hahaha thanks for the pics, guys! I love both of them! ;)
Ok, so I've thought long and hard about this, and I've come to a decision. There's only going to be about three more chapter to this fic. This is it. I'm ending it. It's been super fun while it's lasted, but it's time to lay the 'Always There' series to rest. But, like I said, we've got three more chapter, so I'm going to try to make the most of it! :)
Chapter 20
"Nate, pick up your toys now." I said sternly.
"No." he said, crossing his arms and turning back to watch tv.
"Nathan Jacob Jonas!" I half yelled. Oh yes, I used the full name. "If you don't pick up your toys then you'll come with me and your aunts and won't be able to play with your cousins."
Nate growled before standing up and angrily picking up his toys which were scattered around the room.
I took a deep breath before walking into the kitchen where Nick was finishing washing the breakfast dishes. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, leaning my head against his shoulder.
"What is it, Cass?" Nick asked, leaning down and kissing the top of my head.
"Your son." I mumbled.
"Is he still having a bad attitude?"
I nodded.
"Now what on earth has gotten into him?" Nick asked as he continued scrubbing a pan.
"I have no clue." I sighed. "Could you please talk to him? I've already tried. He just gets mad at me and tells me that he's not getting mad."
At that, we heard footsteps on the tile floor of the kitchen. Turning around, we saw Nate grab his half full cup of water from the table and gulp it down as quick as a six year old physically could. When he was done, he stepped over and held it up to me.
"I want some more water, mommy."
"Well what do you say, Nate?" Nick asked.
"Please." Nate said through clenched teeth.
I took the glass from him and filled it up, handing it back to him only to have him gulp it down faster than the first glass-full.
"Thirsty?" Nick half laughed.
Nate nodded and handed the glass back to me. I filled it up once more and he, once again, downed it in record time. After slamming the glass down on the table, he then raced out of the kitchen without another word.
Nick just shook his head before turning back to the dishes.
"Nick, are you sure you guys will be ok while we're out?" I asked, picking up a towel to help him dry.
"We'll be fine!" he laughed. "I'm pretty sure that three grown men are more than capable of handling five kids for a few hours."
"Ok then." I shrugged, grinning to myself. Sarah, Aisling, and myself had decided to have a girl's day out, leaving our husbands in charge of the kids. They were all convinced that they could hold down the fort until we got back, but that was yet to be seen.
Nick and I continued washing the dishes in silence; he would wash a dish and then hand it to me to dry and put away. Occasionally I would lean over and kiss his shoulder as he was washing, earning a grin and a kiss on my forehead from him. It went smoothly for the first few minuets...until I turned around to put a plate away. I had just set it down in the cabinet...when I felt a light sting on my thigh. It didn't hurt too bad, but it was definitely noticeable. I yelped and whipped around quickly to see Nick standing there, pulling back his damp dish towel for another pop.
"Oh no you didn't." I said, narrowing my eyes.
"Oh yes, I did." Nick grinned before taking a step closer.
"No, Nicholas! Don't you dare!" I laughed nervously as I backed away from him.
Nick just grinned, holding the towel at the ready, ready to pop it at any second. I turned to run, but instead of feeling a pop on my thigh or butt, I felt Nick's arms wrap around my waist and pull me into him. I continued laughing as he picked me up and spun me around a couple of times. When he sat me back down he kept his arms around me, though, so he could lean down and lavish my neck with kisses. I sighed happily and smiled, reaching a hand up to run it through his curls.
"Are you sure you want to go with Sarah and Aisling?" Nick groaned. "We could have so much more fun here."
"Nick, I promised them that I'd go today." I said, equally as sad as Nick reached up and pulled my shirt collar down so he could continue his kisses over onto my shoulder. "But I promise, babe, when I get back, we can do whatever you want to do." I grinned, reaching around with my other hand to stroke his thigh.
Nick moaned against my skin before nibbling lightly on my shoulder. It was soon followed by a groan, though, because it wasn't long before Grace happily walked into the kitchen, her favorite stuffed animal in hand, which just happened to be the pink elephant Nate had picked out for her.
"Hey, baby girl!" Nick smiled, releasing me to bend down and pick up Grace. "And hello, Benny." That was what she had named her elephant.
"Daddy," Grace said, looking up at him with her big brown eyes that perfectly matched Nick's.
"Yes, Gracie-grace?" Nick replied.
"Why do you kiss mommy so much?"
"Because I love her." Nick answered simply, looking over and giving me a stunning Nick J grin.
"But why don't you kiss me so much then?" Grace asked sadly.
"Because I'm married to mommy." Nick half laughed. "When you get married then your husband will kiss you as much as you want."
"Oh." Grace nodded. "Daddy, will my husband be handsome like you?"
