I wake up Mikal just before seven and get him in the shower. "Josh?"
"Hm?"
"Thanks for doing this for me."
"If it's that important to you, it means just as much to me."
I smile and quickly kiss his lips. "Is there anything else I should be forewarned about concerning your friends and family?"
He smiles. "Nothing too big," he answers, teasing.
I arch my eyebrow and my hands go on my hips. "Then I guess I won't warn you about Dawn."
"All is fair in love and war, sweetie." He has that damn smirk on his face. We go through the morning routine of showers, dressing the kids, and feeding them. 

I smile. "Who'd love to see Uncle Pete?" All three kids start screaming their excitement. I tilt my head and look at JC. "Any objections?"
He gives me a sideways glance. "When?"
"On the way to see Dawn. He's on the way there. Plus, we have to stop at the Lunenburg Wal-Mart."
I grab my cell and dial. JC turns to the kids. "Tell me about this 'Uncle Pete'."
"Don't tell him anything, he's cheating." It rings three times.
A groggy voice picks up. "I should fucking kill you."
"Mr. Pete Fuckin Wheeler, wanna see my spawns?"
"Who?"
"Demitr-"
"Yes! Bring em over! I miss them!"
"Be up and ready in half an hour?"
"What's this I hear you left killjoy Joe?"
"Yes, you get to meet Josh. Be nice and I'll see if I can hook ya up."
"Nah, just bring the spawns."
"See ya in half." We hang up and I go back in the kitchen as JC cleans up. "I see a nervous man I'm dating cleaning my mom's kitchen."
"Tell me about Pete, please?"
I smile and kiss him. "He's ex military, protective of the kids, and Demitryus is his buddy. Mess with the kids and death will claim you."
"Even if they're across the country?"
"Even if they're on the other end of the world."
"Is he going to have a problem with me?"
"Just relax and be you. He knows about you. He knows I left Joe."
"What doesn't he know?"
I shrug. "We'll find out when we get there. Come on kids, time to go!" They run for the car and JC and I load up the SUV. "This one. I have to drop that one off at the Enterprise on the way to Uncle Pete's house." I look at JC. "Pete's house is not something you say you know the location of. It's kind of like Area 51 and top secret. He will kill us both if someone finds out."

"Ok." We get the kids buckled, drop off my rental car, drop off ma's key to her, grab some snacks for the kids and drive the 5 minutes from Wal-Mart to Pete's. 
His car is in the driveway and I call his cell. "We're outside."
"Ok, get to the door."
I hang up and unbuckle the kids. "Rules-touch nothing and stay where you sit. Capeche?"
"Yes, mama," they reply in unison. 
We walk over to his door and he lets us come in. The kids sit on the couch and Pete looks at them. "They got huuuuggggeee!"
"Chubs is 5, Aaliyah is 7 and Mikal is turning ten in a couple months."
"Damn. School?"
"All good."
I sit in between JC's legs, just in front of him, in Pete's chair. "I take this is the new flavor?" Pete asks nodding at JC.
I laugh. "This is my boyfriend, Josh. Josh, this is Pete." They shake hands and Pete has that 'I'm messing with him' grin on his face. "No, Pete, be NICE," I say, tilting my head toward the kids.
"How long are you going to be around here?"
"I'm here for a few more hours. After we go to New Hampshire, we'll be in Bowie, MD. Stay there until Sunday and fly back to Cali."
"Bummer. I wanted to get to know him."
I roll my eyes. "No, you were going to get him stoned and/or drunk and make him shoot a gun."

He grins mischievously, putting one hand on his chest. "Why, I would never scare a guy off on you."
"No, but you'd do it for the laughs."
JC sits up. "He smokes?"
"Yeah."
Pete smirks. "She does too."
I slam my eyes shut. "Really, baby?" Pete wasn't supposed to say it. I nod, confirming the tidbit of info as true. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I've stopped smoking."
Pete laughs. "Since when?"
"Since the last time we smoked."
"That was over a year and a half ago!"
"Yeah, and what does that have to do with anything?"
"Can I take him outside and get him stoned?"
I sigh and put my head in my hands. "It's his choice. I'd rather him not."

