Days Behind - Chapter 10
The phone rang, pulling Jensen from the dream he had been having where he was trapped in the house he grew up in and there was no one there to help him. He rolled over and punched at buttons until he heard a voice speaking to him.
“Hey - good morning! Hope I didn’t wake you up.”
“Unhuh…” Jensen grumbled as he pressed his face into his pillow. “No-no.”
“Oh, I did. Crap. It’s just that I’ve been up since six and -“
“Jared. It’s fine. Whatcha need?”
“Propane.”
“Huh?”
“I was thinking that maybe we could have a bar-b-que when you came over today.”
“Sounds great.” Jensen sniffed and attempted opening his eyes. “What time is it anyway?”
“It’s eight.”
“Oh.”
“That’s too early, isn’t it?”
“No, actually, you may have just saved my job for me. Thank you.”
“Glad to help?”
“Yeah, uh, I’ve got a few things to do before I show up, but I’ll be sure to bring propane when I come.”
“Sounds good - see you at five?”
“It’s a date.”
Jensen shifted from the one foot to the other as he waited for the door to open. He was a little early and supposed the sounds he heard was the other man picking up before answering the doorbell.
“What the hell am I even doing here?” Jensen muttered just as the door swung open to reveal a giant dimpled grin. “Oh!”
“Did you just squeak?”
“Nooo-“ Jensen tried to hide his blush.
Jared openly laughed. “Uh-huh. Want to come in? You’re a bit early.”
“Oh, sorry, yeah.”
Jared pulled him inside and shut the door. “Please don’t look at the mess, the girls seem to have had a contest to see who could make the biggest mess.”
Jensen smiled and looked down to see what his foot nudged, trying not to cringe when it was a stuffed monkey. “That’s okay. We have plenty of time to fire up the grill.”
“I just need to get my shoes and then we can - ow!” Jared fell into the couch, grabbing his foot.
Jensen frowned, pulling his hands from where they had been in his pocket. “You okay?”
“Yeah - stepped on a Lego - girls just got this new Sassafras Junction set - stepped on a damn banana - I think I hate that monkey the most.”
“Sassa-“
“Sassafras. Sassafras Junction? Kid’s show? The one you’re going to learn all about today?”
“It’s okay, I do have nieces and nephews - I’ve seen the mess they make at my mama’s house.”
“The girls do like to make messes,” Jared agreed, making a sweeping motion with his arm. “But I really wouldn’t trade them for the cleanest house in America.”
“Yeah, that’s what Josh says too.”
“Actually, they should be down here by now - I worry when they get quiet…” Jared looked around.
“I can imagine it’s hard to handle twins sometimes.”
“You have no clue - what one doesn’t think of, the other does. And they have this secret language that they speak - sometimes without words…”
“That sounds rough.” Not knowing what else to say, Jensen looked at his keys dangling from his finger.
“You want me to go get the tank out of the trunk?”
“Oh yeah! Man, I forgot all about that! Thanks for reminding me.”
“Might have been kinda hard to get the grill going without it.”
“Nah, I just would have cussed and fussed until I remembered. My mama says I’ve always done it.”
Jensen chuckled at the new bit of info he’d accidentally gotten. He was wondering what else he’d be learning about Jared when there was an ear-piercing scream from somewhere upstairs.
“And that would be why they were so quiet,” Jared sighed as he went to the base of the stairs. “Ell! Add! What is going on?”
“NOT ME!” The response came in stereo.
Jared took a deep breath and looked as if he was counting before yelling back up the stairs. “You two have ‘til the count of five to get down here and tell me what is going on up there. One…two…three…”
Two small faces with blonde hair appeared at the top of the stairs.
“We weren’t doing nuffin’, Daddy…” they chorused, trying their best to look innocent.
“Should I believe you?”
“We love you.”
“And if I go up there, nothing is broken?”
“Nope, Daddy, Addy didn’t get paint on nuffin’.” Eleanor clapped her hand over her mouth as soon as the words left it.
“Is that so?” Jared raised an eyebrow. “What exactly didn’t she get paint on?”
“Hey, Daddy, who’s that man?” Addy asked with a frown on her face.
“This is my friend Jensen.” Jared didn’t look behind him, but felt the air move when Jensen waved.
“And that didn’t answer my question, Eleanor Jane.”
“Hi, Misser Jensen,” the girls waved in unison, causing Jensen to wave back without thinking.
