Dancing in the Florida Sun (Completed)

9- FS A Rumbly in my Tumbly

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     "You seem happy," Grams said when Brooke stepped into her room to let her know she was home. "You were smiling and humming."

     Brooke tried to hide her smile, but it broke out again. "I had a nice time with Jacob." Her grandmother raised an eyebrow and smiled, but Brooke didn't want her to get the wrong idea. They were just friends. "It's just...he took me to Lakeside Park, and we drove past your old house off of Neptune Road. It brought back so many good memories."

     Her grandmother patted the spot beside her on the bed, and laid the book she'd been reading on the nightstand. Slipping off her shoes, Brooke climbed into bed, snuggled up beside her, and they began to reminisce about summers past.

~~~

     "Noah! Look at the dragon!"

     "Da?" He questioned and pointed to the LEGO dragon in the water at Disney Springs.

     "There's World of Disney," Jacob called. "We can go there first, and then take Noah to the carousel and train before lunch."

     "Are you sure you have time for all that? This is the third day in a row you've given up for me, and I feel like I'm monopolizing your time."

     He looked at her seriously. "I'm not a person who has trouble saying how I feel about things. If it's too much I'll let you know. Besides, I leave town Friday and won't be back until the following Thursday, so I want to do something non-work related now."

     "Okay then." Brooke followed Jacob as he pushed Noah's stroller into the store. I'm thinking some plush characters would help him become familiar before Magic Kingdom." She pointed to a section near the entrance that had mini bean bag versions on sale. "Those look like a good size. They won't take up too much room, and they're small enough for him to play with."

     After sorting through them, they had a basket filled with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Woody, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Rabbit, and Piglet. Jacob had pulled Noah out of the stroller and was holding him up so he could see all of the stuffed toys. Noah squealed in excitement, then turned to Jacob and started patting his face. Suddenly he caught Jacob off guard as he reached up and pulled at his cap, almost getting it off. Jacob's hand flew up to stop him. "Nobody wants to see my hat hair, Noah." Jacob made a sad face, which Noah seemed to find funny.

     As they were going to checkout, Jacob stopped and picked up a couple of Winnie the Pooh books. "I want to introduce him to the fun of 'Winnie the Pooh.' For the brief time that my mom was married my step dad would read the stories to me, with voices for all of the characters. Those were some of my favorite childhood memories, and I want to do that for Noah."

     "Th-thank you," Brook whispered, barely being able to get the words out as she tried to control her emotions. This man who had only known them a few days was willing to invest time in her son's life, when after nearly a year and a half his own father is just now taking any interest in him. Her mind drifted to Tyler and she wondered how the coming week would go. He was due in on Saturday, and deep down she was dreading it. She had had so many disappointments from him since her pregnancy, and she didn't want to get her hopes up to have them dashed.

     Thinking about Tyler quickly got her emotions in check, and she tried to make a joke. "So the bad boy has a soft side?" He kept surprising her.

     Once they were at the front of the line, Jacob placed the basket by the register, and Brooke went to pull out her credit card. "Nope," Jacob placed a hand on hers to stop her. "Today is all on me."