Time Warp: Who Would've Thought? (Clement)

[Jesse Adams]

Boston, MA - 2029

The house Jesse parked his car in the driveway of looked... the picture of domestic. Considering where he spent a lot of his time, it was always a welcome sight. Between the office crammed with files upon files of cases he was working on, or had worked on, and the homes he had to visit, well... domestic wasn’t as bad as he’d once thought it was.

After his things were off of the seat of the car and carefully tucked back in his laptop bag, the blond locked the car and headed to the house. He’d actually gotten off on time for a change, which he was sure would be welcome by both his husband, and the kids.

Speaking of kids, the second his key was in the lock he heard the telltale squeal, followed by thundering feet. He barely got the door open before his four year old daughter had attached herself to his leg. “DAD!”

“Hi, Gabby.” With an affectionate smile, he reached down and brushed his fingers through her own blonde hair.

“MISSED YOU.” She beamed up at him, hugging tighter.

“I missed you too.” He stooped down to scoop her up. As usual, she had a lopsided tiara on, as well as a pink feather boa that was leaving little pink bits all over his shirt. She snuggled in contentedly for a moment before leaning back. She had long ago perfected the angelic look that seemed to affect her father so much. “Can we play princess before dinner?”

So predictable. Jesse sighed and cast a wary look to Clement. “Maybe, Gabs.” Shifting her to his hip, he pushed off his shoes and made his way to Clement. “Hey. Missed you, too. And Joey.” With that, he gently kissed his cheek and set Gabby back on the floor. It was good to be home.

[Clement Evans]

They'd worked things out before the kids had come; Clement worked from home at both of his jobs, author of bestselling novels and occasional translation jobs, and took care of child watching and basic housekeeping while Jesse did his thing out in the world. Clement was so proud of him, and he loved their kids, but sometimes when the older man showed up at the door he was maybe too glad to see him. Gabby was four and Joey was three, and together they could be a handful, to put it lightly. Clement snatched a few hours during the day with his laptop out around the kids or during naptime, though some days were more productive than others. Today had not been one of those days. That said, the kids were rarely difficult or bratty, they were just young and enthusiastic and had not learned the whole 'indoor voice' concept. Gabby was needier in terms of attention, but Joey needed more watching because his current fascinations involved water and hiding, sometimes in combination.

Clement and Joey were used to Gabby's Dad Is Home ritual, and followed her without hurrying. Joey carried his stuffed cow, Moo, and both of them had little pink feathers on them. Grinning a bit tiredly, Clement kissed his husband back, grabbing the front of his shirt and getting him on the lips. Joey squealed, laughing, and Clement lifted him up so he could get a kiss from Dad too. "Missed you a lot," he murmured, though he was still smiling. "Plunged the toilet twice, had to keep those little barrettes in my hair all afternoon, and at the park they decided they had to bark back at all the dogs."

Dinner was in the oven. Pot roast with carrots and potatoes, and crusty rolls. Toys were scattered over the family room floor, and Clement's short hair stuck up more wildly than usual for all the times he'd run his fingers through it. Stretching his arms over his head, he yawned, rubbing the bridge of his nose under his wire-rimmed glasses. "If you can keep 'em busy for a little bit I can finish dinner."

[Jesse Adams]

It had taken a while for Jesse to come around to the idea of kids. There had been a lot of back and forth. His primary concerns had been that he was afraid of being anything like his father. What if his behavior was genetic in some form? Yet Clement had managed to talk him down from that multiple times, to the point that they'd actually looked into their options. Despite the worries about genetics, they had eventually settled on arranging for a surrogate mother/egg donor for both kids. It had worked out well, and now they each had their own biological child. By the time they had come around, Jesse had already been deep into a social worker career. He specialized in child welfare, which had mostly been spawned from his own experiences, as well as Clement's. If he could help it, he wanted to prevent it happening to anyone else.

At least he didn't have to worry about that with his own kids. Even if Clement did keep threatening murder when they got out of hand. Just never when they were around to hear it.

He still didn't get why Gabrielle got so crazy when he got home, but he accepted it as part of life. Keeping her out of the way on his hip, he smirked into Clement's kiss and gave into kissing Joey as well. "Got home as soon as I could. No dire emergencies on my way out, either, so that was good." Any day that didn't involve an emergency was a good day in his world. "Sorry I missed the barrettes." He had to stifle a little laugh. "You always look fabulous in them."

