Neighbors

Chapter Sixteen, Sleepover

On the drive back I got a text message from Chris. I opened it to see a bunch of photos from the park. One of them, Chris, has TayTay strapped to his chest and she’s smiling brightly while Chris tickles her. Another is of Jamie on the swing smiling brightly and laughing. And then one of all three of them Jamie on top of Chris’s shoulders and TayTay strapped to his chest while they're all smiling. I start to cry a little thinking how lucky I am. I finally make it back to the apartments and head up to Chris’s apartment. “Hey babe.” I hear pots and pans clicking together. “Kitchen.” I hear a whisper yell. “Ok.” I tip toe into the kitchen to find Chris making what looks to be grilled cheese. “Oh my.” He laughs. Then wraps me in a hug. “How’d it go?” I smile and start to cry again. “Uh oh that bad?” I shake my head. “No, I got all the closure I need and soon enough I will be inheriting money but I don’t care about any of that. I’m crying because of those pictures you sent me. You're gonna be a great Dad one day Chris.” He smiles at me and wipes away my tears. “And you're gonna be a great Mom one day Quinn. I love you.” I smile and sink into his embrace. “I love you. Are the kids down for a nap?” He nods while he flips grilled cheese. “Yeah, they both crashed pretty quickly.” I nod. “I was thinking maybe I’d make Peyton’s room into a room for Jamie? I will still keep TayTay’s crib in my room until she gets moved to a big girl bed but hopefully by that point I’ll have a house with room for both of them to each have a room.” Chris smiles at me. “What kind of house do you want?” I sit on the countertop beside him. “I want a big big house that’s white and black with a wrap-around porch that has a swing and rocking chairs. I want there to have a master room, a few kids rooms, and a guest room. I want a big cozy living room and a big kitchen with a good sized dining room, I want the pretty grey flooring, I want a big fenced in backyard with a big inground pool and toys for the kids, I want two or three bathrooms, and I want a little area somewhere in the house with big bookshelves and a window seat.” He smiles at me. “That sounds like a dream house. But I know you’ll get it.” I smile at him and think how amazing it would be to come home to that house and see Chris in the backyard playing with our kids and dogs. “How many kids do you want?” I think about this. “I’ve always wanted three or four. You?” He smiles and flips another grilled cheese. “I want three..but I wouldn’t be opposed to four.” I kiss him quickly while he waits to flip the grilled cheese. “I’ll go wake up the kids.” I walk off into Chris’s guest room which has a bed and a pack-n-play for the kids. “Jamie, dinner is almost ready.” His eyes flutter open and he smiles at me. “Aunt Quinn, I had so much fun at the park. I’m really hungry now though.” He jumps out of bed, looks at TayTay and then takes off into the living room. I pick up TayTay and she giggles. “Well hello to you to sleepy girl.” She smiles brightly. I carried her into the dining area and put her in her highchair. Jamie is already seated with a glass of apple juice in front of him. “Dinner is served!” Chris sets the pile of grilled cheese in the center of the table. “Thanks babe.” He kisses me on my head. “Of course! Dig in.” After dinner I do the dishes and stand in the doorway of the kitchen to see Chris playing cars with Jamie while playing peek-a-boo with TayTay in her bouncer. I stand there watching him with them for a minute and then join them. “What are we doing?” “Aunt Quinn! Wanna play with cars?” “Sure.” I play cars and every now and then I lean over and tickle TayTay. She enjoys this very much and giggles wildly everytime I do. After playing with cars for a while Jamie gets bored and watches Mickey Mouse. “I’m gonna give TayTay her bath…You good with Jamie?” Chris doesn't even seem to hear me; he is very intrigued with the cartoon. “Huh? Oh yeah.” I laugh and take TayTay into the kitchen and put her in the little chair in the sink to bathe her. She giggles at first but then she cries. I start to sing her a lullaby and she calms down somewhat but not much. “Alright, you're done.” I lift her out of the chair and wrap her in a towel and carry her into Chris’s room to change her. Chris comes into the room with Jamie walking beside him. “I’m gonna give the little man his bath now.” Jamie heads into the bathroom to get ready while Chris walks over and tickles TayTay’s tummy. “She is the most giggly baby.” I nod and go to pick her pj’s out of the bag while Chris puts on a new diaper. “Thanks.” He nods and heads into the bathroom. I pick TayTay up and carry her into the kitchen and grab her milk bottle and sit on the couch to feed her with a burp cloth. “AUNT QUINN!” Jamie comes running into the living room. “Yes Jamie?” He smiles and pops his