After milk and cookies with Gina, and after she got to formally get to know her grandson, Brandon and Jai went outside to the backyard to resume their tour.
"Wow, what's that?" Brandon pointed up into the highest oak tree in the backyard, staring in wonder at the wooden structure anchored in its limbs.
"That's my tree house." Then, remembering all the fun times he'd had there as a child, decided to add, "Your mom and I used to play there all the time when we were kids."
"Really?" Brandon's head was tipped back so far it looked like he would fall backwards any second. "Can we play up there now?"
Jai Brooks! What latent strain of insanity caused you to think it would be a good idea to let my son climb a rickety, old wooden ladder over 15 feet above the ground?
Jai spun around at the sound of Ariana's voice, but there was no one there. Maybe he was going crazy. With her voice still echoing in his mind, he turned back to Brandon, who was watching him with expectation.
"Ummm, that's not a very good idea, buddy. How about we try the tire swing instead? It's really cool."
"Okay!", Brandon replied happily when he saw the large truck tire suspended by three long chains and hanging at the bottom of the large oak.
Hey, look at me. Jai thought to himself with a proud smile. I just made my first good parenting decision and all it took was the fear of what Ariana would do to me if Brandon got hurt.
xxxxxxx
Gina walked briskly to the kitchen door when she heard the quiet knock later that afternoon. She was holding a dishtowel and shifted it to her left hand as she opened the door.
"Ariana? Why did you come to the back door?", she asked as she showed the girl into the kitchen.
"I walked over and this was how I ... well, how I always used to come in your house." Her voice was quiet and subdued and she had a small sheepish smile on her face. She looked around curiously. "Where is he?"
"Jai?" The name slipped out before she realized.
"No", Ariana replied quickly. "Brandon, where's Brandon?"
"Well, they're both in the family room playing Wii. For some crazy reason everyone seems to love my WiiFit. I've hardly had a chance to use it myself."
"May I?", the brunette indicated in the direction of the family room.
"Actually, I thought, maybe, we could talk."
"Actually, I have to get Brandon home for his nap.."
"Please?"
The sincere look in the older woman's eyes convinced her to stay. "Sure."
After fixing them both a warm cup of Chai tea, they sat down at the small breakfast table, a table where Ariana had eaten many a PB&J sandwich when she was younger.
"I just wanted to say that Brandon is a treasure." Ariana smiled at the praise, as any mother would. "You're doing a wonderful job with him."
"Thank you, but he's just naturally good. I haven't really even seen any of those terrible two's that people talk about all the time."
Gina leaned forward conspiratorially. "I'll tell you a little secret, Ari, the books are wrong; the terrible two's don't actually start until they're about three. Sorry."
"Oh... well, I'll just figure it out when it happens", she replied with a confidence that came from not having lived through the experience yet.
Gina let out a hearty laugh as she shook her head. "Oh honey. I sincerely hope you do." She gave her a sweet smile and put her hand on Ariana's, leaning in to whisper. "If he's anything like Jai, he's going to refuse to put his pull ups on and run around naked."
That made Ariana burst into laughter that reached the living room and Brandon's small ears. The three and a half year olds eyes lit up as he dropped the Wii controller and ran out to the kitchen, abandoning his father. "Mommy!" He exclaimed excitedly as he pounced onto her lap, hugging her legs tightly. He was definitely a mommas boy.
Ariana smiled brightly as she lifted her baby into her arms and gave him a tight hug, seeing Jai come into the kitchen. "Hi baby boy. Did you have fun?" Then, looking at Jai, "He didn't cause any trouble did he?"
Jai smiled at the two, shaking his head. "No. He was an angel."
"Jai is soooo cool momma." Brandon grinned as his mother stood, still carrying him. "He has a really cool treehouse. Can we get one?"
Ariana looked at Jai in surprise as he shrugged and smiled. She threw him a raised eyebrow then smiled at Brandon. "Maybe. Grandpa is coming on Sunday, we can ask him if he and Uncle Frankie can make one for you."
Brandon smiled brightly and laid a huge wet sloppy kiss on her cheek, making everyone laugh.
xxxxxxx
"Brandon, baby... Please settle down", Ariana pleaded to her hyper son later that night, desperate to get him to go to bed.