His own hair was still on the longer side, which Gabby routinely took advantage of. It wasn't uncommon for him to end up with tiny braids, or clips all over it. It hadn't been quite long enough for a stubby ponytail for quite a while, mostly to keep the kids out of grabbing it. Now they were older, he was thinking about letting it grow a little more again.

"Daaaad. Princesses." Gabby tugged at his pant leg, throwing her most tragic pout face his way. Jesse sighed and looked up at Clement.

"Give me five minutes to change, and I'll keep them entertained."

[Clement Evans]

Clement was sure Jesse would be a good parent, even if Jesse wasn't. It was just his spending impulse that had to be kept under control. While there was no chance they'd have kids who were abused in any sense of the word, there was a big one they'd grow up overly entitled and spoiled. Long talks about what was acceptable in terms of material things... were still being carried out. But the idea had been planted. Loving their kids the way Jesse's dad had shown his 'affection' was not productive.

Gabby's ritual had been going on since she was around a year old and still going strong. Clement had fun picturing her at eighteen, jumping up from her homework the second her Dad got home and leaping into his arms.

"Of course I do. Gabby does a great job and I'm just naturally barrette-esque," he said loftily. "You beat me in a tiara though. I think it's the hair."

Short hair or no, Jess could still hair flip like a direct descendant of Farrah Fawcett. Nodding when he said he had to change, Clement managed to pry their daughter off her father and get both kids back to the family room. "Come on, let's clean up a little so Dad can play princesses."

"No pincess!" Joey took his thumb out of his mouth long enough to give his opinion on the matter.

"You don't have to play, Joey. You can play cows. Or you can be the princess's cow." Their son liked cows. Whatevs. "Or you can color."

"Color!" He liked coloring too.

"Right. We'll set you up when we're done cleaning." Toys were shoveled into bins and the bins were slid into the shelving unit especially for them. Clement got out the Cool Whip container full of crayons and some printer paper for Joey just as Jesse came down.

"Dinner in about 20," he said, leaving them to it.

[Jesse Adams]

Getting a handle on his spending impulses had been a struggle for Jesse, to say the least. It had become a habit for so long that when it had come up in discussions in terms of the kids... Jesse honestly didn’t even realize he did it. It was proving a hard habit to break, but he was trying. At least he had real, physical ways of showing his love for his kids. Emotional, too. If he was determined about one thing, it was that he wasn’t going to follow his father’s footsteps. Not in the slightest.

“Think she has hairdressing in her future?” Jesse had to smirk at the idea, though his expression quickly fell. He loved Gabrielle to death, yes. He loved both his kids. But this princess phase seriously had to stop. He didn’t know how to deal with it all that well. How Clement managed, he had no idea. “You’re just jealous that me and Gabs are so pretty.” Gabrielle squealed and hugged her father tighter around the neck.

“Sooo pretty!” Jesse winched and gently wedged his hand between her arms and his neck.

“Gentle, Gabs. Remember?” She just smiled brightly and gave him a wet toddler kiss to the cheek. Clearly she’d figured out that her father was often absolutely putty in her hands when she acted cute.

While Clement and the kids tidied, Jesse went upstairs to change, coming back down in jeans and a t-shirt that had both seen better days. The moment Gabrielle heard him on the stairs, she spun and ran up to him, extra tiara, boa, and wand in hand. “Let’s be fairy princesses!” And because Jesse was incapable of saying no, he crouched and let her drape the boa around his neck, nestle the tiara in his hair, and hand him the wand. He could do this. It was only twenty minutes of keeping the kids from fighting, and dealing with pretending he knew how to play princess. How hard could it be?

[Clement Evans]

The princess phase didn't bother Clement, he just went with it. It wasn't hurting anyone, and Gabby had gotten the big talk about how princesses were just pretend and how girls could do whatever they wanted and should frankly aim higher than marrying a prince. And that no matter how many glittery pins and clips she put in her hair, it was how she acted that was most important. Joey had gotten the talk too, but with it came that they were very sorry, but 'cow' was not an adult profession, as nice as it might be, and the whole The Toilet Is Not A Toy, however effective that was, which was almost zero. But Joey was three, and Clement knew how to plunge. Like princesses (hopefully), it would pass. Please. Please, god.

"Yes. You're very pretty. But I'm on the New York Times Bestseller list. So there." Clement stuck out his tongue, and then said, "Gabby. No strangling."