Jared turned to him. “I think you should go get that tank now.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Jared waited for Jensen to be outside before he walked the rest of the way upstairs to where the twins stood. He got on one knee and looked them in the eyes. “Listen to me. Is there paint anywhere in this house that it should not be? And, before you answer, that includes paint of the wrong color covering other paint.”
“No sir,” Addison answered first. “It waddn’t real paint. It was play paint. We played paintin’ wiff watuh.”
“And if I go and look, that’s all I’ll find - just a wet wall?”
“Wet with watuh, not paint, Daddy,” Eleanor assured him, shaking her head.
“Pinky promise?” Jared held his own digit out, allowing the girls to both wrap their small fingers around his and seal the word. “Now, can we just be good for a little while? Daddy has a friend over.”
They nodded together and Jared stood, allowing each girl to hug a leg as he tried to walk down the stairs.
There was a tap on the door before it opened and Jensen was standing there with the propane tank in hand. “Where do you want this?”
“Let’s just go outside,” Jared said, still dragging the girls on each leg as though it was the most natural thing.
“I like your shoes,” Jensen said as he followed.
“Thanks. They’re kinda heavy, but they’re so cute that I just don’t care. You know, beauty before comfort and all that.”
“Yeah, I think I do.”
Eleanor and Addison chased each other around the yard as Jared watched over the hamburgers.
“Do you think we need a salad or something?” Jensen asked, looking at the fat dripping into the bottom of the grill.
Jared laughed. “Right, like the kids eat anything green.”
“Good point.” Jensen raised his glass to take a drink. “So what are we having with these hamburgers?”
“The usual. Baked Beans - which the girls also won’t touch, and I made potato salad earlier that they hate.”
“That seems a little cruel.”
“Not really.” Jared looked over in time to see Eleanor tackle her sister to the ground. “They aren’t going to eat the burgers either. So, I figure I can fix them Spaghetti-Ohs. They like it when I put the can on the grill and heat it. We call it ‘camping-ohs’.”
“My nephews were the same way. Logan went a year eating nothing but bacon. It was frightening.”
“We did that. But it was waffles.” Jared shuddered in memory. “I tell you, you get creative.”
“I bet.”
“Can you do me a favor and go and get the cans off the counter? I already opened them.”
“Sure.” Jensen pushed the screen open and went inside. He found the cans right where Jared said they would be and turned to go out, but caught a glimpse of a picture on the refrigerator. It was clearly Jared, and he supposed the two small bundles he was holding were the girls. The look on the man in the picture’s face was one of both uncertainty and love. Jensen couldn’t tear his eyes away and that was how Jared found him a few minutes later.
“They were so tiny then.” The sound of Jared’s voice made Jensen jump. “I thought I was going to break them.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Nope.” Jared looked out the window and smiled. “I didn’t.” He watched for a few moments more before shaking himself out of the past. “We should get these on the grill or they won’t be warm enough.”
Jensen nodded and carried them outside, only to almost get knocked over by two very excited children.
“Daddy! Daddy!” Addison was jumping up and down in place and pointing to the back fence. “Can we have a puppy?”
“A what?” Jared narrowed his eyes in question.
“A puppy, Daddy!” Eleanor was already giving her father puppy-dog eyes as she spoke.
“Well, let’s see.” Jared put his hand to his chin even as Addison adopted her sister’s look. “We could have a puppy, but I’d have to trade one of you for it.”
“Oh!” Eleanor squealed. “We can trade Addy! Dat’s fair!”
“Eleanor Jane Padalecki!” Jared scolded as Addison started to cry. “Why would you say that?”
Eleanor shrugged. “Addy gets on m’ nerds sometimes, Daddy.”
“And dogs have bad breff!” Addison defended.
“She has a point, Ellie…”
“Man.” Eleanor’s shoulder’s fell. “We aren’t gettin’ a puppy, are we?”
“What do you think?” Jared asked, arms crossed on his chest.
“This stinks,” Eleanor grumbled.
Addison bumped her sister. “Watch it or Daddy will sell you to the gypsies.”
“What?!?” Jensen choked on the drink of tea that was in his mouth.
“The gypsies,” Addison explained, getting close to Jensen. “If you aren’t a good kid, you get solded to
dem.”
“Is that right?” Jensen didn’t know if he should treat this as serious or not.
“Yep. It’s true, isn’t it, Daddy?” Addison looked to her father to confirm.
