July 5th, 2023
Summer was a ridiculous time of year for Noah. It was some of the busiest for him and his boys. Nine years ago, Noah decided to expand his pool cleaning business into a legit business with a business proposal and all. Over the years, it evolved into a lawn and Garden business with five offices around Ohio. Him and his team were high sought after. Granted, during the winter months it started to get slow, but that when he bought the snow plows.
"Lunch, Mr. Puckerman?" Edelle, his secretary asked, Noah shook his head double checking he had his wallet.
"Meeting the old lady and the kids. I'll be back in a couple of hours. Any problems go to Jeff." Noah shut his phone off as he went out into the bright sunlight. Ahh, he loved Summer. He got so dark this time of year with all the work he did outside. Noah walked down the street to the family's meeting spot. Only two of his kids stood there. "Uh, where's your mother?" His eight year old son pointed across the street.
"Erica had to pee really bad." James said rolling his eyes.
"She almost peed her pants and that would have been disgusting." Kelsey grimaced. Noah chuckled kissing the top of his five year old's head.
"Come on. Let's go across the street." Noah grabbed his daughter's hand. James was too cool to be helped across the street. Noah couldn't blame him. He had been a rebel at that age too.
"Daddy!" Erica screamed when she saw Noah. She ran right into his arms and hugged him tightly, "I missed you."
"I missed you too. Hi, Mommy." Noah leaned over and kissed Lauren as soon as she came from the store.
"Squirt over there almost didn't make it in time." She said. Erica frowned.
"I'm no squirt." She pouted.
"Fine. Then you're a shrimp." Lauren said giving her a little tickle. "Lunch and back to the office?" Noah nodded.
"As always." He said. He knew Lauren had to make sure. Noah hadn't been this calm and relaxed always.
When Noah started expanding the business, Lauren and he got married and had James, Life for him got very stressful. He didn't admit it to anyone but his friend Jack Daniels. Everyday, he'd have a glass. Soon, he'd have a glass with every meal. Soon, that one glass turned into four. He lied to Lauren about where he was going every night. He couldn't tell her he was going to the bar. Noah would get behind the wheel and drive to his office completely obliterated to sleep it off before he came home. There was one point where their marriage almost ended because of it.
Lauren was pregnant with Erica at the time. She knew what was going on with her husband. She wasn't an idiot. Five years of Noah drinking had really almost been enough. One night, She had been calling Noah's office several times for him to come home. Both James and Kelsey had the chicken pox and she needed help being seven months pregnant, she was tired.
She had had enough when his voice mail picked up for the seventh time. Lauren put both sick children into the car and drove around looking for her husband. She would kill him. She knew she could do it if he pushed her that far. Lauren was still as strong as she was in high school and she hoped Noah remembered that. She would protect her children by whatever means necessary. Sure she loved the man, but her kids came first. Lauren slowed her car down in front of McFibber's Pub when she saw her husband in the window. She double parked and glanced at the kids. Sound asleep. So then this meant war. As soon as Noah saw his wife come into the pub, he knew he was in trouble.
"Noah Puckerman, get out here right now." She hissed. Noah stared at her. He had never seen so much hatred in Lauren's eyes before. He stumbled off of the bar stool and weaved his way over to the woman. A few men snickered at him.
"Poor fool." One laughed.
"Shut the fuck up. Your wife will be here soon enough." Lauren hissed as she pushed her husband out the door. "What is going through your mind right now, Noah?"
"You're looking pretty pretty." He chuckled.
"Why are you here, Noah, when we have two ill children at home?" Lauren asked. Noah shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know. I needed to be here." He said. Lauren's eyes widened.
"Where you needed to be was home, being a fucking father." Lauren hissed.
"Get off my back, Woman!" Noah snapped.
"What!" Lauren growled. Even in his drunken stooper, Noah knew he crossed the line.
"Never mind. I'll come home." He said going towards the car, but Lauren stood in front of him, "What?"
"I've had enough you coming home smelling like a bar. I've had enough of my husband being half a man." Lauren hissed.
