"Mr. Dickinson, its so good to her from you."Judith was at her house enjoying a quiet afternoon. Her Son and Daughter-in law were visiting her family, wanting to introduce their baby to everyone.
"Hiya Judith." Bruce smiled at the sound of her voice, it had only been a couple of days since she had quit, but he missed her. "I was just checking on how you were doing."
Judith let out a laugh, "I'm doing great. Enjoying myself as much as I can. How are you and Paddy doing? More importantly, how are my boys doing? I miss them so much."
"That's why I'm calling you. The boys miss you Judith, Paddy misses you...." Bruce let out a shaky laugh,"....I miss you. I wanted to see if you can come around to see us."
Judith was quiet on the line, Bruce thought maybe there was a band connection, "I would love to come over Mr. Dickinson. I didn't realize you all missed me. Especially not you. I always had a feeling you didn't fancy having me around the house."
Bruce didn't know what to say. He didn't know Judith felt that way. At times he was cold towards her, speaking to her only when she spoke to him, and usually giving just short answers. He was an asshole, he knew it, and had treated people horribly in the past.
"I'm sorry Judith. I've just been under a lot of stress lately. Me quitting Maiden has brought out a lot of negativity in the press and it's taken a toll on me. Please forgive me."
He could feel Judith smile through the phone. "Thank you Mr. Dickinson. I accept your apology. And I would love to come see my boys...and of course you and Paddy."
Bruce felt his stomach clench, she had agreed to come see them. He gave out a laugh, not realizing how happy he was. "Thank you! Come over now if you'd like!! Paddy isn't home but that's OK. It's just the boys and I. I won't let them know you're on your way."
"Paddy isn't home? How about I wait until she is so I can come see you all."
Now that he had her agree to come, he wasn't going to let her get away, "No. Please come. Paddy will be OK with it, I promise. And that'll give you a reason to come again."
"If it weren't for the boys, I wouldn't even bother. But since I love and miss them so much, I will be on my way. See you shortly Mr. Dickinson."
Bruce hung up the phone, he felt nervous.
He was going to get the boys and himself ready. He wanted to make sure they looked their best.
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"Judy!!" Austin ran to her, his arms wide open. He was laughing the whole way. Griffin was still learning to walk and was shaky on his legs. He tried to run after his brother, but decided to crawl over...yelling "Ju Ju" at the top of his lungs.
"My boys!! I missed you both so much!" she swooped Austin up and gave him a big hug, kissing him over and over again. Griffin grabbed on her leg and pulled himself up to her. She looked down and smiled at him, picking him up as well. "Griffin. My baby." she wrapped her arms around him and proceeded to tickle him, making him laugh uncontrollably in her arms.
Bruce couldn't help but smile. The boys were so happy to see her. They weren't that enthusiastic when he'd come home. He hadn't realized what a big part of their lives she was.
He walked up to them and gave her a shy smile. "Thank you for coming. As you can see, we...." he blushed and cleared his throat, "....uhhmm...I mean the boys really missed you."
Judith put the boys down and walked up to Bruce. She smiled at him and pulled him into a hug, "Thank you Mr. Dickinson. I missed you all very much as well."
Bruce's head was spinning. She had never hugged him before. She usually kept it formal between them, a handshake and that was it. Now she had her arms wrapped around him. Bruce didn't know what to do. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back, burying his face in the crook of her neck, breathing her in.
"Thank you Judith." he whispered, "Thank you for everything."
Judith pulled herself away from his arms, she noticed a change in him.
"Are you OK Mr. Dickinson?" she asked, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze.
Bruce blushed at her touch, he couldn't hide his feelings any longer, "Yes...I'm fine. I just...."
Austin ran up to Bruce and tossed a ball at him. "Catch Daddy!!" he laughed as he ran off again, Griffin following him close by.
Judith smiled at Bruce, "Go play wit them. We can talk later. I'll sit here and watch you boys."
Bruce smiled back, "Yeah....we'll talk later." he gave her a goofy grin and ran off after his boys.