"No! No! No!", he shouted at the top of his lungs while jumping up and down on his bed.
Frankie popped into the room with a perturbed look on his face. "Ari, I'm trying to chronograph over here. Could you two keep it down?"
Ariana closed eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She could feel a headache starting and her mother always swore you could stave one off by applying the right amount of pressure there - sort of like, do-it-yourself acupuncture. It didn't seem to be working.
"No! No! No!..." Brandon continued his chant like a mantra in the background.
"He won't go to sleep, Frankie." Her voice was tense and barely controlled. This must be what Mrs. Brooks was talking about when she said the terrible two's start later than advertised.
"Let me handle this." Confidently, Frankie strode into the room. "What seems to be the problem, Bran?"
"No sleep! I want Jai! I want to plaaaaay!" He twirled around on the bed and fell backwards into Frankie's arms, like he was a one-man mini-mosh pit.
Frankie sat him back down on the ground and walked back to Ariana. "Problem solved", he said as if he'd actually accomplished something. "He wants Jai."
Ariana, in the meantime, had sank down to the floor and was hugging her arms around her knees. She looked up at her brother with fire in her eyes. "I already knew that, Frankie! He's been shouting it since he got out of the tub!"
Frankie, still exuding a calm demeanor, replied, "So just call him, Ariana. You're the one who wants to get back together with him; here's another chance."
"Jai! Jai! Jai!..." Brandon droned on.
She jumped up from the floor and grabbed Frankie's collar. "I never said that." She released him just as quickly and paced away a step, trying to clear her head, which was virtually impossible with a screaming toddler in the room. She tried running her hand through her hair, the way she'd seen Jai do when he was trying to think. Instead of a calming effect, however, the opposite happened. Her hair became tangled on the many rings she wore and she ended up pulling some strands out by the roots. "Ugh! Maybe, you're right. Maybe, I should call him." Turning around, Ariana saw that her wimp of a brother had disappeared.
xxxxxxx
"Thanks for coming over", Ariana said as she closed the front door and led Jai up the ornate, winding staircase.
"No prob." Jai had been practicing being casual around her, but it was extremely difficult, especially when she smelled so nice. He inhaled deeply when she brushed past him to close the door. It was a strange combination of a flowering perfume, sort of like strawberries, and a fresh clean smell, like soap, but different. He must have sniffed too loudly, because she turned to look at him when they reached the second floor.
"It's Johnson's Baby Shampoo, if you're wondering. I washed Brandon's hair about an hour ago."
The blush rose on his cheeks. "Oh... um, sorry." Well, there goes casual. Guess he should settle for awkwardly stupid. He seemed pretty good at that one.
They were standing outside Brandon's closed door now and Ariana stopped with her hand on the knob. "He keeps saying he wants to play, but it's almost two hours past his normal bedtime and I think he's just frazzled."
"And he's asking for me?" Jai's brown eyes lit up in delight.
"Yeah, but that's probably because he associates you with playing and not sleeping, which is what he's supposed to be doing now." She looked up at him seriously. "Before we go in, you have to understand... It's time for him to go to sleep, not play. And I have an English assignment due Monday, so I'm not helping you. You ask to be in his life, so welcome to it."
With that, she flung open the door, pushed him in and disappeared.
"Oh, boy."
Brandon's eyes lit up in delight when he saw Jai standing in the doorway.
"Jai!" The little boy bounced from the bed to the floor and then, made an impressive leap back up in the air and into Jai's waiting, if slightly stunned, arms.
"Whoa, big guy. What are you doing still awake?" He carried the boy back to his twin toddler bed and stood him on the mattress.
"I was waiting for you, so we can play. I like to play with you. You're fun."
Jai sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. Brandon jumped up in the air and landed with a squeal of delight on his bottom, right next to Jai.
"Brandon, you really need to listen to your mom, ya know?"
Jai looked down at Brandon and had to stifle a laugh. The toddler sat slumped in a defeated posture with his bottom lip stuck out in a pout. Never had he reminded Jai so much of Ariana.
