Author's Note: I said I was going to three Pike kids (Mallory and Jordan) and Nicky it is! I feel bad for him in the books sometimes because of how often he gets picked on by the triplets (well probably more Jordan and Adam, Byron was said to be nicer on multiple occasions). I also don't have enough guys in this fic so here it goes! I'm not a big fan of this chapter but it's pretty cute.

Enjoy the chapter!


In the oven brownies baked as Nick (formerly Nicky) Pike watched them uncertain. The last time he took them out too soon and ended up recooking them all gooey on the top. Behind him his son Jackson was playing with his spoon. The three-year-old more amused with that then the cheerios in the bowl in front of him. Nicky washing the dishes and letting them air dry.

"It's just you and me today bud," he said looking at him. "Your mom is going to a business conference leaving us for the weekend."

Jackson blew him a raspberry and lifted his arms for a hug. He noticed that somehow the cheerios had gotten into his brown hair and he wiped it out. Complying, Nick swooped him up and then took him back to his room. Now it was time to get ready for the day finding jeans and a t-shirt for him. What should they do today? There was probably a lot going on this weekend. It wasn't like they lived far from any "action" sort to speak. They lived in Rhode Island not the middle of nowhere.

Then the sound of Hotel California by the Eagles blared from his phone. Casually he picked up his cell phone to see Byron calling him. Nick adjusted his son on one hip heading down the steps and put him in front of his toy box. Then answered the call.

"Hey Byron," he said heading back down the steps listening for the oven to beep. "I'm trying your brownie recipe."

He heard his voice boom hearing that he was on speaker phone.

"Awesome remember it's two eggs for the fudgy kind and three for the cakey kind. Listen, Charlotte is typing up the RSVP for Thanksgiving," said Byron getting to the point.

"Already? It's barely the start of September!" said Nick but then rolled his eyes.

That shouldn't surprise him, Byron cooked everything for Thanksgiving. All his family had to do was answer the RSVP and show up. Apparently, he did the shopping a month in advanced, so they had to know by, like, the middle of September. Normally the rest of the family would clean the dishes.

"Yea, she wants to know if you want to send it to your work e-mail or personal. Apparently, she has both listed and doesn't want to get one from each again. This is going to be the first one Jordan comes to for a long time and wants to get the seating right."

Ugh, Jordan was going to be there. Not that he didn't like his brother, but he had the least in common with Jordan and Adam. They always picked on him the most while Byron tried to get along with them. Most of his teasing wasn't that bad. Heck they shared a room all the way up until he left for law school. Good thing Byron went to Stoneybrook University for his undergrad. Despite saying how much he didn't like them younger, Nick got along with his sisters the best.

"Well personal one would be better, but could she send a reminder to my work email?"

At side Jackson was tugging at his lounge pants to talk to his uncle. His blue eyes wide and bouncing in his spot.

"Hey Jackson wants to say hi."

Nick held his cell phone against his ear and his sons blue eyes light up at the wonder of the cell phone. "Hi unka B," he said gurgling into the phone. Byron must have said something to make him laugh, because he laughed. "Okay!"

Then he took the phone and listen to his brother.

"That works. So what's up?"

They talked for a few minutes with the usual of where everyone was. Mallory was a roommate at her daughters school. Jordan was now in New York after a decade or two in California. Blah blah blah, he didn't need to know all of that again with the holiday's coming around. They'd get a Christmas letter from most of them.

Instead, Nicky thought of something to do today. Maybe the park for a bit and then they could make dinner together. He wasn't that much of a cook but making a pizza sounds like fun. Slowly he took the brownies out of the oven it turned it off. Hmm those did smell good as he set it to where Jackson couldn't get it. That boy was fast when he knew sweets was around.

"Daddy," said the boy rushing up to him turning his attention away from his toy train. "Pay?"

"Play? Sure, what do you want to play?"

They went over to the closet underneath the steps and opened it. It had all kinds of games, old VHS tapes, and arts and crafts material inside. Jackson had pulled out Chutes and Ladders. Oh boy, he thought, knowing that they would play over and over again. Just like when Claire would play nothing but Candy Land a lot when she was that age. That didn't matter though as he set the game up at the table in the rec room.

Nick finally had it set up and ready to go when Jackson was trying to sit on the table.

"Jackson," he said when he had hit his foot.

"AHHH."

Now his son was wailing as Nicky tried to console him. It looks like he had stubbed his toe on the chair or the table he was trying to climb up onto. He had picked him up and examined his foot and smiled rubbing it, making him feel better. No bruise was forming but just a little red.

"How about we get you a brownie?" he asked.

"Bowie?"

"Brownie," he said picking up and carrying him to the kitchen.

Together the two shared a couple of pieces settling down with a game of Chutes and Ladders. There was still enough for the next couple of days. Then he'll have to make sure to make another batch when Kristin got home. This was just a little blimp of the good things to come this weekend.