"How did our little guy do?" Jack grabs for my phone as soon as Beckett and I join them on the sidewalk, so he can scroll through the hundreds of photos and videos I took of little Antonio at his first ever concert. He was the little piggy that built his house out of sticks in the daycare's adaptation of The Three Little Pigs. "What was not part of the script, was Tono pointing a stick at the wolf and saying 'be lucky we're friends, you little shit' when he blew his house down. I wonder where he picked it up from?" Both Jack and Beckett give me pointed looks and I look away feigning innocence. The little shit was lucky the wolf's parents were great friends with Beckett and Molly and took the joke in stride.
The whole audience actually quite enjoyed Antonio's empty threat to the wolf. I apologized all the way to the restaurant and was the butt of the joke with everyone there too. Maybe I should watch my language when I threaten his father in front of him, or as Molly put it, have grown up supervision when the two of us hang out together. We meet up with Isobel a few blocks over to head to the fair. Jack spots her first and gives her a big smooch, while Beckett and I bicker about who's fault his three-year-old's swearing is. Isobel gives Beckett a quick hug and then she comes to stand in front of me looking down at her feet and nervously playing with her fingers. "What? You only hug burly old men now?" She smiles when she meets my eyes, and we fall into a hug ourselves.
"I'm so sorry. I missed hanging out with you." I squeeze her tighter and mock punch her when we let each other go. "Yeah, after two months with Gibson, I would miss me too." I sidestep Jack's playful slaps and wink at Isobel to let her know that we were all good. "No hard feelings, okay?" She steps into Jack's embrace and dramatically sooths his bruised ego by telling him he's her one and only. When we start walking again, he pokes me in the arm. "You can be lucky we're friends, you little shit." I look at him in disbelief and grab at Beckett's shirt to make sure he heard that I wasn't the only guilty adult to blame. "My son needs better role models than the two of you little shits." We all crack up laughing and Isobel asks what the inside joke is about.
Jack asks us to stop so he can show his girlfriend the video of Antonio's play. Beckett calls Molly to ask how far they were, and if we should wait for them at the entrance. We were all supposed to walk directly from the restaurant to the fair, but Antonio got into the batch of buttercream in the kitchen and needed a bath first. Beckett and I hung around to clean up the mess he made, while Molly took him home. "She said they're walking out the door now, but we can go in and order her a drink so long." We all hum our acknowledgement while we walk across the street when the light turns green. Isobel takes Jack's hand again and Beckett makes sure he walks between me and the cars, which I roll my eyes at. The goofball can really be a gentleman sometimes.
"How many of your siblings did you say we'll get to meet today?" Beckett slaps Jack on the back before he throws his arms over his shoulders and mine. Jack invited Isobel to dinner with the Becketts the night I went to the hospital to check up on Maddi, and she fit right in with our closed knit group. She admitted that she was disappointed that I didn't join them because she wanted to make things right between us, and they all decided that the fair was as good a place as any to mend fences and what not. So, Isobel and I made up and Jack reached out to his new siblings with an invitation, leaving it up to them how involved they wanted to be in his life. "They all accepted, but we'll see how many of them show up." Isobel kisses his cheek before looking over his shoulder to give me a worried look.
"From what you've told me, they seem like a good bunch. Don't start judging them for who you think they'll be before you get to know who they actually are. If some of them turn out to be dicks then we'll stalk them on the socials and print their pictures for when we go axe throwing, okay?" He blushes through his bashful smile and shake my hand on our new deal. "Besides, your sister sounds hot, and you've all been telling me to start dating again, so..." Jack jerks his hand out of mine and points his finger at me. "I'll super glue little miss selfcare Wednesday shut, understood? No!" I try to look highly offended but crack a smile a few seconds in. Beckett joins in on my chuckle and we double over while clutching onto each other as our laughs echo down the street. "Dude, you should have seen your face."
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Meet me in the Middle
Fanfiction**Book 1 in "The Middle" Trilogy** Maya Bishop's worst fear came true. Her wife left her because of how broken she is. She doesn't want to give up on their love story yet, and she will get better for Carina. Dr. Carina DeLuca hates that her wife cou...
