When You Least Expect It

A/N: WOW GUYS! 14 Reviews! You guys are seriously awesome. You continue to amaze me every time haha and I'm so glad that so many people love Brady as well as the previous chapter. Hahaha so yeah, I'm warning you now, ya'll might not like this one as much lol and also, I feel like I'm a little biased towards Brady cause he has so much more story-time than Peter. Ahaha, but yeah! I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter and thank you so much to all those who reviewed, alerted, or added this to their favorites! I love that haha and yeah, if you love Paul, then you should go check out my new story Lollipop Luxury cause it's gonna be good I think. Aha, please? Hahaha but yeah, hope you enjoy this!

Disclaimer: It's not mine.


Cancellation

"C'mon guys, time to wake up!" I announced as I switched on the light and watched as they squirmed in the full-sized bed that they shared—one twin at the head of the bed, the other at the foot.

"Hm…is it Fwiday?" Brady groaned tiredly as he sat up in bed rubbing his eye.

"Good morning daddy!" Peter called out with a smile as he got out of bed and ran to hug my leg. Peter was always more of a morning person. "Do you have work today?"

"Yeah I do buddy, and yeah Brady, today is Friday." I smiled at him as he slowly made his way off of the bed and made his way to where Peter and I stood.

His face quickly brightened at the news and he ran past us screaming, "Yay! Toy Stowy!"

Brady had been asking the same question every morning since we went out with Rachel on Sunday, and every day I'd have to see the sadness loom on his face for a bit before he would assure himself that Friday would be here soon enough. He'd been really excited about our plans with Dr. Black tonight, while Peter had only been excited until Brady started telling him about Jacob. After that, Peter really just seemed indifferent about the whole thing.

That had been troubling me and had me questioning my decision to our movie night.

"C'mon buddy, let's go get some breakfast." I smile down at him before we turn to follow Brady out of the room, and find him in the kitchen attempting to get up on a chair. I quickly moved to help him get situated while Peter climbed expertly up onto his own chair.

After serving them their cereal, I left the kitchen to go change into the proper khaki shorts, navy blue polo, and white shoes—Vans no less—for work.

I had to call Rachel to see if she would be able to watch the twins and maybe drop me off at work—hell, I really only cared about her watching the twins, I could bus it to work.

After getting fully dressed, having brushed my teeth and done my hair, I hurried back to the kitchen to sit at the small table with the kids as I dialed Rachel's number. When it rang all the way to her voicemail, my stomach kind of dropped as my mind immediately went through everyone in my contacts that I trusted enough to watch my kids until I could pick them up after work. The only person other than Rachel was…well, it was Garrett. But Garrett wasn't a part of our lives anymore, so really there was only Rachel and it just so happens that she seems to be unavailable today. I thought to myself as my call went to voicemail for the third time.

"Daddy?" I was pulled from my slightly-panicky stupor at Peter's inquiry as they both looked at me with wide eyes.

Oh crap, did I curse out loud?

"Someone knocked."

Ah, well that explains the wide eyes.

"Thanks kiddo; are you guys finished?" I asked as I stood from my chair and picked up their bowls as they both answered with silent nods.

I quickly helped both of them down from their chairs to allow them to roam the house freely rather than leaving them left immobile. But really, as I made my way to the door, my mind was in a whirl as I contemplated my options as to what I should do. I really couldn't afford to miss any days of work; I needed this paycheck for rent and the rest would be going to groceries, especially since I'd be using the last of our money to go out to the movies and dinner tonight—and even then we'd be eating cheap so that my last fifty-something dollars last through the night. After that, I'm hoping that what little groceries we have left in the apartment will be enough to last us until payday next week.

I pulled the door open in what seemed like an auto-pilot notion as my mind was still wrapped up in my thoughts.

"You rang, sir?" Rachel asked with a smirk as she pushed past me and into the apartment. "Sorry I didn't answer your calls, Paul; but you see, I was already on my way over here and since it isn't exactly safe to drive and talk on the phone…" She trailed off with a nonchalant shrug.

"You were already on your way over?" I asked, finally putting my mind at ease as the sudden weight on my shoulders was lifted.

"Yes sir." She turned to smile at me, leaning against the back of my couch, "You thought that I would really leave you alone today? Pfft, as if. Lemme tell you, Jake has been blowing up my phone all week. If it weren't for the fact that all of this involved you and him being together, I would've been seriously pissed, but-oh! Hi my loves!" She cut her rant short as she crouched to greet the kids with kisses and hugs. "Back to what I was saying!" She took a deep breath as she dropped down to sit on the couch after sending the kids off to play in their room.

"Jacob has been driving himself up the wall with questions about you. I swear, the poor thing is like a teenager with first-date jitters; and lemme tell you, that's really uncommon for Mr. I'm-Such-A-Big-Sexy-Confident-Doctor-With-A-Huge-"

"Rachel!" I cut her off with slight amusement that I didn't bother hiding as I looked over to the hallway to make sure the kids weren't eavesdropping.

