Family Life Part 41
The Family
By Patt
Word Count: 2,407
When Jim and Blair arrived home that night Max and Drew were standing there waiting for them.
“So how did it go with Rafe today?” Max asked.
Blair smiled at them being nervous about their dad’s day. “It was a perfect day. Megan made a cake for him and everything. It was really nice.”
“Did you have fun, dad?” Drew asked.
“I had a good day other then having to chase a bad guy for two miles in my dress shoes, instead of my tennis shoes, it was a great day,” Jim said happily.
Drew started laughing and said, “Did you catch him, dad?”
“Of course I caught him. I always get my man,” Jim said as he pulled Blair into his arms. This made both of the boys laugh.
“Where is Sam?” Blair asked.
“She’s making a special picture for you and dad, so you have to stay out of her room until she’s done painting it. Don’t go in there, she’ll throw a fit,” Max answered.
Jim smiled and said, “We’ll wait until she comes to us, although, that might be an hour. You boys go check on her really fast and make sure she’s doing all right.”
Max moved to his sister’s bedroom and knocked on the door. All Jim and Blair heard was, “Don’t let poppy and daddy come in here.”
Jim laughed and said, “It must be some painting, eh?”
Drew said, “You know that big easel you got her for her birthday to paint on? Well, she’s finger painting an abstract that she saw in a book. If you like abstract, it’s pretty good. Not bad for a five year old.”
Blair smiled and said, “I can’t wait to see it. It’ll be her first piece that we frame. She’ll be thrilled.”
“You know if you boys ever want to do art for us, you just give it to us and we’ll frame for our room. We have empty spaces for kid art, just waiting,” Jim said.
Max came back into the room and said, “I have something I did for you when we first moved in. You don’t have to frame it or anything, but I love drawing.”
“Oh go get it so we can see what you drew,” Blair suggested.
Max rushed happily upstairs to get his artwork that he had done. While he was gone, Drew said, “I don’t draw, so I don’t have anything for you to hang up.”
“That’s not true, what’s up there on the wall to the right of our bed?” Jim asked.
Drew ran upstairs to see what was hung up and he came down all smiles. “You framed the invitation and a poster size of the cake. When did you do that?”
“We did it two days after the wedding. We were so thrilled with the artwork you did, that we wanted to share it with everyone. Thank you, Drew,” Blair said.
Drew hugged both of them and said, “Thank you. It means a lot to me.”
“It means a lot to us, too,” Jim reminded him.
Max came walking down the stairs carrying a huge picture. It was two pictures put on the same poster page. One was a wolf and one was a black panther. Jim and Blair just stared at him and said, “Why did you draw those?”
“You have things in your room that have to do with them, so I figured one of you liked the wolf and one of you liked the panther. So I drew both. I know they’re not fancy, but you said you wanted to see them,” Max explained.
“I love it, Max. It’s perfect just the way it is. We’re going to frame it on our next day off. You boys spoil us rotten. There’s not going to be any room left in our room at this rate,” Blair said.
“I love it, too, Max. What do you think of it, Drew?” Jim asked.
“I think he should have showed it to you when he did them six months ago. He was being a chicken,” Drew teased.
“Thank you both for giving up great things to hang up,” Blair said happily.
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Samantha came walking out of her room and said, “Oh daddy, oh poppy, are you ready to see your surprise?”
“We’re ready,” Jim said cheerfully and walked towards his little girl and hugged her.
She pulled both of the men into her room and showed them the picture that she had finished. It was a finger painting, but she covered the entire easel sheet with color. It was so bright, cheerful and wonderful that both men were too emotional at first. Then Jim picked her up and said, “Thank you, Sam. It’s beautiful. We have a frame upstairs that will fit it, so we can hang it up as soon as it’s dry.”
“Okay, daddy, I’m glad you liked it. Poppy, did you like it?” Sam asked hopefully.
“I loved it. It’s the best finger painting I’ve ever seen. You did a wonderful job. Thank you,” Blair confessed.
They walked out hand in hand with Sam to the kitchen, where Blair asked her if she wanted to help him make dinner. The two of them washed and began food preparations.
Max walked up to Jim and said, “Can I talk to you upstairs, alone?”
Jim said, “Certainly. You can always talk to one of us.”
Jim walked up the stairs and dreaded this. He hoped it wouldn’t be a sex talk. He hated talking about sex, but if it was, he was going to have to wing it.
Max came up the stairs and Jim knew it was going to be a sex talk. Max was blushing already.
Jim pointed to one of the arm chairs and said, “Sit.”
Max sat down and Jim sat in the next one and Jim said, “Okay, I’m all ears.”
“Dad, I need to know what I’m supposed to do with Misty next. We kiss all the time and we both like it. Sometimes I like so much that I almost explode if you know what I mean?”
“So you’re still in the kissing stage?” Jim asked.
“She’s let me touch her breasts a couple of times, but it makes me feel like I’m going to come in my jeans, so I don’t do that anymore. What are we supposed to be doing?” Max asked.
“First of all, it’s normal to feel like you’re going to come in your jeans. I still feel that way sometimes. So that’s not a big deal, okay? Secondly, there is no script to follow when it comes to feelings. I would continue with the kissing and just spending time together and not worry about the next stage of sex,” Jim said.
“What is the next stage of sex?” Max asked.
“It’s for people that are older than 15, Max. So I think we don’t need to discuss it yet,” Jim answered.
“But I’m almost 16 now. I want to do more,” Max said openly.
“Well, you would touch her breast and rub them gently while you kiss. Then as things move on, you will be touching each other in your private parts,” Jim said blushing.
“That’s what we want to do,” Max said.
“Max, I think you’re still too young for it,” Jim said.
“Dad, she’s already touched my penis, if that’s what you’re talking about. She asked to look at it and she touched it one night. It felt really good. Is this all right?” Max asked as he blushed too.
“Max, I’m going to get Pop for this. He’s so much better at it then me,” Jim got up and walked down the stairs and whispered in Blair’s ear and Blair handed dinner over to Jim. Blair walked up the stairs and was up there for an hour talking with Max. When he was done, they walked down the stairs and Max had something in his hand. Max walked up to this bedroom and was up there for some time, until Jim called him for dinner.
Jim wanted to ask Blair what had happened, but at the same time he didn’t want to know. God, these kids were growing up way too fast.
During dinner, Max didn’t look at Jim once and Jim wasn’t happy about that. He wondered if he had handled it all wrong. He had to talk to Blair about that. After dinner, Max and Drew volunteered to do dishes and load the dishwasher. So Jim asked Blair if he could talk to him.
They walked upstairs with Sam following them. Jim blushed when he saw Sam and Blair knew he wanted to talk about sex. “Sam, will go you please go paint us one more picture to go beside the other one?”
“Yes, Poppy, I would love to,” Sam said as she rushed into her room to get ready to paint again.
Blair pulled Jim into his arms and said, “It’s all right Jim. You didn’t damage Max at all. You told him what I told him but then I told him how sex happens. I also told him I thought that was a couple years away, but he disagreed. I told him how he always had to use a condom, and he could buy them at the drug store anytime on his way home from school or ask us to buy them for him. I gave him two to carry in his wallet in case. I tried to talk him out of it, Jim, but he’s keen on having sex for the first time. So is Misty, it would seem. I hope the talk was good enough. I was strict, yet understanding I think. I hate to see them grow up. But he told me that Drew is asking all sorts of questions about whacking off. So it’s time we had a talk with him.”
“Blair, you have a talk with him. I just get flustered and don’t do a very good job at all. I even blush,” Jim said sighing.
“Send Drew up and I’ll tell him about the wonders of the shower in the morning, or at night. It’ll be fine, Jim.”
Jim walked down the stairs and said, “Pop wants to talk to you.”
Drew looked up surprised and said, “Am I in trouble?”
Jim hugged him quickly and said, “No, not at all. Go on upstairs he wants to talk to you.”
Blair had Drew upstairs for an hour and Jim wondered what was taking so long when Drew came walking down the stairs and said, “I’m going to have a shower before I go to bed.”
“Okay,” Jim called back.
Jim knew what he was up to and almost laughed. He seemed all right with the sex talk. Blair was really good at all of this and he hoped that it would help the boys.
Max came walking down and said, “Misty and I just talked and agreed that we’re too young to have sex, so we’re going to wait for another year. If we’re still together then, we’ll try it out.”
Jim hugged him and said, “That’s why God invented your hands, Max.”
Max snickered and walked back upstairs.
Jim got the bath ready for Sam and called her in. She jumped in the tub and Jim scrubbed her up and got her hair washed, rinsed and conditioned. When he was done, he pulled her hair up in a pony tail for the night and put her pajama’s on. She brushed her teeth, really well and ran upstairs to get Poppy for book reading time.
It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep that night. Max came in and kissed her on top of the head when he came down. Drew was still busy in the bathroom, which made Jim almost laugh numerous times.
!!!!!!!!!!
All the kids were sleeping and Jim and Blair slid into bed. Jim pulled Blair into his arms and kissed him softly and sexily and said, “What are the chances of me getting a little tonight?”
“I would say pretty fucking good, Jim.”
They kept the sounds down to almost nothing and made love like they hadn’t made love in months. Jim loved when Blair was that receptive. Afterwards, Jim pulled Blair into his arms and kissed the back of his head and said, “I love you more than anything in the world, Blair.”
“I love you too,” Blair answered and snuggled in closer to Jim.
They fell asleep quite quickly and knew that their children were growing up way too fast.
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At breakfast, Drew said, “Is it poker weekend, Saturday?”
“It sure is. Everyone is going to be here. Did you want to invite some friends over to have something to do? Sam can just hang with all of us playing poker,” Blair said.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, pop. She can hang with us until she falls asleep. She’s not that big of a pain yet. She wrestles with Mark and Mike and Seth and Sam. She holds her own too. We’ll invite Seth and Sam over this weekend and see how it goes,” Drew answered.
“Is Uncle Simon coming to poker on Saturday?” Sam asked.
Jim smiled and said, “Yes, and he’s bringing his boyfriend, Rafe. So you’ll get to see both of them. Won’t that be nice?”
“Oh I can’t wait to see his boyfriend. Is he nice?” Sam asked.
Blair replied, “He’s very nice and you’ll like him a lot. Now let’s all get ready for school. We have to take you before we go to work. Get hopping, everyone. That includes daddy.”
The kids all laughed as Jim hurried and finished his breakfast. He actually loved these moments in time. He adored being with Blair and the kids. Sometimes he disliked work because it took away from these moments. But so did school and life in general. Jim would have to get used to sharing.
Blair and Jim cleaned up the kitchen while the kids got ready to go. When everyone was done, it was time. Jim drove them to school and Blair walked Sam in and then they dropped the boys off at the Jr. High.
Jim and Blair talked about their kids all the way to work and knew that they were the luckiest men alive.
The end.
Family Life Part 42
Problems?
By Patt
Word Count: 2,208
Warning: Sometimes I just like to have the guys argue. And tonight was one of those nights. So yes, they are going to argue, but know that it will turn out just fine. Be well.
Blair walked down to records to see if he could hurry Jim up and Jim was at the counter flirting with Rebecca. Rebecca was married, so it was harmless, but it still bothered Blair a great deal.
Jim must have heard him and he pulled away from the counter and stopped the flirting immediately. He turned around and smiled at Blair and said, “I’ve got everything, Chief. I’ll be right up.”
Was he dismissing me? What the fuck? Blair turned around and stormed off and he was pissed off like he hadn’t been in years.
Blair walked upstairs and went to Simon’s office and said, “Something has come up, I need some time off.”
“Right this moment?” Simon teased, because he knew that Blair was pissed, he just didn’t know why.
“Do you want me to kill him while we’re in the bullpen or while he’s at home?” Blair asked, not joking one bit.
“Yeah, take the next three days off. Do you have a car?” Simon asked.
“Hell no, I rode with the jerk,” Blair answered.
“Stop downstairs and ask Michaels if he’d run you by your house for your vehicle. He doesn’t have to know anything else,” Simon suggested.
“Okay, I’m off,” Blair yelled over his shoulder and saw Jim walking into the room. Jim stopped him and said, “Where are you going with your jacket on?”
“Anywhere but here, now take your fucking hand off of my arm,” Blair whispered Sentinel soft.
“What’s going on?” Jim asked as he pulled his hand away from Blair’s arm.
“You’re in charge of the kids for the next three days. Think about today and see if you can figure it out. See ya,” Blair said as he rushed to the open elevator.
Jim looked over at Simon and Simon just shrugged his shoulders. Jim was going to have to figure this out himself. He was on his own, damn it. He didn’t do well on his own, didn’t everyone know that by now?
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Downstairs, Michaels had just finished talking to Simon and Simon told him Blair needed a ride to his house for his vehicle. Michaels bought it and when Blair got off of the elevator Michaels said, “Are you ready to go? Captain Banks asked me to take you to your vehicle.”
“Thanks, Michaels. It’s really nice of you. Everyone was busy doing something. I guess I should bring my own SUV from time to time, eh?” Blair asked making small talk.
The two men started to the squad car and Michaels talked Blair’s leg off. Blair was shocked. He didn’t really even know this guy, but yet Michaels acted like he had known him his entire life. Blair finally relaxed as they drove off and he let himself enjoy the talking for a change.
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Jim walked into Simon’s office and said, “What the fuck did I do this time?”
“I have no idea, but he asked for three days, so I would suggest you tell the kids he had to work or something. He wasn’t really thinking about anything, he was too pissed off. You should really keep track of what you do to piss him off, Ellison,” Simon barked.
“You’re mad at me too?” Jim whined.
“What did you do today, Jim? Tell me what you did every step of the way and I’ll tell you what you need to beg forgiveness for.”
“We were fine this morning and I told him I would go down to records and get something and it took a little longer than I had planned, but no big deal and he came down and I told him I had it covered, I would be right up. See, I didn’t do anything,” Jim explained.
“Did you talk to anyone down in records?” Simon inquired.
“Just Rebecca,” Jim answered.
“The same Rebecca that is warm for your form? That Rebecca? Were you flirting, Jim?”
“I was just being friendly. She was friendly so I was being friendly back. She’s married, Simon.”
“And so are you, need I remind you?”
“I was just smiling and talking to her. It was no big deal,” Jim swore.
“What exactly did you say when you saw Blair standing there?” Simon asked.
“I’ve got everything, Chief. I’ll be right up, that’s exactly what I said,” Jim repeated word for word.
“Jim, you dismissed him like he was some used up old hag or something. I can’t believe you said that shit to him,” Simon observed.
“I’ll make it up to him tonight,” Jim replied angrily.
“Wait a minute, you have no right to be angry with Blair. You’re being an ass. What? Are you tired of being with him or something?” Simon barked.
Jim glared at Simon and said, “I knew you would take his side. You always do.”
“There is no side. There is only the jerk and only one that got shit on. Guess who you are?” Simon asked sarcastically.
“I didn’t even do anything,” Jim swore again.
“Then why was Sandburg close to leaving your ass?” Simon wondered.
“I don’t know why. So what if I flirted with her. He flirts with everyone he comes in contact with. Why aren’t you mad at him about that?” Jim asked.
“Well, he’s going to be gone for three days, so you’ll have plenty of time to think about it, won’t you?” Simon questioned.
“I can’t believe he’s just going to leave the kids. That’s shitty, even for him,” Jim snarled as he walked out of the office.
Jim went and sat down at his desk and called Blair’s cell phone, he heard, “Sandburg.”
“Blair, what are you doing? I need to talk to you. Right now,” Jim said.
“I’m making a nice dinner right this second and a nice dessert. I haven’t got time to talk to you. I have three days off and I thought we could use a break. But I couldn’t leave the kids with just you, because god only knows what you would tell them. So instead, I’ve packed your bags and you’re going somewhere for three days. Call your dad and see if you can stay there. I don’t much care where you go, just know that you’re working because that’s what I’m telling the kids. Now get your work done and get home to pick up everything and leave. Understood?” Blair asked.
“What if I don’t want to leave?” Jim said angrily.
“Tough shit. You either leave nicely, or we fight in front of the kids. Do you really want to upset the kids?” Blair asked.
“I don’t even get to talk to you about it?” Jim asked, calming down a little bit.
“You can call me tonight after the kids go to bed and we can discuss a few things. But don’t think I’m a fool, Jim Ellison, because I’m not.”
“Are you going to pick Sam up at day care?” Jim asked.
“Yes, everyone will be here when you get home. I will have already told them that you’re going to be gone for three days. So they’ll be prepared. Sam’s not going to like it. She likes having both of us around all the time.”
“Blair, I want to talk to you, I don’t want to leave,” Jim pleaded.
“Tough, I need time to think and so do you. You can call me in the evenings from where ever you stay. It’ll work out that way better,” Blair hoped.
“I love you,” Jim whispered.
“See you at 5:30. Bye,” Blair said as he hung up. He knew he should have said he loved him, but right that second, he wasn’t sure he did. He didn’t like being dismissed from records like he was some little piece of ass that Jim kept around for when he needed it.
Blair was instantly depressed thinking like that and thought about the kids instead so he would be in a happier frame of mind while he cooked dinner.
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Jim couldn’t believe how fast this had all gone downhill. Now he needed to get a hotel room so he wouldn’t have to tell his dad he had screwed up. Jim was certain that he was going to point out to Blair that he flirted all the time, why did Jim have to put up with it? Yes, Jim was going to be as tough as he could be while he begged for forgiveness.
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Jim walked through the door and Sam said, “Daddy, I don’t want you to have to leave for three days. Poppy said you are. Are you?”
Jim kneeled down on the floor and hugged Sam to his chest. “Yes, I’m leaving for three days and I’ll be back. Okay? I promise I’ll bring you something nice from the trip.” Jim hugged her closely to himself and felt like sobbing. When had this all gone to shit?
He got up off the floor with Sam and hugged Drew and Max and said, “You help pop take care of things while I’m gone, okay?”
“We will,” Max answered sadly.
Jim could tell he knew something was up. Jim hugged him and whispered, “Everything will be all right.”
Then he hugged Drew and told him the same thing. He said goodbye to Blair and took his bags and walked out the door.
Max walked into the kitchen and said, “So what did he do anyhow?”
“No one’s business but ours, Max.”
“Yeah, it is our business too. He’s our dad. You just made him leave and I’m not happy about it. Why can’t you figure things out here at the house?” Max pouted.
Blair pulled his cell phone out and called Jim’s number. “Ellison.”