Taking a moment to watch his husband, the former child terrorist, utterly melt under the crushing pressure of his daughter's cuteness, Clement smirked and snorted, and turned to tidy the living room.

Sometimes Clement swore Gabby was meta, she could hear Jess coming before anyone else. She was like Radar from MASH. "Joey's coloring. See that he stays on the paper this time."

Not that their coffeetable didn't sometimes need a little jazzing up, but green and orange crayoned cows with purple and red spots... weren't in this season. As Clement disappeared into the kitchen, he took out his phone and texted his husband before he washed his hands.

"SO. WHIPPED." He pressed send.

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse hadn’t had as easy a time with the princess phase. He’d almost been holding out for her to be a rough and tumble tomboy. That, he could handle. Tiaras and wands and glitter? Not so much. Much to his sister and mother’s amusement at times when he sent them pictures. Still, he was getting used to it. Gabrielle had long since figured out how to bend her father to her will.

“I’d rather be pretty,” Jesse said with a little smirk before kissing Gabby’s cheek. She made a tiny face and swiped her hand across her cheek.

“That’s itchy, Dad.” He smiled before setting her down. At least his husband didn’t mind him being a touch scruffy.

Once he was back with the kids in more family-friendly attire than a button down shirt, he glanced up at Clement. “Right. Because crayon’s so much fun to take off the table.” He gave their son a quick glance to ensure that, yes, he was still on the paper, before giving into Gabby’s pleading looks.

As she ran around the room touching various things with the wand, casting made up spells and twirling in circles, Jesse took out his buzzing phone. ... Right. Whipped. Now it was on. He quickly typed a reply with one hand, the other still clutching the green wand he’d been given.

’I’m not the one that answered the door in a tiara last week.’

[Clement Evans]

Scruffy was fine. It was rather sexy, though when they were both scruffy sometimes the scruff... impeded movement. Clement's facial hair couldn't seem to make up its mind. The little bit of shadow needed shaving off every morning, but if he wanted to grow something more, it balked. Sulked. Stormed off in a huff. It was just as well he preferred clean-shaven anyway.

He snorted. "Crayola made washable, but if they really wanted to rake the cash they ought to make easy wipe furniture."

Seriously, why had no one capitalized on that? Parents everywhere would sob in gratitude.

In the kitchen, after he sent off his text and washed up, he misted a pan with cooking spray and arranged the dough that would be the rolls. A buzz at his hip had to wait till it was in beside the roast, and then he checked it. Heh.

'The UPS guy's already seen me in the boa. You think I'm some animal?'

Though the kids usually helped set the table, tonight Clement did it. The kids could clear. The remaining prep mess was cleaned up, and he started the dishwasher. Though the dinner wasn't ready, Clement didn't go into the living room. Jesse could handle Gabs and Joey, and Clement could take five. Yawning, he stretched, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. He loved the kids, he really did, but wow. Every time he thought he was reasonably in shape, thirty minutes at the park proved him so, so wrong. From the fridge he took the coffee he'd made that morning. He liked it black and cold. He had to get out the rest of an article and do at least a chapter's worth of edits. Drinking coffee this late was bad for him, but... well, if he really got in a crunch Jess could take some time off. As he sipped his coffee, he leaned against the counter and relaxed.

Then a smile lifted one side of his mouth. 'She done your hair yet, Princess?'

In the living room, Joey colored his version of a barn with barnyard animals - a vague rectangle populated with various circles that had between three and seven legs and a wide assortment of other features but who were all, he'd assure anyone, were cows. "Daaaaaaaaaaaa," he said, holding up a blue crayon. "You turn. Make cow!"

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse liked the scruffy look on himself. Clement... actually pulled off the clean shaven look quite nicely. Though Jess did try to look professional for his work, but sometimes looking the smallest bit scruffy and tough looking came in handy when he had to deal with parents. The fact Clement liked it was just a bonus.

“We could get him a whiteboard, or something?” It was easily cleaned. ... Provided that only the dry erase markers were used on it. Maybe that was a bad idea. He had visions of Sharpied cows all over it. Yeah, definitely a bad idea.

When Clement texted back, Jesse raised an eyebrow. What kind of animal? Really? He smirked before tapping his reply. ‘You’re an animal all right. And I mean that in the most R rated way possible.’ Their movie selections in the house might have been rated PG at the most, but that didn’t mean his private texts to his husband had to be that way.

