inkspresso

dad knows best

Jack turns the key and pauses. He can hear so much laughter. He smiles. He adores coming home. The laughter and love that expects him always make him drive a bit faster.

He opens the door. "Honey, I'm home!" He announces. Jack is rapidly tackled by two little toddlers that tug on his pants as their spew utter nonsense, so he drops the bag in his hands and picks them up.

Jack does just that, making sure the twins are secure in his arms. Zach watched from afar. "Hey." He greets.

The curly head looks at his fiancé. He was wearing one of Jack's T-shirts and some shorts. The weather was great already. "Hey, pretty." He puckers his lips.

Zach chuckles and presses a loving kiss onto his lips. The twins protest.

"You can't kiss dad! He's not your boyfriend!" Jane whines.

"Honey, he is my boyfriend." Jack chuckles.

"See! I told you!" Andrew scoffs. "Boyfriends kiss and dad and dad are boyfriends."

Zach chuckles and pecks their cute little chubby cheeks. "How about you give your dad a big hug? He missed you." He does the sign for hug.

The twins comply. Over time, they quickly understood that Jane is far more impulsive than A.J.. She ventures into trouble with the courage of a lion, and while Andrew prefers staying behind her, supporting him quietly. The two had brown eyes and strawberry blond hair.

"So? Tell me! I'm dying to know." Zach jumps excitedly.

"Tell you what?" Jane is quick to ask, always curious.

Jack signs him to grab the bag. Zach takes out the contents of it and gasps. "With honours, too!" Zach hugs him tightly. "Oh, honey, I'm so proud of you!" He grabs his face and kisses him. "You," kiss, "deserve," kiss, "every," kiss, "little," kiss, "bit," kiss,"of" kiss, "this!"

The twins press kisses onto his cheeks, making him practically melt. Zach smiles at all this love.

Jack kisses their foreheads and sets them down after making sure the front door is closed. "I told my dad too." Jack confesses quietly. "I'd like to think he's pretty happy."

"I think he's more than happy. He's totally proud of you, honey." He pecks him.

"Stop kissing dad!" Jane whines.

The curly head picks her up. "You're telling me to stop kissing the love of my life, young lady?" He questions, faking an angry voice. "You wanna fight for him?"

"Yeah!" She pokes her tongue out.

Zach picks her up off Jack's arms. "No one is fighting for me." He chuckles. "We're showering while dad makes dinner. You two are stinky!" He kisses her cheek. "A.j., c'mon, let's shower, cutie." He stretches out his hand for him to hold.

***

Jack drives them all the way to Edinboro. The kids were fast asleep in their chairs. Jack held his hand. "Do you think they'll be able to hold it in? It'll be a kind of long ceremony." He breaks their silence. "They're always talking about not wanting to miss a second."

"I reserved us seats by the door, so we're faster." He confesses. "I thought about everything, including a place for us to eat." He kisses his hand. "Your mom offered to stay with them for the night in case we want to celebrate just us."

Jack smiles. "Did you think about that too?"

He nods. "It has been what? Two weeks? We've been busy."

"Gosh, already?" He questions.

"Every time we try to go at it, they call us. It's like they know." Zach chuckles.