A/N: soo here's the next chapter! Super sorry for the long delay! Life got in the way, between work and school, and well...life, it took a bit longer to post. So I do apologize. I think I got like one review on the last chapter, but maybe I can get some more? Pretty please?! With cherries on top? I'm gonna be working on the next chapter as soon as possible. So hopefully it won't take as long to get the next chapter posted. Cyber cookies for those that review! Any kind you want!

I would also like to thank my beta reader for any mistakes there were! Thank you hun! (Annamarie Joanne Lynnwood)

Please let me know what you think, good or bad! All reviews are greatly appreciated.

TriciaBean

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Chapter 9

On the way to the cemetery, Aaron had made a pit stop to get some flowers for Haley. Now they're on their way to see her. Aaron asks Penelope, "Penn, if you want, while we're out, we can stop, and you can say hi to your parents."

"Okay. But, daddy...can we see them later? When it's just me and you?" Penelope asked him.

"Of course, we can, that's not a problem." Aaron replied to her.

"Okay," Penelope answered.

Aaron pulled up to the cemetery, while Jessica grabbed the flowers, and helped get the kids out of the vehicle. Letting the older kids out, Jessica helped Spencer out of his booster while Aaron helped JJ out of hers.

They all walked up to Haley's grave, and Aaron split the flowers up for each kid to place in the vase. Letting the younger kids place theirs first, the oldest kids waited 'till last to place their flowers. JJ and Spencer both sat on the grass in front of their mom, Emily, Derek, and Penelope found places next to the twins. Emily spoke up and said, "I miss you mommy, so much."

After a few minutes of silence, Derek turned to Emily and asked, "Hey Em, remember that time when we were kids, and we snuck out of your bedroom window?"

Aaron looked down at Derek and asked, "You guys snuck out? When?"

"Yeah, we snuck out, it was a long time ago, you were away on your job." Derek answered his dad.

"I think so," Emily responded.

"You know, when we snuck out because we weren't done playing outside, and when mom fell asleep on the couch, we snuck out to finish playing, and when we went back to go inside, our bedroom window was shut," Derek told her, jogging her memory.

Now remembering that time, Emily replied, "Oh yeah, I remember now! We walked to the bedroom window and found it shut. That's when mom slammed the door open and yelled at us to get back inside. She was so mad."

"Yes, she really was," Derek replied, then looking from Emily, he glanced back down at his mom's grave stone.

Emily looked up at Derek, then at Penelope, and said, "I'm not sure if you remember this, Penn, but Derek you might. Remember that time when we were at the park way back when, and mom promised us that we would make cookies when we got home?"

"I think I know what you're talking about," Derek replied giving a smile.

"I don't! Tell me, please?" Penelope replied as she looked up at her older brother and sister.

Emily went on and said, "Mom promised us we would make cookies after we got home from the park, and when we got home mom was unlocking the door, and a pole fell over and hit her in the head."

"I remember that day, Derek called me at work, I came home and took your mother to the hospital to get checked out." Aaron told them as he also remembered that day.

JJ stood up of the ground and walked over to her dad and asked, "Daddy, what 'bout us?"

"You mean memories with your mommy?" Aaron asked her, as he picked her up.

"Uh huh," JJ responded.

"Come here Spence, and I'll tell you guys each a memory with your mommy." Aaron told Spencer. Having both twins on his lap, he got situated and started to share a memory with JJ about her with their mommy. "Well, from what your mommy told me, JJ, is that you were with your mommy and your Nana, and I'm not sure what exactly sure, but, your mommy took you to the bathroom, you were probably two. Anyways, she took you into the stall, and I guess someone else walked in, you asked your mommy if the lady was also going potty, she said yes, and when the lady left you said to the lady, 'You went potty by yourself, great job lady!' Aaron told her, chuckling to himself.

"I did?" JJ asked.

"Yes, you did. You little lady, embarrassed your mommy," Aaron confirmed.

"What bout me, daddy?" Spencer asked.

"You, little man, weren't quite yet a year old yet, but you were crawling, and you used to crawl over to a wall or a door, and just repeatedly hit your head. Your mommy would move you away from the wall or the door, and you would go right back to it. You were more of the calm one, especially out of all of you kids." Aaron told Spencer.

A few minutes later, Aaron had all the kids rounded up and they all headed back towards the car. Aaron put the car in drive and headed back to the house. Once they got to the house, they all walked in, Aaron told Derek and Emily to help him with preparing lunch while the three younger kids went and did their own thing up in the playroom.

