" set. It had everything from a sink and stove to a crib for her dolls. When I glanced in, I noticed that she wasn't in there either. There was only one other place she could be. I quickly walked there noticing that Trista was talking to Johnny in Aidyn's room. I ignored them and walked into my music room. I found her sitting on the bench playing with the keys but making no noise. She was dressed for the day, her hair was done up in a braid so I knew Trista had helped.

"What’s the matter baby?" I asked as I kneeled next to the bench. She looked down towards the ground for a moment before looking at the keys again.

"Play like Daddy?" her soft voice asked. Something tells me today was going to be a daddy day, where she only wanted me, and was never really out of my arms. I hope that the park could cheer her up, but I feel like it's a lost cause. Her dream really scared her and this is what she does when she's scared for that person. She clings to them in a hope to protect them and make sure they don't leave. It was horrible when she had a nightmare about Seward being hurt. I nearly didn't see my daughter for a week. It was even to the point of her wanting to sleep at his house.

"You want to play the piano like me?" I asked trying to see if I heard right. My two year old just asked me to teach her to play piano. She nodded and pressed down on one of the keys. "How about tomorrow me and you sit down and I will teach you?" she smiled widely and flew into my arms. I laughed but wrapped my arms as tight as I could get them without crushing her. She giggled into my ear making me smile wider.

"Stop playin around. Come on let's get to the park." Trista said laughing, a playful smile adorning her lips. The sight was the most amazing. Trista standing at the door with Aidyn in her arms, my baby girl in my own. Aidyn was playing with her necklace. She made a quite chocking sound when he pulled too hard on accident. I laughed at her looking down at him. Her eyes were filled with a mother’s love, smiling as she tickled him.

"Come on!" I said picking up Vicki a d throwing her over my shoulder. She laughed and I could hear Aidyn giggling behind me as I walked towards Johnny. He smiled and started tickling Vicki since I had a hold of her. We walked out into the garage, getting into my SUV. Getting the kids in was the easy part, finding out which park to go to was the hard part. Johnny laughed at the way me and Trista were deciding, the only way we know how. Rock, paper, scissors.

“I win!” She yelled. I shook my head, but put the car in reverse and backed out of my garage. The drive was short thankfully, but because we were closer to the pier I knew we wouldn’t be here long. I watched as the kids ran to towards the playground. Aidyn falling down a few times since he hadn’t really mastered running yet. The sounds of Trista gasping each time me chuckle, and each time I chuckled I would get smacked, but it was worth it. I quickly joined our hands together so she couldn’t smack me with her right hand. Johnny and Leah were walking behind us, laughing at us or the kids, I’m not sure.

“Just wait til we get to the pier.” I said as both of the kids stopped and looked back at us.

“Daddy swing me!” Vicki yelled as she jumped up and down. I smiled and nodded, kissing, Trista really fast, I ran over to Vicki and swooped her up in my arms, listening to her loud giggle.

“You want to swing you do you?” I asked smiling, she nodded her head rapidly, “How high?”

“To the moon!” She yelled. I heard Trista, and Leah’s laugh from behind us.

"Really, all the way to the moon?!" I asked her, watching her smile widely. I ran over to the swings with her laying on my arms like an airplane. She giggled, smiling as I set her one the swing. Johnny walked over putting Aidyn in the swing next to us and started pushing him lightly. I pushed Vicki hearing her scream, laugh mixed in. I laughed at her yelling 'Higher', before hearing her brother copy her.

Only a half an hour had passed and I was already tired. We had played on the swings, slide, the monkey bars, and they were still full of energy.

"Man I give up." Johnny said as he sat down next to ne, placing Aidyn in Trista's lap. I swear these kids are evil.

"Yeah give them like ten minutes and they'll want to go run in the grass area." I said pointed to the area near the lake. It was the perfect thing to get their energy out though. It had a steep hill that the loved to run up and down.

"So after the hill we'll go the pier?" Trista asked me as Leah glared at her. I nodded watching as Aidyn climbed up my lap. I looked down at him with a questioning look, until he started playing with my cross. I smiled, his old habits had never changed. He tugged at it, letting me know he wanted it off. I reached up and undid it watching his eyes light up. He sat on my lap for a few minutes until Vicki got up and started walking away.

"I'm guessing that's our cue to leave." Johnny said laughing. I nodded knowing she wasn’t going wait for us.

The kids had spent only a short time playing before we made them stop so we could eat. We were all starving, and I swear our mouths were watering as we walked into Ruby's. The smell of huge juicy hamburgers entered my nasal passage. My stomach growled, making Aidyn look at it like it was going to eat him. I laughed as he poked it, looking up at me when it growled again. We were seated quickly, Leah and Johnny on one side, Vicki was in the middle, me and Trista on one side and Aidyn in a high chair on the outside.