“Change of plans. We’ll be discussing things here at the house. The boys are on to us and don’t want us separated. So bring your stuff back up stairs. Pretend you’re shocked to not have to go, so Sam won’t know what’s going on,” Blair suggested.
In a few minutes, Jim came walking through with his suitcase and carryon and Sam said, “Daddy is home already.”
“The trip got cancelled, Sam, so daddy will be here all week. Don’t worry, okay?” Jim asked.
She hugged his legs and said, “Okay, daddy.”
!!!!!!!!!!
Jim and Blair were doing dishes, not talking to each other and Max came in and said, “Drew and I are taking Sam upstairs so you two can talk. We’re playing Guitar Hero, so you’ll have some time to yourselves.”
“Thank you, Max,” Jim said as he hugged him quickly.
Blair watched them all walk up the stairs and said softly, “You dismissed me today like I was some piece of ass you kept around for emergencies.”
“I’m sorry if I did that. But I need to ask you something and I want the truth,” Jim said.
“So ask,” Blair said.
“How many times a day do you flirt with females or males? Just count and answer me,” Jim ordered.
“I flirt every day?” Blair asked.
“Yes, sometimes four or five times in a day. I have to listen to you sweet talk females all the time and sometimes males. It gets a little tiring, so I thought today what the hell. I’m going to see why Blair get’s such a charge out of it and I found out,” Jim said.
“You found out what?” Blair inquired.
“I found out that it’s great for the ego to have someone flirt back at you. It makes you feel like a totally different person. I felt like a million bucks, flirting with Rebecca, knowing she didn’t mean it either, but it still felt good. And now I understand why you do it,” Jim explained.
“I didn’t mind the flirting so much, it was the being dismissed that angered me,” Blair pointed out.
“I’ll give you that. You have every right to be angry about that. I’m sorry I said that and it won’t happen again. But the flirting, I think we’re both okay to do that. It’s not like we want someone else, we just like to see if we still have it,” Jim said.
“So just like that, we’re going to be making up?” Blair said.
“I was hoping for some sex tonight, so I could show you how much you mean to me,” Jim said smiling.
“Works for me. I don’t like being mad at you anyway. You pointed out something I had never seen before. I’m going to try and stop flirting so much, though. It’s just not nice,” Blair said as he slid into Jim’s arms.
“We might have problems every now and then, but we can work them out without having to separate. Let’s always remember that,” Jim replied.
“I love you, Jim.”
“I love you, Blair.”
The men finished the dishes and then went upstairs to get Sam ready for bed. Max and Drew were both smiling when they saw how happy they were.
Life was good.
Problems solved.
The end.
Family Life Part 43
Life in the Fast Lane
By Patt
Word Count: 4,319
Blair took Max down to the Motor Vehicle Department and waited for him as he filled out everything he needed to for his learners permit. Max was so excited, although, Jim and Blair didn’t share that same enthusiasm. Once he was done, they took him over to the section to have the written test and he was only in there for about 20 minutes when he came out smiling. He sat down next to Blair and said, “I think I aced it, pop.”
“I would think so after all of the studying you did. Are they going to call and tell you if you passed or what?” Blair asked, not remembering how it worked at all.
“He said it would be about ten minutes and they would call me up to tell me if I passed or failed. If I passed, then they’ll take my picture for the drivers permit. If I fail, I’ll never hear the end of it from Drew,” Max said sorrowfully.
“Why Drew?” Blair asked.
“He’s expecting me to pave the way for him. He wants everything to go perfectly so you won’t have objections when it’s his turn to get his permit. Which one of you is going to teach me to drive?” Max asked.
“I’m going to be your teacher, whether your dad likes it or not. He’s too anal about everything. I’m a little more laid back and might not bite your head off for every little thing. Don’t you agree?” Blair inquired.
“Have you ever taught a teenager to drive?” Max wondered.
“Actually I have and it didn’t go too well. But I’ve learned a lot since then and think I would make a far better teacher now. I’m looking forward to teaching you and watching you get your license. Are you excited for the big birthday coming up?” Blair asked.
“I was wondering if I could have friends over for a sleep over instead of a party, party. I want cake and ice cream, but no adults except you and dad. I wanted to ask Mark and Mike and Seth and Sam. It just sounded like fun to hang with each other and play video games all night long. What do you think of that?”
“Max, I think your dad wanted to have a pretty big get-together for your birthday. Everyone wants to share in it this year. This is our first birthday with you as our son. Do you understand?” Blair questioned.
“Oh that’s fine too. We’ll still be able to have our friends come, right?” Max asked.
“Of course your friends can come. It’s going to be a nice birthday party. Dad wants to have it all on video beings it’s our first one and all,” Blair explained.
“So who all is coming?” Max remarked.
“Everyone from Major Crime is coming and then all of your friends. Of course, Naomi is coming and so is grampa William. I don’t know about Steven yet, but hopefully him too. It’s going to be a nice day. We thought a barbecue would be nice. Does that sound all right with you?” Blair asked.
“It sounds great, pop. I think it’s cool that you both want to make such a big deal out of my 16th birthday. It makes me feel more loved than I already am. I think it’s going to be fun,” Max commented.
They called his name over the loud speaker and he got up nervously and walked up to the counter. Blair stayed back, even though he wanted to be with him to help him deal with rejection if need be, but there was no need. He turned and grinned wildly at Blair and followed the man over at the machine and smiled for his license picture. Blair was never so proud in his life. God, time was going way too quickly as far as he was concerned.
Max walked up to Blair and showed him his new permit and grinned the entire time. “Would you like a lesson in the parking lot?” Blair asked.
“That would be awesome. Thanks, pop,” Max replied happily.
For the next hour, Blair let Max drive up and down the side of the parking lot that had no cars in it. He also had him pull into the parking spaces and back up and pull out again. Max was doing beautifully. Blair knew he was going to be easy to teach, he could tell. Max wasn’t scaring the hell out of Blair, which Blair was thrilled with.
They changed places and Blair drove home pointing out different things he did as he drove to show Max how it was done. Max was so excited he could hardly see straight. When they got home, he was bouncing as they got out of the SUV. Jim was watching from above and knew the answer to his question immediately. Blair and Max were both happy. So things had gone well. Jim was relieved and he was also relieved to know that Blair was going to do all of the driving lessons. Jim wasn’t as patient as Blair was. He knew this much, but he’d do really well at giving him support and praise when he needed it. Jim was good at that.
When they got upstairs, Max walked up to Jim and showed him his permit first thing. Jim hugged Max and told him how proud he was of him. And Jim meant it. These boys never ceased to fill him with pride. Jim and Blair were very lucky parents. Thankfully they would have quite some time before they were going to have to deal with this with Drew. At least another year and a half. That would give them time to rest up. Then they would have the big break before Samantha started driving. Jim didn’t even want to think about that.
Max ran upstairs to show Drew his permit and Blair smiled over at Jim. “He got 100 percent on the test. He knew he had aced it, but not by that much. He was so thrilled that I let him drive for an hour in the parking lot so he could get a feel for the SUV. I want to talk to you about something about his party too. We’ll talk tonight after everyone has gone to bed,” Blair said.
“Sam isn’t here. Conner picked her up to take her to a movie, so let’s go upstairs and talk now. You know that Max is upstairs talking on the phone to his friends telling them the news. So come on,” Jim pushed Blair up the stairs and Blair snickered all the way up.
“I remember a time when you used to push me up the stairs for other things,” Blair teased.
“Hey, don’t start anything you can’t finish, young man,” Jim joked.
“Sit,” Blair commanded.
Jim sat in the chair on the other side of their bed. Blair sat in the opposite one and said, “Max would really like to have a sleepover with his friends for his birthday. He said it was fine that we do a party up for him, but I got the feeling that he really didn’t want all of the adults here. He would never say anything, but maybe we should let him have a small party with his friends. And while we’re on the subject of parties, are we going to get him a car for his birthday?”
“I’m fine with letting Max have a small party with his friends. Sometimes we push our friends on them too much, I think. I bought his car already and it’s stored over at my dad’s house in his garage. It’s a compact car, but not a dangerously small one. It’s not too fancy, but yet, no one is going to make fun of it either. It’s a Ford Focus ZX5. It’s really nice. It’s loaded with anything and everything he could need in it and the color is not too loud that it’ll make us nuts. I think it’s better to have Gray’s when it comes to cars. I would never buy him a red car, that’s for sure. I bought it four days ago when I was helping my dad move that dresser in his spare room. He said he had a friend that had a brand new car that he had to sell. He bought it for his son, but his son has cancer and won’t be getting out of the hospital. So he gave me a decent price on it, although I paid him more then he asked for it. It’s brand new. He had just ordered it and paid for it when he found out about his son’s illness. And Max and Drew don’t need to know about that. Okay?” Jim said.
“So small party is in, new car is bought and paid for and I didn’t even get to help. Bummer,” Blair kidded, but really was a little bummed.
“You’re going to be in charge of his small party. I saw a balloon for him that had a set of car keys on it that would be perfect for him. So I’m going to make a list of things he’ll need for the car and you’re going to be in charge of getting them if you want to. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the car, but I wanted to wait until my check cleared the bank and it was ours for sure. Do you want to do all of the running around and stuff like that?” Jim asked.
Blair pulled Jim up out of his chair and gave him a huge kiss. Nice and sloppy, just like Jim liked them. Jim was really getting into it when Max said, “Hey dad, are you up there?”
“Yes, we’ll be down in a second,” Jim called out. “You’re a demon, you do know that right?”
Blair smiled at him and licked his bottom lip and then chewed on it. “Fuck,” Jim growled as he pulled Blair into his arms again.
“Jim, we have to go downstairs,” Blair said laughing.
Jim still didn’t let go of Blair right away. Blair could feel Jim’s hard cock pulsing through his jeans and Blair’s. Blair loved that he could still do that to Jim from time to time. “Are you going to let me go?” Blair asked.
“Make an excuse, I have to calm down. I’m really hot and bothered. This hard on isn’t going anywhere but up,” Jim growled again.
“Okay, I’ll see you downstairs in a few minutes,” Blair said making sure his cock was calmed down enough to make the entrance into the kitchen.
“Oh by the way, I hate you,” Jim whispered.
“I hate you too,” Blair whispered back and smiled all the way downstairs.
Blair walked into the kitchen and started talking to the boys right away. They didn’t question why Jim wasn’t there, so Blair let it stand the way it was.
Max said, “We’re going over to Mike and Mark’s house, so we’ll be back in a couple of hours. You two can have some alone time.”
“Thank you, boys, that would be nice,” Blair answered.
They left and Blair locked the door and made a run for the upstairs. Jim was leaning against the dresser taking deep breaths, making Blair smile. He had done this to Jim with a little chewing and a lick with his tongue. He still had it. Blair walked over to where Jim stood and slid between the dresser and Jim and Jim said, “Holy shit, I just got it calmed down. Don’t touch me, all right?”
Blair chewed on Jim’s lower lip again and then licked his lips and the inside of his mouth. Jim just pushed himself harder into Blair’s body and moaned with need.
“We’ve got the place to ourselves. When is Samantha coming home?” Blair asked.
“Not until after dinner,” Jim said throwing Blair’s body onto the bed. Blair laughed out loud and said, “Someone needs me really badly.”
“I’m going to fuck you like you’ve never been fucked,” Jim whispered and started taking Blair’s clothes off and the front door opened. Jim moaned into Blair’s chest and Blair just petted his head.
Jim could hear the boys walking softly up to their room and Jim lost all interest in Blair. “Later, okay?”
“Why does it bother you to have sex with kids in the house? You do it during the night, what’s the difference?” Blair wondered.
“Later…” Jim growled and walked down the stairs.
!!!!!!!!!!
Max and Drew came downstairs to get a drink and Jim was in the kitchen. “Oh man, I thought you were upstairs, you scared me.”
“No, I’m thinking about what to start for dinner tonight,” Jim said as he opened up the pantry.
Blair walked in all smiles and said, “The boys had other plans?”
“They got in trouble, so we had to leave,” Drew said softly.
“What kind of trouble?” Jim asked.
“They were supposed to be cleaning up their room and the living room instead of playing Wii with us. So they got in trouble and their mom sent us home. She was really angry,” Max said.
“You haven’t been there very long, why would she be so angry about you being there and playing Wii, if you just got there?” Jim wondered.
“They were supposed to have it done before we ever got there and they never even did any of it. So they’re grounded. They can’t come for my birthday party,” Max said sadly.
“You don’t even know when your birthday party is, Max,” Jim said.
“Their mom was really mad and she said they weren’t allowed to hang out with us anymore,” Drew said.
“You have got to be joking?” Blair asked.
“No, she was really angry. She said that we might get our stuff done for us, but her boys have to do their own. Then she held the door open and said that the boys wouldn’t be coming to my birthday party. She was really angry at us,” Max explained.
“I wonder what brought that on,” Blair snapped.
“Don’t get mad at her. We must have done something wrong and we just don’t know what it is. She’s usually very nice,” Drew pleaded.
“I’m going to have to call her and ask what you boys did to offend her. It’s important that we find out what’s going on,” Jim said.
He picked up the phone and dialed Mrs. Benson. When she answered the phone Jim could tell she had been crying, “Hello?”
“Mrs. Benson, this is Jim Ellison. Our sons came home and said they did something to offend you and I was wondering if you could tell me what it was. They need to know what is right and what is wrong. If they did something terrible at your house, I would expect you to tell me about it.”
She started crying and said, “They didn’t do anything. They were just here at the wrong time. I just found out that my husband is leaving us, just like what happened to Denise, Seth and Sam’s mom. I’m still in shock. I’m sorry I took it out on all of them. Tell the boys I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
“Is there anything we can do for you?” Jim asked.
“Do you know of any apartments opening up in this school district that a single mom could afford? I can’t afford this one without my husband’s income. Well, he’s not coming back. So we’re going to have to move. I don’t want to move them away from the school because it’s been so good for them. If you hear of anything, would you let me know about it? We have one month left on the lease,” Mrs. Benson said.
“Mrs. Benson, what is your first name. I think it’s important that we know each other by first names,” Jim said.
“It’s Sarah,” she answered sadly.
“Well Sarah, try not to worry. We’ll find you something, I promise,” Jim said before hanging up the phone.
“What happened?” Max asked.
“She was upset because her husband just informed her that he was leaving them and she took it out on your boys. She said she’s sorry about that. But they only have one month to find another place or then they have to move out of the school district. So we’ve all got to find her a place,” Jim suggested.
“Are there any more units in this building?” Blair asked.
Jim dialed Mr. Stanley’s number and heard him say, “Hello?”
“Mr. Stanley, this is Jim Ellison, I was wondering if you have any units left in the building that need work and are cheap?” Jim asked.
“I just so happen to have a new one, that is in need of a lot of hard work, but it’s mostly dirty. Not in bad shape at all. The people left it and didn’t pay me, so it’s mine to sell. It’s not as big as yours, but it’s in decent shape. You could put two kids upstairs and in the small room downstairs put an adult. I take it it’s someone with kids?” Mr. Stanley asked.
“Yes, she’s alone and has two boys. It would be so nice if we could offer it to her for a good price,” Jim commented.
“I’ll tell you what, Jim, if she wants to rent it, I’d give it to her for $500.00 a month plus utilities. Do you think she would be able to afford that?”
“I’ll call her right now and ask her if she could swing it. I hope so, because they’re good kids and need a nice home. This is an excellent family building, if I do say so myself,” Jim said.
“I’ll wait for your call,” Mr. Stanley answered.
Jim called Sarah back and said, “How much is your rent now?”
“It’s $1,200 a month, plus utilities. I can only afford about six by myself,” Sarah replied.
“There is a unit in our building that the landlord would give it to you for $500.00 a month, but it’s only big enough for the boys to have the loft bedroom and you would have a very small bedroom on the first floor. So I didn’t know how you felt about that. It’s much smaller then the one we have. It’s half of ours. We have two units. What do you think of that?” Jim asked.
“I think it would be perfect. Tell him I’ll take it, in fact, let me call him and I can fill out the paperwork tomorrow after work. Thank you, Jim. That was so nice of you to check for me,” Sarah replied.
Jim gave her the number and then hung up the phone. Another family will be moving in to the building,” Jim said smiling.
Max hugged him quickly and said, “Mark and Mike will be so happy in this building with Seth, Sam and Daryl. This is great,” Max said happily.
“I don’t want to burst any of your bubbles, but you all forgot Mary. There is no room for a five year old,” Blair said sadly.
“There would be if we got a nice sofa bed or futon for Sarah for the living room and Mary could have the little room under the stairs. How does that sound to everyone?” Jim suggested.
Blair picked up the phone and dialed Sarah again. “Hello?”
“Hi Sarah, its Blair Sandburg. Jim and I completely forgot about little Mary. So we wondered if it would be too crowded if you put her in the little room under the stairs and you could sleep on a futon in the living room?”
“We were just discussing that, Mr. Stanley and I. I told him it might be cramped, but it would be our own home, so that would be nice. I’m going to fill out the paperwork for him tonight and he’ll call me tomorrow with the answer. Thank you so much for thinking of us. It’ll be nice having the boys all in the same building won’t it?” Sarah asked.
“I think it’s going to be great. Now about Max’s birthday party. It’s in three weeks, are you going to be able to let the boys come for that?” Blair asked.
“Oh yes, the boys can’t wait to come. They said something about spending the night. If you would like, I could take Samantha that night and the girls could have a slumber party here,” Sarah suggested.
“Sarah, that’s a great idea. She loves little Mary. We’ll work out the details later,” Blair said before he hung up the phone.
All of them talked about anything and everything having to do with the party, the moving and the cleaning. Max and Drew wanted to surprise Mrs. Benson with a clean apartment. So Jim had to call Mr. Stanley and ask him if they could do that before he gave the keys to Sarah. Mr. Stanley thought it was a wonderful idea.
!!!!!!!!!!
The day of Max’s birthday, William came over and said, “Happy Birthday, Max.”
Max hugged him and said, “Thank you, grampa. I’m having a party with my friends tonight, did you hear about it?”
“I not only heard about it, but I also heard that you just got your drivers license. Wasn’t it just three weeks ago that you got your permit?” William asked.
“Yes, it was fast. Pop taught me how to drive and dad showed me how much car insurance was going to cost. It’s scary,” Max admitted.
“I’m just here for one reason and one reason alone,” William said happily. He handed a card to Max and smiled as Max opened it and Max said, “Grampa, I can’t believe you started a savings account for me, with $500.00 in it. Thank you so much.”