Nick laughed. "Yes, baby, he will be. Now why don't you go wait in the living room for your cousins?"
Grace smiled and as soon as Nick sat her down, she bolted out of the room.
"You hear that, Cassie? She thinks that I'm handsome." Nick grinned, stepping over and wrapping his arms around my waist again.
"You could have fooled me." I smiled, resting my forehead on his.
It wasn't too much longer before the doorbell rang. By the time Nick and I got to the living room, Grace had already opened the door to let in Joe, Aisling, and their three kids. I smiled as I watched Isaac and Grace run off together. Since they were so close in age, they had grown to become the best of friends.
Adam and Jonathan ran over to where Nate was sitting on the couch, but I was surprised when he just scowled at them before turning back to the Scooby-Doo episode he was watching.
"Nathan! Be nice to your cousins!" I scolded.
"What's up with him?" Joe asked.
"I don't know." I sighed. "He's had this bad attitude for the past few days."
"Are you sure that you want to go today?" Aisling asked sympathetically.
"Yeah." I smiled reassuringly. "I don't think that it's anything that the guys can't handle."
"See, Ais, Cassie trusts me." Joe grinned at his wife.
Aisling just smiled and rolled her eyes. "Joe, it's not that I don't trust you. I'm just a little...concerned that you three won't be able to handle five kids on your own."
"Hon, two of us are experienced fathers, and one of us is an experienced big brother. I think we can hold down the fort for a few hours."
"Fine." Aisling said, throwing her hands up. "We'll just see who's right when we come home to a house in shambles."
"Are you making this into a bet, woman?" Joe asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Maybe I am." Aisling said playfully, stepping over closer to Joe and getting right in his face.
Before it could escalate, though, the front door opened and Sarah and Kevin stepped in.
"Saved!" I laughed.
"What?" Sarah asked, confusion on her face.
"Joe and Ais were trying to turn this whole babysitting thing into a bet." Nick rolled his eyes.
Kevin laughed and shook his head. "Is there ever a day when you two aren't at odds?"
"Aww, you know it's all done in love." Joe grinned, wrapping his arms around Aisling's waist and pressing a kiss to her neck, causing her to smile and blush.
"Well, are we ready to go?" I then asked.
"I guess so!" Sarah answered.
"Remember, Joe, Isaac needs to brush his teeth after eating. Unless you want your son to go through a cavity removal at the age of four." Aisling said.
Joe rolled his eyes once more. "Aisling, I know. They're my children too. I think I know how to take care of them."
Aisling smiled and leaned up to kiss Joe's cheek. "Alright. See you later."
I smiled and turned to grab my purse. But as I went to follow Aisling and Sarah out the door, I was stopped by a hand on my arm. When I turned around, I saw Nick standing there with a frown on his face.
"I don't get a good-bye kiss?" he asked.
"Awww, of course you do" I smiled before wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him into a deep kiss.
It was interrupted, though, by Kevin and Joe doing wolf whistles and telling us to take it to our bedroom.
"Hey!" Nick said, breaking the kiss and turning to them. "This is my house and I'll kiss my wife wherever I feel like it!"
Kevin and Joe just smiled and shook their heads before heading off to watch the kids.
"Seriously, Nick, are you sure you'll be ok with watching Nate?" I asked, turning serious.
"It'll be fine, Cass." he smiled. "It's not like he's sick or anything. I'll try to talk to him and see if I can find out why he's acting like this."
"Ok." I smiled before leaning in to kiss him once more before heading out the door.
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We had just finished two solid hours of shopping and were finally stopping to eat some lunch. It felt so good to finally have some time away from the kids and to hang out with my best friends! And I'm pretty sure that they felt the same!
We had just been seated in the restaurant, though, when my phone started ringing. I grinned when I saw that it was Nick; knowing that it probably had something to do with the kids.
"Hello." I answered with a smile, but it quickly faded when I heard screaming in the background. "Nicholas what happened?!"
"Don't worry, Cass! It's not as bad as it sounds." Nick snickered. I could tell by the way he was talking that he was trying to hold back laughter. "Grace just fell outside and scrapped her knee. She saw blood and she freaked."
I closed my eyes and shook my head, my smile returning.
"I was just calling to ask where the band-aids are."
"Under the sink in the bathroom." I replied. My words were followed closely by a particularly loud scream and Joe saying, "I'm sorry, honey! But I have to clean it off!"
"Ok, thanks." Nick said quickly. "It's ok, princess! It'll be ok, I promise!" I heard Nick say to Grace before hanging up the phone.