“Totally true,” Jared nodded with a wink to Jensen. “Now go get washed up so we can eat before the mosquitos come out.”
“Okay, Daddy,” Addison bounded away, leaving Eleanor to drag her feet behind.
“…and this one is called Pericles, he’s a lie-un. Sandy says he’s…” The small girl paused for effect as she had seen Sandy do in the past, “Dreamy and maybe really cute under his makeup, but I keep telling her that he’s not wearin’ makeup. Makeup is for girls and Pericles Lion is a boy lie-un. Sandy’s silly like dat.” Eleanor patiently explained to Jensen as Jared loaded the dishwasher. “This here is Chip. He’s a monkey. He’s Addy’s favorite. She has a shirt with him on it and she likes he has a banana for a microphone.”
“Ellie, honey, I am sure Jensen doesn’t want to hear about your toys.” Jared rinsed the last plate and put it in the dishwasher.
“But he does, Daddy.” Eleanor insisted. “Jensen needs to know about Sassafras Junction! It’s ‘portant.”
“It’s fine,” Jensen said as he picked up the figure laying closest to him. “Who is this?”
Eleanor’s eyes got wide. “That’s Francis. He’s a zebwa.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. And he’s the coolest guy on the show.”
Jensen barely held in a laugh. “Is that right? And this pink guy?”
Addison looked up from where she was coloring. “Oh, that’s Joe the Falmingo. He’s a nice guy, but sometimes the other aminals pick on him.”
“They do?” Jensen frowned.
Addison nodded somberly. “Yeah, they say they’re playin’, but the look on his face is all hurty.”
“Yeah, Addy seems to think that the other animals in the Junction should be nicer to Joe. That a friend should be a friend.” Jared leaned on the table next to where Jensen sat. “She’s sensitive that way.”
“I’m sense-tive too, Daddy,” Eleanor reminded him with a nod.
“Yes, honey, you are. But right now, it’s bedtime.” Jared scooped up a girl under each arm and looked back at Jensen. “Think you can grab the stuffed animals off the couch?”
“Sure.” Jensen followed along behind Jared, picking up the well-loved zebra and worn monkey on his way through the living room.
“This won’t take long, they’ve had a long day,” Jared apologized as he carried the girls up the stairs and Jensen followed.
“No, I’m good. It’s nice.” He handed the animals to each girl. “I’ll just meet you downstairs?”
Jared nodded and turned into the room the girls shared.
“And one more day comes to a close for the Precocious Padalecki Pair,” Jared announced as he came into the dining room to find Jensen lining up toys on the table.
“Worked on that one a while?”
“Nah, it’s what Mama calls ‘em.”
“Pretty fitting.”
Jared sat in the chair opposite Jensen and looked at the scene the other man had set up. “Impressive. What’s going on here?”
Jensen looked up. “Nothin’. Was just messing around with them.” Jensen paused. He had something to ask Jared and it was now or never. He drew in a big breath. “So, uh, I kinda have this thing I'm going to next Saturday, and I was wondering if, maybe you wanted to - you know, if you're free - go with me?”
“Where is it?”
“Church?”
“Church?”
“Oh, don't worry, I'm not trying to recruit you into some cult - one of my friends is getting married and Ikindacalledyoumyplusone...”
“You what?”
“Well, we had just met at the bar and she was harassing me for the name of my date and I panicked and gave yours.”
“Then, I guess, by some strange wedding law, I have to go with you.”
“Oh, thank God.” Jensen let out a breath he’d been holding.
“You sound like you didn't think I would say yes.”
“It was touch and go there for a bit.”
“Well, there is the matter of if my regular babysitter is busy or not - it might not be one of her scheduled nights...”
“Oh, I hadn't thought of that.”
“Relax, man. I can always get Chad or Danneel.”
Jensen tensed. “Are you sure about that?”
“You don't know Chad. He's great with kids.”
“If you say so.”
Jared looked at the ground for a moment. “I had a good day today.”
“So did I,” Jensen admitted. “Your girls are great.”
“I like ‘em.” Jared nodded proudly. “I like you, too.”
Jensen looked up and at Jared. “I like you, too.”
“I’d like to kiss you.”
“I’d like you to kiss me.”
Jared leaned across the table and softly brushed Jensen’s lips with his own before sitting back and grinning like the cat that ate the canary. Jensen could do nothing but return the smile.
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