lower lip out. “Can we stay with Uncle Chris tonight? Pretty please.” Chris stands behind him sticking his lower lip out too. “Please.” I laugh. “Sure…it’s bed time right now but you're gonna need to wait a minute. I have to move TayTay’s pack-n-play into our room.” Chris heads for the room. “I can do it if you stay sitting!” I smile and Jamie sits down beside me. “Aunt Quinn?” I nod. “How come you sleep in the same bed as Uncle Chris? That’s what my Mommy and Daddy do…but you guys don’t wear rings like Mommy and Daddy.” I can’t help but laugh. “Well because Mommy and Daddy are married meaning they wear those rings forever. But me and Uncle Chris aren’t married, we don't wear rings, we are together though.” He nods. “So you love Uncle Chris like how Mommy loves Daddy?” I laugh. “Yes…We just don’t wear rings.” He nods again. “I think you should.” I laugh as he yawns and Chris carries the pack-n-play into our room. “Bed time little dude.” He nods and runs into the room. “I’ll be in there in a second. Uncle Chris will come first.” I head into our room and see Chris has already set it up right beside his side of the bed. “You could put it on my side.” He shakes his head. “No it’s fine..you took care of her while I played with Jamie so I can take care of her while you sleep.” I smile. “You don’t have to but thank you.” I set TayTay in her pack-n-play and begin to sing her a lullaby while Chris heads to Jamie's room. Once I see TayTay has closed her eyes I head to Jamie’s room. I stop by the door to listen to him and Chris talking. “Uncle Chris.” “Yeah buddy?” “You need to give Aunt Quinn a ring…she wants it and then you guys can be married and can live together like Mommy and Daddy…OH! If you get rings then you can get kids…I want a boy cousin.” I hear Chris laugh. “Alright well I want to give her a ring but we have to date longer before I give her a ring..Aunt Quinn might decide she wants something else.” Jamie yawns. “No she only wants you…she loves you like Mommy loves Daddy that’s a lot they always say they love each other almost every time they talk.” “Alright well when I decide to give her a ring you’ll be the first one to know ok?” “Ok! Night Uncle Chris.” “Night Buddy.” I watch as Chris leans over and kisses his head and then tucks him in. I pretend like I’m just now walking over to the room. “I’m gonna head to bed, see ya in there.” I smile and nod. “Hey Jamie.” “Hi Aunt Quinn, Uncle Chris is gonna give you a ring soon.” I laugh and sit on the edge of his bed. “Is that so?” He nods. “Yep and I’m gonna be the first one to know…not even you!” I laugh as he smiles proudly. “Alright well goodnight Jamie.” “Night Aunt Quinn…I’m gonna dream about getting a boy cousin.” “Ok.” I kiss his cheek and then close his door behind me and head to me and Chris’s room. I close the door once I get in there and start to put my pj’s on. “Jamie thinks I should give you a ring.” I laugh as I slip into bed. “He told me. He also wants a boy cousin.” Chris laughs. “When we have a kid he’s going to be quite disappointed if it’s not a boy.” I laugh and snuggle against Chris. “He’ll get over it, he won’t admit to it but I think he is happy he has his sister instead of a brother. He likes the protective big brother role.” Chris nods. “I think you're right about that, a little boy was staring at TayTay this afternoon at the park and Jamie told him he wasn’t allowed to stare at his sister like that. Poor TayTay is never going to be able to date.” We laugh as we think about how hard it will be for her to have a boyfriend that Jamie will be ok with when they're older. “Thank you for watching the kids today.” “Thank you for letting me.” “I love you.” I whisper as I drift off. “I love you too.” And I close my eyes. That night I dream of having my dream house with Chris playing with our kids. I wake up the next morning to find Chris watching me sleep. “Creepy much?” He laughs quietly. “You're cute when you sleep, your hairs all tousled and you scrunch up your nose in a cute way.” I smile as I trace my finger along his chest to find his scar. “I never did tell you about this, want to know? We have some time left before Jamie and TayTay are up.” I nod. “When I was seventeen I was in the car with my Sister, Dad, Mom, and my younger brother. My Dad had had a bad day at work and was stressed over it worried he was going to lose his job. I was in the back with my Sister who was sixteen at the time and my brother was behind us who was eleven. We were trying to get to my Grandmother’s house before a storm hit and my Dad started driving a little crazy. He cut some people off but one of them got really mad at him. He was behind us for a long time and then he disappeared. We thought he’d given up on messing with us until I spotted his car coming really fast from my Sister’s side of the car. I yelled at my Dad but there was nothing we could do