(no subject)
Who: Johnny and Sam
What: Talking
When: Afternoon
Where: Park
Why: Impulse control problem.
“It’s weird.”
“What is?” Sam looked over at Johnny, who was currently sprawled out on the park bench while they waited for Nick and Madsen to show up. Nick had come to town with Michelle and Angie about two hours ago, so naturally, they were all getting together as soon as humanely possible.
Michelle, however, had deemed it fit for Nick to take her and Angie out of the airport, to the hotel, and at least get lunch first. With the last call Sam had made, Nick sounded like a child desperate to go outside.
And Madsen had to bring Radha to Carly for babysitting, and Johnny had to bring Rachel to Noelle’s. So Sam had agreed to wait at the park, and Johnny had been the first to show after that.
They’d been talking about random things up until this point, whatever had popped into their heads, and then there’d been silence. Until now. And Sam thought maybe this was going to be one of those talks.
“Sam, what do you think I’m talking about?”
Yes. One of those talks.
“It’s not that weird.” Sam sighed, already leaning back against a tree and staving off the need to bypass this conversation. Johnny needed these talks, that much was obvious. And Sam had somehow become the authority on fatherhood, most likely because he’d been the first to get into it.
So he did them.
“It so is.” Johnny leaned up just enough to look at Sam like he was crazy. “It’s like… I mean, come on. Nicky’s married with a baby, you have two kids, I’ve got Rachel, even Madsen’s kind of a Dad now.”
And, of course, there was the slightly weird addition of all of them having girls. But they weren’t sure what that meant, so they really didn’t think about it.
“So?”
“So…” He shrugged, and looked up at the sky. “So it’s like… I mean…”
Sam laughed, giving Johnny a few minutes to try to articulate what he wanted to say while he checked his cell phone to see a text message from Madsen. Dude, just did the drop off, see you in ten.
He sent back a message. Got it. Johnny’s already here, haven’t heard from Nick yet. See you when you get here.
“I got it.” Johnny sat up straighter, and made sure he had Sam’s attention before he spoke again. “It’s like, how weird everything is. Especially when it’s girls. They mess everything up.”
“… Johnny.”
“That’s not what I meant.” He laughed, and looked up at the sky again. “I just thought everything you were saying was bullshit until Rachel came along, that’s all I’m saying. And I know Nick and Madsen were totally thinking the same thing.”
That went without saying. And Sam had gotten to be smugly triumphant every time he’d seen one of his best friends with their little girl for the first time. And it’d felt good.
“And yeah,” Johnny continued. “It’s cool. But it changes everything, man. From the first time you see her to like… everything in between up until now. And you start caring about all this stuff that you never thought you’d give a shit about, and it’s still happening and it’s fucking nuts, and I seriously didn’t think I could pull it off.”
“But you did.” Sam shrugged, playing with his phone in his hands without really paying too close attention. “And you’re still pulling it off, I swear.” Saying that to each one of them seemed to be like a stamp of approval, one that had to be renewed every once in a while.
He couldn’t wait for the day when he didn’t have to say it anymore. It wasn’t that Sam minded, it would just mean that they were all just a little less worried about screwing up. It’d be nice.
Johnny shrugged as well, and sat up straighter again, looking down at the ground. He frowned, thinking, and then raised his head to look at Sam again. “So, how weird do you think it is that they’re sort of the next us?”
That was true, wasn’t it? Angie was Nick’s daughter, Radha was Madsen’s niece, Rachel was Johnny’s daughter, and Lorelai was Sam’s daughter.
… But that was just four.
“Not exactly.”
“… Yeah, right.” Johnny fell silent after that, remembering, and looked at the ground again. “… Well it’s close enough. And it’s still weird.”
“Yeah.” Sam shook his head, and let it be quiet for a few minutes. Then he checked the time on his phone. Madsen should be showing any minute. He should probably call Nick and find out what was going on.
He thought of something out of nowhere, and looked up sharply, then laughed. “Hey, you know what’ll really be weird?”
“What?” Johnny looked to the side boredly, waiting and starting to clearly get impatient with Madsen and Nick.
“When they start getting married.”
It got quiet again, and everything around them seemed to stop. Including, they both could have sworn just then, their hearts. They looked at each other, slowly, color draining out of their faces and stomachs practically dropping to their shoes.
“Sam?” Johnny said weakly, a thousand things packed into the one sentence that Sam understood all at once.
“Yeah?” Sam thought he might faint, but that had only happened once before, and he wasn’t about to do it again. He pushed all sorts of frightening images of weddings to come out of his head as fast as possible.
“Never again.”
“Understood.”
“So uncool.”
“I’m sorry. I really am.”