"I dooooo." The toddler whined, looking up at his father. "But she's not being fun! She makes me sleep and brush my teeth and eat green stuff. That's not fun."
They needed to be comfortable for this talk, so Jai scooted Brandon up to his pillow and settled in beside him. He sat propped up on half of Brandon's pillow with his arms over his chest and his legs casually crossed at the ankle. Looking over at the little boy he had to chuckle when he realized that Brandon was mimicking his pose, right down to the crossed feet, except Brandon's feet were enclosed in attached slippers which were part of his footie pajamas. Jai knew he had to get serious about what he was going to say.
"I know... I'm a lot older than you are, but my mom still makes me do all that stuff too."
"Nooo... Meme does that?" His little brown eyes were bright with disbelief.
"Yeah, and I don't always want to listen to her, but I know she does those things because she loves me."
"Wow..."
"And my dad... man... he used to make me run suicides every day." Jai reached down and rubbed his aching calves in an exaggerated fashion.
"Wow..." He got a quizzical look in his bright brown eyes and turned, questioningly, to Jai. "Jai? Mommy has a daddy; he's Ganpa.. Gamma has a daddy; he's gamps.." Jai chuckled at the name he called Ariana's grandfather. The smile immediately dropped from Jai's face at Brandon's next words, "Why don't I have a daddy?"
Jai would love to swallow the large lump that just formed in his throat, but he couldn't. He could barely breath. The only thing he seemed capable of doing right now was staring, staring straight at Brandon who looked at him with unwavering trust and innocence.
"Umm, Brandon... Gee, buddy, you sure know how to ask the hard questions." The boy just kept looking up at him with absolute faith. This wasn't helping. Jai took a deep breath ... and exhaled. He did it again. Then, he realized Brandon was copying him again and he stopped.
"Okay, it's like this, Brandon. You do have a dad." Oh, crap. Would Ariana kill him for this? Yes. Definitely. She made it clear she didn't want him to know yet. However, the light that just flipped on in Brandon's eyes gave the confidence to continue. "You see ... I'm your dad." There, he said it.
"Really?" Even if he hadn't been looking at him, Jai could have heard the delight in his voice. "You?"
"Yeah, me." For some reason he felt like he needed to explain more. "You see... your mom and I..."
"Daddy! Can I call you Daddy? Cuz that's what Mommy calls Gampa." He nodded vigorously as he spoke. "Daddy, yeah. I want to call you Daddy."
Wow... Blown away didn't come anywhere close to describing how he felt right now. He reached over and hugged Brandon tightly to him.
"Sure, Brandon. You can call me Daddy. I think I'd like that."
"Daddy..." He said it like he was practicing his lines from a play.
Jai had to smile - more of Ariana emerging. "Hey, Brandon. Getting back to what we were talking about before... How 'bout we make a deal... you promise to listen to your mom and I'll promise to listen to mine? That sound good?"
"I s'pose... Do I have to listen to you too? Since you're my daddy?"
"Well, I'm kinda new at this. I think we should probably both listen to your mom for awhile."
"But can you still come over here at nite-nite time?"
"Sure, if it's okay with your mom."
Brandon hopped up and before Jai realized what had happened he was at the door.
"Brandon! Wait, buddy. Where're you goin'?"
"To ask Mommy if you can come over every nite-nite time."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Jai hurried over and scooped up Brandon before he could escape. He did not want to face her wrath tonight. "Let's ask her tomorrow. She's working on her homework."
Reluctantly, Brandon agreed and wiggled his way out of Jai's arms and ran over to his bookcase. "Read to me", he demanded. He led Jai back to his bed and handed him a worn copy of Milk and Cookies by Frank Asch.
"Oh wow, I used to love this book."
"Read", Brandon said again, more insistently with a huge bright smile. There really was a good bit of Ariana in him after all. "Please, Daddy?" Damn, he didn't know if his heart could take this or not. Right now, it was filled to bursting.
xxxxxxx
I hope you didn't like Jai too much because Ariana is probably going to kill him in the next chapter. Haha. I hope you enjoyed!😊 comment what you think! And vote! Also please ignore how in the photo above it says "drew" on the wall. That's Brandon's bedroom so let's pretend it says Brandon😉