"Trista can we go shopping after were done eating? I need some new clothes." Leah asked making me and Johnny groan. Trista smacked my arm lightly, making me pout. She laughed and kissed me and started talking to Leah about what exactly she wanted whichever wasn't much help since she didn't know.

"No problem. Me and you can find something. Plus another reason to go shopping on the pier. I need more clothes anyways." I looked over at her questioning what else she might possibly need, "Don’t cut me that look James. You never know what I might need."

"Yeah yeah I know. You don't shop much anyways. It's that one though I'm worried about. She spends all of my money." I said pointed at Vicki. She pouted, melting my heart.

"Daddy no buy me anything?" she said as her bottom lip began to quiver.

"Yes daddy will buy you something." I said as I sighed. I knew I lost that battle as soon as the words were out of my mouth. I glared at Trista playfully as she laughed.

"Daddy Three Tears too?" she asked staring at his chuckling form. He stopped laughing instantly, being sucked in by her pout. I smirked at my daughters ability to melt everyone heart.

"Of course baby." he said as he secretly flipped me off. I laughed and just blew him a kiss making the girls laugh and him shake his head.

"Hello my name is Drake. What will everyone be having today?" Our waiter said as he came up to us. He had a weird vibe. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. Kind if indifferent no matter how big the smile on his face was. His light hair was neatly done. Bright green eyes were filled with a sick sense of joy, shone bright behind the thin glass of his glasses. We told him what we wanted, quickly I might add, guess it wasn't just me who felt the eerie vibes off him. He walked away pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"Well he wasn't creepy." Leah said, sarcasm laced every word. I knew what she meant. I looked over at Vicki seeing with a slightly fearful look on her face. I called her over to me, Trista pulling her to me since she was in the middle of us. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and rested her head on my shoulder.

"What’s the matter?" I whispered in her ear.

"Like Todd." she said just as quiet. I sighed and kissed her forehead.

"No one is going to hurt you. Me and Daddy Three Tears won't let it." she nodded against my shoulder and crawled over to Trista, sitting in her lap and telling her what she told me. Trista started rubbing her back and kissing her forehead, doing anything to comfort her. She looked over at me and I nodded looking down at the table.

"What’s wrong Jimmy?" Johnny asked, a look of concern on his face.

"The guy reminded her of my sister's ex." I said as I leaned back and rubbed my face. Aidyn grabbed my hand that was flat on the table and started playing with my fingers, chewing on them, letting me know he was teething again. I looked down at him, watching him pick up my hand and bite down. I winced, but hid it from my little monster's eyes. I didn't want him to know he had hurt me because he would start crying and I knew he didn't do it on purpose.

"Todd?" Johnny mouthed to me. I nodded and looked over at Trista who still had Vicki in her arms. She had her head resting on Vicki's, talking to Leah about a song that she was writing. Johnny smiled sadly, something told me he knew how it felt, but I didn't ask. Our food came, another waiter serving it.

"Here you guys are. Sorry for switching with Drake, but he looked like he scared you daughter pretty bad. We have a problem with him scaring younger kids." A lady said as she passed out our plates.

"She was just reminded of an old enemy of mine." I said as I laughed. The lady chuckled, I looked up to see that it was Ruth, a lady that lived down the street from me when I was younger.

"Oh my. Hello James." she said as she looked at me fully.

"Hello Ruth." I said as I smiled at her.

"Is that your baby girl?" she asked pointing to Vicki.

"Yes ma'am. Turning three this year." I said as I ran my hand through her hair.

"Nightmares like you?" she asked. She often watched me when my parents were out of town and she witnessed some of my worst up until I was thirteen.

"Yeah they're really bad. For the life of me we can't get rid of them. They just get worse and she can't sleep after." I explained to her.

"Well Hun I got rid of yours for a bit. Hmmm... Have you tried burning an inscent in her room. One that's really calm. Try a vanilla one. I used a sandalwood with you. It really calmed you down. I told you that monsters that the monsters that cause bad dreams hated the smell." she said laughing quietly. I chuckled, nodding remembering how she used to wrap me up in a huge blanket and sit there until I fell asleep.

"Wow I hadn’t thought about that. I'll try that tonight. Thank you." I said as I looked over at Vicki, who was curled yawning.

"If you don't mind me asking who is this little one?" she asked looking down at Aidyn.

"This is my son Aidyn. He just turned one last month." I said smiling down at him as he bit my finger again. She laughed getting ready to say something before she was interrupted.