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We should have known that something was up just by pulling into the driveway. We had only been gone for a few hours, but the house looked like it had been hit by a bomb. Bikes and tricycles were strewn all over the front yard, sidewalk chalk artwork covered every inch of pavement on the driveway, and the curtains were pulled shut.
Almost nervously, Sarah, Aisling, and I headed up to the front door. I slowly opened it and walked inside to find the tv on mute with Barney dancing across the screen, toys of every shape and size littering the floor, and four bodies dead asleep on the couch and floor. Nick was passed out in his recliner, Kevin had fallen asleep sitting up on the couch beside Nate, who was sprawled out asleep as well, and Joe was asleep on the floor with Adam and Jonathan asleep on either side of him. The curious thing, though, was that both Adam and Jonathan were shirtless and were each wearing a pair of Nate's pants.
I stepped over to Nick and stroked his cheek, gently waking him up.
"Thank God you're home." he yawned when he saw that we had returned.
"What happened here?" I asked, looking around the house.
At that, Joe and Kevin woke up as well. When they saw that we were home, they got the same look of gratitude in their eyes.
"You left me! You promised that you would never leave me!" Joe said to Aisling from his spot on the floor.
"Where are Adam and Jonathan's clothes?" she asked.
Joe held up his hands. "Hey! In my defense, they decided to make the mud pies while I was helping Grace with her scraped knee!"
Aisling just shook her head and crossed her arms. "Where are the other kids?"
"Grace and Isaac are taking a nap in Grace's room." Kevin replied.
Just then, though, we heard, "Mommy's home!" from the kitchen.
Sarah and I followed Aisling into the kitchen where we found Grace and Isaac standing in a large puddle of something light yellow and slippery. They both also happened to be completely covered in it and were laughing their heads off as they slipped around in it, almost unable to stand up.
"What on earth have you done?!" I asked with wide eyes, causing both toddlers to look up and smile.
"Mommy! Look, it's fun!" Grace beamed.
"What is that stuff?" Aisling asked, stepping over and reaching down to feel of it.
The mystery was solved, though, when Isaac pointed to an empty bottle in the corner. I walked over and picked it up. It was Canola Oil.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying my hardest not to explode. It wasn't long before we heard the boys walk into the kitchen behind us, followed closely by a chorus of "Oh no"'s and "Why?"'s.
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Finally, after countless scrubbings in the bath, I was able to get the majority of the oil off of Grace. I couldn't help but smile, though, as I laid her down for her nap. She was my baby girl, I could never be too mad at her.
As I finished covering her up, I heard footsteps going down the hall. I turned around just in time to see Nick shuffling towards our bedroom. Needless to say, he and his brothers were in the dog house. After the others had left, I had made him clean up the house while I scrubbed Grace. I wasn't even going to ask how hard it was to clean up the oil from off the floor and cabinets.
I left Grace's room and shut the door before walking down to the bedroom. Upon entering it, I found Nick sprawled out, face down, on the bed. I smiled slightly and stepped over to the bed. He had had enough punishment.
I crawled over him and placed a knee on either side of his waist before firmly kneading his shoulders with my fingers. I felt and heard him moan deeply before relaxing and letting me work on his back.
"Are you mad at me?" he finally asked after a few minuets of silence.
"Of course not." I smiled before leaning down and kissing the back of his neck. "You guys did your best today and that's all that counts."
"I love you." Nick then mumbled tiredly against the pillow.
"I love you too, babe." I replied, crawling off of his back to lay down beside him.
Nick then rolled over onto his side and wrapped his arms around me. I smiled as he nuzzled his face into my neck.
"So how did Nate behave today?" I asked once Nick was settled.
"Alright I guess." Nick replied. "He slept most of the day, so we didn't have to put up with him too much."
I nodded and we fell into a comfortable silence, Nick resting against me and me running my fingers lazily through his hair.
"Hey, Cassie." he said after a few minuets.
"Yeah?"
"In the story, did the second pig build his house out of sticks?"
"Yeah, I guess so." I half laughed. "Why do you ask?"
"Because Isaac wanted me to tell him that story today and I couldn't remember it." Nick laughed against my neck.
I laughed as well and shook my head.
"And the last pig was the one who built his house out of bricks, right?"
"Yes." I replied, laughing harder.
"What's so funny?" Nick asked, propping himself up on his elbow to look down at me.
"This is sad. Finally, we have some alone time, and we're having a conversation about a children's story."
"Well, it can't always be a bad thing." Nick said with a mischievous smirk. He then narrowed his eyes and held up his other hand, bending his fingers to look like claws. "I'm gonna huff....and I'm gonna puff....and I'm gonna blow your house in!" he growled as he inched his face closer and closer to mine.
I was laughing hysterically as he enclosed his arms around my waist, growling and snarling as he nibbled on my neck.
