Rating/Warnings: K+

Note: I'm not around children often, so I did my best to write the way my three year old cousin talked the last time I saw him. He couldn't say his Ts, Rs, or Ls so that's where that came from.

Disclaimer: Neither Jericho nor its characters belong to me.

Age Three

"I don' wan' a bwother!" Jake lisped, crossing his arms and falling to the floor dramatically.

Johnston groaned, trying to reign in his patience. Gail was already at the hospital with EJ, the new baby due any moment now. He should be there with his wife, not trying to wrangle the stubborn child pouting on the floor.

"You haven't even met him, Jake." He said, exasperated as he shoved spare clothes into a bag. "You don't know if you'll like him or not until you meet him."

"I don' wike him!" Jake glared defiantly up at his father, daring him to say anything to the contrary. "I don'!"

Johnston just sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Zipping the bag up and throwing it over his shoulder, he turned back to his son. Jake met his eyes for a moment before jutting his chin out and turning away to face the opposite direction. He was saved from having to try and talk the three year old into wanting a brother by the phone ringing. Answering it, he breathed out a sigh of relief when he heard his father telling him both Gail and the baby were fine and healthy. Hanging up, he turned to the still pouting boy.

"You want to go see Grandpa, Jake?"

Jake's eyes lit up, his expectant brother already forgotten as he leapt to his feet, nodding eagerly. Johnston let out a sigh of relief and took Jake's hand. Once the boy was buckled into his car seat, father and son set out to the hospital, the boy now chattering away. It wasn't until they had entered the waiting room that Jake seemed to remember why he had been so set against leaving the house in the first place.

"I don' wan' a bwother!" he said stubbornly, glaring up at his father. "Send him back!"

Johnston groaned and gave an embarrassed smile at a nurse who was giving them a funny look. Holding Jake's hand tightly, he led the grumbling boy down the hall. Jake didn't try to resist, but neither did he go quietly. He was fussing the whole way to the room about how he didn't want a baby brother. He fell silent when Johnston opened the door and he saw his mother lying on the hospital bed with a bundle of blankets in her arm.

"Jake, honey," Gail smiled at her now oldest son, "Come meet your brother."

Jake shook his head, suddenly rendered mute. As Johnston shut the door, he felt his son grabbing onto his legs. Looking down, he couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the boy burying his face in his father's legs, trying to hide but curiosity forcing him to peek up at the little bundle. Johnston met his wife's eyes and the two exchanged an amused smile. Bending down, Johnston picked Jake up and carried him over to the bed, nodding to EJ who stood in the corner of the room.

The boy turned his face and hid his head in his father's neck, but curiosity soon became too much. Peeking out, he looked down into the sleeping face of his little brother. Johnston watched his eldest closely, not missing how Jake slowly began to relax and draw away until he was eagerly looking down into the baby's face. When Johnston moved to pull the chair up beside the bed, Jake craned his neck to continue looking at his brother. Sitting down, Johnston maneuvered Jake so that the boy was sitting on his lap. EJ had anticipated what his son was going to do and so moved forward to take the baby from Gail. Making sure he had a good grip on Jake, Johnston nodded and EJ carefully placed the baby into Jake's suddenly still arms.

Gail smiled at her boys. "Jake, meet your brother Eric."

"Easy there, son." Johnston warned, quickly maneuvering his own arms so that he could hold both of his sons and provide support for the baby. "He's not as tough as you are."

"He's so small." Jake's voice was filled with awe and Johnston smiled, running a hand over both his boys.

"He'll get bigger." He promised.

Jake just nodded and stared down at the baby in his arms, completely forgetting that he didn't want a brother. Johnston smiled as he drew his boys closer. Jake was going to be a good big brother, he could already tell. Oh, he was going to have his hands full, that he knew, but looking down at his sons, Johnston already knew that he wouldn't trade any of it.