While Clement worked in the kitchen, Jesse did his best to keep his eye on both kids. Joey seemed to be doing well at staying on the paper, though he still kept an eye on him. If he was the one on kidlet duty when Joey drew on the furniture, he knew exactly who would be doing the scrubbing. In watching Joey, he missed Gabby leaping onto the couch and kneeling behind him until it was too late. Her fingers were working deftly through his hair. “Princesses have to be pretty, Dad.” It was said so matter of factly that Jesse had to bite back a laugh.

“Right, Gabs.” With his head tipped back slightly, he let Gabby work. It wasn’t hurting anyone, and he didn’t have to twirl around with her.

It was almost relaxing, as long as he didn’t think about what she was doing back there. His eyes were almost closing when Joey made his request. Gabby shot her brother a pouty look. “No! Making Dad pretty!”

“Hey, hey. Dad can do both.” With that, he pulled Gabby so that she was resting against his back, and moved closer to the table. Joey’s cow fixation had been going on for a while now – long enough for Jess to know how to sort-of-kind-of make a cow looking thing on paper. Taking the crayon, he slowly traced out a cow, coloring it with blue patches before giving the crayon back. “There. Cow.”

Behind him, Gabby hung off of his shoulders, clipping in the last of her barrettes. Her Dad was now the proud owner of several small, messy braids. “SO PRETTY!” She beamed and wriggled higher before once again cutting off his air supply in a tight hug. Jesse winced and moved to pick her up and flip her into his lap.

“Not as pretty as you.” And he meant it.

[Clement Evans]

Clement knew Jesse would understand momentarily that a whiteboard was a horrible idea, so he didn't bother yelling 'OH MY GOD NO WHAT ARE YOU THINKING'. Crayons could still be scrubbed off, though it took some elbow grease and not a few words not said in front of the children.

'Playing princesses does odd things to your mind. Should you see someone for that?' And just to prove he could give as good as he got, 'Keep at it bad boy and I'll eat you up.'

Joey paid absolutely no attention to his sister as he colored. He was used to her bouncing off the walls, and calmly gave his current cow three eyes. An extra one so he could see extra far. When Gabby said Dad couldn't draw him a cow, his lower lip pouted out and he was just about to yell back at her when Dad came to the rescue. Joey grinned. "Yay!"

With large eyes, he watched as Jesse drew what had to be a masterpiece of crayon art. Daddy was a better artist, but Dad's pictures were more rare and therefore more of a treat. When the drawing was finished, he clapped. "Yay! Goo' boy Dad!"

As he admired it, Gabby did her strangling thing again. Bad girl. But she had done Dad's hair all nice. Joey admired the barrettes. Daddy's hair didn't braid well. It was too short.

"Joey pitty too?" He held up his cow. "Moo pitty!"

In the kitchen, Clement caught the timer before it went off. The stove timer was shrill and long and he hated it, so he tried to beat it to buzzing. Taking out the rolls and the roasting dish... yep, done. Jesse didn't like onions, so he'd added a few cloves of garlic to add that flavor profile. A metal chopstick went cleanly and easily through a test carrot and potato. The rolls were flipped over onto the cutting board, and Clement separated them out, covering them with the pan to keep them warm.

Walking into the living room, a grin spread over his face. "I see we've been productive. Good work on the coloring, Joe. Nice braiding, Gabs. And... wow, you're just beautiful, Princess Dad. C'mon, dinner's ready."

"Didder!" Their son jumped up and ran into the kitchen, hugging Moo.

"Yes. Didder." Clement rolled his eyes good naturedly and picked Gabby up so Jesse wouldn't be submitted to another round of asphyxiation.

[Jesse Adams]

‘Depends. What kind of odd things?’ He wanted to know just what Clement had in mind. As for the more R rated comments, he smirked. ‘Promises promises.’ Clement often had late nights due to his writing, and Jesse sometime still stayed up at night, not able to settle until his husband was back with him. There was something unsettling about sleeping alone, even after all these years. If he was still up by the time Clement came to bed, he might have to think about acting on the so called promises. If Clement was up for it. Sometimes it felt like an eternity between adult times.

The blond had to smile at Joey’s declaration. So often they said that to both kids when they were being good. It was almost weird to have them say it back, even if it made sense to them. He just brushed his fingers over Joey’s hair and smiled affectionately at him.

“Everyone’s pretty. Even Moo.”

