Cadence ( Part 2 of Rhythm ) Completed*

Chp 2: Reverberating

When Ian's cell phone vibrates in his pocket, he tries to ignore it. He is supposed to be working, not spending his time replying to text messages. He could answer if he needs to. He's not driving at the moment, that job is in Jason's hands as they are out to make two deliveries. One's a piece of cake but the other is going to be a lot to handle between the two of them.

When it buzzes again, quite loudly in its place between his thigh and seatbelt buckle, he knows exactly who it is. So does Jason, apparently, because Jason is giving him a telling grin before taking a long sip of his coffee.

"Does Mickey always text you twice?" Aware that he is poking a sleeping giant, Jason smirks.

Mickey does, in fact, tend to send two texts in a row. He has a habit of texting ridiculously fast before proof reading and then following up with some expletive and minor corrections. Or sometimes Mickey's brain doesn't really finish thinking a thought through before texting it out. It's something Jason knows already. Since being hired to work for Ian, Jason's come to learn a lot of Mickey's idiosyncrasies, often using them against Mickey when they really get going at each other. But truth be told, Ian's fallen into a comfortable place where he, Mickey, Jason and Naomi all know each other as well as they can, including all those embarrassing details that they probably shouldn't have told each other. And Ian knows for a fact, that Jason knows it's Mickey texting him, the man just wants to be a bust his balls about it. Besides, they both have young children. It's given answering their phones a whole new meaning and it goes both ways. Jason, however, is still smirking at him. "Jase..." There is a growl of friendly annoyance on Ian's tongue as he shoots Jason a glare.

"No, it's cute. Adorable even. You guys kinda work like clockwork." Jason takes another sip of his coffee and makes the approaching right turn.

"Don't let Mickey fucking hear you call him 'adorable'," Ian pauses when his phone goes off again. Whatever stance he had in this argument is obliterated as the vibrating cell phone speaks for itself. This is not about Mikayla, if it was, Mickey would have just called on the phone like he usually does. Ian knows the subject matter of the texts is something that Mickey doesn't like to vocalize, even to Ian, despite the fact that he's fooling no one. Texting is safer. The problem is, Jason knows that too. Because Ian has a big mouth at work sometimes, it's not really a secret that Mickey and Ian are trying, unsuccessfully, to add to their little family. The other man knows that, despite having given birth to Mikayla, Mickey is not exactly the type to speak about the ins and outs of the biological reasons behind that. And it's the reason for that knowing smirk on his employee's face. Deciding to take the low road, he rags on Jason just enough to turn the focus off of his and Mickey's relationship. "You know what? When is the last time Naomi sent you a text for something other than 'bring home milk'?" Ian snorts and takes a mouthful of lukewarm coffee.

Without missing a beat, Jason answers calmly. "Before we had a baby." He pauses and cocks his head at Ian. "Don't get me wrong, I love my kid, you know I do, but kids change everything. And you're trying to have another one?" He gives a low whistle. "You're a braver man than I am."

Ian stops staring at the road ahead of them for a second to give Jason an eye roll. "You love being a dad. Try to tell me otherwise."

"That's not what I am saying. I love Jayda. I just miss my wife."

Ian sighs because...he gets it. Hell, he and Mickey have had a heck of a time getting to the place they are now and sometimes he wonders why on earth they are going to complicate everything and add to the things in their lives that drain their time. But, more often than not, he doesn't see it that way. A thousand speed bumps in the road, and one life changing baby bump, Ian and Mickey have figured out the rhythm that works for them. Being with Mickey has made two of the most rewarding things in his life possible: owning a proper business and raising Mikayla. He's not going to sugar coat it by being ignorant about how much time those two things take up, but it's been worth it in every sense. They've given him a sense of purpose and evened him out. Part of that is Mickey's doing as well because he's finally rooted. To say it's settling is an understatement. Being with Mickey, doing what they have done...it's all too much too put into words and it makes him feel like he's finally done something right. "I miss Mickey too. With him still working on his own and helping out with the shop, I feel like we cross paths more at work than we do at home. But...it's getting better. The shop's getting out of the choppy waters, and...I dunno Jase...It's good. We're good. I mean, I miss him but...I don't miss the way I was before Mikayla...if that makes sense. I grew up."