Best Laid Plans | 4
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Jensen fixes up two plates of mac ‘n cheese, moving about the kitchen to grab cups and juice from the fridge, when he hears Jared ask, “What do you think you’re doing?”
He looks over his shoulder and into the living room where Jared’s seated in the corner of the couch and currently in a stare-down with Julia, Jensen and Danneel’s troublesome four-year-old with wavy blonde curls swaying across her back. She giggles and jumps up and down on the cushions, but Jared keeps glaring at her.
Christ, she should not be up on the couch like that, but Jensen lets the moment continue so he can watch (and let) Jared handle it.
“I’m jum’in’” she cries with laughter. “Jum’ wit me!”
“Daddy says no shoes on the couch,” Jared says levelly.
“Daddy’s not here. You are.”
That’s when Jared’s smile breaks and he tugs the girl to his lap, lightly shaking her. “Oh, and you think I’m gonna let you get away with it, huh?” She laughs more, shaking from side to side with him. “You think I’m that easy, you li’l munchkin?” He pitches Julia to her back then lifts her shirt and plants raspberries on her belly, making her shriek in a way that normally spikes Jensen’s worry.
Jensen puts the plates on the counter and keeps watching as Jared tickles and raspberries her into submission, until she’s left heaving with quick breaths thanks to her bright laughter. Even from this angle, he can still see Jared comb hair off her face and kiss her forehead, grinning the whole time.
“Uncle Jared?”
“Yes, sweetheart?” he asks with a soft, sugary voice.
“Can you tie my shoes?”
He laughs broadly. “What? So you can keep jumping on the couch?”
“Maybe,” Julia says slowly.
Jared shifts to rest on his elbow and lie down next to her. “Let’s make a deal. I tie your shoes and you stay off the couch while you wear them, okay?”
Julia’s tiny hand shoots into the air and Jared completes the pinky swear while dwarfing her fingers with just one of his. As he leans over her feet to tie the shoelace, she grabs at the ends of his hair then twists strands around her itty-bitty fingers. Jared tugs on the bow of her lace and smiles at her. “All good?”
“Perfect,” she nods, tugging on his hair while he keeps doing the same to her shoelace.
“I tie your shoe, you gotta pay the toll,” he insists.
She sits up quickly, smacks a wet kiss to his mouth, and turns over to run around the couch and back to her room.
Jared glances up and tips his head as he watches Jensen, and Jensen’s sure he’s caught with a dazed look on his face, completely absorbed in the crazy way Jared has become such a fixture in their lives.
Jensen clears his throat and calls out, “Dinnertime!” nudging the plates closer to the end of the counter.
Julia races back into the room, climbs up the stool on the other side of the counter, and immediately reaches for her sippy cup to gulp quickly.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Jensen warns, nipping the end of her nose. She squeaks and he grins at her. “Slow down, li’l girl. Eat a little, too.”
She huffs dramatically, sets her cup down, and grabs her yellow Tweety Bird fork to pick at the geometric-shaped noodles on her plate.
Jared stands next to her and runs a hand down her hair as he picks a few noodles off the second plate. Jensen smacks his hand and scowls playfully. “Not yours.”
Jared frowns back. “But I love the trapezoids.”
“What’s a trap-a-zoo?” Julia asks, her bright green eyes boring into Jensen’s.
Before he can answer, Jared says, “It’s one of these things,” and picks the shape out of her macaroni then pops it into his mouth with a satisfied smile.
“Oh God, you,” Jensen groans, but he’s well aware he’s smiling, too. “Jack!” he yells off to his left. “Come get dinner before your uncle eats it all.”
“No, no, no, no, no,” comes the loud chant as Jack barrels down the hallway. He’s petulant like his twin sister, and blonde, too. Yet, he’s far more serious, which they secretly blame on him being five minutes older, and is proven when he shoves his tiny hands into Jared’s knee in an attempt to push him out of the way. “My mac’roni! Not Uncle Jared’s!”
