Game Over: Life's Over

Meant To Be

I opened presents from Eric's lap. I was still nervous about Lisa and Garrett being there but getting presents from them helped ease that nervousness. They seemed to enjoy spending time with us and it made me wonder why they weren't invited over more often.

Various toys sat beside me, spread out across the floor. I wasn't sure why they got me so many baby toys. Did they not know that I wasn't a baby? I figured they knew about my condition if they were getting baby toys but Theo should have told them that I wasn't a baby and could get normal adult gifts. But, in their defense, it did help that I was stuck in baby-mode. It would have sucked to open a bunch of presents I didn't really want. I couldn't convince them that I wasn't an infant if I couldn't leave Eric's side or go five seconds without a binky in my mouth.

My presents were opened and spread out in front of me. I'd gotten a shopping cart with fake items like milk, eggs, and bread, a fake cell phone that made pretend calls and sounds similar to real phones, puzzles with only a few pieces, and several board books.

I knew there were more coming from Theo and Eric and, of course, Santa so I had no idea where any of these toys would go. My room was only so big.

"Thanks, guys. Jake will enjoy having some toys to play with," Theo said.

Lisa raised an eyebrow. "You don't have toys for him?"

Theo gave her a look. "Not yet. Jake only really regressed a week ago so there hasn't been a need for this until now."

She frowned. "Oh, I'm sure that had to be hard on him. Going from a bigger mind and body to one of a child... that has to be overwhelming."

I crawled off of Eric's lap and toward the toys around me. I picked up a set of 3 puzzles and pushed them toward Eric, crawling back to sit in front of him. "Daddy, open."

"Jake, ask him nicely," Theo said.

I frowned at him before turning back to Eric. "Daddy, please?"

Eric smiled. "Of course, buddy." He peeled the plastic from the puzzles and spread them out in front of me. "Which one do you want to do?"

I looked between the three. One had farm animals, one had types of vehicles, and the third had shapes. I picked the vehicle puzzle and put it between us.

Eric helped me complete the puzzle several times while Theo got the table set for dinner. His mom offered to help multiple times but Theo said no every time.

Once dinner was ready, I followed everyone to the dining room. The food was spread out on the table with fancy plates and utensils at every seat except for mine. Theo had placed a plastic plate and a sippy cup at my seat.

Theo called me over. "Jake, come sit beside me."

I walked over to that side of the table and took my seat. I immediately went for the sippy cup, gulping down the water as if I didn't have access to it any time I wanted any.

Theo put several small servings of vegetables on my plate and then grabbed a piece of ham. He cut everything up into bite-sized pieces for me so it was easy for my baby brain to eat.

I started to reach for the food with my fingers but Theo stopped me. "Use your fork, Jake."

I whined but grabbed the fork. I had a hard time holding it like I usually did so I ended up fisting it. It wasn't pretty but it worked.

"You said earlier that Jake hasn't regressed until recently. Does that mean he's been a normal teenager up until this point?" Lisa asked.

Eric nodded, answering for a distracted Theo. "Changes have been slowly occurring over the past few months. It started with his height and weight and moved into other things like his teeth and his ability to do things."

"What do you mean?"

Eric nodded in my direction. I was trying to stab a marshmallow from the sweet potato casserole with my fork but it was too soft and kept squishing whenever I tried stabbing it. "Sometimes, he forgets how to use the baby gates. Theo's been tying his shoes for him more often and he forgets what words to use here and there. These things typically don't last too long but we're always waiting for the day it just... doesn't stop."

Lisa frowned. "I know you essentially signed up for this but doesn't that get depressing when you stop and think about it?"

Theo looked at Eric before answering his mom. "Not really. We signed up for the good and the bad. We kept waiting for when things would change, but it's been pretty smooth considering how the mutation can work. While things are up in the air now, we're more prepared to handle whatever happens."

"Jake's an easy kid. He rarely gets into trouble. The only time we worry about him is when the mutation starts acting up but we expected that," Eric added.

I put my fork down and grabbed my sippy cup with both hands. I had sticky syrup on my hands from the sweet potatoes and it slipped right from my fingers and onto my plate.

Without even realizing what was happening, I started crying, large tears rolling down my cheeks.

Theo reached over and grabbed my cup. He handed it to Eric who was already standing and waiting to help. He headed off to the kitchen while Theo calmed me down.

When Eric came back, my cup was cleaned up and he was also carrying a wet towel. He stopped beside me and held out the towel. "Let me see your hands."

"No, Daddy. I don't want to."

"Don't you want to be clean?"

I shook my head dramatically.

"You can't have your cup back if you're all messy."

I whined. "But Daddy, I want it!"

"Clean hands or no cup."

I stuck out my bottom lip in a pout but let him grab my hands and clean both of them. He wiped my face before taking the towel back to the kitchen.

While he was gone, I grabbed my cup, figuring if he wasn't in the room, he couldn't say anything about me having it.

Lisa looked at Theo and shook her head, a smile on her face. "You two were meant to be fathers."

Garrett nodded in agreement. "I know with the way you live your lives, it can be hard to settle down but I think this is good for both of you. There's always time for adventure but only so much time for family."

"Well... Jake's not ours, technically. We're just his caregivers. He still has a mom who's involved."

Lisa waved him off. "Family isn't always by blood."

"If he sees you as his dad then what does it hurt if you act like one?" Garrett asked.

"We have been but only because he wants us to. We wouldn't want to do anything to make him uncomfortable."

"I'd think he would want you to be happy, too," Lisa responded.

I pushed my plate away from me. The conversation the adults were having was boring me. "Can I go play with my toys?"

Eric got to his feet. "I'll go with you."

I didn't wait for Eric to follow me. I bolted from my seat and ran into the living room. I surrounded myself with toys, eager to try all of them out.