Blair and Jim were stunned. They hadn’t expected that. But Jim went upstairs and got the balloon he had filled the day before and brought it down the stairs. “Happy Birthday from us, Max.” Jim handed him the birthday balloon that had a picture of car keys on it.
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“What does that mean?” Max asked excitedly.
“It means, your grampa drove your new car over here and will need a ride home before your party starts. Are you ready to go downstairs and see your car?” Blair asked.
“I can’t believe this. A car? I thought maybe a Wii game, but a car?” Max kept hugging Jim and Blair over and over again.
“There are a lot of rules to follow driving this car. You’re going to sit down and learn them all before you take my dad home,” Jim said.
“Can I see it first?” Max asked.
William smiled and said, “Let’s go down, here are your keys. There is a full lot down there and you have to figure out which one is yours.”
They all went downstairs, including a very excited Sam. She was as happy about it as Max was.
They all walked out into the parking lot and like Max was drawn to it, he went right to the dark grey Focus. “This is it. I just feel it.”
Jim hugged him and said, “You’re not disappointed that you didn’t get a little sports car or something?”
“Dad, I was expecting a Wii game. Honestly, I was. I never would have asked or expected a car. This is awesome,” Max said bouncing.
“Check out the interior and then we’ll go upstairs and we’ll hear the rules of the road before you drive grampa home. Turn the CD player on. There is a special song on it for you,” Blair said.
Max sat inside the car and started it and pushed play on the CD player. It went to where the CD was and started playing, Life in the Fast Lane. Everyone started laughing and Max looked like he was going to cry.
Blair said, “Okay, out of the car and let’s go upstairs for the rules. Come on, we have a party to plan yet too.”
As they were walking up the stairs, Sarah Benson walked out of her loft apartment and smiled at them all. “What’s going on?”
“Did you get all moved in already?” Jim asked.
“Yes, the boys and I had help from my brothers with their trucks. So we’re all moved in, we just have to find places for everything. It’s quite a bit smaller then what we’re used to. But it’s great. We couldn’t be happier. Mary loves being so close to Samantha and don’t forget Samantha, you’re staying with us tonight,” Sarah said happily.
“I can’t wait. This will be my first time staying at Mary’s house,” Samantha answered.
“I got a car, Mrs. Benson,” Max said lit up with happiness.
“How nice. You just be sure that you always wear your seat belt and no speeding. Understood?” Mrs. Benson asked.
“Understood. We’re going upstairs to learn the rules of the road right now,” Max said as he walked on by.
Sarah said, “Thanks again for everything, Jim and Blair. The little room for Mary is perfect for her bunk beds, so she can have friends over and everything. It’s going to work out perfectly.”
“We’re glad it all worked out. We’ll see you tonight when we bring Sam down to you. Thanks again for keeping her,” Jim said.
“See you later,” Sarah said as she walked down the stairs.
William said, “Will I get in trouble if I fall asleep during the talk about the rules of the road?”
“Yes, you won’t be able to see the kids for two weeks. So be on your best behavior,” Blair joked.
“Let’s get to it, then,” William said and they all walked upstairs smiling.
The end.
Family Life Part 44
The Student
By Patt
Word Count: 2,549
Thank you to Helena for the idea. It didn’t work out as I had planned, but it turned out all right. Car repair just isn’t a big thing with me.
Max and Drew were driving home from their first day back at school. They went to year round school, so they had only six weeks off for the summer. Boy had those six weeks gone by quickly.
“So what is your favorite class so far,” Drew asked his brother.
“I think it might be the beginning Mechanic’s class. I’ve always wanted to learn all about fixing cars. At the end of the class I’m supposed to be able to change a tire with ease, change my oil filter, change my oil, replace an old fan belt with a new one and change my brake pads out. That’s what the class is about this year. I figure with dad’s help I might be able to get this one. Besides having a car now, I should know how to do this stuff anyhow.” Max was actually more thrilled with the class then he let on. He liked spending one on one time with Jim or Blair.
“Would you mind if I learned it too? I don’t know anything about cars,” Drew asked.
“I think I’d like it to be just me and dad, Drew. You can learn the class next year and have him teach it all over again. Don’t look all butt hurt, man. Oh all right, you can learn with me and dad.”
“No Max, you’re right. You should be able to learn with just dad. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again. It’ll give me something to look forward to next year.” Drew actually looked like he meant it, so Max calmed down a little bit.
Drew cranked the music up and they were singing and dancing in their seats all the way home.
“What is this CD?” Max asked.
“It’s from a guy on face book. His name is Joey Alpha. My favorite song is called Rush. That’s what’s playing right now. I slipped it into the CD player last night when I received it in the mail. He’s pretty good for being an unknown. I guess everyone has to start somewhere. What do you think of it?” Drew asked.
“I like it. It’s different. Good choice, Drew.”
They listened to the lyrics of the rapping CD all the way home and were very happy with it. When they parked in the parking lot Drew pulled the CD case out of the cabinet in the car and showed it to Max. Max looked it over and said, “Cool cover. Whoever designed it was good. I never heard of That Sweet Chin Music-The Showstopper EP by Joey Alpha, but it’s going to be a big hit. Thank you for putting it in the car, Drew.”
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When Jim, Blair and Samantha walked into the house, dinner was cooking. Drew was making it for a change.
“Hey Drew, are you taking our jobs away from us?” Blair teased.
“Hi pop. No, I just felt like making beef stew and saw we had all of the fixings for it and went to town. School was super easy today. My favorite class is calculus.”
Jim smiled. “Well, I won’t be helping you with any homework, that’s for certain.”
Drew and Blair both laughed before Drew said, “I rarely need any help when it comes to math. I’m pretty good at it. Dad, Max started a new class that he might need help with.”
Jim went to the bottom of the stairs that led up to the boys’ room and yelled. “Max, come down and tell us about your first day.”
Samantha smiled at Drew and said, “I had a really good day at kindergarten. I think I might be smart. The teacher doesn’t yell at me or anything.”
Blair kissed her on the top of the head. “Honey, she shouldn’t be yelling at you anyhow. If she does, you make sure and tell us.”
“Okay, poppy.”
Max walked down the stairs and looked happy to Jim and Blair, which they liked seeing after the first day of school.
“I have a favor to ask, dad. I’m in beginning Mechanic’s class and I need a study partner to help me learn the ropes. Would you be willing to be that partner?” Max asked hopefully.
What could Jim do, but smile? “Of course I’ll be your study partner. What are you going to be learning?”
“We start with changing a tire with ease, changing a fuel filter, changing oil and replacing it with new oil, recycling the old oil, changing fan belts and changing the brake pads. Does this work for you?” Max asked.
“I would love to help you, Max and if it’s all right, I think your pop should learn the same things. He’s always said he wanted to learn more about cars, so that he doesn’t have to leave it all up to me. You still want to learn, Blair?”
Blair beamed with happiness at being asked. “Are you sure you don’t mind having me in the class, Max?”
“The more the merrier. This is going to be fun, I just know it,” Max said.
Drew felt a little left out, but didn’t say anything. He realized he wasn’t driving yet and wouldn’t need to know these things yet.
Jim started to set the table and said, “Is this for the first semester? It wouldn’t take that long to learn all of that, so it must be broken down into parts. It’s going to be fun, Max and Blair.”
“I have homework tonight,” Samantha said.
“We’ll help you as soon as dinner is done,” Blair replied.
The evening went well, dinner was as good as it smelled and Max and Drew were doing the clean up in the kitchen, so that Jim and Blair could help Sam with her homework.
Jim couldn’t believe how much homework a kindergartner had, but what did he know?
!!!!!!!!!!
The next night when Blair walked in the door, Max rushed up to him and said, “Can we use your car as the testing vehicle for the year?”
“Sure, you know I don’t mind using my SUV for anything. What are we doing tonight?” Blair started to get things out for dinner as he talked.
“Changing the tire and putting another tire on. Dad, I have to be timed and you have to give me a grade on what you think I should get for doing it.”
Jim frowned. “Really? We have to grade you on it? I’m not sure I like that part of it.”
“It’s going to be fine, dad, just you wait and see.” Max got all of his paperwork ready for the tire changing test. He sat down and began to read up on changing a tire and didn’t even notice that everyone else was busy working in the kitchen.
Blair watched Max studying and realized that he needed to study the papers too. After all, if Jim had to grade Max, he would have to grade Blair also. He found himself somewhat excited about being the student again. Blair said, “Jim will you stir this until it’s done. I’m going to study the paperwork on changing a tire before we actually do it.”
Jim burst out laughing. “Blair, you’ve chanced a tire before.”
“But I don’t know that I did it correctly. So I’m going to study up. I don’t want Max outshining me.”
Max snickered from the dining room table and shared his papers with Blair. He had finished the first part all ready. Now he needed to go on to the second page. Blair began studying and smiled at how wrong he had done it every time he changed a flat tire. He was going to learn this and do it right if it was the last thing he did.
!!!!!!!!!!
They were in the parking lot and standing beside Blair’s Maroon SUV when Jim said, “You boys ready to go?”
“Dad, I asked today and the teacher said that it depends on how the class does, but it’s either for six weeks or twelve weeks that we have to learn this. You have to grade me on everything I do, and I’m supposed to work on the changing a tire until I do it perfectly. Then I can move on to the next thing. So I’m set.”
Blair smiled and Jim said, “Let’s let Max go first. We’ll see if he does it the correct way. Let me see the diagram once more.” Jim took the sheet from Blair and saw that Max was giving him the evil eye.
“Okay, Max, time to start changing the tire.” The first step was to find the car’s spare tire, jack and tire iron. The spare tire was mounted on the back of the tailgate and Max found the jack and the tire iron were all inside the tire itself. Max remembered how it came off so he could put it back on the right way.
He took the tire off of the tailgate and pulled out his handy-dandy air pressure gauge. He tested the tire to be sure it wasn’t going to go flat too. The air pressure was perfect.
The next step involved removing the flat tire. Max had to make sure that the car was in park and the emergency brake was set. The SUV was parked on a flat surface, so this was good too. Max knew better then to attempt to change a flat if the SUV was on a slope or if it is sitting on dirt. Using the tire iron Max loosened each wheel lug. The wheel lugs were certainly very tight. Max had to use all his strength but Max had those babies loose in no time. He loosened each by turning them counterclockwise.
Now, at this point, he didn’t want to actually remove the lugs. He just wanted them loose. Once Max accomplished this, he moved the jack underneath the car. He guessed where the proper jacking points were but knew he could look them up in the owner’s manual if he had to. He had read the owners manual earlier and thought he was in the right spot.
Max maneuvered the jack underneath the jack point and started to raise the jack. It was a screw-type scissor jack, which meant Max simply turned the knob at the end of the jack using the provided metal hand crank. He raised the jack until it contacted the SUV’s frame and continued expanding the jack. Max raised the SUV with the jack until the flat tire was entirely raised off the ground. Once it was done, Max removed the wheel lugs completely. He was able to remove them by hand. He set them aside where they couldn’t roll away. He removed the tire on the SUV and laid it next to the vehicle.
Max then positioned the spare tire over the wheel studs. This was the most physically challenging part of the whole process. He had to hold up the tire and try to line up the holes in the wheel with the protruding wheel studs located on the brake hub. He found balancing the tire on his foot while he moved it into position worked like a charm.
After Max had the spare tire hanging on the wheel studs, he screwed each of the wheel lugs back on. He started them by hand. He was very careful not to cross-thread them. The lugs screwed on easily. Once each of them was snug and he couldn’t tighten them any further by hand, he used the tire iron to finish the job. At this point, he didn’t need to get the lugs super tight. He just needed them snug for now. Max made sure that the wheel was fitting flush against the brake hub.
Once that was all done, he carefully lowered the jack. He pulled the jack away from the SUV. The final step was to tighten down the lugs completely. He knew he needed to do it then, because the tire was on the ground and it wouldn’t rotate around like it would if it was still hanging in the air.
That was it. Max put the pretend flat tire in the space where the spare tire was and put the jack and tire iron back underneath it. With the spare installed, Max then closed up everything and wiped his hands down with the wipes that he had brought out. He then wiped off the spare tire and anything else that looked greasy or oily. Max turned around and said, “How did I do?”
Both Jim and Blair stood them in shock. He had done everything exactly right. Jim finally found his voice and said, “Other then speeding it up just a little bit, this was perfect. I’m giving you an eight out of a ten, because I want you to do it faster tomorrow night. Then I’ll give you a ten. How does that sound?”
“All right, I did it. I did it right. I now know how to change my tire. Okay, pop, it’s your turn.”
Blair did the same things Max did, but this time Max saw what Jim meant about going a little faster. Blair went much faster then he had and he was doing the same things. They were all correct, too. When Blair was done, he cleaned up and turned to Jim and said, “So what do I get, teacher?”
“You’re a great student, Blair. You get a ten. Did you see how much faster pop did it then you did?”
Max nodded and smiled. “Can I do it once more and see how I do this time?”
“Knock yourself out. Blair, why don’t you go upstairs and be sure that Sam gets into the bath tub and get’s set for school tomorrow?”
Blair turned to Max and said, “Good luck, Max. You did an excellent job tonight. Anyone could see that you had done your homework.”
“Thanks, pop. Okay, time me, dad.” Max began going through all of the steps once again, but this time much faster. He recognized that he knew the steps, he had been nervous before. Now he was calmer and more relaxed. He finished the entire job and looked at Jim and said, “How did I do?”
“This time you were a lot faster and I’m giving you a ten out of ten for this one. It was perfect. Great job, Max.”
Max cleaned up all of the tools and put them in the toolbox he was carrying around with him. He then locked up Blair’s SUV and he and Jim walked up the stairs to join the others.
“I can’t wait to do the oil and filter change. That looks very interesting. Maybe we’ll be doing that in a couple of days,” Max said.
Jim couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiasm Max had for the class. “When we do the oil change, you’ll learn all about saving the old oil and recycling it at Checker Auto. It’s one way of saving the planet. So that will be an interesting part of the class.”
“Thank you so much for helping me with this dad. You’re the best.”
Jim smiled and so did Max all the way up the stairs.
The end
Family Life Part 45
Quality Time
By Patt
Word Count: 3,186 not including the recipe at the end. That’s another 257 words.
This is another fine idea given to me by Helena. Thank you, Helena you’re the best.
Thanks to all of my members on my Family Life Yahoo list. If anyone would like to join it, just send me an email at PattRose1@aol.com .
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Jim and Blair walked through the door and heard Samantha crying in her room. They had asked Max to pick her up at day care because they were going to be late.
Jim and Blair both rushed to her bedroom and saw a sad little girl sitting on her bed, wiping tears from her face.
Blair sat down on the bed with her and asked, “What’s wrong, pumpkin?”
“Max and Drew get to go somewhere with grampa Ellison and I’m not invited.” The little girl sobbed even louder now that she had an audience.
Jim looked over at Blair and tried for a smile. “I’m going to run upstairs and see what this is all about.”
“Thank you, daddy.”
“Yes, thank you, daddy.” It was amazing how quickly the waterworks were turned off when she was getting the attention she thought she needed.
!!!!!!!!!!
Max came walking down the stairs as Jim was walking up. “Man, I didn’t even here you come in. I’m sorry, dad. I won’t leave her down here alone again. I had to tell Max something and I wasn’t up there for very long.”
“Max, it’s all right. Calm down. Now what is this business about you going somewhere with grampa and Samantha isn’t invited?”
“Grampa knows you’re off tomorrow, so he said we get to go camping. He doesn’t want to take Samantha because we’re staying in tents. We’re roughing it.”
Jim smiled when he thought about roughing it for his dad. That meant really nice air mattresses, battery run lights and fans and a cook stove that was as good as a house has.
“That’s fine. Samantha can have a fun two days with her poppy and her daddy. It’s not a big deal, Max. You and Drew are allowed to do things without Sam, you know that, right?”
“Sometimes we feel guilty. I hope that she’ll stop crying while we’re gone,” Max said sadly.
“Max, as soon as she finds out that we’re going to do something with her, she’ll change her tune, I promise.”
Drew walked down the stairs and said, “Grampa is going to be here in one hour to pick us up. We’re getting an early start.”
“Are you sure you’re going to be all right with Sam throwing her little fit and all?” Max asked.
“Follow me and watch how this works,” Jim said as he led the way into Sam’s room.
“Hi daddy, do I get to go camping?”
“No Sam, instead you’re going to go to the museum, the zoo, you’re going to get your pictures taken and if you’re really good, you get to pick a new book out at Barnes and Noble. What do you think of that? You’ll have your poppy and daddy all to yourself all weekend.”
She jumped up from Blair’s lap and hugged Jim’s knees. “Yay, I love the museum. Can I buy Drew and Max a book at Barnes and Noble if I’m really good?”
“You sure can. We’ll find something good for them to read. Now let’s go in and start dinner. The boys have to leave in an hour,” Jim said.
They all piled out of Samantha’s room and worked their way into the kitchen and before long dinner was cooking and making the place smell divine. Sam loved Chinese food and Blair had promised her some Beef Broccoli Stir Fry. Blair didn’t go back on his promises.
While Blair was cooking up the Beef and Broccoli, Jim fried up the rice. By the time they were both done, it was exactly at the same time. Dinner was done. Max, Drew and Sam had set the table and even set an extra place in case grampa got there and was hungry.
William arrived about two minutes into the meal and washed his hands quickly so he could join in with the dinner.
“All right, who’s choice was this meal?” William asked.
“Mine, grampa, mine.” Samantha was wiggling in her seat raising her hand wildly.
“It was a very good choice, Sam. It’s delicious isn’t it?”
“Yes, grampa it is.” Sam finished her meal and said, “What are we having for dessert?”
“I was thinking a nice cool ice cream cone would taste good after heating up the kitchen so much. What do you think, Samantha?” Jim asked.
“Yes, daddy, that sounds good.”
“So do you all have plans for this weekend while we’re gone?” William wondered.
“We’re going to take Sam to numerous places all weekend long. We don’t often get Saturday and Sunday off, so this will be nice for her.” Blair got up to start clearing the table, but Jim beat him to it.
The boys helped Jim and then went up to get their gear for the trip. Max knelt down in front of Sam and said, “We’re going to miss you like crazy, but you’ll be having so much fun, I’m afraid you won’t miss us at all.”
Sam hugged Max hard. “I always miss you and Drew. I love you. You’re my brothers.”
Drew got down and hugged her too.
