Dimensions Chapter 2--Alternate Lifestyles I don't own...blah blah blah....ZZZzzzz... PG-13 to be on the safe side, dunno where I'm going with this Special thanks to Jane for giving me the name of Freddy's wife--I'd name my firstborn after you, but I don't think my son would like that very much, especially after 5 years of being stuck with the more masculine Alex.*S*Thanks again!

Alternate lifestyles

The man hummed to himself as he puttered in his garden. The warm sun and gentle breeze lulled him, and he shook himself a bit to wake up and cast an eye to the children playing in the yard. The boys were kicking a ball around; Darren Jr., or DJ, as he was affectionately called, using his size and bulk to keep the ball away from his brother Adam. The younger boy's shouts floated across the yard as he tried to keep up with his brother. The man watched them a second, then turned his attention to the little girl, Jenna. She was dressed in one of the frilliest sugar-spun creations he'd ever seen in his life, and looked the little lady of the house as she held court with an array of stuffed animals. She was deftly serving tea and cakes in the pretty tea set her grandparents had recently gotten her, and both tea and cake looked suspiciously like mud. The man grinned to himself. His wife was going to throw a fit, especially if...too late. He grinned again as she wiped her muddy hands on her pipe-icing dress. He could already hear Loretta tsk'ing and lecturing on the virtue of young ladies as she scrubbed out the mud.

The man was jerked back to awareness as a ball crashed into his prize- winning rosebush, cracking several of his cherished roses off their stems. The kids froze in shock. Everyone knew Paw-Paw's roses were almost as precious to him as his family, especially this time of year, when the Home Association went from house to house, selecting from its members top prizes for home and garden. Jenna's eyes were wide, muddy hands pressed to her mouth. Adam's lower lip quivered; even DJ looked scared, his eyes trained to his grandfather's face for a reaction. The man glared balefully at the ball for a second, then turned a mournful gaze to his rose bush, now minus several roses. The kids watched him with uncharacteristic fear: Paw-Paw had certainly never, ever given them reason to be afraid, but these WERE his prize roses after all. The man slowly looked up from his roses to regard them and they all flinched back. He briefly considered using that to his advantage, after all, how many times had he told the kids not to play rough this close to his rose bushes? He changed his mind as he saw his grandbabies' reactions-they were literally frozen with fear, the younger kids almost in tears. He'd never raised his kids with fear as motivation for good behaviour; he'd be damned if he'd raise his grandkids like that. Setting down his gardening shears, he opened his arms to his babies. They shrank back, unsure. He sighed and opened his arms wider, smiling gently. "Come here, piglets," he sing-songed. The crept like wounded animals into his arms and he cuddled them close as if they were still babies, reassuring them, letting them know that he could never be mad at them, telling them silly stories until the tension left their bodies and they were happy again. They drowsed together a moment in the mid-afternoon sun, then the man threw the ball back into the main yard, watching the boys as they scampered after it, squealing happily. He regarded his granddaughter, taking in her confectionary dress, streaked with mud.

"You DO know your grandmother's not going to be pleased with you for this, don't you?" he asked, tapping a mud crusted ruffle on Jenna's dress. The little girl nodded seriously.

"But Paw-Paw, I just HAD to have a party today, it's Sammy Squirrel's birf'day, and Miss Bettina said I gotta thwo' him a party! And the Fairy Queen said she'd show up wif all her Fairy sisters so it'd be th' bestest party ever!" Jenna pointed a tiny finger at the assorted dolls sitting at her table, then regarded her Paw-Paw with adult seriousness. "Miss Bettina wants you to come to th' party too, Paw-Paw! Will you come, pwease?" She laid her head on his chest, making her huge grey eyes even wider, and he had the feeling he was about to get suckered into something. The hell with it, he decided, what was a little suckering when it came to his babies?

"Sure sweetling, Paw-Paw would love to come to your party. Should I bring a gift?" Her smile got even wider. Uh-oh, he thought. Here comes the suckering. He waited.

"We-elll." she sing-songed. "You're an ADULT..and there's only enough cake and tea fo' lil people like us." She pointed to the table again. "But I really REALLY want you to have some too, so." her eyes left his face to drop to his bag of potting soil for a few moments before twisting back to him meaningfully; her eyes got even wider and her smile took on angelic proportions. He knew he was sunk.

"I see. You need more refreshments, hmm?" Jenna dimpled prettily as she nodded at him. "Ah well, I think I have just the thing right here." He scooped out several handfuls of the soil and put them into a small bucket, which he handed to his granddaughter. "Here we go, M'Lady, for your party needs. Have at it, then, and I shall be along momentarily." He gave her his most courtly bow and she giggled happily, throwing her tiny arms around him for a hug before running back to her play table with her prize. He laughed as he watched her, sighing and muttering under his breath. "Your grandmother's REALLY going to kill me for this."