"Ruth get back to work!" I heard someone yell. She rolled her eyes in a typical Ruth fashion. I laughed under my breath wondering what she was going to say to him.

"Get the spoon out of your ass I'm busy!" she yelled back, ignoring all of the looks she receive. Everyone at the tabled laughed, at the look on her manager’s face. Something tells me that's she is a handful.

"Well hears my number. Call me if you ever need anything." she said as she wrote down her number on a piece of paper, "Now I have to get back to work before he has a heart attack."

"I'll talk to you later. It was nice seeing you." I said as I stood up and gave her a one-armed hug, since Aidyn still had my arm. I sat down and looked over Vicki who was happily munching on her French fries, seeming to forget about what had just previously happened. I nodded over to Johnny who was pointing to the ketchup. He put some on Aidyn's plate, both of us knowing it was going to be a mess. Vicki offered me a fry which I took a bite of.

“Bad Daddy!” she said as she held her finger for a second before pointing it at me in a way that was purely Trista. I don’t know why but I was shocked by the gesture. Trista quickly convered her mouth trying to suppress the giggles that were flowing from her mouth.

“What did I do?” I asked innocently as she starred at me.

“You bite me!” She yelled standing up so she could look me in the eyes.

“I did not. Aidyn did I bite your sissy?” I asked my son as he took a bite of his fry. He smiled, looking back at his sister. I didn’t have to turn around to see that she was trying to get him to nod his head. He smiled up at me nodding his head up and down with hers.

“My own son is turning against me. I see how it is. Doesn’t my wife believe me?” I asked pouting at Trista listening to Leah and Johnny’s laughs. She smiled at me and shook her head.

“You bit my baby girl.” She said crossing her arms across her chest.

“My whole family is against me. George?” I asked as I pouted at my friend. He looked at me before looking at a pouting Vicki. I smiled at the game my daughter was playing.

“Sorry man, she’s got the pout.” he said as he looked at me.

“My pouts cuter! Where do you think she learned it from?” I said as I glared playfully at my daughter. She smiled innocently at me.

“Nope! I cuter!” She said sticking her tongue out at me.

“Sorry man. She perfected it.” He said as he shrugged.

“I win!” She yelled at the top of her little lungs. I glared over at Trista who was looking around the room innocently.

“You are so not innocent.” Leah spoke up before I could say anything. I laughed at the look across Trista’s face that clearly said she was wasn’t expecting that.

“I thought you were on my side!” She yelled at Leah.

“Nope she’s on my side. She likes me better!” I said smugly. She just shook her head.

“She’s going shopping with me.”

“I’ll...I’ll buy her a dress!” I said as I smiled.

“Sorry girl.” She said as she smiled over at Trista. I laughed knowing I had won this one. This was a huge vicotry. I never win anything with her. I diverted my attention away from the glare I was given. I couldn’t help but smile at Aidyn, who had a drop of ketchup on his nose. His eyes were crossed as he stared at it. He looked up at me and smiled as I wiped it off with a napkin.

“Daddy I’m full.” I heard Vicki say as she pushed her plate away. I smiled and took a couple more quick bites of my hamburger before moving, seeing everyone start packing up their things. We paid and walked out of the restaurant, walking down the pier to see what stores the girls could shop in. I had Aidyn in my arms as he laid his head on my shoulder. He was so tired now. His little eyes were closing fast.

“Hey babe, what time is it?” I asked quietly as I felt Aidyn’s breathing relax against my chest.

“It’s around one.” She said as she looked at her son, “We won’t make it long ok?”

-------

“Ok she’s ready for you Johnny.” Trista exclaimed as she came over to me and sat on my lap. I laughed at the smug smile across her face. Though once I saw Leah I knew that smug look belonged exactly where it was. Leah’s long blond hair was up in a mess, but elegant bun. I never understood how they got that to look that way, but I suppose it’s just one of those things. Her make up was done simple, showing more of the beauty that was natural. Her dress, showed her curves perfectly and the black of the dress contrasted the pale of her skin better then any other color. The semi-layered top of the dress, showed her bust off nicely..don’t tell trista I said that! The black heels raised her up a few inches, making her closer to Johnny’s high.

“Wow...Leah you look...” Johnny said as he seemed to struggle with the words, something I never thought I would see.

“Hot!” Aidyn yelled. The whole room went quiet as we looked at the toddler. He looked at us before going into a fit of laughter.

“Ok we need to go before I lose my woman to a one year old.” Johnny said rushing Leah out of the house.

“We need to start monitoring what he watches...”