Double Life

Disclaimer: Don't own Wendell and Vinnie, don't own iCarly

A/N:

Chapter 25 (Day at the Zoo)

"Why is your dad here again?" Lacy asked as she and Wendell moved through the crowded pathways of the LA city zoo. Spencer moved behind them, smirking at the two. It was Wendell's first date, which was pleasantly at the end of school. Monday the 27th of May. Almost two weeks after their visit to the cemetery.

Things settled down for the most part, Spencer was still waiting for everything to settle in his new antique store. It would be another four or five weeks before renovations were finished and they'd be able to open their doors. Even after that, Spencer would have to wait to buy a family home, considering he didn't have a whole lot of money, and he wasn't about to ask Wilma for help because he was almost positive she'd turn him down.

This meant, unfortunately, no family home for at least a few months.

"Dad wants to chaperone, besides, neither of us can drive." He couldn't help himself, he was a concerned father. Then again, Taryn asked that he be sure to stick close. Why? He wasn't sure, maybe she was concerned Lacy might be a bad influence.

"Hey not chaperoning you kids would mean leaving you two alone together. Leaving you two alone together would mean, well, leaving you two alone. Someone's got to make sure you're not out causing trouble in the zoo. Besides, a good parent doesn't let their kid run off unsupervised."

Wendell folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at him, "Taryn made you, didn't she?" Spencer chuckled nervously and Wendell looked back to Lacy. "Yep, she did." Lacy laughed and continued walking. Wendell picked up the pace and walked in stride with Lacy. "Taryn's been acting like a mom for a long time now. I know it's only been a few weeks since they've been dating, but they've been together for long enough. I'd like her to be my mom. Carly would too."

Spencer was attuned to the conversation and a little surprised to hear Wendell say such a thing. It was relatively soon dating wise, but his feelings for her were strong. They already discussed feelings for one another and acknowledged these feelings were there. Taryn was truly the first woman he felt this comfortable with.

Lacy glanced at him and raised her eyebrows, "I was wondering is that creepy guy still at the meetings? Wendell was telling me there was a creepy guy there."

"Yes he's there." He wasn't exactly thrilled Wendell talked to Lacy about it, but he wasn't overly concerned. Wendell knew not to go telling people about the meetings or the people in them, but he could make an exception for Lacy since she was such a good friend.

"What about the other creepy guy? Wendell said you said there was a new guy there that was creepy too?"

"Oh yeah, he's still there too." Nate had been present for the other meetings, and even functions the group had together. He was always wearing the jacket and the shades, and usually sat near Chuck. The kid would stare at him sometimes for the entire session. "There's not much else to say about the kid, he comes and talks very little." Not to mention when he did talk, he sounded highly familiar. "Interesting concept is, it looks like this kid's almost stalking the other guy."

As far as stalking went, Taryn still hadn't gone to a lawyer about Chuck. Sure he didn't appear to be doing anything, but Spencer just didn't feel comfortable with the man. "Enough about this, you two have fun and stop worrying about those meetings." The two shrugged and glanced around. Immediately Lacy grabbed Wendell's wrist and pulled him over to a window looking into a den for lions.

"Look at these guys, Wendell." Wendell gazed in awe of the majestic beasts. Spencer leaned against a nearby pole and crossed his arms, watching the lions closely inside. In the corner of his eyes, he saw a restaurant with a neon sign advertising Coors. He looked away with a chuckle. Had it been a month or two ago, he might let Wendell and Lacy run off just so he could have a beer, but he was more responsible than that for now. Not to mention, if he did do something like that, Taryn would have his head.

What was funny, when it came to Taryn, Wilma said the two of them had been dating whether they were aware of it or not. She could have a point, they knew each other extremely well and their relationship they always counted as having begun that day they first said hello in the apartment hallway. They rarely considered themselves as dating only a couple weeks. People who dated a few weeks weren't genuinely in love with one another the way they were, they didn't act like a parent for the other person's children or care about the family in such a tremendous way. They weren't there the way Taryn was there for them. So yes, Wilma had a good, strong point, and he wasn't one to throw 'love' around freely, it took a lot for him.

Just as he was thinking of her, his phone chimed with a text from Taryn. He smiled as he read it over, she was asking how Wendell and Lacy were doing and if they were having fun at the zoo. She was working at the clinic, so she'd been unable to join them. "They're having fun," he text back, "looking at the lions now." His lip turned up in a cocky smirk and his fingers worked the buttons on the phone. "I wonder if I should send them in to pet the lions?"

It didn't take long for her to reply, rather angrily, that she'd have to skin him alive if he put his son in with lions. He glanced up to see Wendell and Lacy moving to a small fenced area with hippos. "They're with the hippos now, I might take them to the petting area, it isn't far from here."

"Hey dad, look at this one!" Wendell called out. Spencer moved over and looked towards the hippo he was pointing at. It was an extremely large hippo laying on its back in the mud. "Have you ever seen a hippo on its back before?"

"Can't say that I have."

Lacy pointed towards a corner and cleared her throat, "What are those two doing?" He moved his gaze to the back corner of the pin to see one hippo starting to climb on top of another. His eyes widened and he quickly turned Wendell and Lacy away.