William said, “Let’s get this show on the road. Jim, we’re going to be up at Widow’s Peak, in case you need us for anything. Otherwise, have an excellent two days off.”
“Thanks, dad. Maybe next time you have a weekend to spare, you can take Sam to the movies,” Jim said with a smile on his face.
“We will go see a movie next weekend.”
“Oh goody, I love movies, grampa.”
William loved this little girl. Everything made her happy. She was just so even tempered.
“Goodbye Drew. Goodbye Max,” Sam called out as they walked out the door.
!!!!!!!!!!
“Sam, come here and let me read to you about a new museum that just opened up,” Jim said holding a paper in his hand.
Sam went and jumped on his lap and waited for Jim to tell her what was what.
Jim began reading, “Curious GeorgeTM: Let’s Get Curious!, Cascade’s Children’s Museum’s newest original exhibit, opens June 17, 2010 at the Cascade Children’s Museum! Introducing young children into the world of Curious George, the exhibit leads visitors on a fun, meaningful interactive math, science and engineering-based adventure while it emphasizes the central role that parents and caregivers play.
The immersive exhibit environment takes place where Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat live. Insatiably curious, George lives to find new things to discover, touch, spill and chew. Learn like George – through direct experiences and problem solving. The Curious GeorgeTM: Let’s Get Curious! exhibit is sponsored by 3M.
Exhibit Features:
Apartment Building
Operate wheels to move Curious George on pulleys from window to window. Climb the fire escape and climb inside to play with color, light and shadow.
Sidewalk Produce Stand
Play customer or sales person and explore shapes, sorting, weighing and counting with fruit and vegetables.
Construction Site
Design a building, make use of a bounty of building materials and get to work constructing different structures and using machines to move materials.
City Park
Enjoy the urban green space: rest or give a hug to a full-size Curious George!
Mini Golf
Use pipes, ramps, funnels, turntables, bumpers and force to experiment with physics and engineering as you putt through three holes of mini golf.
Space Rocket
Step up to the rocket Curious George took on his space adventure! Pose for a picture with George in his space suit and e-mail it home.
Farm
Take a vacation to the country and visit the farm. Experience cause and effect and use wind power to move yard art like whirligigs, windmills, windsocks, and wind chimes. Build your own whirligig or windsock and care for the farm animals.
Museum Within the Museum
Learn new things about George when you visit the Museum within the Museum. Follow H.A. and Margret Rey’s work, the escape from France to safety during World War II that saved the Curious George manuscript, and Curious George throughout the years.
What do you think about this, Sam?”
She jumped up from Jim’s lap and rushed into the kitchen and said, “Poppy, we’re going to a Curious George Museum tomorrow. I can’t wait. We all love Curious George.”
Blair smiled. “That’s going to be great fun, Samantha. I can’t wait to go. We’ll go first thing in the morning and beat the rush.”
“Is it time for bed yet?” Samantha was bouncing in place.
“No, not yet. We still have to take a bath and get ready for bed. Are you tired already?” Jim asked.
“No, I just want it to be tomorrow,” Sam answered.
Blair pulled her towards the bathroom and said, “Then let’s take your bath and we’ll get ready for bed. You can go to bed early tonight if you’d like.”
“Yes, please.” Sam ran and got her underpants and pj’s and rushed into the bathroom for her bath.
Jim smiled at how willing she was to go to bed early just so she could get up earlier. She was going to be bouncing off the walls tomorrow morning.
By the time, they got done and she was in bed, it was 9:00. Jim knew she wasn’t going to sleep right away, so they were safe with her not getting up at 4:00 in the morning. They both read her a book and she was half asleep when they left her room.
“Man, do you know how lucky we are? We always wanted a family but now we not only have them, but it’s working out well too. God, I’m happy,” Blair said.
Jim pulled his lover into his arms and just held him for some time. “I think we should go to bed early, if you know what I mean?”
“I’m going to go get ready, you shut lights out and lock up the place,” Blair said.
They both knew they were very lucky men and it worked out well, because tonight they were going to get lucky too.
!!!!!!!!!!
The next day they went to the museum with Sam chomping at the bit. Even the building of the museum was cool. It was painted in dark browns, reds and bright yellows. They parked and Jim paid their way in as Blair took Samantha’s hand and walked into the place.
The first thing they saw was a big poster of Curious George, that you could stand your child against to have their picture taken, so of course, Jim pulled out the camera and took two shots. He knew that one of them had to be great. It was so damn cute, it wasn’t even funny.
[curious.jpg]
They got there at 9:00 a.m. and they left at 4:30, after having lunch in the Curious George restaurant. Even Jim and Blair had a good time. This place was worth every single dime that it brought in. The tickets were quite expensive, but it was worth it.
“I think I’m going to donate tickets to Sam’s class for this museum. What do you think of that?” Jim asked.
“That would be great, Jim. Think how much fun they would all have and not everyone can afford to go.” He whispered.
“Good, then let me buy them now and we can send them on Monday when she goes to school,” Jim said.
Blair said, “You go ahead, we’re going to sit in the SUV and wait for you. We’ll cool down the vehicle while we wait. Throw me your keys.”
Jim did just that and he was off and running for the class tickets. He wasn’t sure how many to buy, so he just paid for 30 tickets and hoped that would be enough. He could always buy more.
!!!!!!!!!!
As they drove to the mall, Samantha asked, “Where are we going now?”
“We thought the book store would be a nice place to hit before you get too tired. You can pick out a new book. Anything you want, within reason,” Blair said.
“Oh goody, I want a Curious George book. I love Curious George.” Samantha was so happy that she was glowing.
Jim and Blair just smiled. They got to the book store and took her to the children’s section and she started looking at books. She picked out a Curious George that she didn’t have yet and held on tight to it, but continued to look to make sure that there was nothing else she’d rather have. She found a book on butterflies that she really liked and sat down in one of the little chairs they had there for the kids and tried to make up her mind.
“Jim, why can’t we let her get both books? She was so good today, she deserves both of them,” Blair whispered.
“You’re right, she does deserve them and we should thank our lucky stars that she even likes books. A lot of children don’t.”
Blair walked up to her and said, “How would you like to get both of them?”
“That would be great, poppy. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She was hugging him tight with every thank you she called out. Then she hugged on Jim for a while. “Now can I pick out a book for Drew and Max?”
Blair and Jim had forgotten about that, but Sam didn’t. She picked out a cool looking book for each of them. They were like hardback comic books. Jim didn’t know if they even read this type of book, but Sam wanted to get it for them. So that’s what she did.
They went and paid for the books and decided to call it a day. Sam was very quiet in the back seat and Blair turned to say something to her and realized she was sleeping in her booster seat. “Oh man, look how uncomfortable she looks.”
Jim looked in his rear view mirror and said, “It must not be, if she can sleep like that.” Samantha was leaned over to one side, head hanging and no where to lean.
“I had a good day, Jim. Thanks.”
“Why are you thanking me, you’re the one that found that museum. I never would have even known about it. So thank you.”
The rest of the ride home was uneventful and Jim and Blair just held hands the entire way home.
!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday morning, Jim got up and said, “You know what would be nice today?”
“What?”
“We could take Samantha to Penney’s and have her picture taken. It’ll be her first one and then we’ll have something new for our wallets. Then next weekend we can take the boys for theirs. What do you think?” Jim inquired.
“We could go to the zoo first, Jim. Or rather take her for pictures first, and then change her at Penney’s into shorts and go to the zoo from there. How does that sound?”
“Sounds like a winner to me. We’re going to need two days off to rest up from our days off.” Jim laughed easily as he started some breakfast for the little one that was just about to come out of the room.
Blair loved that Jim could sense her being up already and knew when to start things for breakfast. Blair forgot now and then how cool it was to be a Sentinel. Jim needed little help these days, so when he got to watch him in action it made his heart flutter with excitement and awe.
Jim looked over at Blair and smiled when he saw the look on his face. Jim knew what he was thinking without even asking.
!!!!!!!!!!
At Penney’s they got her picture done in record time. The woman said Sam was very photogenic. Jim and Blair were glad that they seemed to think they had turned out all right. Then they showed them the digital pictures they had and Jim and Blair went ahead and placed their order while they were there. The woman wasn’t kidding. Sam looked angelic. Blair paid for everything and then they left for the zoo.
!!!!!!!!!!
“Do you think Max and Drew missed us?” Sam asked.
“I’m sure they did. They probably couldn’t even sleep last night because they missed us so much.” Jim loved teasing their little girl.
When they got to the zoo, they paid and started right out. Jim got them each a bottle of water and they were off. Jim knew where she would be going first. She loved to watch the polar bears swim under water. She would sit and watch them for an hour if you let her. They were not going to let her that day. They had things to do, people to see.
They spent about ten minutes on each exhibit and finally Sam asked Jim to carry her and they knew it was time to leave.
Again, on the ride home, she fell asleep and Jim and Blair talked quietly and held hands. It had been a remarkable weekend. They wished they had more like this one. But they rarely got two days off in a row. They better just be happy with what they had for now.
!!!!!!!!!!
At eight that night, Drew and Max came walking in the front door with huge smiles on their faces.
“Someone had a good time.” Jim observed.
“Who did? We did?” Sam asked.
“Did you have a good time, Sam?” Drew asked as he hugged her tight.
“We had the best time in the world. I bet we had way more fun then you,” Sam gloated.
The boys told them all about their camping trip and how they wore poor grampa out. Then they took all of their things upstairs and unpacked and got ready for bed. They were exhausted. It had been a great weekend for all of them. Sam followed them upstairs with their new books she had picked out for them.
“Thank you, Sam. I love comic books. Especially the hardback ones because they last longer,” Drew admitted.
“Yeah, Sam, thank you very much,” Max added.
She hugged both boys and said goodnight and then flew down the stairs.
“Daddy and poppy, I had a really good day.”
“We’re glad Samantha. Next weekend you’ll be picking out a movie to see with grampa,” Blair reminded her.
They got Sam ready for bed and then went up to tuck the boys in and got themselves in bed too. They felt like such whimps. It was only 9:00, but they had had a busy, busy weekend.
Jim pulled Blair into his arms and held him close. He listened to Blair’s heartbeat, then stretched his hearing out and listened for the other heartbeats and before long he fell asleep with the sounds of all of them beating in his head..
This is how life should be. It doesn’t happen this way, but it sure was nice now and then.
The end.
BEEF BROCCOLI STIR-FRY
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tbsp. minced ginger
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
3/4 lb. lean round steak, fat trimmed
2 tsp. vegetable oil, divided
1 sm. bunch, 1 1/2 lb. broccoli
1 bunch green onions, sliced diagonally
2 carrots, sliced diagonally, 1/8 inch thick
3/4 c. beef broth or water
Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl; stir until mixed. Slice steak across the grain 1/8 inch thick; toss with soy mixture and let stand 10-15 minutes. While you’re waiting, make up your fried rice and let it sit until you’re done.
Meanwhile, cut broccoli flowerets from stem, peel stems and slice 1/4 inch thick.
Heat wok or large stir-fry skillet over high heat; add 1 teaspoon oil. When almost smoking, add beef and stir-fry 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Add remaining teaspoon of oil to wok. Add broccoli, carrots, and green onions; stir-fry 1 minute.
Add broth and cook, scraping bottom of wok, until vegetables are tender, 5-7 minutes. Return beef to wok and heat through. Serve over fried rice.
FRIED RICE
4 cups boiled rice
3 tablespoons olive or peanut oil
1 tablespoon dry green (or other) onion
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or 2 cloves fresh)
2 tablespoons dried mushrooms
2 whole eggs
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Sauté rice in oil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add green onions and mushrooms. Cook for several minutes. Combine eggs with soy sauce and stir into pan. Cook until eggs are fully cooked.
Family Life Part 46
Spirit Guides
By Patt
Word Count: 4,406
This is another idea sent to me by Helena. I am most grateful for ideas because sometimes I have none. LOL So everyone send me your ideas. Please? PattRose1@aol.com
The loft was quiet and everyone was sleeping but the Jaguar and the Wolf were watching over the children. At one point, Max woke up and swore he saw a panther in his bedroom but went back to sleep when he realized this wouldn’t ever happen. About an hour later, Drew woke up and saw the panther and sat up in bed and watched him watching Max. Drew knew he was sleeping, but yet this animal didn’t seem mean. He seemed to be there for a reason. What could the reason be? He watched as the panther walked back and forth from one side of the room to the other and finally walked out of their bedroom. Drew lay back down and knew he was safe. This beautiful animal could have hurt him, but didn’t, so it must be a good sign. He fell back to sleep and had wonderful dreams of panthers.
Sam woke up at 4:00 and saw a wolf on her bed. “Hi, what’s your name?”
Of course the wolf didn’t answer but that didn’t stop Sam from asking questions. “What are you doing here? Are you lost? Do you need help finding your way home?”
The wolf just wagged its tail slowly and Sam smiled. She cuddled up to him and fell back to sleep.
The children were safe for right now. But the Jaguar and the Wolf knew it wouldn’t always be.
!!!!!!!!!!
Jim was fixing breakfast and Max and Drew walked into the room. “Good morning, boys.”
“Morning, dad,” Drew answered.
“What are you cooking?” Max went over and sniffed the air like Jim did.
“Hot cereal and bacon and eggs. Now sit down, Max. Drew would you get your sister up?” Jim asked.
Drew went to get Sam up and found her already up and ready for school. She walked out with Drew and said, “Good morning, daddy.”
Jim smiled at all of them and served them their breakfast. As they were eating Sam said ever so casually. “There was a wolf in my bedroom last night. He was very nice. He lay on my bed and watched over me. He was very sweet.”
Blair walked into the room just in time to hear this and said, “You saw a wolf?”
“Yes, he wasn’t mean, poppy. He was very sweet and I could tell he was watching over me,” Sam said.
Blair looked over at Jim as Jim shrugged his shoulders.
“Well that’s weird, because I saw a panther in my room last night. But for only a moment,” Max mentioned.
Drew smiled and said, “I saw the panther too. He was pacing in the room and didn’t seem mean at all. Almost like he was looking out for us.”
Blair said, “If you see them again, tell us. We’d like to hear about it.”
“Are you making fun of us?” Drew asked.
“No, quite the opposite, I’m very concerned and interested,” Blair answered.
Sam went to brush her teeth after breakfast and Jim said, “Boys, we have spirit animals and they are the Wolf and the Jaguar. We don’t know why you were able to see them, but we’re going to have to try and figure it out. If you’re seeing them there might be something going on that we need to watch more closely.”
“So they’re your spirit animals? No wonder they seemed too nice. They wouldn’t have hurt us,” Drew said.
“You make sure and tell us if anything is going on at your school. Promise?” Blair asked.
“Promise,” Max answered quickly.
The boys got up to get ready for school and Jim just smiled at how easily they had accepted the idea of spirit animals and went with it.
!!!!!!!!!!!
As they drove to the station, Blair asked, “So what do you think about the animals appearing to the kids?”
“I would say they’re in danger. But from who? There has been nothing we’re working on that would be dangerous for them. I don’t have a clue as to why they appeared.”
“I might have to meditate tonight and see if I can reach them. We need to have answers. I’m going to be a wreck until this is taken care of,” Blair said.
“Maybe they’re just watching over them. Let’s not make a big deal out of nothing,” Jim stated.
The rest of the drive was uneventful. They talked about anything and everything that might have to do with the animals, but they couldn’t figure anything out.
!!!!!!!!!!
Blair looked up from his desk and a man was standing there and Blair smiled. “Jeff, how are you doing?” Blair got to his feet and went around his desk and hugged the man.
Everyone in the bullpen was watching, because Jim didn’t look like a happy camper.
“I wondered if we could have lunch today. I was in the neighborhood and thought I would stop by,” Jeff asked.
Blair turned to Jim and Jim smiled letting him know that it was fine with him. Jim didn’t even know who this was, but he was going to find out later.
“Oh my god, Jim, I’m sorry. This is Jeff Bender. We were in school together. Jeff this is my partner, Jim Ellison.”
Jim stood up and extended his hand to Jeff. Jeff shook it and Jim didn’t like him. He shook his hand and could sense something right off. He just wasn’t sure what it was.
Blair went and told Simon he was leaving and then he told Jim goodbye and he and Jeff were off to lunch.
Rafe walked by and said, “You want to have lunch with me and Brown?”
“Yeah, that would be nice. I’ll be ready in a moment,” Jim said as he tried to finish up his file he was working on. He couldn’t get Jeff off of his mind. He seemed like a freak. Jim didn’t like him one bit and would be happy to tell Blair all about it on the drive home that evening.
Jim walked to the elevator when they were all done and the three men walked across the street to the diner and walked inside. Blair and Jeff were sitting in a booth and Blair hadn’t seen them come in because his back was to Jim and the guys. But Jeff saw him and gave Jim an evil glare.
Henri said, “Did you see that shitty look that guy gave you? What did you do to him?”
“He’s having lunch with Blair and must think that he’s getting much more then lunch,” Jim answered.
“Well, Blair knows how to take care of himself, so not to worry, Jim,” Rafe assured him.
“I’m not worried, I just hate to see him have to punch someone out in front of the station. Makes for bad press,” Jim teased.
The guys ordered and Blair and Jeff got up to leave. Jim could tell that Blair wasn’t too happy with Jeff which made Jim smile even more. As they walked by the table Jeff glared at Jim and Blair smiled at the three guys. “See you all in the bullpen.”
Jim just waved and couldn’t keep the big smile from his face. This Jeff dude was trouble, but Blair seemed to be handling it himself well enough.
They stood outside the diner and Jeff hugged Blair and kissed him. Blair shoved Jeff away from him and shouted, “What the hell was that?”
“I missed you and wanted to let you know that you’re still number one in my book,” Jeff said.
“Well, you’re not number one in mine, so stay away from me.”
Inside the diner, Jim, Henri and Rafe were all snickering.
They continued to watch as Blair began to rant and rave to Jeff. Every now and then he would shove Jeff out of his personal space, which made Jim smile all the more. Jeff was shouting back and Blair just turned on his heel and walked across the street and into the station house. Jeff looked at the diner window and could see all of the guys laughing in their booth. This pissed Jeff off even more.
!!!!!!!!!!
When Jim and the guys got back to the bullpen nothing was said to Blair. They could tell he was angry enough without any help from them.
Jim couldn’t help it, he had to ask. “So what’s the deal with the kiss?”
