This is a story for my lovely friend GeorgeAndrews. It's my first attempt at a Flack story so I hope it's okay :)
Flack pushed the stroller through central park. "Lucas, Joshua, don't run to far ahead" Flack called to the two boys who were running up ahead. Both boys were the complete opposites of one another, one was tall, jet black hair, piercing blue eyes and tanned skin while the second was shorter, with blond spiky hair, chocolate-brown eyes and pale skin.
"Dada" one-year old Grace called from the stroller.
"Hey sweet-pea, did you have a good nap?" Flack asked her. To which Grace just gave him a big grin with her blue eyes shining.
Flack looked up when he heard a scream from in front of him "Uncle Flack" Three-year old Joshua cried "Luc pushed me over"
"I hope you didn't, Lucas" Flack said sternly as he approached both boys.
"I didn't Daddy, I swear" Lucas replied.
"You did, you pushed me" Joshua pouted, tears filling his brown eyes.
"Lucas, why would Joshua lie?" Flack asked, knowing just by the look on his son's face that he was lying.
Lucas shrugged "I dunno"
"You're five now, I didn't think five-year olds told lies"
"I don't lie"
"Shall we take you down the precinct, do the lie detector test on you?" Flack suggested knowing this was one way to get the five-year old to confess.
"Okay Daddy, I did it, I pushed Josh over"
"Why?"
"Cos he said his Daddy was cleverer than you, but that's not true is it?"
"Joshua's Daddy knows a lot more about science and stuff than I do, Lucas"
"So Uncle Danny is cleverer than you?"
"We are both clever in different ways, Lucas"
"What d'ya mean?"
"Well for example you're good at Math right?"
Lucas nodded.
"And Lucy is good at English, isn't she?"
Lucas nodded again.
"So you are both clever, but just at different things, does that make sense?"
"I think so" Lucas replied "I guess I shouldn't of pushed Josh"
"No, you shouldn't, so what do you need to say?"
"I'm sorry, Josh" Lucas said wrapping his arms around Joshua.
"It's kay" Josh replied hugging Lucas back. "Uncle Flack" he asked as he pulled away from Lucas "When will Lucy and Daddy be back?"
Flack looked at his watch "Soon, Daddy is at the dentist with Luce at the moment, then they are going to pick your Mummy up from work and meet us here"
"So Lucy can play in the park too?"
"I'm sure Lucy will be allowed a little play, now come on or you two won't be getting any play time at all"
"Okay, I'll race you there" Lucas told Joshua as he ran towards the park.
"I'm gonna beat you" Joshua grinned as he ran just behind Lucas.
Flack smiled as he watched the two boys run to the park, they had been best friends since Joshua was born. Lucas had doted on him whenever he went round to the Messers, He would always help Lindsay and Danny make up bottles for Joshua or get them a clean diaper if they asked him too. As they got older and Joshua got more independent Lucas would just enjoy playing with him, they would look at books together, race there toy cars against one another, or dress up as super heroes. Joshua would always be Batman and Lucas would be Spider man. Flack hoped they would stay best friends for the rest of there lives, just like him and Danny.
Flack entered the park just after the boys had. They were both already up on the climbing frame, playing pirates. Flack pushed the stroller to the bench and sat down "Shall we get you out Gracie?"
"Up" Grace replied holding her arms in the air.
"Come on then" Flack smiled undoing the straps to the pink stroller and lifting his daughter out. "Hows my little lady today?" he asked sitting her on his knee.
"Dada" Grace replied grabbing hold of Flack's t-shirt in her little fist.
"Yeah, it's me Grace, it's Daddy" he kissed the top of her head. "do you want to go on the swing?"
"Ing" Grace giggled.
"Come on then, lets find the swings" standing up Flack rested Grace against his hip and carried her over to the baby swings. He carefully sat her in one and began to push her gently Causing her to giggle and squeal in delight.
"You like that Gracie?" he asked.
"Gain" Grace giggled clapping her hands.
"I can't push you much higher Grace, Mummy doesn't like you going to high"
"Gain,gain" Grace repeated.
