"But where are we going mama?" Colton asked for the fifth time.
"We're going to your Uncle Tim's for dinner."
"But who is that?"
"It's daddy's brother. Remember we talked about this."
"But why we goin'?"
"Because he asked us to."
"But we go to Austin and Danny's."
"Tonight we're not."
"But why?"
"Because."
"But why, mama?"
"Just because."
"But I wanna play with Isa!"
"I know that. You'll see her tomorrow when we go to the park."
"But I wanna play now!" he whined, throwing his head back in preschooler agony.
"If you keep acting like that you're not going to play at all."
"But I'm sorry mama."
"You're just out to get me today aren't you?"
He shook his head and spun his shoe around by the lace, sighing when he lost control of it and it fell on the floor.
"What we gonna eat for dinner?"
"I don't know buddy. Can you please put your shoes on so we'll be ready when daddy gets home?"
"Ben's gonna wear shoes too?"
"Yeah, I'll put some shoes on him when he wakes up."
"I can wake him up!" he hollered, running into the bedroom.
"Colton, don't!"
She set the curling iron on the counter and followed him in there, just in time to see him climb over the railing and into the crib.
"Wake up Ben boy, wake up!" he said, shaking the mattress. Ben woke up as requested and let out a loud squawk at being disturbed.
"Colton, why did you do that? Now he's grumpy," Lindsay admonished, picking Ben up and shushing him.
"But he awake now," Colton shrugged before climbing out of the crib. "You can put his shoes on."
She sighed and closed her eyes, counting down from ten so she wouldn't use the words that first came to her mind.
"I know you were just trying to help me, but can you please, please not ever wake your brother up unless I ask you to?"
"Oh. Okay mama. I'm sorry. I need to make him stop cryin'?"
"No, he'll stop in a minute. Thanks for offering though."
"I do my best."
"I know you do."
"I get my shoes on now."
"Hey, buddy," she started, crouching down. "I'm not mad at you."
"But I make a mistake."
"I know sweetheart. But it's like daddy says. Alls well that ends well."
"Okay."
She wrapped her free arm around him and kissed his forehead.
"It's okay buddy. You're a good helper and that's all you were trying to do."
"Yeah, I really just helping."
"I know. I appreciate every time you help me."
"I do 'cuz I love you."
"I know. And I love you too."
He nodded and kissed her cheek.
"I put my shoes on now. You can tie them?"
"Yeah, I will. Can you do me a favor though?"
"Yeah."
"I'm going to let Ben play on the floor while I finish getting ready. Can you watch him for me?"
"Yep. I will read him a book."
She smiled and settled Ben on a blanket on the floor while Colton found a book.
"Ben, this is the story of the gingerbread man. You ready?"
Ben gurgled and stared at his brother while Colton began to recite the story. Lindsay smirked and stood there listening for a second before she went back into the bathroom to finish getting ready.
Lindsay looked over at Adam wondering what he was thinking about. He'd been quiet when he got home and before she had a chance to ask him what was wrong they'd had to leave. She could tell he was agitated by the way he was steering, both hands at ten and two and gripping the wheel tightly. Colton was jabbering in the back seat, telling Ben about everything he saw outside the window, even though it was dark and he couldn't really see much.
Adam sighed and Lindsay reached over and rested her hand on his leg.
"You alright, honey?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine."
"What's on your mind?"
"Just this case."
"Still nothing?"
"Yeah. They don't have anything else to go on and I feel like I should be pulling something out of all the evidence. All we have still is that starch you found. We've narrowed it down to about fifty different laundry services in town. I'm just trying to connect some dots I guess."
"It's hard to leave it at work."
"Yeah, it is. Sorry, I'm putting it away now."
She squeezed his knee and he gave her a little grin.
"Kids do anything cute today?"
"They always do. But the laughing at the cats was pretty cute."
"It's no wonder the cats are always hiding under the bed."
"Under your side of the bed. They still hate me."
"Chewy doesn't hate you."
"Fluffy would like to see me die. You are the Peter Pan to her Tinkerbell and I'm just slutty Wendy."
"You wouldn't clap as hard as you could if she drank poison."
"I don't hate her, she's just a snob."
"You grew up with dogs, you don't understand cats."
"No, I don't."
"Thanks for putting up with them."
"They're less trouble than your dirty socks."
Grimacing, he reached over and flicked her shoulder.
"You're a brat."
"I know. Problem?"
"Nah."
"Daddy, mama's not a brat!"
"I was just teasing, buddy."
"You be nice to my mama, okay?"
"Okay, I promise."
"Or I will take her away."
"But I love her!"
"Then you be nice and give her hugs and kisses."
"But she's a girl! She's got cooties!"
"Mama's don't got cooties, Austin says."
"You just got told," Lindsay chuckled as he took her hand and slid his fingers through hers.
"I let him have the win."
Colton tugged on Lindsay's hand excitedly but silently, trying to be patient as the adults were all introduced, but wishing they would hurry up. He was much too enchanted to stand still much longer and he reached up and patted Lindsay's arm.
"Mama, excuse me but I gotta tell you somethin'."
"What?"
"There's a doggie over there," he whispered seriously.
"I know."
"His name is Skywalker," Tim said, crouching down in front of Colton. "You wanna go see him?"
"Yeah. Skywalker like Luke?"
"Yeah, just like Luke."
"That's cool," Colton said, following Tim across the room. "My Isa have a doggie named Elbis. He's real big. Isa's my bes' frien'. But I'm not s'possed to kiss her no more."
"Oh really?"
"Yep, Uncle Danny say she not old enough for that. She gonna be three just like me. Aunt Austin say we can have a sleepover and eat popcorn."