“And Fishy!” Gabby yanked up the plush fish she’d had for ages, which was currently wrapped tightly in a long purple beaded necklace, and nuzzled it to her cheek. The thing was starting to look a little battle worn again, with the soft fuzz starting to harden in patches from spills or sticky hands all over it. It was probably due for a bath, which was always a struggle. At least Joey was willing to let Moo bathe every so often.

“And Fishy.” He’d deal with the bath topic later. It wasn’t worth the fight, and it definitely wasn’t going to be him versus Gabby alone. He needed backup on that one.

Dinner was seriously starting to smell good, and by the time Clement wandered in Jesse was about ready to raid the oven. Thankfully, he didn’t have to. Glancing up at his husband, he gestured to the barnyard Joey had made. “We made cows. And Gabby’s a stylist.” The princess comment didn’t bother him that much, though he did pull off both the boa and the tiara, setting them back on the couch. The braids stayed put, though. He wasn’t that heartless. And at least he was the kind of father that let his daughter do it in the first place. He couldn’t image what his own father would have done had Sasha even tried. Probably something he didn’t want to think about. He dealt with enough parental issues at work. He didn’t need to dredge his own back up from the past.

The blond got up off the floor and followed his family into the kitchen. Just the smell made him smile. “Yeah, this is definitely why I married you, C.” He grinned before stooping to pick up Joey and set him in his high chair. “Can Dad have Moo, JoJo?” The last thing he wanted was for Moo to have an emergency bath and blow dry before bedtime because Joey dropped food on him. “You can have him back after dinner.”

In Clement’s arms, Gabby peered at the counter from over his shoulder, beaming. “I see ROLLS!” Fishy dangling loosely from her hand by the tail, she wriggled slightly. “Yay rolls!”

[Clement Evans]

'Like thinking you're such a sexy beast.' Quietly he snorted. 'You are, by the way.'

He smirked, seeing Jess take off his accoutrements. Clement just didn't care, wore them till he remembered to take them off. The tiara was pretty good at keeping his hair out of his face.

Carrying their daughter in, Clement snorted. "And here I thought it was my sparkling personality."

Joey thought for a few seconds and then nodded. "Moo eat cow food." He offered up his friend after a see-you-later hug, and waved as Dad set him away.

The word 'ROLLS' had gone right into Clement's ear, and he briefly shut his eyes. "Gabby. Indoor voice, please."

Depositing her into her booster seat, he gave his mealtime spiel. "Okay, we're eating. Everyone face forward, no playing, and remember your manners."

A roll went onto his and Jesse's places, and the kids split one between them. They still had capricious toddler appetites, and Clement was trying to teach them about not wasting food. They waited well, babbling to each other while he dished everyone up - one of the eating rules was to wait till everyone had been served - and then both kids and Clement said, "jal meoggetsumnida" with varying degrees of accuracy. Their family wasn't very religious and the word wasn't a prayer (literally it translated to 'I will eat well'), but it showed a modicum of respect for the food and the preparers that Clement thought was important. What Gabby and Joey knew so far was that Daddy had been raised by people who spoke another language and did things differently than 'everyone else'. Dad sometimes joined in, sometimes didn't.

The pot roast was easy to pull apart, so he didn't worry too much about the kids having bigger than normal pieces of meat, and he'd already cut up the vegetables pre-cooking to something their son could eat easily. Clement looked forward to the day he didn't have to cut everything into something the size of a Lego.

Jesse's work wasn't something they could talk about in front of the children, but there was usually a part in there he could talk about, and it was something that could get the kids talking too. "What'd you have for lunch today?"

[Jesse Adams]

‘I’d better do something about that dirty mouth of yours before you get ideas.’ Or, preferably, after Clement got ideas.

“Personality, cooking abilities, same thing,” replied breezily with a wave of his hand. “Either way, smells great.” He could fumble his way around the kitchen and most things came out decently if he followed a recipe, but he had nothing on his husband. Clement was a domestic god.

Jesse set Moo back in the living room, gently prying Fishy from Gabby’s fingers as he went. There was a house rule about toys at the table, and both of them knew it. Gabby let the toy go, sinking down slightly as her daddy reminded her about the indoor voice rule. “Sorry Daddy.” They were still working on volume control.