"Okay, We'll go a little higher, just don't tell Mummy" he told her putting a finger to his lips.
"Shh" Grace copied him and placed a finger to her own lips.
Flack pushed the swing a little higher "Is that better?"
Grace clapped her hands "eeeeee"
"Daddy, can I go on the swing?" Lucas asked running over to Flack.
"Course you can" Flack replied.
"Will you push me?"
"I'm sure you can push yourself now Luc, you are five"
"Kay" Lucas sighed making his way over to the swing and sitting on it.
"Where's Josh?" Flack asked looking round for the youngest Messer.
"He's on the slide, he didn't wanna play on the swings" Lucas replied.
"Okay, just making sure he was still in the park"
"Dada, up" Grace smiled holding her arms in the air.
Flack picked her up and rested her back against his hip "What shall we do now Gracie?"
"Oo-kas"
"You want to play with Lucas?"
Grace pointed to her brother.
"Well let's wait till he gets off the swing then maybe he'll play with you in the sand pit yeah?"
"Kay" Grace replied resting her head on Flack's chest.
"Uncle Flack, is blue bear in the stroller?" Joshua asked walking over to Flack.
"No, Josh, remember you told Lucy she could take him to the dentist with her because she was scared?" Flack replied
"Oh yeah"
"I'm sure Lucy will bring him to the park when they get back though"
"I hope so, I miss Blue Bear"
"Well do you want to play in the sand pit with Gracie, to take your mind of Blue Bear?"
Joshua nodded and made his way over to the sand pit.
"Come on Gracie, let's do some digging with Josh" Flack carried Grace over to the sand pit and sat her next to Joshua. Walking over to the middle of the sand pit he picked up three buckets that the park provided and carried them back to the children "Here you go" he smiled.
"Thank you Uncle Flack" Joshua replied taking the bucket from him "Is there a spade?"
Flack picked up a green spade and handed it to Joshua "How's this?"
"Perfect" Joshua smiled taking the spade and began to use it to fill his bucket.
Flack sat on the edge of the pit and watched Grace pick up the sand and let it fall between her fingers. She repeated the process three or four times, giggling every time she did it.
"Does that tickle Grace?" He asked.
"Dada" Grace replied holding a handful of sand out to Flack.
"Shall Daddy have a go, Grace?"
Grace nodded and handed the sand to Flack, She watched as the little bit of sand that she had given her Father fell between his large fingers "Gain, gain"
Flack smiled and picked up a bigger handful of sand in his hand and let it fall between his fingers again.
Grace held her hand underneath her Father's and tried to catch the falling sand. "Dada ook" she showed him her hand with the little bit of sand in that she had caught.
"Oh wow Gracie, look how much sand you've got" Flack smiled. He watched as Grace through the sand in the air and laughed. "Careful Gracie, we don't want it going in anyone's eyes."
"Can I play?" Lucas asked standing on the edge of the sand pit.
"Yeah, come help me build my Batman fort" Joshua grinned showing Lucas the two sand castles he'd already made.
"Wow, that's so cool, Josh. Let me just go grab Batman and Spider man from Grace's stroller" he replied running off to the stroller.
Joshua began to fill the bucket with more sand while he waited for Lucas to come back. "Uncle Flack, this is gonna be the coolest Batman fort ever. You'll have to take a photo so I can show Daddy"
"Daddy will be here later Josh, so you can show him yourself" Flack replied.
"Yeah but take one anyway, case it falls over or something"
"Okay, I'll take a photo once your done, Josh" Flack smiled.
"Got them" Lucas said as he ran back into the sand pit, he handed Joshua the Batman action figure and sat down next to him. "We need to make it bigger before they can play in it"
"Yeah" Joshua handed Lucas a bucket "You fill this one"
"Okay" Lucas replied, standing up he went to find another spade and began to fill his bucket.
"Dada, up" Grace pouted holding her hands in the air.
"You don't want to play in the sand any more, Gracie?" Flack asked picking her up.
"bot bot" Grace replied resting her head back against Flack's chest.