"That sounds like fun."
"Yep. Me and Isa have lotsa fun. We make mama and Austin crazy," he said, squatting down and patting the dog's head. "They say we gotsta behave at Flack and Jess's weddin' later. We gonna dress up for it and I get to hold the rings and Isa gets the flowers. Hi Skywalker. I'm Colton. You're a nice doggie."
"Yeah, he is. If you roll this ball across the room he'll go get it and bring it back to you."
"Really? Can I try?"
"Yep, here you go."
Colton rolled the ball and the dog jumped up, running across the room and bringing it back.
"Go again!"
"He'll be occupied all night long," Adam chuckled as Stacy handed them drinks and they all moved to the couches. "So are you working on any good projects right now?"
"Always a good project," Tim answered. "Getting a lot of online begging to make a PC compatible version of a few games. We'll make one, PC gamers will hate it, we'll vow to never make another PC version, they'll beg for one… Guess that's just the way the cookie crumbles."
"GamesRadar users are the worst," Adam noted. "I read a thing about them wanting a PC version of Mirror's Edge."
"Is that the game that makes me nauseous every time you play it?" Lindsay asked, wrinkling her forehead.
"Yeah. The one you can't stop watching."
"Nothing ever happens in that game. You just look around and jump on stuff."
"It's a spiritual journey."
"Oh my word."
"We've got to put more into games than running and shooting people," Tim said "That's why we make storyboards."
"You sound like a girl," Stacy commented, rolling her eyes.
"Well we've got to do something to keep things fresh."
"Yeah, no one wants to play the same old game over and over again."
"You guys are talking like there's the chance that someone in the world is going to come up with something as visually pleasing, challenging, and enjoyable as Pacman."
"Adam, you married a good woman," Tim chuckled. "She has my approval."
"Great, she's gonna use that against me next time we fight. "But I have approval!""
"Well I do," Lindsay retorted, quieting Ben's crying with a pacifier.
"So you're saying a good game would be a single screen with four movement possibilities?"
"You say it like that and it sounds like crap," Lindsay said shaking her head. "I'm just saying simple is better. You don't need a half hour movie between levels. It just makes the kids stay on there longer. You need games with calculated strategy beyond what knife would be best for filleting the prison guard."
"And with a baby in her arms she says this," Stacy snickered. "I don't think anyone has ever told my husband so succinctly what's wrong with the video game industry."
"I wouldn't know half of what I know if I hadn'ta married my own geek."
"Shut up, you love me."
They stayed at Tim and Stacy's a lot later than they planned, and both boys fell asleep in the car. Ben had refused to eat dinner, saying he would rather play with the dog. After much convincing he'd tried a bite, said thank you and gotten back down to play. Lindsay figured it was a done battle and there was no use in chancing kicking and screaming in front of other people.
They carried the boys upstairs, changing their clothes and tucking them in with nary a peep and closing the door most of the way.
"So. Think that went okay?"
"Well, they're kind of the younger, richer version of us."
"You're just saying that because Stacy said she has a thing for distressed furniture."
"Yeah well just because we're gonna go antiquing…"
He chuckled and opened the freezer.
"Ice-cream?"
"Question in your mind?"
"I should know better. Lots or little?"
"Little. It's late."
He gave them both two little scoops and they jumped up on the counter, their feet dangling together. He slid is arm around her and he kissed her hair.
"Thanks for being… for doing… for just… everything."
She grinned and pulled him in for a kiss.
"I'll always be there. You know that."
"I know. But you've been really, really there. You've been patient when I'm angry and you've listened to me when it sucks and you've made me go through it because you knew I would regret it if I didn't."
"I just want what's best for you. I didn't want you to feel pushed."
"I did, but I needed to be. You're not afraid to do that."
"I would hope you would do the same thing for me."
"I would. You know, I don't think anyone else in the world loves each other as much as we do."
"You're probably right. There's some close seconds, but I think we're it."
He smiled at her words and forgot about the ice-cream as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Do you ever think about what it's gonna be like when we're old?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like how we're gonna be. Little old lady and little old man. We still gonna jump up on the counter and eat ice-cream at midnight?"
"Maybe not jump on the counter but we can get step stools."
"I love the way you think babe."
"Let's go to bed and I'll show you just how much you can appreciate the way I think."
"And the way you do other things too?"
"Lots of other things," she confirmed, waggling her eyebrows and grabbing his hand.
"You spoil me," he said, his feet hitting the floor. He turned around and grabbed her waist, almost knocking her head against the counter as he kissed her.
"You complainin'?" she asked, her voice low and her eyes shining as she raked a hand through his hair. He chuckled and nuzzled her nose before kissing her again, cradling the back of her head in his hand and pulling her as close as he could get her. She reached up and unbuttoned his shirt, running her hands over his chest and around his shoulders, breaking the kiss to look into his eyes.
"It's gettin' late."
"Changing your mind?" he asked, his voice rough.
"Just telling you that you might wanna get things moving."
Chuckling, he swept her off the counter and into his arms, taking a second to get his balance before heading into the other room.
"You're not fixing to fall asleep on me, are you?"
Her dark eyes danced with amusement.
"Not if you play your cards right," she nearly drawled as he kicked the door closed behind them. He grinned as her lips met his again and he sat them down on the bed. They stayed that way for a moment before she pulled away from him.
"I'm so proud of you, Adam. Do you know that?"
"I know."
"You're amazing. Do I tell you that?"
"You tell me lots of things, babe."
"It's all true. You believe that?"
"I'm starting to. You make me."
"I love you more than you can even imagine."
"I know Linds. I know."