Rent-A-Kid (Nemi)

Parenthood

Nicks POV

I woke up the next morning to someone snuggled up on my chest. I smiled, and opened my eyes, expecting to see Demi lying there.

"Cooper! Get off of me!" I yelled as I pushed him away. "Damn, dog." I said as I looked over to see that Demi's side of the bed was empty. I laid there for a few more minutes, and then rolled out of bed. I walked straight into the bathroom, and started up the shower. I needed to wake up.

As I was in the shower I was thinking about Jace. It's been almost about five days since he has been here, and I feel like all I have been doing is getting irritated with him. I really need to cool off, and just enjoy this time. He only has a little bit longer here with us. Demi and I have a show tonight, but maybe I can take Jace out to the batting cages or something. I'm sure he would love that. I smiled just thinking about it. I remember back when my dad would take me to the batting cages. He would stand in the corner and say, "Now, Nick. Just keep your head down, and your eye on the ball." It was some of my favorite childhood memories. I turned off the shower, wrapped the towel around my waist, and then went to my closet to grab some clothes. Once I was dressed I made my way down stairs.

When I got downstairs, I saw Demi sitting down with Jace on her lap. They were watching a movie on TV. She looked up over at me and smiled. I returned the smile, and walked over to her. "Morning, baby. What are you guys watching?" I asked as I slipped in next to her.

Demi leaned over, and kissed my lips. "We are just watching Cars 2. Jace hasn't seen it before, so I told him we could watch it. It's almost over. We have been up for a while," she said as she looked down at Jace, and gave him a tight squeeze. Jace just turned and gave Demi a quick look, and then turned his attention back to the TV.

"Do you have anything planned today before the show?" I asked Demi as I watched her. She looked so happy right now. She always did love kids. I'm glad Jace was so comfortable with Demi. He really loved her.

"No, I think I am just going to lay low and relax. We are going to head over to the arena together, right?" She asked as she looked back over at me.

"Yup. Well, I was thinking that I haven't really had a chance to spend some time with Jace, since he's been here. I mean, minus the incident at the studio, I feel like we need some quality, bonding time." Demi just watched me with a big smile on her face. "I think I'm going to take him down to the batting cages, and let him hit some balls around." I said as I looked down at Jace, and then back over to Demi.

"As long as they aren't your balls, babe." She said as she busted up laughing. I just shook my head. "No, but I think that would be fun! What do you say, Jace? Wanna go hang out with Nick and go to the batting cages?" She turned her head to look around at Jace's face. He turned to look at her, and then over at me with a huge smile.

"Yeah! That sounds wike fun! I wove spending time with, Nick!" He said with his big toothy grin. I just laughed.

"Awesome! We can leave when the move is over, little man!" I said as I touched his shoulder, and then got up from the couch to go get some food.

By the time I was done eating some food, Jace was ready to go. I was surprised that he was so calm right now. I got him buckled up in the car, and then we drove down to the batting cages that was a few miles away.

"Have you ever played baseball, Jace?" I asked as we rode in the car. He just looked over at me and shook his head. "Really? Well I hope you have fun. I used to go all the time with my dad when I was your age, and I loved it."

When we got to the batting cages, Jace was so interested in what was happening. We decided to just sit on the side, and watch the people in the cage next to us. After a few minutes, I looked down at Jace, who was standing up close to the fence. "Well, you ready, buddy?" I asked as I stood up. He nodded his head and ran inside. I laughed and grabbed the helmet, and bat. I walked in with him, placed the helmet on his head, and then I showed him how to hold the bat. After a few practice swings, I put the quarters in the machine, and told Jace to get in the box, and to watch the machine. I told him that it would be spitting out a ball any minute. Jace stood there holding the bat, and watched as the machine shot the ball at him. He got scared, and jumped back. Jace's face looked so terrified. I quickly walked over to him. "Hey, you're okay, Jace. It just scared you. Here, I'll help you with the first couple of swings. Let's go stand in the box, and once the ball comes, we have to swing, okay?" I said as I looked over at him. He just swallowed, and nodded his head. "Okay, here we go. You ready, eye on the ball." Just then the machine threw out the next ball, and together Jace and I swung the bat. We hit the ball, and it went skidding across the ground. Jace started laughing.