he was coming to fast I shoved my Sister out of her seat and threw her to my seat I reached for my brother and threw him into my sister’s lap I tried to hold on to them I really tried so hard…The car hit us it was a big truck way bigger than our car we flipped in the road and flew into the other lane. I flew up and fell on shards of glass one sliced all the way down my side. It hurt like heck but I didn’t care. I made it worse and moved to check on my family.” He pauses and I watch as a tear falls down his cheek. I hugged him. “I checked on my siblings first. My younger brother Jason had injured his leg really badly. He couldn’t move but he was awake just in pain. I checked on my sister Brooke next except for I couldn’t find her in the car. I looked around the front to find that my Mom wasn’t in the car either. I saw my Dad though and I knew immediately he was gone. He was driving and that’s the side that got hit. I managed to crawl out the car window that shattered and saw my Mom lying sprawled out in the road. I ran to her screaming at her when I got to her I noticed that her head was bleeding. I took my shirt off and wrapped it around her head and went to find my sister. I heard sirens and then saw EMTs and Firemen. I realized that the other car had caught fire and the driver was nowhere to be seen. I tried to search for my sister but an EMT got to me first. He took me to the ambulance and started packing my wound. I tried to tell him I needed to find my sister but he didn’t care. I know he was doing his job to save me but I wasn’t dying if he would have listened to me and went to find her or let me…” I watch as Chris is no longer crying but fuming and staring away from me to the ceiling. “They took me to the hospital without giving me any information. Later I woke up to see my Aunt and Grandma crying beside me. I asked them where my Mom, Brooke, and Jason where they looked at me sadly and my Aunt came over to hold my hand she told me my Mom was brain dead, my sister was in a coma and my brother was still in surgery. I went to the hospital every day to see my brother and sister. My brother's leg had been amputated but he was ok. My sister was still in a coma and she stayed in a coma the rest of her life until I turned eighteen and made the decision to let her go. She had no movement and I knew she wouldn’t want to have lived on a ventilator forever. She was a free spirit. I blame myself everyday for that one day I was fine on that side of the car. Meanwhile I put her in my seat and she wasn’t fine. I made a bad decision that caused her life.” I hold on to Chris and then sit up. “That’s not the least bit true and you should know that. You thought you were saving her life and even if you hadn’t put her in your seat she still could have died if the car flipped and she flew out the window. There was no stopping that no matter what seat she was in. What happened to your brother? You never mentioned having a family.” He shakes his head. “I raised him until he turned eighteen and then he joined the Army. He died when he was nineteen in the army.” “I’m so sorry Chris.” He smiles and wipes his tears. “It’s alright sometimes I wonder what life would be like if they had all lived but I don’t have the answer so I stop myself. Sometimes I like to imagine my sister getting married. I miss all of my family but I miss her the most. We were only a year apart and had the closest bond. But I have a new family now…I have you, Aria, Ezra, TayTay, Jamie, Mark, Amy, Peyton, Cole, and Owen.” I nod. “Yes you do.” He kisses me and then TayTay starts to cry. “I’ll get her, you go make breakfast. I know how much you dislike me making simple things.” I laugh and head to the kitchen to make breakfast. I’m in the middle of making omelets when I hear Jamie come into the room. “Morning Aunt Quinn! What’s for breakfast? It smells really good.” I smile as I flip it. “Omlates, yes it does.” He sits down at the table and smiles. “Aunt Quinn, you know what time it is?” I think. “Breakfast?” He laughs. “No…Dance party time!” I laugh and toss the omelets on a plate and set down my spatula. “Let me turn some tunes on…what do we want to dance to?” He thinks and then smiles. “Party In The USA!” I smile and turn it on and Jamie takes my hands and starts to dance. “WOOHOO!” We dance our hearts out and then Chris comes in the kitchen with TayTay. “Oh I see a dance party in action here.” He laughs. “May I join in?” I nod and he joins in dancing swaying TayTay on his hip. Suddenly the song changes and I watch as Jamie sits down in his chair and Chris sets TayTay in her highchair. “May I have this dance?” I smile. “Yes.” He takes my hand and we dance closely together to “Dancin’ Away With My Heart” The song ends and Chris twirls me one last time. “I really like that song.” I smile. “Me too.” I go back to piling omelets on plates and Chris smirks