"Nothing, they're just playing hippo games I think. Let's go see the monkeys!" The two kids protested as he pushed them towards the monkey cage nearby. Wendell said something about a lemur, then ran off with Lacy to the cage next to the monkeys. He put his hands to his hips and looked towards a monkey swinging from the branch of the tree. He chuckled and shook his heads. "Monkeys get no love."

He checked his phone once more to see Taryn respond to the petting area idea. She thought it'd be a fun idea to take them there. He pushed the phone back into his pocket and started after the kids. "You guys want to go to the petting area?" It was usually fun for all ages, not according to the typical stereotype. Wendell and Lacy grinned and he gestured for them to follow.

When they made it to the pen, the two kids rushed in without hesitation. There were a couple goats, sheep, chicken, and some hogs. Spencer hung on the outside and leaned over the fence, watching as Wendell and Lacy started combing their fingers through a sheep's wool. He was delighted to see such a happy expression on Wendell's face.

"Bassett?" He stiffened at the familiar voice and turned his head over his shoulder. Chuck was standing in zoo uniform, staring in shock at Spencer. "Well I'm amazed to see you out here. Here with the family?"

"My kid's on his first date. What are you doing here?" He prayed the guy wasn't taking up stalking him. Then again, Chuck was wearing a white apron over a shirt and a round cap on his head.

"I work here. Concession. It's just a temporary job." Chuck crossed his arms and looked to the pen. "I am in between jobs. Got a little drunk on the last job, so they laid me off. Figured I'd get a temp here, less likely to take to the booze." Spencer rolled his eyes and returned his attention to Wendell. A goat was sniffing his neck, causing him to laugh as Lacy teased him. "Your boy?"

"Yep. He's a good kid, I'm proud of him. It's funny how the past catches up with us, Chuck."

"What do you mean?" Did he want to tell him about Freddie? Where was the sense in that? As for the past catching up, he was referring to the fact that he and Chuck ever crossed paths. "Anyhow, if your kids get hungry, I'm assisting at the hamburger stand just over there." He pointed to a stand where another man was prepping food for service.

Spencer looked over and sighed. He felt a breeze shoot past him and bowed his head. "Chuck. You're trying to be friendly. I get that. I don't know if it's an attempt to get close to Taryn or what, but I'm going to be honest here. I do not like you, and I do not think it's a possibility for me to like you." He turned to Chuck and leaned his elbow against the fence. The man frowned and lifted his shoulders.

"I get that. I'm a lot better when I'm sober, you know. I admit sometimes I'm drunk when I go to the meetings, it's been hard for me to quit."

"Can't possibly be from guilt of having assaulted a woman, could it Chuck?" He narrowed his eyes and the man put up his hands defensively. The anger in his voice was clear and evident. "You know, I was a neighbor to Marissa for years. I always wondered who or what could have made her the way she was, and now that I know, I'm trying awfully hard not to put a fist in your face. Now Taryn admits that she's seen you following her around a few times…To further that, my daughter tells me her friend, Freddie, admits that he was conceived through his mother's assault." He pushed himself up and took a step forward while Chuck froze in place, his eyes wide with shock. "Let me make this perfectly clear. I will never be friendly with you, Chuck. That also means, don't go advertising your hamburger stand, I'm not buying a damn thing from you. I'd sooner poison my taste buds with bleach." He folded his arms as Chuck stepped back nervously. "Stay away from Taryn, stay away from my kids, stay the hell away from me. If you don't, I will convince my sister, the lawyer, to write up more than just a restraining order." Malice was seeping into his tone. It was taking everything in him to keep from striking the man on the spot, considering he knew it was better not to start a fight. It was hard as hell to be cordial in any way.

"Hey man, I'm sorry, I just thought maybe I'd say hello. I wasn't trying to start anything. What do you mean Marissa's kid-"

"Yeah Chuck, I'm pretty sure he's your son. He's just like you too, considering he's stalked my daughter for a little bit when we were in Seattle. Even tried to drug her. Like father, like son, am I right?"

"I'm a father?" Chuck cleared his throat and started to turn around, "You know. You shouldn't talk to me like that, anyway, you have no right." It sounded like a threat, but Spencer couldn't be sure. Before he could respond, Wendell and Lacy were rushing over to him.

"Hey dad!" Wendell grabbed his wrist and Spencer looked down with a subtle smile. "Lacy and I want to move on. Remember that show being advertised? The one with the zoo performers? We're wanting to see that."

"Okay Wendell. We can do that."

"We're going to be late if we don't go soon. Come on!" Spencer let himself be dragged away. He looked back to see Chuck moving back towards the hamburger stand, but he saw something else that made his hair stand on end. The kid from the meetings was hiding near the stand in one of the bushes, watching them. Or moreover, watching Chuck, it seemed.

The stalker had a stalker of his own? Perhaps he'd bring it up at the next meeting, but at this point, all he wanted was to ensure Wendell had a good time here at the zoo. Nothing was getting in the way of that.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Tell me your thoughts.