"Let's get your bottle then" Flack stood up and walked over to the bench next to Grace's stroller, sitting down he pulled out her bottle from the nappy bag. Taking the cap of the top he passed the bottle to Grace, she laid back in Flack's arms and began to feed herself. "You're such a big girl now Grace, look at you feeding your self" he smiled down at her, she was the image of her Mother except for her eyes, which were a sparking blue like his own.
Flack looked up to make sure the boys were placing nicely, he smiled when he saw how far they had come with there Batman fort, Lucas had even managed to balance one sandcastle on top of two others. Flack was impressed at his son's ability to do that without causing it all to fall down. He knew he'd got that from his Mother, there was no way he had got that from him. Flack knew he was way to clumsy to manage something like that.
"Daddy" Lucas called from the sandpit "We're done, Josh said you gotta take a picture before we can start playing with it"
"Let me just finish feeding Grace and I'll be over, okay?" Flack replied.
"Okay Daddy"
"You nearly finished that bottle, Grace?" Flack asked looking at the little bit of milk that was left in the bottle "You must be really hungry today, maybe we'll have to get you some of your banana too when you finished that"
Grace drank the last few mouthfuls from the bottle and held it up to Flack "Gone"
"Good girl" he smiled taking it from her and placing it back in the nappy bag. "Your tummy all full now?" Grace smiled at him and tried to sit up. Flack helped her to sit up then standing up, he placed her on his hip and walked over to the boys "Right, lets take a photo of this Batman fort" he pulled his phone from his pocket. "You two sit behind it"
The two boys sat behind the fort, arms around each others shoulders, both grinning at the camera. Flack snapped a couple of pictures. "All done, you can play with it now"
"Yay" both boys said excitedly, grabbing their action figures they began to play with the fort.
"What shall we play on now, Gracie?"
Grace pointed to the slide "You want to go on that? Okay" he smiled carrying Grace over to the slide. Standing next to it he placed her on the top of the slide "Ready to slide down?"
"No, Dada, no" Grace pouted.
"What's wrong Gracie?"
"No, no" the one-year old repeated again.
Flack sighed "You want Daddy to come down with you, don't you?" He lifted Grace off the slide then holding her against his hip he climbed up the steps. Sitting on the top of the slide he place Grace on his lap "Is this better?"
Grace giggled and leaned back against Flack's chest.
"Right, are we ready? Are we steady?" Flack called out "The let's go!" he slid down the slide with Grace on his lap. The little girl giggled the whole way down "Did you like that?"
"Gain, gain" she exclaimed.
"Okay, one more time, but that's it okay?" Flack climbed back up to the top of the slide and placed Grace on his lap again.
"Having fun?"
Flack looked down to see Danny stood at the side of the slide. "You're back early"
"Nah, we are right on time, I guess time goes fast when you're having fun though, right?" he laughed.
Flack slid down the slide with Grace. "Gain, gain" she giggled once they got to the bottom.
"No more Gracie, Why don't you play in the sand pit with your brother?" Flack asked carrying her over to the sand pit. "How did Luce get on at the dentist?"
"Fine" Danny replied. "She's just with Linds at the moment getting an ice-cream as a reward for being a good girl"
"Doesn't that just defeat the purpose of going to the dentist?"
"Yeah I guess, but she doesn't have to go now for another year"
Flack placed Grace in the sand pit next to the two boys "Having fun?"
"Yeah, Batman and Spider man had to chase down the bad guy, Daddy. Look what the baddies did to the fort" Lucas exclaimed pointing to a sandcastle that had been knocked over.
"Oh no, I hope they got the bad guys" Flack replied.
"They did, they put them in there underground jail where they will stay forever and ever" Lucas told Flack proudly.
"Good" Flack smiled.
"Daddy" Joshua said getting up and making his way over to Danny "I need a wee wee"
"Okay Josh, lets go and see if there is a toilet here, if not we will find a tree" he took Joshua's hand and led him out of the play area.
Flack sat with his two children in the sand pit. Lucas was still playing with the fort while Grace dug little holes in the sand with her fingers. "What's Batman doing now, Luc?" Flack asked noticing the Batman figurine was laid on the floor.
"He got shot Daddy, by some more baddies"
"Oh no, will he be okay?"
