Harley and the Mole

Part Four

He knew that he shouldn't tease his big brother, he knew that it made Cameron mad, and he knew that his Mom would be very upset with him, but he couldn't help himself. His older brother was always so quiet. He would rather sit outside in the cold and talk to Francis than go up to the playroom and play with him and Harley. Cameron liked trains, and books, and watching his Daddy work on his motorcycle; he didn't like playing army or sports with him. All his friends in daycare who had older brothers and sisters told Jake about how their siblings would play with them, but his brother wouldn't. So, if Cam wouldn't play, Jake made sure he did at least one thing with him, even if it was fighting. Besides, it was fun to fight with his big brother.

Cameron always got mad and would yell and stomp his feet, and his face would turn a silly color of red that would make Jake giggle. When he got angry, he reminded him of their Mom. She did the same things when she was mad at his Daddy, but, for some reason, unlike his brother, his Mom didn't stay mad at his Dad for very long. Somehow, his Dad would make her smile again or laugh, and then they'd kiss and make up, and everything would go back to normal. It was gross, but his parents seemed to like it, so he didn't cry about it too much. But Cam, he stayed mad for a really, really long time. It wasn't that Jake wanted to kiss him to make everything better, because kissing was nasty, and slobbery, and only girls liked it, but he just wished that his brother played with him more.

So that's why he was determined to get his Mommy and Daddy to give him a little brother for his birthday. He would be turning four in May, so Jake felt that he was old enough to be a big brother - a much better one than Cam was. He would always play with the baby, sharing his toys and even letting him pet Harley sometimes, too. They could make pud pies together after it rained and throw them at the little neighbor girls, they could use his walkie-talkies to spy on Cameron together, and he would even share the candy that he took from his big brother with the baby. If Cam would only ever offer to share with him, then Jake and Harley wouldn't be forced to sneak his away from him, but he never did. Lucky for the baby he wanted for his birthday, Jake wouldn't be that mean to his little brother. Nope, he would be the bestest big brother in the whole world... just as long as his Mommy and Daddy didn't give him a little sister.

He wanted nothing to do with a baby sister. What would he do with one of them? They'd only want to play dress up or have tea parties, and he knew that guys didn't drink tea. Francis had told him. He had said that men had to drink coffee, because it put hair on their chests, and women drank tea because it didn't. Well, he wanted hair on his chest, and, even when he got some, tea cups were always pink or purple, and those were girly colors. He hated girly colors. But he knew that he didn't have to worry about it. If he asked his parents for a baby brother,then that is what they would get for him. There were only two girls he actually liked - his Mommy, because you have to like your Mom, even love them, and Harley, because she was just cool. She kept his feet warm at night by sleeping on them, and she always clawed Cameron for being mean to him. All the other girls could just go to Puerto Rico.

Although Jake had never been there, he knew it was a bad place. He hated Puerto Rico, because his Daddy had to go there a lot, and, when his Daddy went away, he didn't get to see him. His Mom became sad, Francis wasn't as fun, because he was always so serious, Cameron was even more grumpy than usual, and the worst part was that his Dad wasn't there to tuck him in at night. Instead, his Mom did, and she wasn't as good at reading travel books to him as his Dad was. Whenever she read to him about places far away, places that he couldn't even say, she always fell asleep before he did, and that's just not how bedtime stories were supposed to be. Plus, his Dad always said how much he hated to go to Puerto Rico and how he always couldn't wait to come home when he was talking to him on the phone, so Jake figured it was a pretty bad place, so all the girls he didn't like could go there and stay there - forever!

His Daddy wasn't in Puerto Rico that night, but he still wasn't there to tuck him in yet. His Mom had told him that he wouldn't be home in time, but he wasn't giving up hope until she came in to read to him. Instead, he and Harley were sitting up in bed, quietly waiting for someone to arrive with a book in hand. Occasionally, he would sneak one of the candy hearts he had hidden underneath his sheets. Some of them he ate himself, and some of them he gave to Harley even though she only licked them and then turned away. Those he would eat, too, even though they had cat drool on them. After a couple of seconds in his mouth, though, all he could taste was the candy, so he didn't care. When he wasn't eating the candy, he was fidgeting, tapping his foot and biting his lip, trying to fight the fact that he was getting sleepy.