Jessica had left to go run some errands before watching the kids that night.

"Derek, Emily, you two can help prepare for lunch," Aaron told them as he got a box of mac n cheese, and peas out of the pantry, and a package of hotdogs out of the fridge.

"Okay," They both replied.

Aaron supervised both kids, helping them when they needed it. They got plates out and prepared everyone's plates. All the kids, and Aaron, sat at the table and ate their lunches quietly. Once the kids got done eating their lunches about fifteen minutes later, Aaron had Derek, and Emily clean up, while he took the twins upstairs to their rooms, so they could take their naps. Penelope went off to the living room to go and color.

"Derek, I'm sorry about last night, for putting that gunk on your pillow," Emily told him as she was loading up the dishes in the dishwasher as Derek handed her the rinsed off plates.

"I'm sorry for catching your hair on fire. Call it even? I'll forgive you, if you can forgive me," Derek answered his sister as he handed her the last plate and grabbed a washcloth to go was the table off.

"Yeah, I forgive you. We can call it even." Emily answered her brother, adding the soap to the dishwasher, and closing it up, starting it.

A few minutes of silence passes, Emily, and Derek headed up to their rooms. "Derek? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Emily asks, before they both walk into their own rooms.

Derek follows Emily into her room, "What's up Em'?"

"Dad's going out tonight, with Uncle Dave. Do you think daddy will find someone while he's out with Uncle Dave?" Emily asked, with a worry look on her face.

Derek sat on Emily's bed, as Emily sat on Penelope's bed and replied, "Em', I don't think he will. I believe it's just guys night tonight."

"Okay," Emily replied with a big sigh.

"Besides, I don't think dad's even ready to even go out on a date yet. Everything will be fine." Derek continued.

"Alright. Thanks Derek, I'm not ready for daddy to be dating anyone." Emily told him.

"Whether or not we are ready for dad to date, isn't up to us. It's up to him on when he's ready. But I do know, that he won't date anyone that none of us kids won't like. We would have to be comfortable with the woman that dad dates." Derek told her, trying to make her feel better.

"Okay. I guess I just miss mommy, and I don't want anyone to replace her." replied Emily while holding back her tears.

"It'll be okay. Nobody will replace her, I promise, and dad will make sure that we know that the lady he dates isn't replacing mom." Derek told her, as he walked over to her pulled her up off the bed and gave her a big hug. "Now, I'm going back to my room, before dad comes in to one of our rooms and finds us together. Everything will be okay."

Emily hugged her brother back and nodded against his chest. Derek walked out of her room and headed for his bedroom.

A couple hours later, Aaron is finishing up getting ready to go have a guy's night out with Dave. walking into the living room Aaron sits on the couch and gets his socks and shoes on. A few seconds later, the doorbell rings, and Aaron goes and answers it.

Opening the door, it revealed Jessica standing on the other side. "Hey Jess, come on in."

Aaron lead Jessica into the living room. "The twins took about a two hour nap this afternoon after lunch. Derek and Emily are up in their rooms, they may come down for movie night tonight, they've been pretty good this afternoon. You can just order pizza tonight for dinner. If for some reason they're all misbehaving, just go ahead and send them to bed early."

"Alright, I'm sure it'll be fine. How late are they allowed to be up? Regular bedtime?" Jessica asked her brother in law as she sat on the couch.

"They all can stay up till nine, the younger three they can go to bed earlier if their acting all crabby." Aaron answered her.

"Sounds good," Jessica told him.

A few minutes later, Aaron had all the kids downstairs in the living room. "Alright kids, Jessica is here, she's in charge. I want you kids to listen to her, and you all better be on your best behavior."

All the kids replied saying yes, and yes daddy. A short time later the doorbell rang, Aaron went to answer the door, and see Dave standing on the other side of it. "Hey Dave, come on in, just about ready."

Dave walked in behind Aaron while shutting the door behind him. "Okay kids, I'm heading out, and you all better behave. I better not get a phone call while I'm out." Aaron told them, as he walked over to the kids and gave them each a hug and kiss goodbye.

Getting into Dave's vehicle, they both take off and heads towards town. "So, where are we heading tonight?" Aaron asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I was thinking we could head over to Ned's," Dave answered as he headed in the direction of Ned's Corner Pub.

"Sounds good to me," Aaron replied.

