Secrets

Part Three: LIVING THINGS -- Tired

[Feb 2, 2013]

"Peanut butter and jelly okay for all the kids?" Anna asked, tossing a look over Abi's and Noa's bent heads at Elisa. The two year olds were busy scribbling in coloring books on the floor of the upstairs living area while their moms talked at their sides.

With a glance down at the almost empty bottle Evan was sucking on, Elisa nodded. "If you'll wait a few more minutes, I'll go down and help you. As soon as she's finished, and I can lay her down. I'm just gonna lay her in the corner of the couch, here. She's not rolling over yet, it will be fine. Brad?"

Both women glanced over at the small table where Brad and Otis were sitting, Brad's knees comically high as he sat in the tiny, child-sized chair.

"Hmmm?" he hummed absently, his eyebrows knit together in concentration as he moved his black piece on the checkerboard.

"I'm going to go help Anna get lunch for the kids, can you keep an eye on Evan over here? She's almost out, I'm going to let her nap on the couch," his wife answered.

"I'll sit there with her," Mike offered from his position on the floor. He was laying on his stomach, one hand tucked up under his chin as he watched Josie on her tummy time mat. "Brad's engrossed in teaching O how to play this checkers game, you know."

There was an almost equal number of captured red and black pieces to the side of the checkerboard, but Otis had managed to get one of his pieces all the way across. "Now, Otis, I have to crown your guy. You made it to my side." Brad picked up one of the little red checkers he'd captured and placed it on the little boy's triumphant checker. "Now you can move forward and backwards with that guy."

Otis contemplated the checkerboard for a minute, his head tilting to the side as he looked at the game, then over at his father, who was half-heartedly watching the game and keeping watch over the newest Shinoda at the same time. The almost five year old looked back at Brad and said seriously, "so, now I'll win because my piece is stronger than yours."

Jonah piped up from the corner where he was playing with cars on Otis' roadmap rug. "You won't win. My dad always wins."

"I bet my Papa can beat Uncle Brad," Otis said proudly, reaching to move his king and steal one of Brad's pieces.

"Uncle Brad and Papa aren't allowed to play board games together anymore," Anna laughed as she glanced over at Elisa. "Neither of them can stand to lose. It never ends well."

"Hmmm... I guess we shouldn't tell her about the tournaments we play while we're out on tour, Shinoda," Brad said absently as he plotted his next move.

Mike rolled over to his side and grinned. "Nah, what happens on tour stays on tour," he said, bending his elbow and propping his hand up on his head. "It's like a whole different life."

Brad and Anna both cut their eyes over to Mike sharply, but his eyes were on his baby daughter. He reached out to smooth her dark hair back from her forehead as she smiled and reached for the colorful shapes on her tummy time mat. Mike was completely absorbed in her tiny happy spit bubbles and babbles, oblivious to the alarm bells ringing in both his friend's and his wife's head.

All of the adults were quiet then, but the noise of six children in one room continued around them. Anna had been watching the interaction between Brad and Mike all morning, comparing it to the way she saw Mike with Chester. Everything between the childhood friends rang wholesome. Their goodnatured bickering. The laughs they shared. And most of all, their complete lack of physical contact.

Brad and Elisa had brought the children over for a playdate two hours ago, and in all that time, not once had Anna seen the two men casually reach for each other the way Chester and Mike always seemed to do. Not once had their eyes locked onto each other while they ignored everything else around them. Not one single time had Anna felt like an outsider in their presence.