“You fucking should be, man.”
What: Talking
When: Afternoon
Where: Park
Why: Impulse control problem.
“It’s weird.”
“What is?” Sam looked over at Johnny, who was currently sprawled out on the park bench while they waited for Nick and Madsen to show up. Nick had come to town with Michelle and Angie about two hours ago, so naturally, they were all getting together as soon as humanely possible.
Michelle, however, had deemed it fit for Nick to take her and Angie out of the airport, to the hotel, and at least get lunch first. With the last call Sam had made, Nick sounded like a child desperate to go outside.
And Madsen had to bring Radha to Carly for babysitting, and Johnny had to bring Rachel to Noelle’s. So Sam had agreed to wait at the park, and Johnny had been the first to show after that.
They’d been talking about random things up until this point, whatever had popped into their heads, and then there’d been silence. Until now. And Sam thought maybe this was going to be one of those talks.
“Sam, what do you think I’m talking about?”
Yes. One of those talks.
“It’s not that weird.” Sam sighed, already leaning back against a tree and staving off the need to bypass this conversation. Johnny needed these talks, that much was obvious. And Sam had somehow become the authority on fatherhood, most likely because he’d been the first to get into it.
So he did them.
“It so is.” Johnny leaned up just enough to look at Sam like he was crazy. “It’s like… I mean, come on. Nicky’s married with a baby, you have two kids, I’ve got Rachel, even Madsen’s kind of a Dad now.”
And, of course, there was the slightly weird addition of all of them having girls. But they weren’t sure what that meant, so they really didn’t think about it.
“So?”
“So…” He shrugged, and looked up at the sky. “So it’s like… I mean…”
Sam laughed, giving Johnny a few minutes to try to articulate what he wanted to say while he checked his cell phone to see a text message from Madsen. Dude, just did the drop off, see you in ten.
He sent back a message. Got it. Johnny’s already here, haven’t heard from Nick yet. See you when you get here.
“I got it.” Johnny sat up straighter, and made sure he had Sam’s attention before he spoke again. “It’s like, how weird everything is. Especially when it’s girls. They mess everything up.”
“… Johnny.”
“That’s not what I meant.” He laughed, and looked up at the sky again. “I just thought everything you were saying was bullshit until Rachel came along, that’s all I’m saying. And I know Nick and Madsen were totally thinking the same thing.”
That went without saying. And Sam had gotten to be smugly triumphant every time he’d seen one of his best friends with their little girl for the first time. And it’d felt good.
“And yeah,” Johnny continued. “It’s cool. But it changes everything, man. From the first time you see her to like… everything in between up until now. And you start caring about all this stuff that you never thought you’d give a shit about, and it’s still happening and it’s fucking nuts, and I seriously didn’t think I could pull it off.”
“But you did.” Sam shrugged, playing with his phone in his hands without really paying too close attention. “And you’re still pulling it off, I swear.” Saying that to each one of them seemed to be like a stamp of approval, one that had to be renewed every once in a while.
He couldn’t wait for the day when he didn’t have to say it anymore. It wasn’t that Sam minded, it would just mean that they were all just a little less worried about screwing up. It’d be nice.
Johnny shrugged as well, and sat up straighter again, looking down at the ground. He frowned, thinking, and then raised his head to look at Sam again. “So, how weird do you think it is that they’re sort of the next us?”
That was true, wasn’t it? Angie was Nick’s daughter, Radha was Madsen’s niece, Rachel was Johnny’s daughter, and Lorelai was Sam’s daughter.
… But that was just four.
“Not exactly.”
“… Yeah, right.” Johnny fell silent after that, remembering, and looked at the ground again. “… Well it’s close enough. And it’s still weird.”
“Yeah.” Sam shook his head, and let it be quiet for a few minutes. Then he checked the time on his phone. Madsen should be showing any minute. He should probably call Nick and find out what was going on.
He thought of something out of nowhere, and looked up sharply, then laughed. “Hey, you know what’ll really be weird?”
“What?” Johnny looked to the side boredly, waiting and starting to clearly get impatient with Madsen and Nick.
“When they start getting married.”
It got quiet again, and everything around them seemed to stop. Including, they both could have sworn just then, their hearts. They looked at each other, slowly, color draining out of their faces and stomachs practically dropping to their shoes.
“Sam?” Johnny said weakly, a thousand things packed into the one sentence that Sam understood all at once.
“Yeah?” Sam thought he might faint, but that had only happened once before, and he wasn’t about to do it again. He pushed all sorts of frightening images of weddings to come out of his head as fast as possible.
“Never again.”
“Understood.”
“So uncool.”
“I’m sorry. I really am.”
“You fucking should be, man.”