“Oh shut up. You know I didn’t want the fucking kiss. I shoved that fucker and yelled my lungs out at him. He still smiled. He’s an idiot. I don’t remember him being so stupid, but I guess I’m dumb too. He asked me out on a date. I told him I wasn’t only married, but we had a family. He laughed. Do you believe that? He laughed at the thought of us having a family. He told me you weren’t the settling down type. As if he knows what the settling down type would be. He’s an idiot. I’m so pissed off, I can hardly think anymore. You know what I really want to do?” Blair asked.
“I’m afraid to ask,” Jim said.
Blair got closer to Jim and he said, “I want to fuck your brains out.”
“So go ask Simon for a little time off. Tell him I have a sensory headache and we need time to relax. He’ll buy it. Then we can go home and fool around before the kids come home.” Jim whispered back.
“Good idea, I’ll be BACH.” Blair rushed to Simon’s office and came back almost immediately. “Simon says he knows about the fight downstairs and he’s making us wait until we’re off work to discuss it. He knows our tricks, damn it.”
Jim smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter Chief. You still can have your wicked way with me tonight. Not to worry.”
!!!!!!!!!!
Jeff was standing outside 852 Prospect Place when two young men walked up to the door. Jeff asked, “Do either of you know where Blair Sandburg lives?”
“Sure we do, he’s our pop. Do you know him?” Drew asked and Max stepped on his toe to get his attention. When Drew looked at him, he put a finger to his lips as in ‘shut up’.
“I had lunch with him today and wanted to have dinner with him tonight, but I forgot to get his home number and the number of the apartment,” Jeff said.
Max pushed Drew through the door and said, “Sorry, we can’t help you. We don’t give that information out to anyone. Come back later when he’s home and talk to him then.”
Then Max pushed Drew up the stairs as quickly as he could. There was something odd about this man and Max didn’t like him at all. Once they got upstairs Max made sure that Jeff was no where in sight and he opened up the door and they went in, with Max slamming shut behind them. He then locked and bolted the door, but he could hear someone outside the door. He headed for the phone and Drew said, “Don’t call and make a big deal out of it. They’ll take off work and Simon will be mad at us. We can handle this until they get home,” Drew asked.
The phone rang and Max answered it on the first ring. “Hello?”
“Hi Max, could you do us a favor?” Jim asked.
“Sure, name it.” Max was glad to hear Jim’s voice.
“Could you pick Samantha up for us? We won’t be home until after 6:00 and you know how they get grumpy if we’re late picking her up.”
“Sure, we’ll go get her now,” Max answered.
“Thank you, Max. If you two wanted to start dinner, that would be all right with me and pop too.”
“We can do that too.” Max wanted to get off the phone before Jim started asking questions.
“All right, what’s wrong? Did something happen after school today? Or during school?”
“No really, dad, we’re fine. I just have a lot of homework and I need to get started on it soon.” Max hoped that would work.
“Okay, we’ll see you about 6:30. Thanks again, Max.” Jim said before he hung up.
“We have to go and get Sam at day care,” Max announced.
“Okay, let’s go now.”
“That man is down there. What if he’s still watching us?” Max thought this was a simple question.
“Man, you are making something out of nothing. Now let’s go get our little sister and we’ll start dinner for them.”
Max took a piece of paper down and described the man in the parking lot and that he had said he had lunch with pop. Max wanted to be sure that his dad and pop knew who took them if they were kidnapped.
They both headed towards the front door and saw the Jaguar pacing in front of it. It growled at Drew when Drew tried to get to the door. Both boys stood back and didn’t know what to do. Then the Wolf entered the room and paced with the Jaguar. Max said, “I have to call dad now. We have no choice.”
Max dialed the number and the two animals lay down in front of the door. “Ellison.”
“Dad, it’s Max. I need help.”
“What’s wrong, son. Tell me.”
“There is a man in the parking lot who was asking about pop and he was following us up the stairs, I heard him do it. I was afraid to go back downstairs and face him but then the Jaguar and the Wolf showed up and they won’t let us near the door. What should we do?” Max was very scared and Jim could hear that in the young mans voice.
“You stay put, we’re coming right now. I know who this man is and we’ll deal with him when the time comes. For now, you stay inside the loft and don’t leave it for anything. Unless you see smoke coming underneath the door, you’re not leaving the loft. Understood?” Jim asked.
“Understood. So you’ll get here fast?” Max asked anxiously.
“We’re going to send Brown and Rafe to the loft and we’ll pick up Sam. So watch for Brown and Rafe, okay?” Jim said.
“Hurry…”
“Stay in the loft.” Jim hung up the phone and started shouting out orders to Brown and Rafe who quickly got their tails to their vehicle. They didn’t want anything to happen to Max and Drew.
Jim went in and told Simon what was going on and Simon said, “Go and pick up Samantha. Don’t worry about us. In fact, I might go to the loft too. See you there.”
At that moment both Jim and Blair saw the Jaguar and the Wolf pacing in front of the elevator and they rushed to get on. They knew the kids were in danger.
!!!!!!!!!!
The fire alarm went off in the building and there was some smoke over on the side of the building and Max turned to Drew and said, “I don’t know what to do. Dad said not to leave unless there was smoke coming under the door. Well, there isn’t. But what if it does?”
“I think we need to go downstairs. Everyone will be down there. We’ll be safe, you just wait and see. Brown and Rafe will be here soon and we won’t have to worry about that man ever again. Bring your car keys,” Drew ordered.
Both of them grabbed their back packs and rushed out the door to be met by the man from the parking lot.
“Fancy meeting you boys here. Would you like to come with me without making any trouble, or do you want to make a fuss and I’ll drag you down? If I can’t take both of you, I’ll take one of you. What will it be?” Jeff said.
“What do you want us for?” Max said.
“Shut up and walk to my vehicle. Hurry it up, both of you. I know you probably called Blair and told him I was here. You shouldn’t have done that. Now I have to hurt you both.” Jeff shoved them through the front door and moved them towards a big SUV. Max saw Rafe and Brown and saw that they saw them, so Max was relieved about that. Now they just needed to get away. Max used all of the strength in his body and hit into Jeff as hard as he could and it knocked Jeff right over. His gun went sliding under cars. Drew ran for the gun as quickly as he could and Jeff held on to Max and said, “You’re going to be sorry now.”
Drew walked up to him and said, “Let my brother go.”
“What are you going to do, shoot me?” Jeff asked, smirking like a mad man. Which worked because he was a mad man. The mad man heard a loud growl and turned to look and see what had made the sound, but he saw nothing there. He knew he had heard something. It sounded vicious. He kept looking around and became very nervous. He knew there was an animal close by.
Brown walked up and said, “Give me the gun, Drew.”
“Let Max go right this moment and things might not go as hard as they can for you,” Rafe explained.
Jeff held on to Max around the neck and said, “I’m going to snap his neck. What do you think about that?” Again he heard the growl and stepped back a little further, because he felt like something was in front of them now.
At that moment, an arm came around Jeff’s neck and jerked him back so hard that he let go of Max. Jeff looked up a little dazed into the very angry eyes of Jim Ellison. Jim wanted to kill him in the worst way, but he didn’t, he knew he had to do the right thing in front of the boys. He pulled his cuffs out and arrested the fucker and shoved him over to Brown and Rafe. Then Jim pulled both Max and Drew into his arms. “Thank God you’re all right. You are all right, correct?”
Max started to cry and so did Drew. Jim just held them close and promised that everything would be all right. They didn’t have to worry about that man again. He wouldn’t be out of jail for years and years. Then he told them how much he loved them and that seemed to calm them down somewhat. Blair and Samantha came rushing up and Blair said, “Are they okay?”
“Just scared, Blair.”
Blair grabbed Max and held him close to him and Jim continued holding on to Drew. Neither boy worried about how it would look to passers by. They didn’t care how it looked. They had been scared out of their minds. They were glad to be in their fathers’ arms.
Simon was carrying Sam and said, “Come on, let’s take this upstairs. The boys need to calm down.”
Brown said, “We’ll take care of the paperwork downtown, but we’ll have to come back and ask Drew and Max questions later tonight. Is that all right?”
“Of course it’s all right,” Simon answered. “Do your job just like you would for anyone else. We’ll see you in a few hours.”
As they walked up the stairs, Drew and Max pulled out of their fathers’ arms and began to get a little calmer getting closer to home.
Once they got inside, Jim sat the boys down and they discussed the entire afternoon. Jim told them they had done a good job and he was proud of them both.
“I tried to shoot him, but nothing happened when I pulled the trigger on the gun,” Drew said sadly.
“Drew, you don’t know how to handle a gun and you could have shot your brother instead of the idiot. So it’s better that it didn’t work. We’re going to take you boys for gun classes. I want you to be able to use a gun if you had to and were in that situation again. We’ll make it a family affair. I don’t want you to ever pick up a gun again not knowing how to use it. Promise me?” Jim said.
“I promise. I’m glad I didn’t shoot my brother. I would have just died,” Drew said quietly.
Simon called for dinner to be delivered and the boys ate a little bit, but not much. Sam wasn’t sure what had happened but she was happy watching SpongeBob in her room. They could all hear her giggling from time to time and this made the rest of them smile, including Max and Drew.
At 9:00, Brown and Rafe came up to question the boys. Jim and Blair got Samantha ready for bed and read her books to her. She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew it concerned her brothers. “I hope Drew and Max are all right.”
“They’ll be fine, sugar. Now it’s time for you to go to sleep,” Blair answered.
“Goodnight, poppy.”
“Goodnight, daddy.”
Jim and Blair both kissed her and wished her happy dreams as they walked out the door.
!!!!!!!!!!
When they walked into the living room they noticed that Max and Drew both seemed scared again. Jim sat next to Max and Blair sat next to Drew just in case the boys needed them.
Before long, they were done and everyone left that didn’t live there. Jim said, “Would you like to sleep with us tonight? You can bring up sleeping bags and sleep on either side of the bed.”
“Yeah,” Max shouted and rushed upstairs to get into his pj’s and picked up his pillow and sleeping bag. Drew did the same thing and they rushed right back up the stairs to Jim and Blair’s room.
Blair said, “Do either of you need to talk any more before we go to bed?”
“No, I’m tired and I have to take a test tomorrow,” Drew whined.
“Yeah, we’re tired. But thanks for the offer, pops.”
“Brush your teeth and all of that before you settle down for the night,” Jim ordered.
!!!!!!!!!!
When Jim and Blair went upstairs at about 11:00, the boys were sound asleep on the bed. Jim snickered and said, “Want to share the floor with me?”
“We’re sorta old for sleeping on the floor, Jim. Let’s blow up an air mattress,” Blair said seriously.
“Sounds good to me. You get the air mattress and I’ll get the sheets and blanket for it,” Jim replied.
They blew up the air mattress and the boys didn’t even notice. They made the bed and got into it and Jim whispered, “They’re such good boys. This could have gone down badly. I was scared out of my mind.”
“Think how I felt, having to stay behind with Sam. I wanted to leave her with a stranger for a moment and then I came to my senses and realized you could handle it without me being there. Were the Wolf and the Jaguar there?”
Jim smiled. “Yeah, they freaked Jeff out big time. That’s why I got him so easily. He was scared out of his mind. They were growling and snarling at him and he couldn’t see them. But he heard them.”
“I wish they would have stayed around so we could have told them thank you,” Blair said softly.
“They know how we feel about those boys. They don’t need to be told.”
“Will you hold me tonight, Jim?”
“I’ll hold you any night, Blair. All you have to do is ask.”
Jim pulled Blair into his arms and held him close to his heart where he belonged. Jim listened to all of the other heartbeats, making sure they were all beating correctly and he said, “Everyone is fine. We can sleep now.”
Blair was the first one to go to sleep and Jim was just about there when he saw the wolf and the Jaguar walk up the stairs and into the room. They jumped onto the bed and slept with the boys. Jim knew this was a sign that they would always be watching out for them. The Guides knew that the children belonged to Jim and Blair and they understood that they would defend them just like Jim and Blair.
That was the last thought that Jim had that night. Everyone slept without any nightmares at all.
!!!!!!!!!!
The next morning, Jim woke up and saw Drew and Max at the end of the bed smiling at them on the floor.
“Good morning boys. What’s up?” Jim asked as Blair began to wake up.
“Dad, do you think we could take Karate lessons during the week somewhere?” Drew asked.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea.” Jim smiled at both of them.
“And pop, do you think we might be able to see a shrink and tell him about this?” Max asked.
“Yes, Max, it’s important that you both get physical and emotional help for this, so we’ll take care of both of them this week. Don’t you worry about a thing. You boys just worry about your tests today and nothing else. Dad and I will take care of the rest.”
They all got up and began to do their thing in the bathrooms and before long they were ready for breakfast.
Sam came out smiling and said, “The Wolf slept with me for a while last night. It was nice.”
“That’s good, Sam.” Jim answered.
“We had some animals in our bed too,” Drew said.
Sam said, “Will you tell me about yours?”
“Well see it’s like this, Sam,” Drew started and that began the very long story of Spirit Animals and how they guard you when dad and pop can’t. It was a good story and they also told her that she couldn’t tell others about it, because they didn’t have Spirit Guides. Drew had done such a good job that Blair and Jim just continued making their lunches up for the day. It was going to be a good day.
The end
Family Life Part 47
Mistakes
By Patt
Word Count: 3,002
I got this idea from a prompt book, given to me by Maggie. The prompt is, ‘I knew it was a mistake the moment it was over.’
Thank you, Maggie.
Jim was lying in bed with Blair the next evening after all of the mess was taken care of at the station house. Jeff Bender was sure to be going away for a very long time. Jim was thrilled to death. The only thing that would have made him happier is if they could have put him on death row. Jim knew this was unreasonable, but he could still day dream couldn’t he? Jim did however notice how quiet Blair was all day long. This bothered him some and he figured it was because it was a friend of his and he had gone crazy and Blair felt like it was his fault. But if Jim were to ask him, he would find out that’s not what was bothering Blair at all.
He pulled Blair into his arms and whispered, “Did you get those appointments made for the boys with Dr. Marshall?”
Blair pulled away from him and said, “I thought you would have done it. I was a little busy today, Jim.”
“I thought you were off taking care of things. You were gone for a long, long while. I just took it for granted that it was taken care of. I’m sorry. Where were you?”
“I was in Internal Affairs being questioned before the trial comes up for Jeff,” Blair said softly.
“They wanted to tell you what to say and so on, I would guess, huh?”
“No, they wanted to know about how I knew Jeff and if we were ever lovers.”
Jim didn’t say anything for a few moments and finally said, “And?”
“And what Jim? What do you want to hear? Didn’t you realize that he was an old flame when he came in? I figured you did because you didn’t look very happy about him being there. Yes, we were lovers.”
Jim moved all the way over to the other side of the bed and said, “Were you going to mention this to me or what?”
“We’re talking about it now, Jim.”
“Okay, so what was the deal with him?” Jim tried to be calm, but inside he was steaming mad.
“I knew it was a mistake the moment it was over. I slept with him once and that was it. He was a jerk and I refused to see him after that. That was the best thing I could have ever done. Then he left town for awhile, but IA told me he was in a hospital for the last 4 years trying to get over a nervous breakdown. Jeff told them that he never got over me and he just wanted what I had. A life with a family and all of that. So now the DA is wondering if they’re going to go for the crazy card. You know, the insanity plea. It would make sense to me. He might be out in five fucking years. You gotta love those mistakes you make through your life.”
Jim didn’t say anything, he just sat there staring at Blair. Blair waited patiently, but Jim still said nothing.
“What? You’re not going to talk to me now?” Blair asked him.
“I never would have gone to lunch with an old lover.” Jim sat up and took a deep breath as if that would help anything.
“You asshole, you did go to dinner with an old lover and she almost raped you if you remember right. God, you’re such a jerk. I’m sleeping on the sofa.” Blair grabbed his pillow and started down the stairs. Jim didn’t follow him at all. This bothered Blair more then he could understand. Blair didn’t understand any of this shit. But Jim being a jerk wasn’t helping matters.
Blair lay down on the sofa and he heard Jim tossing and turning in their bed. This pissed Blair off even more. How come he was downstairs instead of Jim? Blair gathered his stuff up again and walked back up the stairs. When Jim looked at him, he glared back. “If you want to sleep alone, you sleep on the sofa.”
Blair threw his pillow back on the bed and climbed in hoping that Jim would apologize at any moment. Instead, Jim took his pillow and walked down the stairs.
Oh this is fucking great. This is just what the boy’s need right now. He’s so mature. Blair pounded his pillow and tried to get comfortable and then lay there with his eyes open.
Jim lay down on the sofa and he tried to get comfortable. It was a really nice sofa to sit on, but sleeping on was another story. It was hard as a rock. Jim was used to his nice medium soft bed. He liked sleeping in that bed. He liked sleeping with Blair. Hell, he loved sleeping with Blair.
Both men just lay there for about an hour. Finally Blair couldn’t stand it any longer and whispered, “Jim, if you can stand lying by me, please come upstairs so the boys won’t be upset in the morning.”
Jim was up in a flash. He hated giving in all the time. Now he could say Blair did. That’s so mature, Ellison.
Jim slid into bed and stayed on his side. Blair didn’t push him in the least. He left him alone. At least the boys wouldn’t wake up to Jim downstairs in the morning.
“Goodnight, Jim.”
“Goodnight, Blair.”
The two men continued to lie there wide awake for the next two hours and Blair moved over towards Jim’s body and felt Jim stiffen up. “What? I’m used goods now or something?”
“I’m going to need more then one night to think over all of this. I’m sorry, it’s just how I feel.” Jim pulled away from him even more then he had been.
Blair went to the other side of the bed and curled up in the blanket for warmth. Oh God, what have I done? Blair started doing deep breathing exercises and began to feel himself relax. Before long he was asleep. Jim wasn’t as lucky.
Jim rolled over and looked at the curled up bundle on the bed and wondered if he was overreacting. There was no one to really ask. Jim needed to sleep on this and think about it the next day. He could be civil in front of the kids and that’s all that mattered right now. Neither of the men wanted to hurt the kids.
!!!!!!!!!!
When Blair woke up that morning, he knew he had to teach his classes, so he got ready and left. No one was even up yet. He went to Simon’s house and knocked on the door. Simon opened it right up, already dressed and drinking his coffee. “What are you doing here this early, Sandburg?”
Rafe came wandering out of their room and blushed when he saw Blair standing there. “There’s no need to blush, Brian. He knows we’re an item. Go get dressed and have a cup of coffee. I need to talk to Sandburg.”
