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

"What are you doing out of bed?" Jimmy called from bed, his voice raspy from sleep. I peeled my eyes away from the dark grey sky to look back at his half awake form. The sight of my soon to be husband was one that made my heart melt. His hair was everywhere and his eyes were half open, slightly glossy.

"I was just looking at the clouds. There's a storm coming in." I answered as I walked back to bed, trying to hide why I was really awake, but I knew he knew. I climbed in, cuddling into his chest, sucking the warm in from him.

"Another dream?" he asked as he traced his finger along my cheek as he kissed my head.

"It wasn't bad." I said knowing that's what he was implying.

"Ok," His tone screamed that he wasn't convinced, but wasn't going to push the subject, "What time is it?"

"Around 7:30." I answered looking up at him. He rubbed his hand down his face and nodded, reaching out for his glasses.

"The kids will be up soon. We should go make breakfast." He said smiling. I nodded and stood up out of bed, stretching with my arms high over my head. He chuckled at the small moan that fell from my lips. I turned back around to see a dopey smile on his face, and his eyes glued to my ass. I grabbed my pillow and smacked him with it making him laugh harder. I walked over to my dresser, pulling out a pair of shorts and a shirt. Slipping my night shirt over my head I changed into my new shirt. Cold hands slipped around my waist as soft kisses were placed on my neck. I smiled, sighing quietly, as I relaxed onto him. He swayed me back and forth, resting his head on my shoulder.

"I don't wanna move." he said as he took a deep breath. I giggled as he exhaled, his breath tickling my neck.

"I know but the kids need breakfast." I remind him. He nodded and stood up walking into the closet. I shook my head at him and slipped on my shorts.

"Cleaning day?" he asked as he leaned against the door jam.

"Yeah I think so. I need to clean the kitchen again." I said giving him a look. He laughed and looked around nonchalantly like I wasn't talking to him. I shook my head as I remembered just why I had to clean the kitchen again. Never leave a man and kids home alone with a blender.

"I'm going this way." he said walking out of the room. I laughed, shaking my head before following him, grabbing my necklace. He walked down the hall backwards, smiling at me the whole time. I smiled as I watched him slow down, staying only a few feet away from me. He reached out, taking my hand in his and continued to walk, getting closer to the edge of the couch. He finally reached it, knees buckling as he did so making me land with my knees on both sides of him. He looked up at me, a look of nothing but love in his eyes. He reached up and ran his hand through my hair, brushing it out of my face. I blushed lightly, looking down at his chest.

"So many years and I still make you blush." he said with a playful tone. I smiled and looked up, shaking my head lightly. He chuckled knowing I was embarrassed. He set his hand under my chin and brought me closer kissing me softly. I kissed him a bit harder reaching my hands up and placing them on his face, making sure he wasn't going anywhere. He set his hand on my hip while the other went up my back, holding me tightly. Our kiss stayed PG in case the kids walked in on us. I pulled away after a few minutes, running out of breath. He had a dopey smile on his face, looking up at me.

"I've never once thought of my wedding, but now I can't wait for it." He said as he stared at me. I smiled and kissed him again.

"I know. We need to start planning everything too." he nodded setting his head back against the back of the couch. I laughed and kissed his neck before getting up. I pulled out the batter for pancakes and the blueberries out of our fridge, getting the eggs and bacon out as well. I could hear the couch squeak lightly as he got up. Hands were wrapped around my waist and his chin was placed on my shoulder. I turned my head around and kissed him lightly. He smiled and stole a blueberry from the container. I laughed and finished cutting the blueberries in smaller pieces.

“You’re in quite a loving mood.” Jimmy said as he stole another kiss.

“I know, I don’t know why.” I said as I mixed the batter. He smiled and looked down at me, “What?” I asked.

“Maybe it’s just cause I’m sexy.” He said as he leaned down and kissed me again.

“Oh yes, that’s the reason.” I said sarcastically as I heard quiet footsteps coming into the room. He looked hurt before sticking his nose in the air and walked away. I laughed and shook my head at him.