Jensen gives Jared a look with one eyebrow up high and an I told you so on his lips.
Jared sighs dramatically and heaves Jack up to his stool, nudging it closer to the counter and kissing the back of the boy’s head. He walks into the kitchen and hipchecks Jensen on his way to the fridge. “Is there any mac’roni left for the big boys?”
He tips the pan so Jared can see what’s left, which is enough for him, and Jared smiles. “See, all you had to do was ask,” Jensen says then shakes his head fondly. “No need to rob the kids.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Jared murmurs as he leans in to peck Jensen’s cheek.
“What’s rob?” Julia asks.
Jack stares at them, waiting for the answer, too.
“When Uncle Jared takes something that’s not his,” Jensen explains with an easy smile.
“Not just me,” Jared says, rolling his eyes.
The kids eat a bit, then are just pushing noodles around to create landscapes on their plates and chattering on about what they’re each making. Danneel comes through the front door and they instantly cheer for her, bouncing up and down on their stools. She drops her purse to the arm chair then comes between them. She wraps an arm around each, kissing their heads with a sweet, “Hey, pumpkins.”
“Mama, Uncle Jared robbed me.”
Danneel combs her fingers through his hair and kisses his forehead. “Honey, I’m sure he didn’t rob you.”
“Yes, he did.”
“I did not,” Jared says. He almost sounds serious, except he’s eating straight from the pan of mac ‘n cheese and then pointing a Bugs Bunny spoon at Jack. “You take that back.”
“He robbed me, too,” Julia says lightly, eyes focused on the mangled star on her plate. “He took my noodles and ate them.”
Danneel shoots Jared a glare that’s evened out by her smirk.
“Oh my God,” Jared sighs playfully. “You guys are such snitches.” He sets his elbows on the counter and leans in close to Julia. “Let’s see what happens the next time you ask me to tie your shoe.”
Danneel chuckles and joins them in the kitchen, kissing Jensen’s cheek before grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. They watch Jared glance at Jack’s plate and point at the dog that’s taking shape on his plate. “And what’s that, Jackie?”
“It’s Harley.”
Jared grins. “Dude, that’s awesome. But his tail goes a li’l more like this,” he insists, pushing a few pieces in different directions then plucking one up and popping it into his mouth.
“Mama!” Jack yells. “He robbed me again!”
“Jared,” Danneel intones like she’s disciplining one of the kids. “Stop stealing food from Jack.”
“Sorry, Jack,” Jared says sadly, but then he lightly flicks Jack’s ear and they’re both laughing.
“Stop playing with your food and eat,” Jensen says, putting a bowl of mac ‘n cheese in front of Jared. He pats Jared’s back when he playfully grumbles, and turns to Danneel, lowering his voice. “You get everything?”
“Yeah, I stashed it my trunk,” she whispers back. “Can you and Jared bring it all up tonight?”
“No problem. We’ll hide it in our closet.”
Her eyes get bright and she bounces a little on her toes. “They had the four-wheeler with the chopper blades.”
Jensen’s eyes widen and he excitedly whispers, “The one that actually takes off?”
“Yes, in red!” she says a little louder then frowns and lowers her voice again. “This is gonna be the best birthday ever.”
He laughs and rubs her back. “You said that last year.”
“They keep getting better.”
They both turn to watch the kids playing with their food together and Jensen feels warm from the scene the two make with Jared seated across from them.
Then they watch as Jared leans forward and whispers, though he’s loud enough to be heard. “If you guys give me the rest of your mac ‘n cheese when you’re done, I’ll give you gummi bears later.”
Jack and Julia both push their plates forward and high-five him. They hop off their stools and race back to their room shouting, “Done!” on the way.
When Jared glances over his shoulder, Jensen and Danneel both cross their arms and glare at him. “What?”
Danneel snorts and pushes Jensen at Jared. “I’m gonna go play with our kids, you handle this one.”