"How's the kid's doing?" Dave asked Aaron, as he took a left turn down S. Main Street.

"Well, their good. Had an incident with the oldest two, Derek decided to jokingly set Emily's hair on fire, and succeeding. Then Emily decided to pay Derek back by putting a bunch of gunk on his pillow that night, while bringing Penelope into it." Aaron replied, recalling everything that the older two did to each other.

"Alrighty then. Why in the world did Derek think it was okay for him to do that? That's got to be the stupidest thing to ever do. Especially to his sister." Dave told him, giving him his own input.

"Your telling me. I have no idea what got into him. Or Emily for that matter." Aaron told him.

Dave pulled into the parking lot of Ned's Corner Pub, and quickly found a parking spot. They both got out of the vehicle and walked into the bar, ready to get their guys night going.

Both Dave and Aaron walked into the bar side, and headed towards a table towards the back of the room. They each ordered a beer and a tenderloin and fries for Aaron and a bacon cheeseburger and onion rings for Dave.

"So, Aaron, any thought to that dating we talked about the other day?" Dave asked as he took a drink of his beer.

Giving a shake of his head, Aaron responded, "Well, no not really. I'm not sure Dave."

"Well, let's take it one step at a time, like let's see if we can find someone for you. Or better yet, what if I can find someone for you, that loves kids, and will be flexible, especially with our work schedule. Someone that is understanding and will be by your side." Dave told Aaron.

Before Aaron could respond, their food had arrived, which gave Aaron a few minutes to think about his reply to Dave before he could answer. "Alright, I'll give you that, if, and I mean if, you can find someone, then I'll give it a shot. But, after that, we'll drop it. If it doesn't work out. Do we have a deal?"

"Sounds good. It's a deal Aaron." Dave told him, taking a bite of his burger.

"Good," Aaron told him, with a slight chuckle, and a shake of his head. "You and Erin thinking about having any kids?"

"We're thinking about it. Might adopt though," Dave answered him.

Taking a sip of his beer, Aaron said, "Well, you guys can adopt my kids. They're definitely causing trouble lately. Especially the oldest two."

"That's quite alright. You'll end up missing them anyways." Dave told him with a smirk on his face.

"This is true. As much as they can be brats sometimes, I would miss them." Aaron confirmed to Dave.

Shaking his head in agreement, Dave responded, "This is very true."

Both guys received their meals, and ate in silence. A few minutes later, Dave says, "I think I know just the person. But, I'll have to talk with Erin first."

"Really Dave? Your gonna mention something without even telling me anything? That's not nice." Aaron told him with a smirk on his face as he shook his head at Dave.

Couple hours later…

A few hours later, both Dave and Aaron are driving home from Ned's. Dave pulls into Aaron's driveway and says, "We need to recruit more guys for guys night, but, this has been fun. Need to get you out of the house more often."

Laughing, Aaron says, "Yes we do Dave, and it was fun. We'll get together again soon. I need to head and make sure the kids didn't give Jessica too much of a hard time tonight."

Aaron got out of the vehicle, and went inside his house after waving bye to Dave as he pulled back out of the drive. As he walked in, he seen Jessica laying on the couch asleep. He walked over and lightly shook her shoulder to wake her. "Jessica, it's Aaron, I'm home."

Jessica woke up, and sat up and said, "Oh, sorry Aaron, I didn't realize I had passed out. Must have been more tired than I thought."

"It's alright, you can stay if you want if your too tired to drive home." Aaron suggested to her.

"Thanks Aaron, but I'll be alright." Jessica told him. "The kids were good, Derek and Emily were up on their rooms, no arguments from them. The younger three were good, they all behaved well. It was a quiet night. Emily and Derek did come down to watch a movie, but they were good."

"That's good, I'm glad to hear that," Aaron told her as he followed her to the door, "You be careful heading home."

"I will, good night Aaron," Jessica told him as she headed towards her car.

Making the front door was locked, Aaron made sure the back door was locked, and headed up the stairs. Going up to check on his oldest, Aaron opens the door ajar and peeks in, checking on Derek. Then he goes and does the same to his other children. Feeling satisfied that all his kids were in bed asleep, he walked into his bedroom got ready for bed and climbed in and fell asleep himself.

TBC….

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Thanks for reading, and PLEASE don't forget to review! Cyber cookies for those who do!

All criticism are welcome (although I do prefer good reviews though, but all are welcome!)

TriciaBean