"Hi baby." I heard him say as he walked towards the living room. He walked back into the kitchen with her in his arms. She smiled when she saw me, leaning over and kissing my cheek. I kissed her's, listening to her giggle.

"You wanna help me cook pancakes?" I asked as I made the batter. She nodded and reached her arms out allowing me to pick her up. I set her on my hip, making sure that the pan was hot enough by throwing a little water on the pan. It sizzled making her laugh. She grabbed the measuring cup I was using to hold the batter as I put some butter in the pan.

"Babe can I plug my piano into the speakers?" I heard Jimmy yell. I looked down at Vicki who was nodding. I smiled and yelled back that it was perfectly fine. Not even a minute later we heard the sweet sound of Warmness on the Soul. We both smiled and fixed the pancakes.

"We need to go wake up Bubba." I said as I set the temp on the stove on low before walking back to Aidyn's room. Vicki laughed as I bounced her up and down on my hip as I walked down the hall. We got to Aidyn’s room, where Vicki held her finger to her lips, signaling me to be quiet. I nodded and quietly walked into the room. I set Vicki down next to me and watched as she quickly ran over to the crib. I followed her and pulled the side down, reaching in and lightly pushing Aidyn. He picked his head up, looking at me before laying it back down, snuggling into his mattress.

“Aidyn come on baby. Wake up.” I said as I picked him up. He dug his head into my shoulder, before picking his head up and yawning.

“Good morning baby.” I said as I kissed his forehead. He laid his head back on my shoulder, but I laid him on his changing table to change him. I looked over at Vicki who was making a disgusted face before she looked up and smiled at Aidyn who took to playing with her nose. I laughed and finished changing him, before picking him up and walking back into the kitchen.

“Aww it burnt.” I said as I peeled the burnt pancake off of the pan and threw it in the trash. I set Aidyn down in the living room turning on Sprout for them. I heard them singing from the kitchen as I finished the pancakes.

____________________

“Hey Jim, can you check the news?” I asked as I washed the last dish in the sink.

“You want me to check the weather?” He asked. I stopped what I was doing to see Jimmy smiling behind me, “I did earlier. There’s a really bad storm coming in.”

“We should go get some candles then.” I said laughing as I heard Vicki scream “Yay!” Setting the plate in the dish drainer, I leaned up and kissed Jimmy smiling as he applied more pressure. We broke apart as we heard Vicki say “Ewww.” I looked over at her, seeing her standing there with Aidyn. He has his nose wrinkled like Vicki as he repeated after her. I couldn’t contain my laughter as the look on Jimmy’s face formed into a look of complete amazement. He playfully glared at Aidyn, making him giggle, before tickling him on the spot. Aidyn screamed with laughter as Jimmy picked him up. His screams faded down the hall as Jimmy carried him to his room to get him dressed. I looked down at Vicki and had to cover my mouth as I watched her. Her hands were on her hips and she was shaking her head at her father. I smiled and picked her up, taking her to her room. She started picking out her clothes as soon as we got there, pulling out her gray tunic shirt that had white flowers made of stitching on it, and a pair of blue jeans, something I knew she could get into by herself. I walked into my room and grabbed a pair of skinny jeans to change into quickly so I could help Vicki if she needed it. I grabbed my jacket and a pair of boots from my closet and walked out of the room. Vicki was sitting on her bed trying to shove her feet into her little black boots that Nikki had bought her. I took them from her with a smile and slipped them on her feet with ease. She smiled and ran out of her room, grabbing a random jacket. I smiled at her eagerness to go to the store and grabbed her scarf from the back of her bed. I walked back into Aidyn’s room to see Jimmy cleaning up a bit of powder.

“You have to start moving that.” I said as I picked Aidyn up off of the floor, next to Jimmy.

“I needed to use it.” Jimmy said as he smiled a goofy smile. I smiled at the dork I call my soon-to-be husband. He laughed and grabbed Aidyn’s shoes, slipping them on his feet while I held him. We walked out to the car, Vicki skipping ahead of us. The storm was causing chaos. People were running around everywhere trying to get ready.