Rafe left the room and Simon shoved Blair into the chair in the living room. “What’s wrong?”
Blair told him all about IA and how they were going to use the insanity defense for Jeff Bender and that Jim blamed Blair. When he was done he looked up sadly and said, “I’ve never seen him like this before.”
Simon sighed and said, “First of all, he’s being an idiot. What happened six years ago doesn’t have anything to do with now. What about Carolyn? Did he forget about that?”
“I reminded him of that and he didn’t seem that concerned with that. He looked at it much differently. Simon, if I didn’t know better, he thinks I’m filthy now.”
“You did tell him when you started sleeping with him that you’d slept with other people, right?”
“Yes, I told him. There were two others. I didn’t name names, but I told him he wasn’t my first. He told me I wasn’t his either, so we both laughed and moved on. It’s never come up since. But I didn’t like the way he was looking at me last night. I don’t deserve that. I can’t help that Jeff is nuts and went crazy at the loft. I can’t take blame for everything, am I right?” Blair asked.
“Of course you’re right. Let me tell Rafe and see what he thinks about it. Maybe he’ll see things differently then we do,” Simon said as he walked into the kitchen to get Rafe.
Rafe came out and sat down and said, “Trouble in paradise, eh?”
“You could say that again.” Blair answered. Blair went on to explain the entire thing to Rafe and told him what was said, what was done and how he felt about it and then sat back and waited for Rafe’s opinion.
“First of all, you should have slapped him upside the head. He’s treating you badly and you don’t deserve any of it. I wouldn’t put up with it. I know you have kids to consider but he doesn’t care does he? He’s being a jerk. Let him think all he wants and you sleep farther and farther away from him at night. He’ll come around and when he does, make him beg,” Rafe said almost smiling.
“Okay. I just wanted to be sure I wasn’t doing something wrong,” Blair said as he got up to leave for the academy for his classes. He loved teaching those guys and girls, so at least he had that to look forward to.
“See you later, Sandburg,” Simon said patting him on the back as he walked him to the door.
“I’ll be a little late today because we have exams at the academy. Just reminding you,” Blair remarked.
“See you later,” Rafe called out and watched the sad man leave.
“This might get ugly,” Simon stated after he had shut the door.
“Nah, it’ll be fine. Jim will come around, you just wait and see. He’s crazy about Sandburg,” Rafe assured him.
!!!!!!!!!!
Jim woke up to the empty bed and felt saddened by it. He hadn’t even heard Blair’s alarm go off that morning. He got his things and took them downstairs to get ready for work and get breakfast for the kids. Someone had to keep life as normal as they could and he was the only one there, so he guessed it was him.
When Jim came out of the shower, Sam was sitting at the table eating Coco Puffs and talking to Drew and Max.
“Good morning, kids,” Jim said softly.
“Good morning, daddy. Did you sleep well?” Samantha gave him one of her darling looks and he melted.
“Yes, I slept just fine, thank you. How about you?” Jim asked her.
“I kept waking up because you and poppy were fighting. I don’t like when you’re fighting.” Sam continued to eat her breakfast and waited for Jim to reply.
“We weren’t fighting, Sam. We had words about a couple of things that didn’t have anything to do with you guys and we worked it out. Poppy is teaching his class this morning as usual, so stop worrying.”
Max frowned and said, “I think it’s because of Jeff, right? You’re mad because he was in love with pop too?”
“Where did that come from? No, we are disagreeing about some things, but nothing about that. So stop worrying. I promise, everything is fine.”
“Well, if you promise,” Drew said, “then you must mean it.”
All three of the kids went back to eating and Jim relaxed somewhat. This might get messy and Jim hated messy. He was going to have to figure out something.
“Oh by the way, Drew and Max, I’m going to call a doctor for you today and get some appointments made. So don’t think we forgot. We’ve just been super busy.”
“Thanks, dad. Would you like us to take Sam to day care today?” Max asked.
“That would be nice. I’m not quite ready to go. I need to clean and pick up a few things before I leave,” Jim answered.
Jim saw them all off and got the place picked up, dished done and clothes all put where they belonged. When he was done he left for work. He was in no hurry. Blair wasn’t there anyhow. This was going to be a slow morning. Then he realized that he missed Blair on those mornings he taught. Did he still miss him? Or did he feel differently about him now? Time would tell.
!!!!!!!!!!
Blair came walking into the bullpen, happy as can be. Rafe said, “Why so happy?”
“Every single person in the class passed the test. I guess it doesn’t happen that often, so they were all quite impressed. I know I was sure pleased with them all. They’re a great group. You and Brown should come by some morning and talk to them. They would love talking with seasoned cops. What do you think of that idea?” Blair asked.
“Wait a minute. Seasoned cops? We’re either full of good flavor or we’re old. Are you telling us we’re old?” Brown asked trying not to laugh.
“No, man, I meant you were full of good flavor.” Blair laughed all the way to his desk. “Morning, Jim.”
Jim just looked at him oddly. Jim didn’t know what to make of this Blair Sandburg. He didn’t seem too upset about last night at all. In fact, he was in a good mood. Life wasn’t fair sometimes.
“Morning, Sandburg,” Jim replied.
The morning flew by. Blair made the calls to Dr. Marshall and got the appointments made for Saturday’s so the boys wouldn’t need to miss school at all. He filled Jim in on the news and Jim was relieved that he didn’t have to do it. He hated talking to doctors offices.
Lunch time came around and Conner asked Blair, “Would you like to have lunch with me, Sandy?”
Blair turned to Jim and Jim shrugged, so Blair took that as a yes. “Sure, Conner, that would be nice.”
The two of them were leaving and Blair said, “Do you want me to bring you back something from the diner?”
“No, I’ll get something out of the machine,” Jim answered.
Blair smiled at him and said, “Okay. See you later.”
Now Jim was really thrown for a loop. Blair never let him eat from the machines at the station. Why would he now? Did Blair not care anymore? Had he pushed Blair as far away from him as he could? Ellison, you’re a stupid fuck. Jim loved calling himself names when only he could hear.
!!!!!!!!!!
Blair had a fantastic lunch with Conner. Conner didn’t bug him about anything. She was attentive and let Blair talk all he needed to. Then Blair realized she was being a really good friend. He had needed all of that. “Conner, don’t worry about me, okay? I’ll be fine. It’s going to take a couple of weeks before I feel right about anything again.”
“Sandy, why don’t you make an appointment with Dr. Marshall on Saturday’s too? I would think you could use some help also.”
“You know what? I might do that when we get back. Thank you for being such a good friend. Now let’s get back to work before they send out a posse.”
!!!!!!!!!!
Blair walked back into the bullpen and saw Jim eating a Twinkie and wanted to scream. But instead he smiled and said, “Hey partner, did I miss anything good?”
Jim threw the Twinkie in the trash and said, “As a matter of fact, they called from the DA’s office and said they are going to try Bender on the insanity defense, so they’re getting everything all ready. Looks like he’s going to cop a plea so the boys won’t have to go through a trial. That part of it is good, but you’re one of the main people they would have called. Both sides. Just warning you, partner in case it still goes to trial.”
Jim didn’t look all that sorry about it. But Blair didn’t give him the satisfaction of winning. “That’s fine. I’m going to make an appointment to see that shrink too and hopefully he can help me get through it. Nothing else happened? No phone calls or anything?”
“No, it’s been dead for the last 70 minutes,” Jim said.
Blair had to smile internally at Jim noticing how long Blair had been gone. Blair was driving him nuts already. And this was only the first day.
They both worked on things at their desks and Blair made a few phone calls, but that was about it. When five o’clock rolled around, Blair got up to tell Simon he was leaving.
Simon shut the door and pushed Blair into the chair. “Did you talk to him?”
“Not really. And it’s driving him nuts. He’s used to having me the talker, bugging him non-stop. Now I’m not, he doesn’t know what to make of it. Honestly, Simon, I don’t care. I’m doing okay. I love the man, I’m not going to leave him, but right now I’m fine the way things are. He’s going to have to come around.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Simon asked.
“Then I will. But I’m hoping he’ll come to his senses. See you tomorrow.” Blair said as he left Simon’s office.
Jim waved at Blair as Blair got on the elevator. Jim was totally lost. Blair acted like he didn’t care that Jim was mad. He acted like he had someone else on his mind. Who the fuck would he have on his mind?
Jim was going to have to figure this out. But until then, it was time to go home.
TBC…
Family Life Part 48
Drunk on Love
By Patt
Word Count: 2,616
Warning: This is the second part of a two-parter story and if you haven’t read 47, you might not know what’s going on. More angst but a happy ending in sight.
Thank you to everyone who is reading this series. I hope you’ll continue to enjoy it.
A smiling Blair walked into the loft and said, “Honey’s I’m home.”
Max and Drew laughed. Max said, “Someone is in a really good mood tonight. Why?”
“You know that test I’ve been dreading for the last week? Well, I gave that dreaded test today and they all passed with 90% or more on the scores. I’m so happy, I can just sing.” Blair grabbed Sam and swung her around the room as he sang the song from SpongeBob.
Max and Drew continued to smile and laugh. They loved to see Blair this happy. Max frowned and said, “Did dad seem okay at work today?”
“Oh yeah, he was cool about me going to lunch with Conner and he was cool with me taking the time to make all of the appointments I made for Saturday, by the way. I’m going too and he seemed fine, why?” Blair asked.
“He seemed a little down this morning,” Drew answered.
“Well, whatever it was, he must have gotten over it. Should we all make dinner? Or should we wait for dad and all go out to eat tonight?”
“Sam yelled out, “Claim Jumper. Yay, I want to go to Claim Jumper.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do as soon as dad gets home. Did he call or anything? He should be home soon I think,” Blair said hopefully.
Max said, “Can we finish our homework while we wait for dad?”
“Sure, you never need to ask about doing homework. Get busy, boys. Sam, do you have any tonight?”
Sam smiled. “Max and Drew already showed me what to do and I did it all. It was easy. They said I’m smart.”
“And they’re right,” Blair said as he laid a kiss on the top of her head. He went into the kitchen and got a glass of tea and said, “Does anyone need anything.”
“No thank you, pop,” Max replied.
“Thanks, but we got everything before we sat down,” Drew agreed.
“I could use another juice,” Sam answered and they all laughed. She wondered why. Sometimes they laughed for no reason and she always wondered why. She hated being five years old sometimes.
At 6:00, Blair called Jim on his cell phone.
“Ellison.”
“Yeah, where are you? The kids and I are waiting to take you out to eat tonight. How does Claim Jumper sound?”
“What is up with you, Sandburg? Why are you so fucking happy all the time? I’m not coming home right now. Go out if you want, but I won’t be home until bed time. I have some thinking to do.”
“So I’ll cook here. Think here, Jim. It will worry the kids if you don’t come home. Come on home,” Blair pleaded.
“I said I have some thinking to do. I’ll be home about 9:00 or so. Have a good time at the restaurant.” Jim closed his cell and didn’t even say goodbye.
Blair pulled himself together and said, “Dad got a call as he was leaving, so he’s going to be late. So it’s just the four of us tonight. Come on, let’s go eat.”
The kids all bought it and they went to Claim Jumper for dinner. They all had a good time, eating, talking, laughing and more talking. Blair really enjoyed these kids, they made his heart swell with more love then he ever knew he had in him. He was going to make up with Jim tonight because Jim was missing out on all of this because Blair had been stubborn. One of them had to make the move. So it would be him. That was fine with Blair. He loved Jim more then life itself.
As they were driving home his cell rang and he answered, “Sandburg?”
“How mad are you?”
“Hi dad, we’re just heading home from the restaurant. Are you going to be home soon?” Blair asked ignoring his question because of the kids.
“Just tell me how mad you are. Are you going to be able to forgive me?” Jim asked and Blair realized Jim had been drinking.
“Already have. Why don’t I get the kids settled and then I’ll meet you at the office in say ten minutes?” Blair asked.
“I’m at O’Malley’s. O’Malley took my keys away. Do you believe it?” Jim asked.
“Yes, I do. Tell him thank you for me. I’ll be there in a bit, bye Jim.” Blair closed his cell and put it back in his pocket.
“Is he all right?” Drew asked.
“Yes, he stopped with the guys to have a beer and he doesn’t want to drive after drinking a beer. So I’m going to go and get him and bring him home.”
“Good. That’s where he belongs,” Drew said angrily.
“Drew, he can stop and have a beer if he feels like it. He had a tough day today. I didn’t. I had a great day, but some people didn’t. So let’s cut him some slack, okay?” Blair asked.
“You always stick up for him when he’s being a jerk,” Max said.
Sam started crying. “Daddy is being a jerk?”
“No, Sam, Max was joking. Weren’t you Max?” Blair said.
“Yes, Sam I was joking.”
“He’s going through something right now and we all need to stand behind him. Understood?” Blair ordered.
“Understood,” Max said caving quite quickly.
Understood,” Drew said.
“I don’t understand. Where is my daddy?” Sam started crying again. Max put his arm around her and said, “I was teasing, Sam. He’s coming home in a little bit. So while pop goes to pick him up, we’ll give you your bath and a snack before bed, how does that sound?”
“You can’t see me naked. Only daddy and poppy can. You silly. Don’t you know the rules?” Sam asked as she stopped crying instantly.
“I guess I forgot them. I won’t forget again, Sam. We’ll just have a snack and read you a book, how does that sound?” Drew asked.
“Oh goody. I love when you read to me, Drew. I love when Max reads to me too. Maybe you could take turns.”
Blair smiled as he looked into the back seat. Jim was definitely missing out on a lot tonight. Blair was going to be sure and point that out to him.
Blair got the kids settled at the house and he drove over to O’Malley’s and Rick smiled at him when he walked in. “He’s in a booth away from my customers. He’s whiney. Make sure and tell him about that.”
Blair smiled and found Jim in a booth leaning on the table almost asleep. He saw Blair and shot right up. “Are you mad? Are you going to forgive me?”
“Why would I be mad at you, Jim?”
“Because I’m an asshole. I treated you like shit last night. I had no right, no right at all. I wouldn’t let my sorry ass back in the house if I was you,” Jim slurred.
“Then I’m glad that I’m not you, because you’re coming home with me. We have a family Jim. You can’t just leave them when things don’t go right. The boys are upset with you because they know you’re drunk and I have to pick you up. You could have been out with us as a family.”
Jim leaned into Blair and sniffed a couple of times and Blair wondered if Jim was crying. Jim never cried. This is probably as close to crying as he got. Blair kissed the top of his head and said, “I forgive you and I want you to come home now. I love you, Jim.”
Jim still didn’t move and Blair was afraid that Jim had passed out, but Jim said, “You still love me?”
“I adore you, man. Don’t you know that?”
“Why didn’t you tell me about Jeff?” Jim asked point blank.
“Because you never asked for names, as I didn’t from you. And then things started getting crazy and we didn’t have a chance to talk about Jeff in any way other then we wanted him to be dead for taking our boys. Right?”
“Right. You’re always right. I love you so much, Blair. I keep screwing things up. One of these times one of us is going to leave and not come back.”
“Well then, stop leaving, Jim. That would be my sage advice to you. Now come on, we need to get you home.”
“I have to blow my nose and I don’t have a Kleenex.”
Blair smiled and went to the bar and got two napkins and handed them to Jim. So he had been crying. Blair was shocked. He had known Jim a long, long while and he had never seen him lose control like that. This made Blair feel good, actually. He smiled all the time that Jim was blowing his nose. Jim composed himself and walked out the door with Blair holding him up.
“Jesus, how much did you have to drink, Jim?”
“Two drinks, but I hadn’t had anything to eat all day and it hit me sort of hard,” Jim explained.
Blair got him in the SUV and buckled up and he said, “Would you like a Wonder Burger?”
“Oh god, you are so good to me.” He leaned against the window and Blair knew that he was fighting with his emotions.
“We’ll get a hamburger to go, okay?” Blair suggested.
“I would love one.”
Blair took him to the drive thru and got the hamburger and onion rings to go. Then he parked in the parking lot and said, “You eat while I talk.”
Jim didn’t have to be told twice. He started eating like he hadn’t seen food in a month.
“I love you, you big lug. No matter how angry you make me, I’m always going to be here for you. So just stop doing it. And I’ll try to stop doing it to you. We’ve got to get better at this, okay?”
Jim leaned across the seat and the seatbelt snapped him back into the back of the seat. Blair undid his and leaned in for the kiss Jim had wanted to give him. They kissed for a few minutes and Blair said, “Okay, I want one of those onion rings. They taste wonderful in your mouth.”
Jim fed him the rest of his onion rings and he ate his hamburger and he was very happy. Blair could see that he had swollen eyelids from crying, but other then that he looked okay. He was doing fine.
“Do you love me, Jim?”
“Duh…”
“I want an answer, big guy.”
“Yes, I love you very much. I’m sorry for everything in the last two days that I have done.”
“And you know what? Think how much fun we’re going to have, having makeup sex.”
“Not tonight though. I’m really tired, Blair.”
Blair laughed as he drove out of the Wonder Burger and realized the honeymoon was over.
When they got home, Jim hugged both of the boys and kissed their heads and told them he was sorry. Then he got down on his knee and kissed Sam goodnight. Blair went and got her ready for bed. Drew said, “Dad, do you need us to help you get up?”
“Yeah, I do.” Jim said snickering.
Jim smiled at Max but could tell Max was angry with him. “I promise I won’t miss family night again. I mean it.”
“I hope so, because one of these times, he might get tired of it.”
Drew said, “Shut up, Max. They’re our parents. They’ll take care of things. You don’t tell him what to do.”
Jim pulled both of them into his arms again and said, “Thank you for taking such good care of pop for me while I was taking a break. I’m back now and intend on staying, so stop worrying, Max.”
The boys helped Jim get up the stairs and out of his clothes and Jim fell back on the bed and was instantly asleep.
Max laughed and said, “He’s not much of a drinker is he?”
“I guess not. Gosh, I’m really glad of that.” Drew covered Jim up and they walked down the stairs.
They got ready for bed and told Sam and Blair goodnight before they went upstairs to their room.
Blair got Sam settled in for the night and closed up the loft, locked everything and shut off all of the lights and walked up the stairs. What he saw there was wonderful. Jim had knocked the covers off and was lying there with his cock hanging out of his boxers.
Blair went over and kissed that cock and put it back where it belonged, but not before Jim said, “Maybe a little make-up sex?”
“You little shit. You heard me coming didn’t you?” Blair said.
