Jess opened the door of his car and his five year old son climbed in.

J-"Hey Col, How was your day?"

C- "Great! You know how we were supposed to bring in a pet to school today?" Colin continued on without pausing for an answer

"Well Billy brought his brother Sam's spider collection and Maddison started screaming and Jo-Ella fainted! Mrs. Patterson had to call her mom!" The little boy jumped about in his seat as he spoke.

Jess smiled at his son's tale. J-"Wow, Did you learn anything else today?"

C- "Yeah! We learned that when someone faints, you're supposed to catch them!" The boy laughed hysterically.

Jess ruffled Colin's brown hair.

C-"What did you do today dad?"

J-"Well I wrote a bunch and..." Jess said trying to build suspense.

C-"And what?" Colin said excitedly.

J-"And I put together your birthday present." Jess said trying to be nonchalant.

C-"Tell me what it is dad! Come on! You have to tell me!!" Colin pleaded.

J-"Well if I told you, Dillon would get really mad at me."

C-"Dillon is gonna be there?!?" Colin could hardly contain his excitement.

J-"She sure is!"

Jess laughed inwardly at how stupid his comment sounded. Five years ago if he had heard someone say 'she sure is', he would have hit them. And yet, now, faced with a five year old, the phrase seemed appropriate.

C-"You didn't tell me she was coming!" Colin said emphasizing the word she.

J-"Well you know now." Jess said jokingly.

C-"Daaad! Are you trying to make me look stupid???" Colin asked Jess only half serious.

J-"No! I am trying to make this the best birthday ever and surprising you with Dillon was part of the deal."

Colin didn't say anything else. He stared out the window, at the familiar neighborhood. The houses were mostly made of brick, but none of them looked the same. The town they lived in, though small, was perfect in Colin's eyes. Trees grew everywhere. It wasn't uncommon to have four or five full grown trees in your yard. The streets were safe. There was little traffic. Children played street hockey without fear of being hit. The town was perfect. It was a far cry from what Jess had grown up in. Far from the sounds of sirens and gun shots, the people of this town slept well at night. Often not even locking their doors. Children camped out in their yards and feared only the boogie-man.

They approached their home. Jess pushed a button to open the garage door. The second the car stopped, Colin ran out and into the house. Jess got out of the car happily.

The inside of their home was surprisingly well decorated. It wasn't all feminine, but it wasn't covered in AC/CD posters and pizza boxes. The walls of the kitchen and dinning room were a pail green. The living room was a light reddish brown that matched with the brown leather sofa perfectly. They hadn't really planed their house to match like that, it just sort of did.

Colin ran down the stairs from his room, C-"DAAAAAD!"

J-"What?"

C-"THEY"RE HERE!"

Jess looked from his son, to the front door, and back to Colin. The door bell rang. Jess got up slowly. He opened the door, revealing a man about Jess's age with light brown hair, and a little girl about Colin's age with whitish blonde hair.

J-"Hey Harris."

H-"Hey Jess" The man said as he ushered the little girl inside.

J-"Hey Dillon, how are you?"

D-"Fine thank you" Dillon said sweetly, "Where is Colin?"

J-"I think he is upstairs. You know where his room is right?"

D-"Yes" Dillon said happily as she started up the stairs.

H-"How you been Jess?"

J- "Great. I think it's this place, it's so perfect."

H- "Ha. How did two single dads ever find this place?"

J-"To tell you the truth, I have no idea."

H-"I'm glad we did"

J-"Yeah"

Breaking the reminiscent silence, Harris suggested that they go start grilling the food for Colin's party.

A.N. This seems like a kinda bad place to leave off, but I think I will. If this chapter seems weird, I'm sorry but I really just wanted a chapter where everything was happy. Where nothing went wrong. I will post more soon!

DriftAway