"I don't drink that much, Lauren." Noah rolled his eyes. She arched her eyebrow.
"You're kidding yourself, Noah. You need to stop this. You need to quit this drinking or you're going to lose all of us." Lauren looked at their car. The kids were still sound asleep.
"What do you mean? How would I lose you guys?" Noah didn't understand what she was talking about. Lauren licked her lips.
"You have to choose. Drinking or us. We will leave you and not look back." She said. He had to stop or he would have no family left. That is all that it took. He hadn't known how much it was affecting his family. Now that he was three years sober, he could see it. Every day was a struggle. He still thought about having a drink, but he knew what would happen. He would lose his business. He would lose his family and friends.
"What are you ordering?" Lauren asked looking through her menu.
"Steak, duh." Noah said putting his menu down. James put his down as well.
"Me too. It'll put hair on my chest." He said. Lauren laughed.
"Just what the world needs." She said watching Kelsey begin to make spit balls to spit at her brother. She had a couple of animals on her hands. Erica was the angel and princess. She doesn't know how she gave birth to a girl like that.
"When school starts, I want to try out for the football team, okay?" James asked, "When I go to high school, I'll be better than you, Dad."
"Fat chance, Buddy." Noah rolled his eyes as the waitress came over to their table, "Hey, I'll take a 16oz new York. Medium well. Little man over here will take, the 8oz. Same way. Oh, I'll have another sprite too. Big Momma?" Lauren shot him a look.
"I'll take the stuffed chicken and the baby will get the Mac and cheese. And this one wants the hot dog." She said handing the waitress all their menus.
"I have a name." Kelsey said.
"Don't be rude." Lauren said. She gave her children a lot of freedoms. She was the cool mom after all. Their house was the house all the kids wanted to go to after school, but Lauren and Noah were both strict on manners. They must say please and thank you and respect their elders. Kelsey was the one out of their kids that struggled with her attitude. At five years old, she was almost impossible. When she becomes a teenager, they knew they'd have their hands full.
"So, tell me how your day has been going." Noah said shooting Kelsey a look when he noticed the spitball situation. "James, go."
"Me and Cal skateboarded to that empty building downtown and found a dead cat. It was cool." James nodded.
"Wow. Okay. That's gnarly." Noah said looking towards his elder daughter, "Kelsey, what have you been doing all day?"
"It's like one o'clock." She said looking at him as if he had ten heads.
"Okay, Miss Puckerman, what have you been doing these first thirteen hours of the day?" He asked. Boy, she was a lot like her mother. Hell, she was a lot like him as well.
"Well, I got sent to my room for breaking Erica's crayons, so that's pretty much it." Kelsey said picking up her water and sipping it.
"Erica, sweetie, what did you do today?" He asked his three year old.
"Colored and cried." She said frowning looking at Kelsey remembering her broken crayons. Lauren looked at her husband and shrugged.
"This is what I had to deal with today. School vacation can't get here enough. Working 40 hours isn't enough either." She said.
"Hey, If you want to work 80, 40 at your job and 40 at my job, I'll stay home with kids." Noah said.
"That'd be sick." James nodded, "We'd like totally rock out. Drums out 24/7. Red bull. Lickamade."
"You've never had redbull." Lauren said, "Right?"
"Right." James frowned. Lauren leaned forward looking at her husband.
"You know, I've actually been thinking, We should drop the kids off at my mothers and then go away for the weekend." She said. A smile spread across Noah's face.
"Just me and you?" He asked.
"Just me and you." She said tucking her dark hair behind her ears. James grimaced. He knew what his parents were talking about and he hated the thought. Adults shouldn't be lovey dovey.
"I will see what I can book. I could use a weekend away from work." Noah said. He couldn't remember the last time just the two of them went away for the weekend. It was probably before James was born eight years ago. It would do their marriage some good to have some alone time. Plus, he knew what that meant. A weekend away with his wife alone would mean a lot of sex. Noah liked that.