It was past his bedtime. Normally, he had already been tucked in at that time of night, but, with his Daddy working and his Mommy acting goofy, Jake just figured one of them would get there soon. Well, that was if his Mom didn't fall asleep first. She was always tired. Daddy said it was because she worked hard at the hospital and then she worked hard later when she came home, cleaning the house, washing their clothes, and cooking dinner. He tried to help her though. So she wouldn't have to work as hard, he would hide his dirty clothes under his bed so she wouldn't have to wash them, and he would let Harley lick his plate clean at night so she wouldn't have to wash his dishes, but, even with his help lately, she was even tireder than normal... which was really tired.

That afternoon, she had fallen asleep in the car on the way home from the hospital. Cameron hadn't noticed, because he was too busy doing his homework, but Jake had been playing with his matchbox cars, running them all over the seats and up and down his Mom's arms when she had started snoring. He didn't wake her though. It was funny watching her snore, because he never knew when she would make the silly noises that came from her nose. So, he would watch her, and every time she snored, he would jump and giggle. It had been fun, and, when they got home, he had been mad at Francis for waking her.

Then, later, when she was folding laundry and watching some boring grown up show on TV, she had rolled into a ball and taken a nap on the couch. Instead of watching her snore though, he had gone into the kitchen and found the secret, hidden cookie stash, eating as many as he could until his tummy was full. Harley didn't eat her cookie that he gave her, so he had given it to Cameron. Just the thought of his big brother eating a cookie his cat had licked made Jake giggle, and, when he started to giggle, Harley licked his bare toes in response. That tickled him, so he only started laughing even harder, and, before he knew it, he was laughing so hard, he had tears running down his face and his belly hurt.

"And what's so funny?"

Instantly, he stopped, turning towards his Mother's voice in the doorway and grinning impishly at her. While he spoke, he made sure that all his candy was well hidden underneath his sheets. He didn't need her to find them, because, then, she'd take them away, eat them herself, and make him brush his teeth... again... and he HATED brushing his teeth. The toothpaste was yucky, Harley would scratch him when he tried to hold her mouth open long enough to brush her teeth with his toothbrush, too, and it was boring just standing there in the bathroom in front of the mirror. He couldn't even make silly faces because he couldn't move his mouth or all the toothpaste would fall out. Though he did enjoy spitting it out, and he and Cameron would always try to see who could get the most foam.

"Harley was tickling me."

"Oh, she was, was she? Well," his Mom teased him as she slipped into his room and sat down beside him on his big boy bed, "maybe she shouldn't sleep in here anymore if she's going to keep you awake."

"She was just helping me wait for you. She knew that you still had to come in to kiss me goodnight and read me my bedtime story."

"That's because she's a smart cat." Jake nodded his head so hard in agreement, he made himself dizzy and started chuckling again. "Okay, enough of that," his mother instructed him, pulling up the blankets and, without any words, telling him to slide down so that he was laying flat on his back. "You need to get to sleep, because, otherwise, you're going to be grumpy in the morning."

"Nuh uh," he argued with her. "Cam's the grumpy one."

"Actually, he never fights me in the mornings when it's time to get up. He likes getting up early like your Daddy. You, My Little Pumpkin," she told him, bending down to kiss his blonde hair, "are the one I have to wake up about five times every day. You're just like me. I hate getting up in the morning, too."

"Mommy, don't!"

"Don't what?"

"Don't call me your Little Pumpkin. That's a girly name," the three and half year old protested.

"You know, when you were born, I called you that, and your Dad wrinkled his face just like you did there, and I knew that he hated the nickname. I promised him that I would quit calling you that before you could remember it, but I can't help it. You'll always be My Little Pumpkin."