"Yeah, Robin will save him and Spider man has gone to find the baddies and wrap them up in his spider webs"
"That's good of Spider man"
"Yeah, hopefully he'll wrap them up so tight that their heads will pop off and blood will squirt everywhere" Lucas giggled.
Flack laughed at his little boys imagination "Maybe spider man should just put them in jail, with the other baddies"
"Mama" Grace squealed pointing to the gate of the park.
Flack looked up to see Jess enter with Lindsay and Lucy. "We've got ice-cream" she smiled to him.
"And Blue Bear" Lucy grinned holding up the blue stuffed toy.
A black Labrador saw the blue stuffed toy being held in the air and assumed Lucy was playing a game. He ran, jumping up he grabbed it from her hand and ran away with it. "Blue Bear" she cried.
"It's okay, I'll get him back" Flack replied jumping up "Watch them two" he told Jess as he ran out of the park. He chased the dog across the grass "Come back here" he called but the dog kept running with the bear hanging out of his mouth.
He was headed straight for a group of woman doing yoga on the field. Oh no Flack thought knowing he was going to have to run through them as well. "Sorry" he called as he approached the woman. "So sorry, Just need to catch that dog." The woman all screamed and moved out-of-the-way to let Flack through. He managed to trip over their portable radio and land on flat on his face. He could hear the woman giggle to themselves as he scrambled back to his feet.
Looking around he spotted the black dog heading towards the pond. No he thought don't you take Blue Bear in there. He ran faster trying to catch up with the dog. "Just drop the toy" the dog carried on running towards the pond. "Please, just drop it" Flack called again. He didn't expect to be having to chase anyone, let alone a dog on his day off.
"Jasper, heel" Flack heard a voice call from behind him. The black Labrador came to a sudden stop, he turned and walked back the way he had come stopping in front of an older woman in a bright red jumper. "Jasper, drop" she commanded. Flack watched as the dog dropped Blue Bear on the floor.
The woman picked it up and held it up to Flack "I take it this is yours?"
"Yes, well no not mine, it's my godsons" he smiled taking the toy from her "Thank you"
"It's not problem. I'm sorry Jasper took it. He's only a puppy and he seems to think every stuffed toy is one for him to play with"
"That's okay" Flack replied "I'm just glad he didn't get to the lake, I didn't fancy having to go for a swim"
"Oh, he would have stopped before he got there. He's terrified of water" the lady laughed as she attached the lead back to Jaspers collar.
Flack smiled "Well I best get the bear back to his owner"
He carried the bear back across the field and into the park where everyone stood clapping. Flack blushed as he approached his friends and family.
"You're my hero, Uncle Flack" Joshua grinned wrapping his arms around Flack's legs.
"It was nothing" Flack replied.
"Oh, it was something" Jess told him as she held Grace against her hip "Hilarious is what it was"
"Yeah, I wonder what everyone at work will think tomorrow, when they see the video?" Lindsay smiled.
"Video? What video?" Flack asked
"This one" Danny laughed holding up his phone which was playing a recording of Flack running across the grass.
"Messer, delete it" Flack replied as he prized Joshua off his leg.
Danny sighed "Fine, I'll delete it"
"I wanna see you do it" Flack said coming to stand behind Danny, he watched as Danny pressed the delete button on his phone. "Thank you"
"No problem" Danny replied as he slid his phone into his pocket.
"Right, who wants to come on the round about with me?" Flack asked the children.
"Flack, they've just had ice cream, they'll be sick if you take them on that" Jess told him.
"No they won't it'll be fine" he smiled "Who's coming?"
"Me, me" Joshua and Lucas called out together as they ate the last of their ice cream cones.
"Come on then boys" he smiled taking hold of their hands and walking over to the roundabout.
Danny watched them walk away and then turned to Jess and Lindsay "You've both got a copy of that video as well, haven't you?"
"Of course" Jess replied.
"I've got the copy you sent me" Lindsay told him.
"I can't believe he thought the video on your phone was the only one we would have" Jess laughed.
"Well this is Flack, he does only have a high school diploma" Danny laughed referring to the long running joke between him and Flack.