“This is insane. They act as if it’s going to be a hurricane.” Jimmy said as I tossed some tea light candles in the cart.

“They said it’s supposed to be one of the worst storms in Huntington’s history.” A woman behind him said. She reminded me of a voodoo queen honestly. A big dress was adorning her more than curvy body, the colors offsetting her dark skin.

“Well then that makes it worse.” He said thinking of the storm we had last year around this time. It was so bad we even had tornados and cars being flipped, the waves had flooded several parts of the streets. It was horrible. I nodded with a worried state of mind now. He noticed and smiled, but it didn’t change my mind.

“Honey don’t worry. If you can handle those two children at such a young age, you can handle a storm.” The woman spoke up again. I smiled and laughed lightly.

“They’re a piece of cake. The best kids I have ever seen.” I replied.

“Oh, but something tells me he’s quite the handful.” She said as she looked at Jimmy with a playful smile.

“Who me? No...never.” He said as he smiled innocently.

“Mmmhmmm.” She said laughing as she walked away. I laughed quietly as he smiled childishly. I set batteries in the cart, for the flashlights at home. As I was setting another thing of batteries in the cart I noticed the kids staring at some flashlights on the shelves. Jimmy nodded as he saw me look at them. I grabbed two little lanterns they could hold themselves and set them in the cart, watching their smiles grow.

“We have the really cool one at home too.” Jimmy said as he yawned. I nodded knowing the one he was talking about, but I grabbed two Nightmare Before Christmas flashlights. The kids cheered, making the people around us laugh. They just smiled, knowing full well that everyone thought they were cute. We hurried through the rest of the store not wanting to be there too long. It was sprinkling by the time we got back. Knowing that the kids would want to go out and play me and Jimmy got out all of the blankets from their room and ours and laid them in the living room in a huge pile. The kids jumped in, in an instant giggling. My plan for cleaning was basically put to a halt, by the storm. I could still clean, but the thought of this being the worst storm was invading my mind again. Jimmy sat down on the couch and pulled me down with him, making me sit and watch the kids, he knew where my mind was.

“Stop worrying. We’ll be fine.” He said as he kissed my forehead. I nodded and set my head on his chest, watching as Vicki threw the blankets over Aidyn as he laughed. I flipped on the TV turning it to the news.

“Reports of the worst storm in the history of Huntington Beach has causes the city chaos. Stores are over flowing with people trying to buy last minute things to protect themselves and their homes. The National Guard is currently working on applying sand bags around the places most likely to flood.-“ The channel was changed before I could hear anymore. Jimmy turned on The Dark Knight knowing I would become lost in Heath Ledger’s act. I got up and walked into my room, grabbing a few things out of the closet that I had put away for days like this. Jimmy looked curious as I set two huge coloring book on the floor, before smiling up at him. He laughed and grabbed the crayons off the top of the entertainment center, where they were put when Aidyn was old enough to start coloring.

“Colors!” Vicki yelled as she saw what I had pulled out. She ran over nearly tripping in all of the blankets. She quickly caught herself and smiled widely, acting like it never happened. I noticed the amused look on Jimmy’s face as he watched his daughter recover. Aidyn managed to crawl out of the blankets and over to Jimmy.

“Daddy!” Aidyn yelled as he pouted.

“What?” Jimmy asked, not believing that he was getting yelled at by a one year old.

“No Help!” He yelled back, crossing his little arms over his chest. I laughed quietly as I handed Vicki a crayon. Jimmy looked at me with disbelief.

“Hey, he’s your son.” I said as I turned to act like I was watching the movie. I felt a crayon hit my head as Aidyn laughed.

“Hey you’re right, he is my son.” He smirking as I glared at him. I shook my head, focusing on coloring the flowers that Vicki had handed me. Red soon covered the white paper, filling in the flower print. Vicki started coloring the flower next to it a deep purple, trying to stay in the lines the best she could, but being so young it was still all over the page.

“Babe…Baby. He did it.” Jimmy said in a begging voice, but I could still hear the undertone of laughter. I laughed quietly as I looked over at Vicki who was trying not to laugh as well.