“Sentinel here, remember? I not only heard you come up the stairs, but I could smell your need. This made my need come to a head. Oh get it?”
Blair moaned at the thought of sex jokes from a drunk. But Jim was not only drunk, he was drunk with love. And so was Blair.
Blair pushed him back on the bed and took that cock down his throat. Jim wasn’t being quiet at all. He was moaning and groaning with need. Blair put his hand over Jim’s mouth and Jim started sucking on Blair’s fingers in time with the sucking motion on his cock. Blair was so turned on, he could hardly wait to come. So he started rubbing his cock on Jim’s leg as he continued to suck and Jim was getting closer and closer and louder and louder. Before long, Jim threw his head back and shouted ‘Blair’ before Blair could stop him. Oh well, if nothing else, the boys would know that their dad was back to business and business was good. Blair started humping Jim like mad and came with a shout himself.
Once his breathing was back to normal, he got the wipes and cleaned both of them up and put Jim’s boxers back on. Jim was sound asleep already. Blair got everything done and then put his boxers on next. He slid into bed and had to shove Jim over to make enough room for him. Jim woke up and said, “Was I taking up the entire bed?”
“Yes, you’re a bed hog.”
“Sorry. Come here.” Jim pulled Blair into his arms and kissed him and said, “Oh essence of Ellison.”
“You complaining?” Blair said.
“Hell no. I love you, babe. I have to go to sleep now.” And like that he was out.
Blair giggled to himself and thought now he had something new to tease Jim about. He was glad of that.
It wasn’t long and Blair was sleeping soundly next to Jim.
In Max and Drews room, Max said, “They need walls on their room.”
Drew laughed and said, “But it’s nice to have them back to normal.”
“Yeah, it is. I love both of them so much. I hate to see them fight.” Max hated admitting things to Drew, but sometimes he did anyhow.
“Night, Max.”
“Night, Drew.”
And the loft was finally silent. It was a good night for all. Even when bad things happened, they usually turned out good. This was life with the Sandburg-Ellison family.
The end
Family Life Part 49
What You Say
By Patt
Word Count: 2,421
Jim and Blair were upstairs getting dressed for work when Blair said, “Please don’t take this the wrong way but I have to tell you something that’s bothering me.”
Jim immediately panicked and replied, “What? What did I do this time?”
“You need to change your clothes. I’ll pick out something different for you to wear,” Blair said as he pulled things out of the closet.
Jim said, “But Chief, why would that be bothering you? You don’t like the way I look in my clothes?”
“I do like the way you look in your clothes, that’s the problem, so does everyone else. Monica in records told her friend Stacy that you had buns of steel and those pants showed them off. I can’t have my man showing other people his ass.”
Jim smiled and pulled Blair into his arms. “I think this is the nicest thing you have ever said to me. Why do you care what Monica or Stacey thinks about my buns? I don’t get it.”
“Because you belong to me, man. I thought you understood that.”
Blair threw a pair of doctors that were too big over to Jim and Jim said, “Chief, these don’t fit, remember?”
“They’re perfect for work. From now on, you’re buying your pants a little bit larger and looser. Now as for a shirt. Monica also said she can see your nipples when you get cold through these shirts, so they’re out from now on. You’re going to wear this shirt today.”
“I’m a little freaked out that this Monica person watches me that close. Blair, I think you should take care of that,” Jim suggested.
“Oh, no need. I like when they admire my property, I just don’t want them seeing too much. And they are never allowed to touch, you do know that, right?” Blair asked.
“Geeze, Chief if someone touches my ass, I’m yelling for backup.”
Blair said, “That’s my boy.”
Again, Jim kissed and hugged his main man. Jim couldn’t believe how turned on he was getting from all of this talk.
“Oh and one more thing, Jim. You can’t wear boxer briefs under your clothes from now on because people see the line it makes and know you have them on.
Monica and Stacy have discussed this at great length. So only boxers while at work. While at home, you can wear your boxer briefs,” Blair said sternly.
“The kids already left for school, right?” Jim asked.
“We haven’t got time for anything, Ellison, so get your mind going in another direction. God, you are such a slut,” Blair kissed him and headed towards the stairway.
Jim pulled Blair over to the bed and tossed Blair onto it and then jumped on top of him. Jim began to kiss him like crazy and chewed and sucked in all of the right places.
“All right, a quickie, but it has to be really quick. We don’t want to piss Simon off.”
Jim reached over and grabbed the phone and called Simon. “Banks.”
“Simon, this is Jim. We’re going to be running a little late today, so is it all right if we come in at about ten?” Jim asked sweetly. Blair was unbuttoning Jim’s shirt as he waited.
“No it’s not all right. Get your butts off the bed and get in here. You think I didn’t want to stay home a couple of hours later? We all do, but we all don’t get to. Get you asses down here.” Simon hung up the phone very loudly and Jim pulled the phone away from his ear.
“He said to get our asses down there now,” Jim said panting from Blair licking his chest.
“Okay. Well, it’s not from lack of trying, eh?” Blair said as he pulled away from Jim and they both got up.
“God, now I’m going to have a hard on all day long at work. Fuck…”
Blair pushed Jim back onto the bed and undid his pants. “I’ll take care of that for you.”
“Turn around and I’ll take care of yours at the same time,” Jim ordered. Blair listened and flipped around as quickly as he could.
Both men got down to business and they were both coming in each other’s mouths within minutes. They hurried and cleaned up and straightened up their clothes and took off for work.
!!!!!!!!!!
Jim saw Monica from Records and blushed. She smiled and seemed to love it. Jim was embarrassed to know what she thought about him now. He wished Blair hadn’t told him that stuff that morning.
Blair saw the red face and said, “Someone said something to you?”
“No, I saw Monica and I was embarrassed for her to be looking at me. It bothers me knowing she would say that.”
“She’s not the only one, Jim. There are many that talk about you. I hear about them what they say and I actually hear them saying things. Do you want to hear the rest?” Blair asked.
“No…” Jim almost ran from his lover. The last thing he needed was to have to worry about anyone else saying things about him.
Conner walked up to him and said, “Have you lost a bit of weight, mate?”
“No, why?”
“Because your pants look like they’re about to fall down on their own. Monica just got done saying something about Sandy isn’t feeding you enough,” Conner said with a smile.
“Wait until I tell him that.” Jim left in a huff and didn’t even say goodbye before he went hunting up Sandburg.
He found him talking to Rafe and interrupted rudely, “Chief, I need to speak to you.”
Blair said, “Rafe I’ll talk to you after I talk to my rude partner.”
Rafe laughed all the way back to his desk. “What now?” Blair asked.
“They think you’re starving me and that you’re not taking good care of me at all,” Jim said softly.
“So they’re still staring. We’re going home for lunch and we’ll give them something to stare at.” Blair said as he sat down at his desk.
Jim didn’t even want to know what Blair meant by that. He just sat at his desk and hoped that Simon would ask them to work through lunch.
!!!!!!!!!!
Blair went to Simon’s office and knocked on the door. “Simon we’re going to go ask questions about the Snyder case and then we’re going to lunch. So don’t think we left work early, we’re working.”
“Okay, see you later in the day or maybe even tomorrow. Good luck with the Snyder case. I hope that gets wrapped up soon,” Simon answered.
Blair left Simon’s office with a big shit eating grin on his face. This scared Jim even more.
“Come on, we have to ask some questions about the Snyder case and then close it up and then we’re stopping for lunch at our house.” Blair walked to the elevator and didn’t even wait for a reply from Jim.
They got on the elevator and Blair smiled at him. “Why do you always look so worried when I have ideas?”
“You scare me.”
“I scare you, Jim?”
“Yes, you scare me to death. I have no idea what’s going on right now, but I have a feeling I’m not going to be complaining about it.” Jim tried to smile as hard as he could.
Blair laughed out loud and said, “You kill me.”
“This morning you said that there was something that was bothering you on your mind, was it just my clothing?” Jim asked as they walked off the elevator and to the SUV.
“Yes, it was pretty much the clothing issue. But I guess they’re going to undress you with their eyes no matter what. So I’m going to at least enjoy the view too.”
“So I get to change out of these pants that are two sizes too big for me?” Jim asked.
“Yes, and we’re going to give them something new to look at.”
They drove over to ask the questions about the Snyder case and figured it out and got the arrest taken care of. They sent the suspect they arrested with the black and white and they went home for Jim to change and eat lunch.
Jim was driving and casually said, “Should I start listening to see what people say about you? Or will it just make me crazy?”
“Oh you are such a sweet man. I doubt that anyone is saying anything about me. They’re too busy looking at your buns of steel.” Blair smiled at his love.
Jim was determined that he was going to hear something said about his lover so he could tell him something that night. “Could I pick out what I want you to wear to work?” Jim asked.
“Jim, I can’t very well say that we both spilled something on our clothes at lunch. That’s just too weird. I’ll wear whatever you want tomorrow. What do you want me to wear?” Blair wondered.
“Those tight blue jeans that you wear around the house. God you look good in them. They show off your assets really, really well. Anyone could see exactly how many inches you are in those jeans.”
“Oh my God. You let me wear those around the kids? What are you insane?” Blair blurted out.
“I’m in love and I like seeing your assets. So there.” Jim smiled and drove into the lot outside their building.
“You fix us something to eat really quick while I pick out your clothes,” Blair said.
“Sounds fair.”
Once inside the loft, Jim started making the sandwiches and Blair went upstairs and was up there for quite some time. Blair came walking down carrying a skin tight tee shirt and Jim’s best tight blue jeans. “There you go. That’s what you’re wearing today.”
Jim laughed and sat Blair’s sandwich in front of his chair. “Sit down and eat. Do you want milk or juice?”
“Juice, please,” Blair answered.
They ate lunch and Jim finished up and slid back and said, “Do you really care what they say?”
“Yeah, I sort of do.” Blair replied.
“Well, I only care what you say, so stop worrying about anyone else. From here on in, we don’t care what anyone thinks about my butt or your dick,” Jim said.
“Get dressed really fast so we can get back to the station. Hurry up.”
Jim slipped out of his clothing, including his boxers and slid the boxer briefs on, then the tight jeans and finally the skin tight tee. When he was done, he smiled because all he could smell was Blair’s pheromones. “Want me to take care of that for you?”
Blair smiled. “If you don’t mind.”
Jim went between Blair’s legs and gave him the fastest and best blowjob he ever had and then licked his lips and kissed Blair. “Now, let’s go.”
Blair pulled himself together and they walked downstairs, with Jim sporting quite the hard on himself.
Blair smiled and said, “Do you want me to take care of that for you?”
Jim looked down at himself and said, “No, I want people to know what you do to me.”
“Oh man the things you say,” Blair said as he held hands with Jim to the parking garage at the station. He knew by the time they got to the garage, Jim would be calmed down anyhow, but it was a nice thought.
!!!!!!!!!!
Jim walked into records and saw everyone’s jaw drop. “Problem, ladies?”
“No, no problems at all, Detective Ellison. It’s good to see you,” Monica said cheerfully.
“I need some files to take upstairs, who can help me?”
Four women all rushed to the same spot at once, almost making Jim laugh. “I need all of the records that we have on Ben Snyder. Could you get those for me as quickly as possible?” Jim asked.
Two women took off to get the records and Monica said, “You look different this afternoon then you did this morning.”
“Better or worse?” Jim teased.
“Oh my gosh, way better. This morning you looked like you were starving, this afternoon you’re dressed like you usually do.”
“I didn’t know that you watched me so much. Do we have a problem?” Jim continued to tease, but she didn’t know that.
Monica was trying to think of something to say when the two others came up with the files Jim needed.
Stacey said, “Here you go, Detective Ellison. And might I add, you look very handsome today?”
“All right this is enough. Stop staring at me and stop watching me or I’ll complain to Captain Banks. I’ll bring you all up on charges. I don’t need this shit.” Jim turned and walked out of the room, almost laughing his ass off.
The girls all gathered together and Monica said, “Someone is talking. Who?”
“I don’t know, but from now on, we’ll keep our Detective Ellison remarks to ourselves until we get off work and can discuss them at the bar. Deal?” Stacey suggested.
“Yeah, the last thing I need is to lose my job over watching a guy’s ass. Nothing is worth that. Even if he does have a great ass,” Monica said.
Stacey giggled and said, “That’s not keeping the opinions to ourselves, Monica.”
“Well, it’s going to take me awhile to get used to having to watch what we say. Geeze, you wouldn’t think it would bother him so much, would you?” Monica asked.
Jim leaned against the wall smiling as Blair walked up to him and Blair said, “What did you do?”
“It’s not what I did. It’s what I said,” Jim slung his arm around Blair’s shoulders and they walked side by side to the elevator and got on.
Both men were happy and Blair was thrilled that he got to admire Jim’s form up close and personal all day long.
Both men knew that those women were going to talk about all of the men. They were as bad as the men about having little comments. But Jim knew now that he wouldn’t have to worry about Blair hearing them as much now. He was pretty sure he put the fear of God into all of the women in records. Or at least he hoped so.
Jim couldn’t wait until that night and he was going to make sweet love to Blair for making his day more exciting.
The end
Family Life Part 50
Cooking with Drew
By Patt
Word Count: 4,263 not including the recipes. Recipes are 770 extra.
Another big thank you goes out to Helena for this idea for the story. I hope it turns out well. If nothing else, there are some good recipes at the end.
Drew was happier then he’d been in ages. He was assigned his dinner menu for his test coming up in cooking class and he decided that he and Blair would do it together. Jim was helping Max do the car things, so maybe Blair could help him with the cooking class. He was given a five course meal that he had to cook and serve and then Blair would have to grade him after he took pictures of all of the finished products. Drew sure hoped that Blair had time otherwise he would have to ask Daryl or someone else.
When Max and Drew arrived that day, Jim, Blair and Sam were already there.
“Hey guys,” Jim called out from the kitchen, stirring something on the stove.
“Why are you guys home so early?” Max asked.
“If I didn’t know better, I would think you weren’t happy to see us,” Blair joked.
“You know what I mean, why are you off so early?” Max walked into the kitchen and got a banana and started unpeeling it while he waited for an answer.
“We closed a big case today and Simon told us to take off. We figured we would. Tomorrow we might have to work late, so we take those early days when we can,” Jim answered.
“Pop, I have something to ask you,” Drew said very seriously.
“Sure. Do you need to talk to me alone?”
“No, we can talk here. I’ve got a big test coming up for my cooking class and I have to have a partner for my test. He has to watch me make everything, take pictures of the finished products, eat everything I made and then grade me on it. A lot like Max’s class in mechanics. But this one we get to eat. I was assigned my five course meal today. I picked Italian and I got it,” Drew said.
“That’s wonderful. I would be proud to be your partner. When do we have to do this?” Blair asked.
“I have to make it twice actually. Once for practice and once for the test itself, so it’s going to take a couple of days at least.”
“I have this weekend off, so how about you practice on Saturday and cook and serve on Sunday?” Blair said.
“I have enough money in my allowance to buy all of the ingredients. We’re supposed to do that ourselves too,” Drew added.
“Whatever you need, we can help too, Drew. It’s not like I want you to pay for both days. You could give your practice dinner to Denise, Seth and Sam. You can practice on them. How does that sound?” Blair asked.
“Good thinking, I didn’t even think about having two meals here right in a row. I’m so excited. And pop, you have to grade me tough too. You can’t just say, I did well. You have to say why I did well and things like that. There are a lot of questions that you have to answer on the sheet that the teacher gave to me. Then the teacher is going to draw names towards the end of the term and that person will be in charge of making the dinner he was graded on, for the class. I can’t wait for all of this.”
Jim came by and hugged Drew and said, “You’re a good cook, Drew, so you don’t have to worry about doing well. Are you going to tell us what you’re going to be making?”
“Not until Sunday,” Drew answered.
“Who would like to wash up and set the table? Dinner is almost ready. I figured we’d eat early and then go see grampa for an hour or so after dinner. Does that sound okay to everyone else?” Jim asked.
“I love seeing grampa.” Sam was bouncing in place at the thought.
“We all love seeing grampa. So that’ll be a nice break. We get out and maybe have an ice cream cone coming home?” Max suggested.
“Ice cream in the SUV? Surely you jest,” Jim said very seriously.
Blair laughed and said, “We’ll take ice cream and cones over to grampa’s. Let me call him really fast and make sure he’s home.” Blair did just that.
!!!!!!!!!!
After dinner, Blair and Drew were on the clean up detail. As Blair washed and rinsed, Drew loaded in the dishwasher.
“So are you going to make me wait until Sunday to know what we’re going to be cooking?” Blair asked.
“No, I’ll tell you because I need to have you get the ingredients with me anyhow. Caesar Salad with a special Caesar Dressing, cheesy garlic bread, Asparagus Casserole, Lasagna and Strawberry Tiramisu. What do you think?”
“That sounds delicious. I can’t wait for the preparation or the eating of the dishes. It’s going to be great, Drew. I’m glad you’re so into cooking. I knew two people when I grew up that were chefs. Both of them cook like crazy to this day. One of them is 86 and the other is 80. They never lost it. Being a chef stays with you forever. They taught me how to make many things, but I never was as good as they were. One thing I know is they were very patient and kind. Not like some of the chefs you see on television. Do you watch all of the cooking shows, Drew?”
“Yes, I watch everything that comes on the cooking channel. I’ve learned quite a bit from them alone. Our teacher keeps us posted about different dishes that are going to be on that evening or later that week. I try to watch everything he recommends.”
Before long the two of them were done with the kitchen. Jim walked in and said, “Did you two forget we’re going to ice cream over to grampa’s? There is a little girl in the living room that thinks you’re lost or something.”
Both Blair and Drew laughed and walked out to get ready to go. Samantha saw Drew and said, “Finally.”
They all laughed as they got ready to go downstairs and leave.
!!!!!!!!!!
Once they got to William’s house, Drew and Max were telling grampa all about their classes and the helpers they had in Jim and Blair. Samantha asked, “Grampa, could you and me go see a movie this weekend? Daddy is helping Max and poppy is helping Drew. I’m going to be all alone.”
“What a wonderful idea, Samantha. I’ll come on Saturday and pick you up and we’ll see one or maybe two movies for the day. How does that sound?” William said.
“Yay…”
Blair said, “I brought the ice cream and the cones, can I do it in the kitchen?”
“Yeah, I’d prefer that over the living room, Blair.” William loved to tease these boys and tried to do it every chance he got.
“Very funny, William.” Blair took off with Samantha for the kitchen and he was set to make the ice cream cones.
