Dallas played in the floor quietly with his trucks while Sadie lay asleep at his side. Thalia was busy preparing supper while Jared was finishing up filming for the day. He usually had night shoots but this week he was working on some day shoots which meant he got to come home to his little family at night. Thalia's phone beeped with a message. She reached to slide her finger across the screen seeing that the message was from Tiara. "We would love for you, Jared and Dallas to come tomorrow night for supper. Before you ask, yes you can bring a dessert. See y'all at 7." Thalia loved when the two families got together so she quickly text back, "Sounds great! We'll see y'all then!" and ended with a kissy face emoticon.
Just as the stove beeped indicating that her lasagna was ready, Jared came through the door. Dallas jumped up and ran to meet his Daddy, arms held high and hazel eyes bright, "Daddy!" Jared easily scooped him up into a hug and placed a kiss on his little chubby cheek, "How's my boy?" Dallas giggled and squirmed as Jared tickled him, "Daddy stop! I'm gonna pee on you!" Sadie stood quietly by wagging her tail and waiting on her head rub. With one last kiss on the cheek, Jared sat Dallas on the ground and gave Sadie her ear scratch, "And how's my good girl?", he said in almost baby talk to his oldest family member. Sadie wagged her whole body and licked Jared's hand in response. He talked to her for a few seconds before he stood to his full height and his eyes fell on his wife.
Thalia stood behind the counter and watched her husband greet his little family. When their eyes met she felt that usual thrill shoot through her. She hoped that that feeling never went away. With a grace reserved for men with really long legs, Jared strode toward his wife. She smiled up at him as he stopped in front of her and pulled her gently into his arms. His mouth found hers and his tongue slid easily along her bottom lip. His large hands rested on her hips for the moments that he claimed her mouth with his own. When he broke the kiss he knelt before her and placed another kiss on her ever expanding stomach. He remembered when he found out that his wife was blessing him with another child. He never failed to count his blessings since she had come into his life.
Thalia had handed him the pregnancy test just one month after Dallas turned a year old. Jared had been as overjoyed this time as he had been when she told him about Dallas. Last week's sonogram had told them that they would be having a little girl this time. Jared was both nervous and over the moon to realize that he would now have his own daughter. "I just got a text from Tiara. They want us to come for supper at their place tomorrow night." Jared stood up after talking quietly to Thalia's stomach and in doing so also to their daughter, and was now leaning against the kitchen counter with his wife's supple body pulled against his much firmer one. "Sounds good. What's for supper?", he asked looking over at the still beeping stove. "Oh shit!", Thalia screeched as she pulled away from her husband and quickly opened the stove and pulled out the only slightly overcooked lasagna.
"Extra brown lasagna?", she said with a shrug. Jared laughed quietly, his eyes sparkling with mischief and nodded, "I'll get the plates." Thalia placed the lasagna on the kitchen table on some hot mats and then picked Dallas up to put him in his high chair. She scooped a little of the lasagna out and cut it up into small bite size pieces to lay aside to cool. She then handed Dallas a handful of his favorite apple bites to nibble on until his supper was cool enough to eat. Jared placed the rest of the plates on the table and grabbed himself a beer and Thalia a glass of sweet tea with lemon slices. When the family sat to eat Thalia looked toward her husband. She would never get over how handsome he was and just how much Dallas looked like him.
"So how was filming today?", she asked as Jared blew on the bite of lasagna he had on his fork. He lowered it just a little and looked to his wife, "Well I just found out that this season they're going to require me to lose some bulk. Sam will be going through some trials this year that will take a toll on his body." Thalia frowned, "I really don't want you doing anything dangerous Jared. It's not good for you to lose too much." She watched as he shook his mane of hair that had been lightened from the trips to the beach the two had taken this summer. His skin was tanned more than usual and his hair was a bit longer, which she loved. "I'll have a nutritionist work with me. I just won't be lifting weights quite as much as I have been in the past so that I lose some bulk in the muscle department." Thalia didn't really like the idea of Jared losing much weight with his height but she didn't say anymore.
Dallas had finished his apple bites and he was getting impatient for his lasagna. "Momma! Momma can I have my sagna now?" Thalia touched several pieces of the lasagna testing to see that it was cool enough for the little boy and then nodded, "Ok it's cool enough now. Don't eat it too fast baby.", she said not using baby talk with the small boy. Dallas nodded at her and then picked up his sippy cup to take a drink, "It's empty Momma.", he said when he tried in vain to get more of the tea. "I'll get it buddy. Hand it here.", Jared said as he stood from the table.
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The next night when Jared came home Thalia had a Ding Dong cake made and Dallas was ready to go to visit his friend. He and Ava Grayson had become fast friends and often asked their mom's if they could go to the other's house to play. On the days that Tiara needed to be at the studio, Thalia kept both children either at her own home or on some days the girls took their kids to the studio with them. There were times that they felt filming was safe enough for the kids to be around. Some days there were too many scary things but on others the kids were treated like royalty as they played among the adults who were either filming or somehow otherwise doing work on the Supernatural set.
"You ready?", Jared asked as he placed his hand on Thalia's hip while she had her back to him putting a few more things into a bag for Dallas. She turned and greeted him with a warm smile and a kiss, "Mmmmmhmmm just putting a few more things in here for Dallas. Ow!", she said suddenly and reached to place a hand on her abdomen where their little girl kicked her hard. "I think she knows her Daddy is home.", she said as she blew out a sharp breath. Jared smiled and placed a large hand on Thalia's stomach. The baby moved close to the warm hand but then stilled as Jared began to talk to her, "Hey sweet pea let's not be so rough on Momma."
After a few minutes everyone was ready and they piled into a black Suburban and let Clif drive them over to Jensen and Tiara's house. The ride there was not a long one and soon they were pulling into the driveway. Jared climbed from the vehicle and then reached to take Dallas into his arms. Holding out his hand he helped Thaila from the vehicle and then she turned back to get the cake and Dallas' bag. Jared rang the doorbell and waited. Soon Jensen threw the door open and Ava Grayson stood smiling up sweetly at his feet, "Come in!", she said in her sweet little girl voice. Jensen took the cake from Thalia and then reached to pull her into a brotherly hug, kissing the side of her head. "Uncle Jensen!", Dallas said as he reached for his "uncle" with his chubby little boy arms. Jensen took him and placed him on the opposite side from the cake and motioned for his friends to come in. "Come on in.", Jared picked up Ava Grayson, swinging her high into the air and he and Thalia followed Jensen into the house.
Tiara met the group in the living room. It was always so cozy with its warm colors and plush furniture. Tiara smiled at her friends, "I'm so glad you were able to come. Y'all have a seat!" Jared and Thalia sat close together on the love seat as Ava Grayson ran off into the other room. She came back a few seconds later and had something in her hand. "Look Uncle Jared! It's my new baby brother or sister!", she exclaimed in her two year old voice. Thalia's head shot up and her eyes went wide as she looked to her friend, "What?!" Tiara smiled and Jensen beamed, "Yep! We couldn't let you two get too far ahead of us!", he said.