“You got me in trouble!” I heard Jimmy say from behind me as Aidyn started laughing hysterically. I looked over to see Jimmy tickling Aidyn mercilessly. I winked at Vicki before reaching over and grabbing Jimmy’s side, making him fall over in laughter from me tickling the sensitive flesh. Vicki laughed as she stood up from her spot and sat on Jimmy’s chest, tickling under his chin.

“Ok Ok I give! I’m sorry!” He begged as all three of us tickled him without mercy. I could feel how hard it was for him to not push us away, especially the kids. The sounds of thunder filled our house; I watched Vicki’s facial expression change to that one fear. I picked Vicki up off of Jimmy and watched as he struggled to catch his breath. He looked up at me glaring. I smiled before taking off down the hall, setting Vicki down before I ran to make sure she didn’t get hurt, knowing he would want revenge. I could hear his footsteps behind mine, as well as the kid’s behind him. I barely made it passed the bed before I was tackled.

“That was not nice.” He said, still breathing heavy as he held my arms above my head.

“Neither was teaching my son to throw a crayon at my head!” I said as I smiled up at him. He smiled a devious smile and began to say something, but his whole demeanor changed into one of shock. I looked behind him to see that the kids were tickling his feet, his most ticklish spot. I bit my lip to stop from laughing as I looked on the look on his face. His eyes were squinted, lip tucked tightly between his teeth. It was easy to tell that he was struggling to not kick and squirm, in fear of hitting one of the kids. He couldn’t take it any longer, he rolled over, off me, and pulled his feet from the two masterminds we call children.

One love, one heart
Let's get together and feel all right
As it was in the beginning (One love)
So shall it be in the end (One heart) I crawled up my bed to my nightstand and grabbed my phone, knowing it was Zacky.

“Hey Zacky, whats up?” I said into the phone as I heard the thunder roar once again. Vicki curled into Jimmy’s lap. I picked up Aidyn, not really knowing how he was going to react to this. Last time he just slept through it, since his room is nearly sound proof.

“Hey I need to run out to my parent’s house and I don’t want to leave Tegan here by herself. I mean I know she’ll be ok, but for my sanity can you come over for a few and sit with her. If there’s any one who can get her mind off of it, it’s her sister.” He rambled as he explained everything to me. I knew it was just because this was the first time, and I literally mean the first time she had ever been away from Zacky during a storm, especially one this bad.

“Zacky I’ll be over in a minute ok?” I said cutting off his rambling mind. I could practically see the embarrassed smile over the phone. I got up off the bed and grabbed my little bag out of the closet.

“Ok I’ll see you when you get here.” He said as I heard the click on the other end.

“You know most guys would get extremely concerned if you just got off the phone with a guy and are now packing a bag, but I guess I can share you.” Jimmy said in an annoyed tone. I looked back at him to see a huge smile across his face, telling me he was just kidding.

“Zacky has to leave his house for a few minutes so he wants me to go hang out at the house for a bit.” I explained as I set Aidyn on the dresser, knowing that he knew to stay still. I grabbed some clothes just in case the storm got too bad for me to come home tonight.

“That makes sense. Has he ever been away from Tegan during s storm?” He asked me as he stood up.

“No…Not even when she was with Todd. Todd would leave and she would call Zacky, just like I did with you.” I said as I looked back at him, placing a hand on Aidyn’s stomach so he didn’t fall. I saw a smile go across Jimmy’s face as he stood from the bed, Vicki still in his arms with her head resting against his shoulder. He walked over to me and kissed my forehead, before walking into, what looked to be the kitchen.

“Daddy!” Aidyn yelled as he reached his arms out to me I smiled and set him on the ground, watching as he tried his hardest to run down the hall without falling. I finished my bag quickly and walked into the bathroom. Grabbing a few things, I looked at my reflection, I knew it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but my eyes were starting to hurt. I carefully took my contacts out and grabbed my glasses next to me. I set them on, seeing everything a lot clearer than when I had my contact in and walked out of the room. I walked down the hall, seeing the kids playing in there play room as I walked down the hallway into the kitchen.

