The Way You Make Me Feel [ J.J ]

29.

This afternoon turned into an absolute shit show.

I wish I could say I was lying, but everything started to go wrong. It was getting to the point where JJ and I were running around, and I felt like I was a chicken with my head cut off. Every second I thought everything was okay, something happened that completely reversed everything JJ and I had done. Chloe was currently crying because Jake took her sqishmallow and hid it, and refused to tell us where he hid it until Chloe let him win Operation. David was yelling at his video game, and Lilly was trying to watch Frozen, but was yelling at everyone else for being too loud. All while this was happening, we were trying to cook dinner, which was going to be mac and cheese with a side of green beans and corn. I stood over the stove while JJ tried to corral the kids in an effort to get them to calm down. I felt like I was going to lose my shit at any second, especially if this pot of water didn't boil soon. Kristy walked downstairs hearing the commotion, seeing me using all my self restraint to not explode.

"Are you okay?"

"No." JJ answered for me, seeing my stress. "We're not okay. They're going insane."

"Now you know what I meant about them being demons." I shot JJ a look. "They're demons. Literal demons."

"Jake stole Chloe's squishmellow and refuses to tell us where he put it, Lilly's crying because she can't hear her movie and David's just... screaming at his video game I guess." JJ explained, looking to Kristy for help. "I've tried so hard I just can't-"

"I got it."

Kristy walked over to Jake and Chloe as JJ walked over to me, giving me a look. I let out a breath, staring back down at the pot. JJ noticed that I was getting annoyed and came over, looking at it. She chuckled and flipped the switch, turning off the burner I put on and turning on the right one. She leaned against my side as I let out an agitated groan, clearly upset with myself.

"Baby?"

"I'm fine." I let out a sigh. "I'm fine."

"Are you?" she raised her eyebrow. "I haven't seen you this stressed since midterms."

"You know the reason I was this stressed during midterms, and this is not that level of stressful." I gave her a look. "This is the worst they've been in a while and I just..."

"You're okay, darling." JJ wrapped her arms around my waist. "They're probably just having a sugar crash, who knows how much candy they ate this morning at school."

"They won't tell us, that's for sure." Matt walked into the kitchen, dressed in sweats and an old workout t-shirt. "This happens around Valentine's Day too. But don't worry, we won't ask you two to babysit."

"You better fucking not." I glared at him. "She's mine and only mine on Valentine's day."

"How's dinner coming?"

"Waiting for the water to boil." I sighed. "I put the wrong burner on."

"The kids were going crazy, weren't they?" Matt chuckled.  "We've gotten used to it but it's definitely a change when you go from not having kids to suddenly having to take care of four."

"You can say that again." I leaned back into JJ's touch. "I swear I was about to lose my marbles."

"I'm surprised you didn't scream at the water."

"Please I was so close to pulling a Mr. Mosbey from Suite Life of Zack and Cody and screaming into the pot and putting the lid on it."

"A who?" JJ looked at me. "From what?"

"I'll show you the scene later."

We finally got the mac and cheese going and got everyone to the table, plating the dinner and sitting down with everyone. The kids went on about how excited they were for tomorrow,  talking about who was going to get the most candy. Kristy was planning on staying back and passing out candy, but I could tell she wanted to go with the kids. I pitched the idea of leaving out a bowl of candy or two on the front porch so all of us could go with the kids. The kids were super excited by this idea, and practically begged Kristy to do it. She finally gave in, agreeing to come out with all of us. I smiled as everyone cheered, looking over to JJ who was just as excited as I was.