"I was gonna say salary." She gave me a pointed look—raised eyebrow and all, "But anyways, it was quite refreshing to see him sweat a little, especially over a guy; but then again it's also really nice to see him so interested in somebody like he is with you…oh! Not to mention the kids! Oh my, that brother-of-mine had me up until the crack-of-your-ass-dawn just asking about them. It was a mess how nervous he was about getting them to like him, but super adorable at the same time."

Oh crap, I have that damn bubbly feeling inside again. I mean, come on! How great can this guy get? So he likes Brady, wants to meet Peter as well as take us out, is incredibly attractive, and has spent the week asking Rachel questions about us—albeit that last part is borderline creepy yet cute at the same time.

"Yeah Rach, that's all great…"

"But?"

"But I don't really know if we're gonna be going on that date tonight after all."

"What!" She practically shouted, her hand reaching out to grip my wrist for god knows what reason, but damn she had a strong grip.

"Yeah…I-I just don't know right now. Money is kinda tight and Peter just really doesn't seem like he wants to go…well I don't think he likes the idea of us going out with another man. I don't know if he's really let go of Garrett…and I don't want to push him into anything that he isn't ready for."

"Wh-What?" She sputtered again, looking at me with disbelief clear in her eyes, "Okay, so you need money, I'll front you some until you can pay me back; no problem. And okay, maybe Peter isn't too excited about the whole 'new guy' thing, but Brady is so excited about tonight, and he already likes Jacob so you know that Peter will probably warm up to him too when they meet."

"Rachel…" I slouched forward and dropped my head into my hands, "I don't know. I'm just really second guessing my decisions to jump into things with your brother. If anything, I should've gotten to know him first before bringing him around the boys…but he just clicked with Brady. And Brady does ask about him…but I don't want to make Peter unhappy just for the sake of me and my…needs."

"Yeah, but it's not just for you. Brady wants this too—you said it yourself, he's been excited about this day with Jake. And Brady does some things that Peter likes all the time, even though he hates them, he does them for his brother. So what makes you think Peter won't do the same for Brady?"

"Rachel…" Just as I was about to make an argument, I took a deep breath and swallowed that urge down, "Do you think you could drop me off at work, and maybe watch the kids? I get off at four-thirty."

With a defeated sigh and a disappointed shake of her head, she stood, "Yeah sure, lemme go get the kids. Meet us in the car." She tossed me her car keys and left me alone in the living room.

Great, now I really felt like shit...well, that's one way to kill the butterflies in my stomach. I thought bitterly as I walked out of my apartment, leaving the door open for Rachel to close and lock as I knew she would.

I had only been waiting in the car for a good minute or two before she came to the parking lot with the boys—who were still wearing their Spiderman and Batman pjs, with the addition of their sneakers mind you—and then we were driving.

The drive to my job at Isle Esme: Women's Fitness Center & Spa was tense. I really did hate feeling as though I've let a friend down, except right now it was like that feeling times a hundred since it was Rachel. Rachel, whom had been there for me and the boys through everything, the same girl that had decided to bring her work to my apartment or the kids to hers to watch them while I was working, and the same girl that had been overjoyed with the knowledge that I'd be going out with her brother—and the kids. I felt like an ass for using the kids as an excuse for my own hesitations and fears of tonight—because that was really the truth of the situation.

I was scared.

It just so happens that Peter's attitude toward the whole thing gave me the leverage I needed to protect us—or really, to protect myself—from getting too close to Dr. Jacob Black. And after admitting to myself that I'd used my kids to get out of our plans made me feel even shittier—what kind of dad am I? And oh god, Brady will be so sad when I have to tell him we're not going.

As we pulled to a stop in front of the large two story gym, Rachel finally spoke to me with a tense, "What do you want me to tell you-know-who?"

I pushed open the door with a sigh and got out before leaning in and looking at her with my lips pulled into a tight line, "I…just have him call me at work and I'll tell him myself. I'll tell them when I get home." I gestured to the kids with my eyes before fully turning to look at them in the backseat, "Alright guys, I love you, and please behave for Rachel, okay?"

They both answered with quiet, "Yes Daddy."

And after that I smiled and closed the door, watching as they drove away before turning to walk into the Isle Esme, dreading the phone call that would be coming for me at some point in the day.


A/N: Aha, oooh! I cut it shorter than I had originally planned, but I think this worked quite well. Aha, it is in a way a filler chapter, but at the same time it kinda gave some background info on Paul and the kids as well as showed some of Paul's fears with Jacob. So all-in-all, I think this chapter is alright. Aha, and also, it is short, but again, it's a filler. Hahaha, so yeah, lemme know what you thought of this chapter with one of those amazing things called a review and I'll try and get another chapter out to you guys by Sunday! And be sure to check out Lollipop Luxury as well if you love Paul…yeah. haha

With Love,

GoinnGaGa