“Goodnight, red bird,” Jensen murmurs.
“Goodnight, brown dog,” Danneel replies just as sweetly.
Jensen turns the page on the kids’ book and smiles as Jack rests against his side and sighs sleepily. “Tomorrow, we’ll do it all again.”
“You and me, down by the river,” Danneel says softly. “All day long until we find the grey mice.”
“And then the next day.”
Danneel strokes fingers through Julia’s hair as the little girl’s eyes slip closed. “And the one after that.”
Jensen smiles and drops his head down to Jack’s as the boy runs his finger along the tail of the shaggy brown dog on the last page. “You are the greatest friend I’ve known all summer.”
“The best.”
He lightly clears his throat to read the closing narration. “And the red bird dropped into her nest as the brown dog sat at the bottom of the tree and watched the sun go down. They all needed their rest to go again the next day … The end.”
Danneel looks up to Jensen and gently smiles before whispering, “She’s out.”
“Read it again,” Jack mumbles, burrowing closer to Jensen.
“I don’t think you’ll make it a third time, buddy,” Jensen says quietly.
Jack doesn’t reply, letting his eyes slide shut. Jensen carefully shifts off the bed and pulls Jack into his arms to put him into his own bed across the room. When he’s tucked in, Jensen runs his thumb across Jack’s forehead then kisses it.
He and Danneel each cross the room, switching places, and as she says goodnight to Jack, Jensen combs hair away from Julia’s shoulder, tugs the blanket up a little higher, and kisses her cheek. She mumbles something and turns towards him, but she doesn’t wake up, so he steps away.
Danneel smirks at him then steps around Jared in the hallway to go to her room. Leaning against the door frame, Jared grins at him, and Jensen can’t help but return the smile and pat his hip as he pulls the door mostly shut.
“I think brown dog is your best performance yet,” Jared murmurs as he pokes Jensen’s side.
“Shut up,” he returns without any heat. “We’ve got work to do.”
The two of them trek up and down three flights of stairs to get the kids’ presents from Danneel’s car. They haul the large shopping bags into their room, spend nearly two hours bent over on the floor to wrap them all, and stack them into the back of their closet.
Jared collapses on the bed with a groan and Jensen tucks a few things into place so there’s not an inch of princess or race car paper in sight. He slides the closet doors shut then climbs onto the bed and straddles Jared’s legs, dropping low to kiss and settle down on him.
Jared runs his hands under the back of Jensen’s shirt and closes his eyes. “Tell me about red bird,” he mumbles.
Jensen chuckles. “You can read the book yourself.”
“But I’m tired,” Jared whines.
“Must’ve been all that blackmail you committed.”
“Man, those kids got loose lips.”
Jensen laughs and kisses him again, staying close. “We heard you.”
“I’ve gotta find quieter places to conduct business.”
“Your criminal activity is such a turn on,” Jensen says flatly.
Jared hums and squeezes at Jensen’s hips. “I’d so take you up on that, but I’m saving all my energy for the terror of twenty kids and a ten-foot bear.”
Jensen smiles, thinking of Jack and Julia’s birthday tomorrow at a local party complex, complete with the Birthday Bear mascot. “It’s not gonna be all work.”
“So you say.”
“When the kids are done racing around and filling up on all the junky pizza they can manage, we can run off for some fun of our own.”
Jared eyes him. “That sounds pretty crass for a kids’ party.”
“It’s the Bounce House,” he says with a leading voice.
“You’re gonna play on all the kids’ stuff, aren’t you?”
“They have a jumpy castle, Jared. A jumpy castle.”
Jared laughs, “You are ridiculous.”
“All work and no play makes Jensen a dull boy,” Jensen says seriously.
“Mmm, you’re right.” He flips them over and slides his hips into Jensen’s and smirks. “Let’s play a little.”
Jensen wraps a leg around Jared’s and kisses him soundly. Sometimes, Jared has the best ideas.