"So she should, Fred Krueger. You spoil them shamelessly," a voice drawled from behind him. He spun quickly, then laughed again as he spotted his oldest daughter, Katherine, leaning against a tree, watching him. She looked every bit the professional psych in her natty suit, expensively tailored to a feminine polish. Her hair was pulled back into a severe bun; her face free of makeup except a spot of gloss and mascara-touched lashes behind her tortoise-shell rims. Diamond earrings were her only decoration. Fred sighed. His daughter was wildly beautiful, yet despite the feminine cut of her suit, she appeared almost more masculine than he was. If only she'd take some time off work, quit that AWFUL TV show she did, buy a few dresses.maybe find a nice man. He shook himself from those thoughts and smiled at her; she rarely had time to visit these days, so each appearance was doubly cherished. He opened his garden-covered arms wide to her.

"Got a hug for your old man?" he joked. He knew she'd NEVER get her expensive suit dirty. Not that she was obsessive or snotty. Downtime, she could get as dirty as the next person, and she'd spent many happy hours with her father and brothers, working on the house, the garden, or any other projects they'd decided on. But there were two Katherines, Freddy mused: Home Kathy, and Doctor Katherine Krueger. And Doctor Katherine was DEFINITELY in the house right now. He grinned again and did a little shimmy; dirt from his garden fell from his body in clumps.

Katherine eyed him with mock disdain and laughed; she knew his ploys. "Not on your life, old man." She stepped toward him and aimed a light kiss to his cheek. Not to be outdone, he grabbed her and pulled her into a massive bear hug, growling for effect as he'd done many times when she was a little girl. "Daddy!!" she squealed, trying to break free. It was no use-he wasn't letting go. She sighed and gave in to the moment. Ruined work clothes were nothing to these moments, when she could leave Doctor Krueger behind and for a precious few moments just be Daddy's Girl again. Kathy hugged her father close to her, revelling in his scent as she snuggled. Ahhh.Old Spice and potting soil, the candied peppermint Mom always made on his breath; and that special smell, the one she could never quite put a name to, but could pick out blindfolded and in a crowd of thousands. Pure Daddy. She inhaled deeply and felt the stresses of the day melt away from her. Who needed therapy and feng shui and all that other crap when this was so much better? If everyone had a Daddy like hers she'd be out of a job. She snickered lightly at that thought, mind drifting as she nearly dozed in her father's arms. He let go of her after a few moments and for a minute she felt lost; it took her a moment to focus again and wonder why he was looking at her like that. His grin almost took in the tops of his ears and after a minute of speculation she caught up with his amusement.

"Oh my, your poor suit," Fred almost cackled. Katherine looked down at herself and groaned. Her poor suit indeed! Her father had deliberately been grinding into her while they'd hugged; now she was almost as dirty as he was. She almost got mad-she liked order in her life(most of the time) and her father and brothers could be as bad as the children at times, if not worse. She looked up to voice her displeasure and caught the twinkle in her father's eyes, but she caught the rest of it too-the loneliness now that her youngest brother, Chris, had moved out of the house to attend a culinary school in Paris. That her brother Darren also visited far less now that his healthy lifestyles show had gone from cable to mainstream favorite. He and his wife only stopped by for brief visits, and most of those were to drop off or pick up the kids. She herself becoming a successful psychiatrist, successful enough to get her own TV show. And their mother's catering business, still going strong after all these years. She'd gained even more business right after Katherine had first gotten her TV contract almost 3 years ago. That meant that the main light in her father's life was her niece and nephews. He was proud of his family, but they were all moving away from him. Kathy sighed to herself. She'd have to make more of an effort. She hugged her father again, extra hard, grinding as he'd done moments earlier, adding more dirt to her ensemble.

"Oh my..my poor suit indeed," Kathy chuckled back to her father. She moved out of the comfort of his arms, hooking one of her arms through his and tugging him toward the house. Her dad chuckled too and pulled her close as they made their way across the yard. Kathy looked up at his wonderful face, so handsome when he was smiling, and just couldn't help herself. "You ARE paying for the dry cleaning, you know."

Fred just laughed, stooping down to brush a kiss to her forehead. "It was worth it," he said, pinching her cheek as he'd done when she was a child. "It was well worth it, poppet. Now let's go see what Mom's made for lunch, hmm?" And with that they mounted the steps to the house.