"Look, I hate to be that annoying, nagging guy that everyone hates," Jack began.
"Oh, you have another state?" Boone asked, not looking up from the paper. "You hide that side well."
"Well there's no need for name calling," Jack said.
Boone gave him a look. "I didn't call you any names."
"You're being a smart mouth," Jack stated. "We're lucky he's an only child, years of bantering with Shannon did you no good."
"Hey, don't say that," Boone argued, looking annoyed. "I'm glad I wasn't an only child."
"Never did me any harm," Jack said.
"No, you're perfectly well adjusted," Boone stated sarcastically, looking back at the newspaper.
"Did I hit a nerve or something?" Jack asked.
Boone looked at him. "You were gonna say it's getting near Noah's bedtime, I know it is. Why don't you go get him ready?"
"Are you mad at me?" Jack asked. "Because seriously I did not do a thing that time, and you keep throwing these things at me out of left field."
"I'm fine," Boone dismissed. "Sorry, you're right, years of sibling name calling."
"You sure?" Jack pressed.
Boone smiled at him. "I like that I have a little sister," he said. "Don't dismiss my sibling bond, okay?"
"Okay," Jack said. "But usually you're the first to rag on her."
"That's because I love her, so I'm allowed," Boone stated.
Jack nodded, he couldn't really argue with that. "Fair enough, I'm sorry."
"He's going to miss his bedtime if you don't hurry up," Boone teased.
Jack smiled and nodded before turning his attention to Noah who was still following Pete around the room. "Hey, Noah, I think it's time we put Pete back in his cage, okay?"
"But he's having fun," Noah insisted.
"I know, I'm sure he is, but it's getting late," Jack told him. "Come on, let's go put him away."
Jack stood up and went over to him. Noah tried pouting a little but Jack gave him a look so Noah picked up the hamster ball carefully and Jack followed him upstairs and into his bedroom. He opened the hamster ball and gently took Pete out, placing him back in his cage while Jack stayed close by just in case, but he had to admit that Noah was really good with the hamster.
"Okay, come on, time to go wash up and get ready for bed," Jack said.
"I'm hungry," Noah said.
"Noah, don't start with me, please," Jack said. "It's time to get ready for bed now."
"Will you read me a story?" Noah asked.
"Yes, of course I will," Jack told him.
"A long one?"
"We'll see."
"Will you read me two?"
"Well, the sooner you get ready, the more time I'll have to read to you," Jack told him.
"Okay," Noah said, heading out of the room.
"Use soap," Jack called after him. "You want a hand?"
"No," Noah called back.
Jack got Noah's pyjamas ready and then sat down on the bed. Noah was becoming more independent, especially since starting school, and even though it was nice to see the change in him and it was nice to have real conversations with him, Jack couldn't help but feel like he was losing a little bit of Noah, like he wasn't quite so needed anymore. But it was a fair trade off and he knew that he was going to have a lot more years of Noah leaning on him and Boone before he really had to start worrying about it.
Noah came back through and changed into his pyjamas before picking out a book for Jack to read to him. He snuggled up in bed, pulling the covers around him like he always did, and Jack sat down beside him and read to him.
When he got back downstairs, Jack found Boone still sat reading the newspaper. He sat down beside him and just looked at him, admiring the cute look on his face that he always had when he was concentrating on something.
"You know it's very hard to read when you're staring at me like that," Boone said, not looking away from the paper.
Jack smiled a little. "Sorry," he said, looking away.
After a beat Boone put the paper down and turned to Jack. "What?"
Jack looked at him. "I didn't say anything."
"No, but you were thinking something," Boone said.
Jack shrugged a little. "I was thinking you looked cute."
Boone looked at him. "That's what you were thinking?"
"Yeah," Jack replied simply. "Were you hoping for something more profound?"
Boone gave a half shrug. "Noah go down okay?"
"Yeah, fine," Jack replied. "He's a really good kid, isn't he? I'm not saying he doesn't have his moments but they're pretty few and far between. We're lucky."
"We're not lucky, we raised him right," Boone said.
"You saying bad parents never have good kids and vice versa?" Jack asked. "I think we both know that's not true."
"You dissing my parents or yours?" Boone asked.
"I don't know, neither," Jack replied. "But I think good parenting's only half the battle."
"The old nature versus nurture argument," Boone nodded. "You have a professional opinion on that?"
"I think at the end of the day it's probably a combination but I do think nurture only goes so far," Jack said.
"Yeah, so how did we get onto philosophy for beginners?" Boone asked.
"I don't know," Jack replied. "I told you you were cute and you dodged."
"I didn't dodge," Boone said.
"You need to learn to take a compliment," Jack told him.
"Maybe I'm not used to it," Boone countered.
"Yeah, that's probably true," Jack agreed. "I'm getting better though, right? I'm here more, and I don't just mean in the physical sense."
"You're not all that here right now," Boone said. "You're talking a bunch of random crap."
"Well, yeah, but I am talking to you," Jack said.
"Baby steps?" Boone asked.
"No," Jack replied. "Well, maybe a little. I've never been great at relationships."
"I've been in one with you for nine years, I know," Boone told him.
"Longest relationship I've ever had," Jack offered.
"Well then I guess I must be doing something right."
"The thing you're 'doing right' is that you haven't walked out on me yet," Jack said. "And some would argue that's not so smart of you."
Boone looked thoughtful. "You're such a perfectionist control freak that you'd actually stay in a relationship that was making you unhappy just so you didn't have to admit defeat."
"Boone, I'm not unhappy," Jack told him.
"Okay, I'm not saying you are," Boone stated. "But you'd do it, right? I mean, you've done it before, right?"
Jack sighed. "Yeah, I've done it before."
Boone nodded. "I think you might be more screwed up than I am."
"I'm not unhappy," Jack insisted.
"I know," Boone said. "I can tell cos you're not throwing a hissy fit like a little girl."
Jack shrugged nonchalantly. "So long as you can tell."
Boone smiled at him. "I can tell."
"I miss a lot of stuff, don't I?" Jack said.
Boone looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know," Jack replied. "I just, I'm not perceptive like you. I'm not around as much as I should be and when I am I guess it takes me longer to work stuff out."
"Are you going somewhere with this or are you just talking a bunch of random crap again?" Boone asked.
"I think I'm talking a bunch of random crap again," Jack replied.
"You should really keep an eye on that," Boone told him.
"I'll try and keep it in check," Jack nodded.
"Good," Boone said. "So you wanna lay down, get all entangled and watch TV?"
Jack smiled at him. "That sounds pretty perfect right about now."