✓SEASONS [JAKE GYLLENHAAL]

sān.

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三

𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐟!

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"Hi, boys!" Rosalie greets them and waves enthusiastically at her web cam, a bright smile forming on her lips.

Skype calls had been a norm for the Gyllenhaal brothers these last eight months. Another thing that had been a norm for Hugo and Levi was their mom being away. They didn't quite grasp the importance of her job but they did understand that she was somewhat a superhero who travelled around the world to help other people. And their dad, who they recently thought was the coolest, flew around in a costume and fights Spider-Man who the boys happen to know as Tommy.

Levi, who had just finished brushing his teeth, runs inside the living room and plops down next to his older brother. "Hi, Mommy!" Levi greets her, flashing a smile quite similar to Rosalie's. "I brushed my teeth and ate all my veggies especially the green ones! And—and Daddy took us to the beach today and we got to see Auntie Maggie and—"

As Levi babbles on and Hugo sits comfortably beside him, Rosalie could feel tears form in her brown eyes at the thought of missing milestones even if they were small. She could see that Levi's once brown hair had gotten a little darker since their last talk and Hugo had lost a tooth a few days ago but Rosalie could see that it had already started to grow again.

"And Hugo's teeths started to grow again, Mommy." Levi adds and scrunches his eyebrows together in confusion. "But—but another one started to become all wobbly. Will I have that too, Mommy?"

Rosalie laughs softly at her adorable, silly boy. "Yes, baby. You'll lose teeth just like big brother but it'll grow again."

"But, what if they don't?"

"Baby, I lost my too—"

Woof!

Rosalie whips her head around the hotel room to make sure that the sound wasn't coming from her side. Her brown eyes shift over to her two boys through the screen and Levi still looked excited and distraught over falling tooth but she had noticed that Hugo was shifting nervously.

"Boys, what is that?" She asks them, her perfectly-plucked eyebrow raising in curiosity. "I thought I heard a. . .dog?"

"Mommy, we got a—"

"That was the neighbor's dog, Mom." Hugo interjects and tries to swiftly shoot his younger brother a warning look. This goes noticed by their mother, of course. "Some days Mr. Callahan likes to walk his dog this late at night."

"Honey, Mr. Callahan and his family went out of town for the summer and they brought their dog. What are you hiding, boys?"

Before Hugo could think of a lie, a blur of black and white fur jumped on Levi's lap and the video was suddenly filled with his laughter and the occasional barks. Hugo looked across the room to where his father was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed and a soft smile across his face as he watched his youngest son play with their new family member.

Hugo's eyes screamed for help and Jake went over and stood behind the couch, leaning forward so his face would be seen. "It's time for bed boys. Say goodnight to Mommy then we'll head upstairs."

As goodnights and countless phrases of "I love you" were exchanged between Rose and the boys, Jake tucked them in their beds, kissed them goodnight (with Robin sleeping by Levi's bed), and made his way over to the bedroom—well, it was his and Rosalie's bedroom supposedly. After brushing his teeth and a few minutes of silence just lying on the bed attempting to fall asleep, his phone rang.

LOML is calling!

He hated to admit it but the bed seemed colder and larger without Rosalie there. For years, Jake had grown accustomed to talking to her until one of them fell asleep, waking up entangled in each other's embrace, or even having little sleepy arguments on who would check Hugo's closet for monsters because their son had been crying and the house had pretty thin walls.

LOML is calling!

ACCEPT | DECLINE

"a dog? i've been gone
for four months and
you get a dog?"

"wow, babe. it's
nice to hear your
voice too and i'm
doing okay over here.
thanks for asking."

"sarcasm won't
save you right
now, jake."

"sarcasm is
a lifestyle."

"but, seriously, a dog?"

"look, the boys and
i found her by the
street and she was
running around with
no collar on. we kept
her for a few days
but no one wouldn't
claim her and levi is
pretty much attached
to robin so. . ."

"robin? as in. . .
robin hood?"

"hey, they named
her not me."

"so, basically,
that dog—"

"robin."

"robin has been with
you guys for a fews
and you only
tell me now?"

". . .yes."

"god! that's such an
irresponsible thing
to do, jake! who's
gonna take care of her
when you have to go
away and shoot a movie
and the boys
are at school?"

"don't worry, hon.
this won't be the first
time i'm doing the
single parent thing."

"excuse me?
what the fuck
does that mean?"

"you know what,
rose? if you want
us to give him over
to the shelter, we
will. but, you're
telling the boys."

"why do i always
have to be
the bad guy?"

"huh?"

"it's just that i
feel so bad—uhm,
nevermind."

"oh, okay."

"i have a meeting
in ten minutes."

"okay—uhm.
goodbye."

"bye."