She sat calmly in her booster seat as she waited for the food, and for her Dad to take his place at the table as well. Mealtime was a familiar ritual, and she knew the guidelines before Daddy even said them. Her version of the little not-a-prayer that was said at the table was a little more pronounced than Joey’s, but still not even close to how pretty Daddy made it sound. Even her Dad mumbled along with it tonight before putting his hand on her head and ruffling her blonde hair slightly.

At the question that was posed, Gabby lifted her hand in the air and waved it before announcing what they’d had for lunch at the house. “We had sammiches!” Jesse smiled at her enthusiasm. If only he’d grown up like that.

“That’s good, Gabs.” The building he worked in did have a cafeteria on the first floor, which he frequented probably a little more than he should have, but he didn’t want to put making his lunches onto Clement’s workload as well. “I had lasagna and salad.” At least he tried to behave when he bought lunch. He could have been worse, being that they’d had pizza on the menu as well. “Joey, what else did you do today?”

[Clement Evans]

There was no way to text that back without Starting Something, so he left it and would pick it back up at a later time. Ajima was directly to thank for Clement's skill in the kitchen. Often, the chores she set him and her son were related to food; washing rice, doing the endless chopping that came with Korean food prep, peeling cloves of garlic, roasting kim. And not having enough to eat for the first fifteen years of his life was a powerful motivator for learning to cook. He liked it too. Clement made his own kimchi, and sometimes for lunch he made the kids kimbap or jeon.

In answer to the apology Clement ruffled her hair with a smile.

Dinner begun, Clement ate with relief. He wasn't particularly hungry, but any chance to sit down in relative peace was a godsend. It felt... cozy and domestic and just... nice to sit down to a meal with his family. With his husband and his kids. It was kind of amazing. Even if the kids sometimes drove him a little nuts.

Joey nodded. They had indeed had sammiches for lunch. Turkey sammiches with 'cow cheese', what their son called colby jack, as it was 'spotted' like his beloved cows. Clement figured now wasn't the time to try to explain to him that all the cheese in the house was 'cow cheese'.

The kids ate enthusiastically, with varying degrees of accuracy and hand-eye coordination. Daddy gave his husband impressed at the lunch. Any Italian on the menu meant the likelihood of pizza had been there and he'd manage to resist. Wow. And salad. "Very good," he couldn't help say, smirking a little.

Joey had roast gravy all over his mouth, but he didn't let that stop him from perking right up and saying, "Doggies! Park doggies! WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!"

Both children burst out laughing and Clement sighed. "Guys! Calm down."

Raising an eyebrow to Dad, he said, "They barked back at all the dogs they saw. They thought it was a riot. Our trip was short today."

Joey tried to look guilty. Daddy had said they'd been naughty, but it had been so fun. "We have doggie, Dad?"

Hope sprang eternal at the Adams-Evans'.

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse had learned a few kitchen skills, mostly from Clement. His only real exposure to cooking when he was younger had been passing his mother things when she baked in the hopes of licking spoons or scoring something out of the first batch of goodies. Gabriel had taught him a few basic things, though those were fuzzy now. Still, he knew enough to keep everyone fed when he needed to, and no one had died of food poisoning. ... Yet.

There had been a time he couldn’t have pictured his life ending up like this. Even towards his graduation from Hammel, he had had problems envisioning something so domestic. Though he and Clement had been good friends at that point, he still had no idea what his future had held for him. Now he knew, and he was content with it. He loved his family, and he honestly couldn’t ask for anything to make it better.

Well, except perhaps the kids calming down a little. That would be nice.

The look he earned from Clement made Jesse feel both proud of himself, and a little childish. Yes, sometimes he could be a complete brat about food (he was positive Clement would never, ever let him forget about the pizza cake discussion), but he could also be an adult about it. “I can be good,” he shot back, lifting his chin slightly in an effort to look just a little more dignified about the whole thing. If it wasn’t for the stubby braids in his hair, he might have pulled it off, too.

The park story made him smile. It was impossible to hide, especially when the kids burst out laughing. He could absolutely picture it, and part of him was sad he’d missed it. He was about to respond to Clement when Joey’s question blindsided him. Blinking, he sighed. It was something they had discussed on and off, with varying degrees of seriousness. “When you’re older,” he responded, prompting Gabby to exhale loudly in protest.

“You always say that!”

“Because you’re not old enough yet. Me and Daddy have to have a grown up talk about it.” He didn’t mind the idea of having a dog again, but only when the kids were older and more self sufficient. Clement might kill himself if he had to deal with a dog on top of the kids now.