"Couldn't I be your Big, Tough Soldier or your Strong and Scary Monster," he asked pleadingly. "Those are cooler names, Mommy."

"Yeah, but they're not as cute."

"Yuck," Jake protested, sticking out his tongue and blowing a raspberry to make her understand just how much he hated both his nickname and that word. "Cute is for girls. I'm manly... like Daddy."

"Yes, you are," she agreed, ruffling his hair before turning out his bedside lamp. "But, now, my big, tough, strong, scary, manly son, it's time for bed. Get comfortable so I can start reading to you."

"Hey Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Is Dad going to be home soon?"

"I don't know," his mother answered, thinking about her response before she said it. "I haven't talked to him since this morning, but he told me then that he'd be late tonight, too late," she added meeting his gaze in the shadowed dark thanks to his nightlight, "for him to read you your bedtime story."

"But Harley likes when he reads to us," the child protested. "He doesn't fall asleep like you do."

"Well, Harley, I like it, too, when Jake's Daddy reads to me, but what if we don't read from a travel book tonight," she suggested. "What if I just tell you a story instead. Would you and Harley like that, Jake?"

Before replying, he thought about her idea. His Dad's stories were always cooler than his Mom's He would tell them about motorcycle rides or how to play pool or sometimes even about the fights Francis and Max and Milo and the other guards got into when they were arguing. They were always stories for boys, and he never told them about girly things. But, when his Mom told them a story, she often told him about things from when he was little, embarrassing stuff that made him look like a baby, but she never fell asleep when she was telling a story, so it was better than her reading to them.

"Okay," he finally agreed. "But make sure it's not boring. Make sure it's exciting... like something Indiana Jones would do or John McClaine."

His Mom rolled her eyes. "I really need to make you stop watching movies with Francis, but, for now, I'll see what I can do with this story." For a few minutes she was quiet while she thought of a tale to tell him. "Did your Daddy or I ever tell you about when the Metro Court exploded?"

"Really," Jake became excited, so much so that he tried to sit up but she pushed on his shoulders gently to get him to lay back down, "like a real bomb? No, I haven't heard that one. Please, tell me about it, Mommy. Please!"

"Alright, well, it was quite a few years ago. In fact, you weren't even born yet. You were in my tummy still, and I was at the hotel for a party. Sonny, Carly, and Nikolas were there, and your Aunt Emily was still alive then, too, but, before the party could start, bad men came into the building and wouldn't let us leave."

"How many bad men?"

"Hey, now," his mother warned him. "You can't interrupt me. You know the deal. When it's bedtime, I talk and you have to listen. Otherwise, you won't fall asleep."

"Sorry, Mommy," he quickly apologized, eager for her to continue.

"Well, to answer your question, there were quite a few bad men, but their leader was the meanest. We couldn't see who they were, because they had on masks, but, eventually, they started to hurt people. That's when you decided it would be a good time to be born, but it was too early, and I was scared that if I had you, you'd be sick, and there would be no one there to help you get better. So, I talked to you, I drank a lot water, and people tried to keep me as calm as possible so that you would settle down and go back to sleep in my tummy. It didn't help; nothing really helped, and, then, the bad men got angry and decided to blow up the building. Just when it was about to explode, out of nowhere, your Daddy comes in, picks me up, and whisks me off to an elevator. All around us, the building exploded, but we were safe, and, because I was with your Daddy, you calmed down and went right to sleep."

"So Daddy saved you; he was your hero?"

"Your Dad has always been my hero," she confessed, smiling brightly at the idea.

Yawning, Jake admitted, "he's mine, and Cameron's, and Francis', and Harley's, and my little brother's hero, too."

Despite the fact that he was ready to fall asleep, he could hear the weird sound in his Mom's voice when she asked, "what do you mean? What little brother?"

"The one I want for my birthday," the three and half year old answered on a whisper before finally dozing off. His last thought was that maybe his Mommy was cooler than he thought; maybe, just maybe, she was an even better storyteller than his Dad.

... but probably not, because she was still a girl.