Pete and I look in each other's eyes, having a debate before he crosses his arms over his chest. "Please, baby?" JC asks sweetly.
I take a deep breath before answering. "Only if we can take some home."
Pete smiles. "Sure. Hope you have your own device."
"Yes, we have the Turquoise Ocean."
JC rubs my side. "Where?"
"In your suitcase in the zippered pocket inside."
He kisses me. "Thanks, babe." He gets up and we head outside, letting the kids run around the driveway. 

I grab his sleeve. "You've smoked and driven before?"
He smiles, kissing by my ear. "The day we met."
I nod, remembering that day. "When?"
"Before I left my house, around 5 that morning."
"Is that why sex was at the front of your mind?" He smiles, answering without uttering a single word. "Figures," I mutter as he walks over to the car to get the Turquoise Ocean. Naming my bowls is something Pete taught me.
JC comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around me. "Are you smoking?"
"Are you driving?"
"If you want me to."
"I'll program the GPS." I put my hand out for the bowl so that I can give it to Pete to pack.
"Hell no, you pack it," Pete tells me.
"Keep an eye on the kids, please?" JC nods and turns his attention to my very hyper kids, initiating a game of Simon Says. I go inside and start packing my bowl. "You know, I didn't expect you to say that I smoke."
"Was I supposed to keep my mouth shut about that?"
"Would have been nice." I'm being terse.
"Not my style. He diseased?"
I look at Pete and smile. "No diseases, I don't date the diseased, never mind have sex." 
He laughs. "Good point."
We finish packing our bowls and head outside. JC hands me his lighter, now that I know why he always has one. Pete looks at me, reminding me of the rule. "Guests first." I hand it back to JC. He takes the first hit, inhales, holds it and exhales it as he kisses me.
He pulls away with a smile on his face as I take my first hit from the Turquoise Ocean. "Now I see where you learned to hold your breath best."
I blow the smoke I held in up into the sky. "You don't know anything."
"I'd love to learn." He takes another hit, this time from Pete's bowl.
I pass ours to Pete as JC passes me Pete's. I inhale, holding it in longer with a bigger hit, and I show I can do the dragon. "There's a reason I left home."
Pete waves at the subject. "Talk about that when you're alone. I knew you'd walk away like you did. It was just a matter of time."
"Thanks, Pete. I'll keep in touch." I give him a hug and we talk about football. After half an hour, I look at my watch. "Sorry to cut it short, but we have two and a half hours to get to Manchester, so we got to head out." I do the handshake/hug thing and he keeps his end of the bargain. 
He does the handshake/hug thing with JC. "You're a cool guy. You just might survive."
JC laughs. "I've known her 8 months and been with her for two."
"Smart. Later."
We wave as we pack up the kids and head for Dawn's. I text Pete as we pull out, JC driving. 'Thanks. Do you really think Josh is cool?'
'Yeah, he's better than killjoy'
'Aight, text ya later' I put my cell away and relax as the kids fall asleep during the drive to see Dawn.

Josh wakes me up as we pull up to Dawn's mom's in Manchester and I look at our sleeping babies. I kiss him. "Stay with them while I grab Dawn?" He nods and I get out. I walk to the door and knock. Her sister opens the door and I smile. "Dawn up?"
"Daaaaaaawwwwwwwnnnnnnnn!"
I chuckle to myself, some things don't change. She comes running down the stairs and she smiles as she nearly knocks me on my ass. "Has it really been almost two years?"
"Yes. Ready?"
"Mom, I'm with Sam. Her number is on the table."
"Ok." Her mom doesn't like me and I have no idea why. 
I climb in the middle of the front seat and she peeks at the kids. "They're huge."
"I know and scary smart."
She looks at JC. "I'm Dawn aka Tigger aka Tig-Tig aka Tiggy aka Lil D." She puts her hand out, smiling.
"My name is Joshua aka Josh aka JC aka Daddy C aka her man."
I roll my eyes as they shake hands and buckle up. "Nerds."
"Where to, ladies?"
Dawn is on the ball. "The mall."
He nods. "Zee mall it iz." He gets goofy sometimes and now I understand why he gets overly goofy. 
"You're a nerd," I say, shaking my head.
Backstreet Boys' 'She's A Dream' plays on my iPod as we pull up to a red light. "That's what you are, baby."
"You're Josh. The sweet man that grew up with a great family from Bowie, MD. The great guy that puts up with my shit."
"That's what I'm talking about," he confirms as he leans in for a kiss.
"I've never seen her so happy. Thanks, JC." 
"You're welcome, Tig."
She laughs. "You're making her smile, treating her right and the kids love you."
"Auntie Tiggy?"
"Yes, Lil Man."
Demitryus then shrieks, waking the other two from their nap. We pull into the mall parking lot and we each take one of the kids-Aaliyah goes with JC, Mikal with Dawn and Demitryus with me. We go Christmas shopping for our families, getting little things we can hide. We enjoy lunch at Friendly's, dinner at the 99 and ice cream at DQ while we laugh, talk, catch up and reminisce about everything. "Then I took the pregnancy test to prove it!"
"And you were pregnant with Aaliyah, we knew it but he had to try to convince himself otherwise." We laughed about a few other things and she smiled, genuinely. "How much of her family did you meet, Josh?"
"Five of her cousins and her mom."
"Don't meet anymore, it'll just prove my theory is right."
"Tig!"
"Lil B!"