Before long they all had ice cream cones and they were sitting at the dining room table eating them. William said, “What time can I pick Sam up on Saturday?”
“Well Max and Jim will be working on his project all day long and I’m going to be helping Drew, so anytime you want would be good for us. Thank you, William.”
“You don’t have to thank me for spending time with my grandchild. I love these kids.”
Max, Drew and Samantha all smiled and you could see they were crazy about their grampa too.
When they finished the ice cream, they sat and talked for about an hour and then they needed to get home to get Sam ready for bed. They all said their goodbyes and took off for the drive home.
“Thanks for taking us to see grampa,” Drew said.
“Yeah, we had a good time. We always do when we see him. He’s a fantastic grampa,” Max added.
“I love grampa too,” Sam finally said.
This made Jim feel so good and Blair too. He was glad that William was in their lives and was so good to all of them.
!!!!!!!!!!
Once everything was done that night and everyone was in bed, Jim slid in beside Blair and said, “Looks like we’re going to have a busy weekend.”
“I can’t even remember what we used to do before we had kids, do you?” Blair teased.
Jim decided he better remind him of what they used to do a lot. Blair put a pillow over his face, so he wouldn’t make any noise and wake the kids up.
This is how Blair and Jim loved to have their days end.
!!!!!!!!!!
Friday night, Blair and Drew went grocery shopping. Blair couldn’t believe the amount of things that Drew had to buy for this test. He wondered what kids did that didn’t have that much money. Although, the teacher would probably not give this type of meal to someone that was on a sliding scale.
They started out at 6:30 that night and didn’t get home until 9:30. When they came walking in, Blair said, “Are you guys going to help us or what?”
“Sorry Chief, we were playing the Wii game and lost track of time.”
They all walked downstairs and got the remaining bags, including Samantha. She liked to help out.
Jim looked at all the recycle bags on the counter and said, “Holy shit. Who are we cooking for?”
“Daddy, you’re not supposed to say that word. Did you forget?” Sam asked.
“Yes, daddy forgot. I’m sorry. I’ll try not to say it again.”
“You say it all the time,” Sam said as she got a stool to help put things in the pantry.
Blair and Drew did most of the put away work because they knew exactly where they wanted things. Drew was so excited about the next day spending all that time with Blair, and then again on Sunday. Drew needed some attention, sometimes Max took a lot of it and then there was Sam. Drew found being the middle child sort of sucked, but he wasn’t going to complain now.
!!!!!!!!!!!
Jim got Sam down for the night. Blair had gone to bed early, so she missed out on seeing poppy, but things went well otherwise. The boys were in bed and supposedly sleeping. Jim hoped so. He was hoping to get lucky three nights in a row.
When he locked up everything, shut all the lights out and got upstairs, he saw his sleeping Guide, so exhausted that Jim didn’t have the heart to bug him about sex again. Instead he got ready for bed and slid in beside Blair and pulled him in for the night.
Blair woke up for a second and said, “I love you, you big lug.”
“I love you too.”
!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, Blair told Jim and Max they were on their own. They couldn’t come into the kitchen for any reason. Blair put a cooler with ice water and Gatorade in it and set it next to the front door. Blair didn’t want any interruptions for Drew. This was an important day for him.
Drew took out the first recipe and said, “I just need you to watch me and if I have questions I can ask you if I’m stuck on something. Okay?”
“Sounds good to me. I’m just going to watch and learn. Blair sat at the bar and watched Drew hold the recipe card and take out all of the ingredients that were needed for that recipe. Then he watched him make the Caesar Salad and the dressing and he couldn’t believe some of the ingredients that it called for. But he asked Drew if he could just taste the final dressing when he was done. Drew let him lick the spoon. Blair thought it was the best dressing he had ever tasted in his life.
Blair had the digital camera ready and took pictures as Drew finished preparing them. It was going to be included in his grade. Blair was going to make up a booklet of pictures of the food to go along with the papers.
“One thing done, four to go,” Drew said.
Drew took the next recipe and got all of the ingredients for that and got it all ready. It was fairly simple to do. The cheesy Garlic Bread was fast, simple and easy. Then he set them on the stove, ready to go into the oven when the time came.
The next thing on his list was the Asparagus Casserole and that was fairly simple too. Blair watched in awe at how easily the cooking chores seemed to come to Drew. He seemed very much at home in the kitchen and was totally relaxed as he cooked each item. Once he was done with that, he set it aside and said, “I’m going to bake the lasagna first and then these other things while the lasagna cools off.”
“Sounds good to me, Drew.”
Drew got all of the ingredients out for the lasagna and went about the chore of making sirloin steak lasagna. It was much better then being made with hamburger or Italian sausage. This was delicious. Drew talked to Blair the entire time he was cooking and never lost touch with what he was doing and didn’t burn anything. Blair was very impressed.
It took about two hours to make up the lasagna and then Drew put it in the oven. “Wow, that took forever, didn’t it, pop?”
“Maybe, but it’s going to be so worth it tonight. Did you tell Denise and the boys that dinner was on us tonight?” Blair asked.
“Oh yeah, she said she can’t wait. A night off is something she rarely gets to see. So she’s excited about it. She said she would like to fill out one of the score sheets too. She thinks the testing dinner should be as important as the final one. So maybe we could copy the one I have for you, so she could fill it out.”
“That’s fine. What’s next on the agenda?” Blair asked.
“Dessert. It’s called Strawberry Tiramisu. I’ve never had it and never made it before, so this is something totally new for me,” Drew remarked.
“It sounds good. I don’t know that I’ve ever had it either,” Blair answered.
Blair watched Drew take out all of the ingredients for dessert and get things started. What Blair was most impressed by was the fact that Drew could talk to him while he made things. He never seemed to miss a beat. Blair was having a very good day.
At noon, Jim walked in with his eyes closed and said, “Max and I are going to go grab some Chinese for lunch, are you two hungry?”
“You have to ask?” Drew teased.
“Okay, we’ll get lunch for the two of you. Grampa already took off ages ago with Sam, did she say goodbye?” Jim asked.
“No, she must have been really excited, plus I told her the kitchen was off limits while Drew was cooking.”
“Drew, the kitchen smells wonderful already,” Jim said as he walked out of the room.
Drew started laughing and Blair said, “What are you laughing at?”
“Dad. He can smell exactly what I’m cooking in here and yet he just closed his eyes, like that would end the suspense. He cracks me up sometimes.”
“He cracks me up too, Drew. He’s a cutie pie, that’s for sure.”
Drew went right back to making the dessert and Blair was amazed at how simple Drew made it look. Blair had never seen them made before and didn’t have a clue as to how it was done. Now he did.
Drew cleaned up all the pots and pans that were done being used and dried them and put them away. He looked over at Blair and said, “Would you like to play cards until lunch comes and the lasagna comes out of the oven?”
“That’s a good idea. I like spending time with you anyhow. It’s been awhile since just the two of us did anything. This has been really nice.”
Drew smiled as he grabbed the deck of cards for 5000 Rummy. They hadn’t played it in a while, so he was a little rusty, but he caught up quickly. When Jim and Max got home, they asked if they could play as long as they didn’t go into the kitchen.
As soon as lunch was done, Drew wiped down the table and then dealt the cards for all four of them to play.
“So did you learn anything good today, Max?” Blair asked.
“Yes, I learned how to change my oil filter and the oil. I had to put the oil in a milk cartoon and then we took it to Checker Auto on the way to lunch. You can recycle it there.”
Jim said, “I really like spending time with you boys. So next time there is something that comes up, I’d like to switch with pop and work with Drew and Max can work with him. How does that sound?”
“Well, it all depends on what it is, Jim. I don’t know how to put a lot of things together in the car. Drew and I should both be watching you guys. But that doesn’t stop you from taking just Drew out on a Saturday if you want. And Max can spend the day with me. We can go to museums, movies or anything that we want to. I like family time.”
“So do we,” Max agreed.
The timer went off in the kitchen and Blair said, “Okay guys, go play Wii for a while. We’re busy here.”
Drew and Blair went into the kitchen and got the lasagna out. It looked wonderful. It smelled so damn good, it wasn’t even funny.
Blair looked at the times and put his casserole in and the Tiramisu in and set the timer. He was very excited.
Drew looked at his watch and said, “I can start a little later tomorrow, so it’ll be closer to dinner. I’m done a little bit early tonight. It’s only 3:00 and everything is almost done. I was afraid I would be slower.”
Blair smiled. “That makes perfect sense to me, Drew. I’m so proud of you. You have kicked butt and took names with this project. I thought you would slump off towards the ending, but you never gave it a thought. You’re going to make an excellent Chef someday.”
“Thank you, pop.” Drew felt like hugging him, but didn’t know if he should. Blair must have sensed it because Blair said, “You can hug me anytime you want, Drew.”
Drew gave him a huge hug and then Drew started cutting the lasagna, as it started to cool. “Will all of you help me take this down to Denise, Seth and Sam?”
“Sure will. We can all whine that we’re having leftovers tonight while Denise is having a super meal.” Blair loved teasing his boys.
!!!!!!!!!!
An hour later, Jim, Blair, Drew and Max took everything downstairs to Denise and her boys. As they walked upstairs, Jim said, “What are we having for dinner tonight?”
“Leftovers from Friday night,” Blair answered.
“Somehow I feel cheated,” Jim said laughing all the way upstairs.
“But think about the good meal you’re going to get tomorrow night, dad,” Drew reminded him.
“I know, Drew. I’m joking.”
They all played cards until Sam got back with grampa. Then they all went out to dinner with grampa. Jim was thrilled. He didn’t feel like leftovers that night. Not after smelling that wonderful meal they had delivered.
!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday was a good morning. Everyone seemed like they were in a good mood. Drew and Max went running with Jim and then they all took turns in the showers. Blair meditated and Samantha tried to. She wasn’t that into Yoga or anything like that yet.
At noon, Drew got ready and went in the kitchen to start preparations for the evening meal. He worked his little butt off getting everything done. Blair sat at the bar taking notes and marking things on his test score sheet. Blair noticed he seemed a little nervous that night. Blair wondered if he shouldn’t have started earlier and had time to spare. Either way it was going to go well and taste delicious.
At 5:00, Blair had the table set and Drew began to serve dinner. He brought out the Caesar Salads with the special dressing on it first. Everyone dug in and Samantha loved it. They all finished and Drew collected all of the plates and took them into the kitchen. Blair wanted to help him, but it was part of his grade to serve the meal too. He brought out the Cheesy Garlic Bread next and set it on the table and handed little plates for each of them. Then he brought out the Asparagus Casserole and set it in the middle of the table, leaving enough room for the lasagna that was coming out next. He served a slice to everyone and then served the casserole and they had the bread to go with everything. It was excellent.
Jim took the first bite of the lasagna and said, “This has got to be the best I’ve ever had. Drew you outdid yourself. It’s the best. Jim sopped up the juices and sauce with his bread and made the right noises as he ate his dinner.
Max said, “I can’t believe you made all of this today. It didn’t seem like you were in there long enough to make all of this. It’s great, Drew. I really like it.”
Sam said, “I love it, but you gave me too much. I won’t have enough room for dessert. There is dessert isn’t there?”
“Just eat what you can, Samantha. Don’t worry about dessert. You’ll have plenty of room for it,” Blair said.
They finished eating and Drew started clearing off the table. “No one gets to leave, there is one more course. Dessert is coming up.”
As Drew took things into the kitchen, Jim said to Blair, “I don’t think I could eat anything.”
“Tough. He’s worked hard on this. Now everyone is going to have a little piece, if nothing else.” Blair got up and started taking a few things into the kitchen.
Drew said, “I’m supposed to do that, pop.”
“Drew, you’ve done everything, you get dessert while I finish up with the stuff from the table. Make sure and grab the dessert plates,” Blair said.
“Already did, pop.”
Jim looked at dessert and said, “Oh my gosh, it’s Tiramisu. I didn’t know you knew how to make that.”
“I didn’t, dad. I learned today. Or I guess it would have been yesterday. But it was fairly simple and I loved doing it.”
Jim took a bite and said, “I can now go to heaven.”
“What do you mean?” Sam asked worriedly.
“I just mean it’s really good.” Jim almost laughed.
“Then why don’t you say it’s really good. Don’t say you want to go to heaven. You die to go to heaven.” Samantha made it clear to everyone not to say that again.
Max and Jim volunteered to clean up after dinner. Drew looked drained. At first Jim was worried, but Blair informed him that he was just nervous and now he had to wait for his grade.
When they were still in the kitchen getting the mess cleaned up, Drew came through and said, “Pop gave me an A+ and filled out all of the paperwork saying I did a really good job. He promised that he didn’t just say it to say it. He said he meant it. Look at the pictures he took of each course.”
Jim hugged Drew and said, “Good job, Drew. You deserved the A+. Pop would never say something just to say it. It’s not in his nature. He’s a teacher, remember that.”
Max smiled and said, “I got an A today for my class. We both did well.”
“I didn’t know you could give an A+ or I would have given you that too,” Jim said disgustedly.
“It’s okay, dad. I’m happy with an A. When we first started I was afraid I was going to get a D.”
Drew laughed and said, “You always second guess yourself, Max. Stop doing that. Dad, you have to force him to realize he can do things and he’s good at things. He has no confidence.”
After the kitchen was done, the table was all back to normal again, Drew said, “I’m going to go to bed.”
Max looked at his watch and said, “It’s only 8:30, Drew.”
“I’m really tired. Night everyone,” Drew said as he hugged them all goodnight.
Jim said, “Is he all right?”
“He worked hard in the last two days, Jim. He deserves to go to bed early. Max, why don’t you go up and read. We’re going to bed early too,” Blair said.
“Okay, goodnight all,” Max said hugging everyone and kissing the top of Sam’s head.
The boys got Sam ready for bed in record time. Both men were tired.
It had been a busy weekend, but a good weekend all the same. Neither of them would be worrying about having sex that night. Jim already knew that Blair was tired.
When he slid into bed, Blair went into his arms and said, “Make love to me, slow and sexy.”
Jim did just that.
The end
CAESAR SALAD DRESSING
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
3 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Parmesan cheese
4-6 cloves crushed garlic
6 tsp. wine vinegar
1 c. plus 2 tbsp. oil
6 drops Tabasco sauce
6 drops Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp. olive oil
Mix in blender and refrigerate. Excellent, keeps well.
CAESAR SALAD:
1 lg. head romaine lettuce
2 c. croutons
8 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
Tear lettuce in bite sized pieces in a salad bowl, add croutons, add dressing, toss to coat.
Serves 8-10. Note: Serve this with spaghetti pie or lasagna.
SUPER CHEESE GARLIC BREAD
6 garlic cloves
1/2 cup cream cheese cheese spread
1/4 cup mozzarella
1 tsp Herbs de Provence
1/2 tsp paprika powder
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
a pinch of nutmeg
1 small loaf French bread
Butter
Slice the loaf into roughly 1 inch slices. Spread with butter and keep aside.
Mince the garlic and sauté in a small amount of butter along with the herbs until aromatic.
Combine the cream cheese with remaining condiments, garlic and herbs.
Spread the mixture thickly on the buttered slices and top with a sprinkle of mozzarella.
Grill at 475°F (250°C) until the cheese melts and begins to brown.
Note: Adjust all ingredients to taste.
ASPARAGUS CASSEROLE
3 c. asparagus, chopped
1/4 c. onion, chopped
1/4 c. celery, chopped
1 sm. can mushrooms, sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken soup
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter
Cook vegetables until tender, not soft. Drain and add salt, butter, sliced mushrooms and soup. Put into casserole dish. Add toppings of your choice, cracker crumbs, Chow Mein noodles, onion rings, etc. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
GOURMET LASAGNA
1 lb. lasagna noodles, not cooked (You can find these at the grocery store)
26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce (Your choice)
16 oz. jar Alfredo sauce
1 1/2 lbs. ricotta cheese
1 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 lb. shredded italian cheese blend
1 lb. Sirloin steak sautéed and diced
1 small bunch fresh spinach (20-30 leaves), washed and patted dry
about 4 oz. of mozzarella
Layer in a pan 11 3/4 X 9 1/4 X 2 1/2 inches. (Use an aluminum roaster pan.)
On the bottom, combine a small 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce and about 1/2 cup water, and layer 1/4 of the noodles.
Now, add the following layers, one after the other, spreading each ingredient evenly:
1/4 of the ricotta, 1/4 of the cheeses, 1/2 of the spinach, 1/3 of the Alfredo sauce, 1/4 of the noodles, 1/4 of the ricotta, 1/4 of the cheeses, 1/2 of the sausage, 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce, 1/4 of the noodles, 1/4 of the ricotta, 1/4 of the cheeses, 1/2 of the spinach, 1/3 of the Alfredo sauce, 1/4 of the noodles, 1/4 of the ricotta, 1/4 of the cheeses, 1/2 of the sausage, 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce, 1/3 of the Alfredo sauce, 4 oz. of mozzarella
Cover with foil and cook for one hour at 325°F and then increase the temperature to 350°F and cook for an additional 40 minutes. (Or cook for 1 hour at 325°F, cool and refrigerate overnight, and then cook at 350°F for 45 minutes.)
STRAWBERRY TIRAMISU
1 1/2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 c. icing sugar
7 tbsp. Marsala (Italian dessert wine)
1/2 c. sour cream
1 pt. ripe strawberries
3/4 c. boiling water
2 tbsp. sugar
2 1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder or instant coffee
2 1/4 (approximately) 3.5 oz. pkgs. lady finger style cookies
1 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, grated
Blend cream cheese, icing sugar and 5 tablespoons Marsala in processor until smooth. Mix in sour cream. Slice 1/2 of strawberries; cut all remaining strawberries in half.
Combine boiling water, 2 tablespoons sugar and espresso powder in medium bowl; stir to dissolve. Mix in remaining 2 tablespoons Marsala. Dip one lady finger briefly into espresso mixture, turning to coat.
Place flat side up in bottom of 8 inch square GLASS baking dish with 2 inch high sides. Repeat with enough lady fingers to cover bottom of baking dish, trimming biscuits to fit.
Spread 2/3 of cream cheese mixture over lady fingers. Cover with sliced strawberries. Dip more biscuits into espresso mixture and arrange atop sliced strawberries in dish, covering completely and trimming to fit.
Spread remaining cream cheese mixture over. Sprinkle with grated chocolate.
Arrange halved strawberries around edge of pan. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours until set. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead). Cut into squares and serve. Serves 4-6.