“What’s the matter?” I asked as I say a pained expression on Jimmy’s face.

“I started thinking about all those storms we had roughly about a year ago.” He said as he looked up at me. Something was puzzling him, but I didn’t have the faintest idea of what it was. It was true that he stuck by me with every storm. Brandon thought that leaving me during a storm was a way of punishing me, but it never had an effect on me because I had Jimmy.

“What about them?” I asked as I pressed my back against the counter. I knew I needed to get to Zacky’s, but he had gotten my curiosity.

“How many times did we sleep together?” He asked as he looked me in the eye. I had an idea of what he was getting at now, but I still wasn’t too sure.

“At least three times.” I said as I looked down, ashamed. Even though Brandon was the meanest man alive, I was never one to cheat on a man. I loved Jimmy though, so at the time it was justified in my mind, but I knew it was still wrong.

“How many times did you sleep with Brandon?” He said as he walked over to me. I thought back, knowing it was far less than I slept with Jimmy.

“Only once I think.” I said as I looked up at him.

“Baby…I think Aidyn might be mine.” He said as he set his hand on my cheek. I looked to the side, not knowing what to say. It was very possible as much, and I have no idea why I didn’t see it before. Aidyn had blue eyes, something not common in my family nor Brandon’s.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” He said as he went to walk away. I grabbed his arm, making sure he couldn’t leave.

“We’ll get a test done.” I said smiling. He knew that the smile was kind of forced, but at the same time it was real. He nodded and kissed me.

“I love you.” He said simply.

“I love you too.” I said as I kissed him again, “Do you want me to take one of the kids with me?”

“Ummm…take Aidyn. Vicki wanted to learn to play piano and that might take her mind off of the storm.” He said as he looked down the hall.

“Ok that’s fine. I figured you probably didn’t want to have both kids by yourself.” I said chuckling, trying to ignore my previous conversation. He stuck his tongue out at me, obviously doing the same, before taking off down the hall. I laughed and followed him, but I walked into Aidyn’s room packing up some things in his diaper bag. I finished easily, not really expecting to be done so fast.

“ Ok Babe. I’m all packed. I’ll be back soon ok?” I said as I walked into the kid’s play room, laughing as Vicki “cooked”. James was sitting at her little table with a plate in front of him. I smiled and looked around for Aidyn.

“What is my son in?” I asked as I looked at the makeshift fort they had created.

“He’s in the dog house.” Jimmy said as if it was just that easy to see. I shook my head at the over grown child and picked my son up and set his on my hip.

“I’m going to get going ok?” I said as I leaned down and kissed the goof I call my fiancé. I leaned down and kissed Vicki’s forehead, laughing as Aidyn grabbed a hold of my shirt tighter. I felt Jim’s hand on my ribs making sure Aidyn didn’t fall. I stood up watching my daughter stare up at me with big blue eyes that were purely her father’s.

“I love you baby girl.” I said as I kneeled down and hugged her as tight as I could.

“Love you too Mommy.” She said as she hugged me back giggling. I stood up and walked out to the living room to grab my purse. Jimmy had picked up Vicki and was walking right behind me. I opened the garage door holding it open for him as well before walking over to our SUV. I buckled Aidyn in and faced Jimmy, who was staring atmy our son. I took Vicki from him, watching him lean over and kiss Aidyn’s forehead.

“I’ll see you soon, call me if you’re staying over ok?” Jimmy said as he took Vicki back out of my arms. I nodded and smiled leaning up to kiss him. He kissed me back hard as he held the back of my head in place. I smiled and pulled away.

“I love you babe.” I said as I kissed him one more time.

“I love you too.” He said as he backed away from the car and walked towards the house.

“So Aidyn, so we go and get Aunt Tegan tacos or should we just go over?” I asked my one year old, like I was really expecting an answer, as I pulled out of the drive way. I watched the garage shut before I started driving down the street, looking back at Aidyn.

“Tacos!” He yelled. I laughed a nodded my head, knowing my son had spent way too much time around my sister.