"Oh, God! The secret's out! Now you can tell that story."
"What does the B stand for?"
"Breannalynn. My cousins came up from down south and couldn't for the life of them remember her name, so they called her Breannalynn or Lil B for the last month of the summer. My cousin, Mitch, had the hugest crush on her!"
"Even though I was involved."
"Yeah, but you laughed at all his jokes."
"Shut up, he was nice. Oh God, the twang made me just wanna die laughing."
JC chuckles. "I'm glad you didn't."
"I know, me too. I wanted to laugh so bad when I met Justin, his twang brought back the memories of Mitch. I wanted to just laugh when he said hi." I mock Justin's twang as we finish our ice cream before packing up the kids to head out. It's going on five and we have to drop Dawn off at home, stop in to see my nieces and nephews before heading to Bowie. I hug her as she says good-bye to the five of us, tears falling from our eyes. She had already told the kids to behave or she would haunt them and me that I if I don't keep JC, she would fly to LA to kick my white ass.
She looks at JC, smiling as she informs him, "Josh, stay with her and keep her happy or there won't be a body to be found, I've watched enough CSI, NCIS and Bones to get away with murdering you."
He laughs. "We have to go, baby. Keep in touch, Tig."
"I will. Bye, guys!"
"I'll email you those pictures we took today!" I shout after her and she gives me a thumbs up before going inside. I climb back in and kiss JC as I buckle my seatbelt. "Thank you."

"Now to meet the one you call Sasher, your nieces and nephews."
I put he address in the GPS and we talk about Bowie and his friend, Kace. We get to Sasha's and unload the kids to visit, I have to admit I'm nervous because it's been over a year since she's seen or heard from me. I knock on her door and Ty'esha opens the door. "Hi."
"Hey, Ty." I hug her. "I've missed you guys so much."
She shrugs. "You kept in touch through Facebook."
I breathe a sigh. "Samanther. You make an appearance with the new man."
I hug Sasha, smiling. "Josh, this is Sasha. Sasha, Josh."
They shake hands as I look around. "Tee other spawns are out."
"Oh." I walk over to some photos as Ty takes Mikal and Aaliyah to play. Josh looks for em. "Ty has them." I pick up Demitryus, pointing to pictures of my nephews and nieces. "These are my nieces and nephews from Sasher." I name them off, smiling. Five nieces and nephews, whom I've missed so bad in the past 21 months. I explain why I haven't seen them in almost two years. "I hate him." We stay for an hour and he hears stories about me, as a kid, and some are pretty embarrassing. We stay until 6:30ish and head out, hugging them as we leave. "It felt good to see them," I confess as we buckle in the kids and head for Bowie. JC lets me ramble and drive so he can sleep, going through with what he said. I drive the eight hours from Fitchburg to Bowie, waking him up when we get there. He must have set the GPS and I hadn't realized it because I followed the soft voice to his family's house. He helps me get the kids and luggage inside before looking at the clock. 
"It's almost 3am."
"Told you that we'd get here about now."
He kisses me. "You're insane, baby girl."
"But you love me."
"You love me too." We quietly giggle before spooning, holding tight to each other.