at me. “What?” “I think that should be our song.” I laugh. “Really?” He nods as he sets coffee cups in front of our places at the table. “Yes really. That is our song.” “Ok. I like it.” We eat breakfast and then we get dressed for the day. I’m putting shoes on when Jamie races into the living room. “Can we go to the park again?” I turn to Chris. “What time is your sister coming by?” I look at the clock. “Well it’s only 11 now so they might be sleeping still…she’ll call I think we’d be ok to head over there maybe we pack their bags just in case.” Chris nods and starts to gather both Jamie and TayTay’s things. I hoist TayTay on my hip and grab Jamie’s hand. “You ready little dude?” He nods. “Alright let’s head out.” Chris follows behind us and puts the bags in the trunk while I put TayTay in her car seat and he puts Jamie in his. “What do we want to listen to?” I ask once I get in the passenger seat. “Can we listen to country?” I nod. “Sure, anything specific or just Country Gold?” He thinks. “No, just play COuntry Gold.” I play the music and he sings along to almost all the songs, so do me and Chris. “I’ll strap TayTay to me, you can go on and play with Jamie.” Chris kisses me. “Ok, love you.” “Love you too.” I place TayTay in the carrier and make sure it’s strapped to me tightly then head for the playground. I watch as Chris chases Jamie around the playground and pushes him on the swing. My phone vibrates so I answer it. “Hey Aria.” “Hey sis, I was wondering if you could bring the kids to us? My car won’t start and Ezra has to go to work.” “Work? It’s saturday.” She sighs. “I know, but he had to fill in for someone you know how pilot business works. You're never really off duty, you just get breaks in between.” I sigh. “Alright well where at the park right now but I will round everyone up and we’ll head that way. Love you sis.” “Ok, thanks. Love you.” I hang up and go to get the boys. “BOYS! Time to go!” Jamie rushes to my side. “Hey Aunt Quinn, is it time to go home?” I nod. “Yes sweet boy, where is Uncle Chris?” He shakes his head. “I don’t know, he was chasing me and then I took off when I heard you yell…I don’t think he followed me.” I look around trying to find him. “Hey Jamie can you stay right here playing? I’ll be right back…hold on real quick.” I take Jamie’s hand and walk up to a woman I recognize from work. “Sorry to bother you, Alex right?” She nods. “Yes, Quinn right?” I nod. “Yeah, would you please watch my nephew real quick? I am going to find my boyfriend. He's somewhere over here.” She nods. “Sure! I have a son the same age as him. I recognize this little guy from school.” Jamie smiles. “Yeah, you're Chuck’s mom?” She smiles. “Yes Jamie he is on the swings why don’t you go play with him.” Jamie looks at me and I nod. “Thank you, I'll be quick.” I take off in search of Chris. “CHRIS!” I look around not finding him. “Babe! It’s time to go!” I look around more. “Chris?” I walk up to a woman I see walking on the track. “Hi, sorry to bother you but have you seen a real tall man with black hair who's got tattoos?” She shakes her head. I keep looking till I reach the end of the park. “CHRIS!” I race back to the playground. “Did you find him?” I shake my head. “He must have gone to the car for something. Jamie come on buddy it’s time to go.” Jamie comes up to me and grabs my hand as we walk into the parking lot. We get to the car but there’s still no sign of Chris. “Aunt Quinn…where is Uncle Chris?” I shake my head. “I don’t know buddy.” I sit him on the edge of the bumper while I call Chris. It rings for a while and then it goes to voicemail. “Aunt Quinn, I'm tired.” “I know buddy we're gonna get you home soon.” I call Peyton. “Hey girl!” “Peyton I need you to come to the park and pick me and the kids up.” There’s a pause. “What’s wrong?” I shake my head. “I don’t know, I can’t find Chris anywhere.. I looked for him and then I called him. He's not picking up. Something isn’t right.” “Alright I’m coming!” I hang up and turn back to Jamie. “Aunt Peyton is coming to get us ok?” He nods and lays his head on my shoulder. A few minutes later after trying to get ahold of Chris, Peyton pulls up and picks up Jamie who fell asleep. “We need their carseats.” “Well there in his car.” She nods. “Here take Jamie, I'm gonna break the window and unlock the car.” She breaks the driver side window and unlocks the car she gets the carseats out and puts them in her car. “Alright I’ll put Jamie in his, you put TayTay in her’s. I walk to the other side and buckle in TayTay after I make sure she’s good. I take the carrier off and set it in the back. I hop in the passenger seat beside Peyton. “He’ll be ok, maybe he had to help someone? It doesn't really make sense.” I shake my head trying to hold back the tears. The whole ride to Aria’s I can’t help but think I should have stayed at the park and looked for him.