FicWad

Once again, many, many, many thanks to you guys who are rating and reviewing. You know who you are. And I'm glad to see this story is actually stirring emotion in some of you - thank you for telling me. Hope you enjoy this one. More is on the way.
Oh, and if you're one of those people who likes babies, mixed with the idea of Patrick, you'll like this. I think Josh and Danielle are going to be favorites for you guys. Cue the 'awws'.

"Pa..." Jenny whispered as she nearly reached her limit. She repeated it faster, and cursed herself in her head, shaking the man's face out of her mind, trying to stop screaming his name, but it was like word vomit, and she could hardly stop herself. She could feel Pete pausing and slowing down as he listened to her whisperings, and suddenly when she got there, she said anything but the name that was burning on her lips.
"Pathology!"
Pete stopped completely, forgetting about himself and sat up, surprised. He burst out laughing and shook his head.
"Pathology? My God, baby, I've heard people say some weird stuff in my time, but 'pathology'? And I gotta say, that's not the most flattering thing to think about when you're having an orgasm! God, you crack me up." Pete laughed, leaning over and kissing her before standing up.
"Pizza?" He said with a wink. Jenny could do nothing but nod, in shock of what she had done. He suddenly appeared again.
"You know, for a second there, I thought you were gonna say Patrick!" He laughed and blew her a kiss before going back into the living room.
Jenny laughed nervously, but Pete didn't notice. When he left the hallway, Jenny sank back against the wall by the stairs.
What the hell was wrong with her? She had nearly screamed her partner's best friend's name. And now she was blushing.
This was wrong. So totally wrong.


"I'm /fine/, Joe, really." Patrick said over his speakerphone on his house phone around two months later. He was standing in his living room, his sleeves rolled up, packing some of his belongings into a box, and rolling his eyes at Josh and Danielle, who were sitting up against the back of their play pen watching him inquisitively after waking up.
"Yeah, but you could probably use the help." Joe's voice sounded muffled over the phone.
"I appreciate it, Joe, but I'm great, really. How many times have I actually asked for help?"
"I know, I know, but we leave tomorrow and it's not like you to leave packing until last minute."
"It's not like you to care whether I've packed or not. If you want to come over and just not help, just ask." Patrick laughed, taping the box shut after filling it.
"Nah, it's cool. I'll see you guys tomorrow anyways." Joe said casually. "So where are the twins now?"
"They're here. I think I woke them up with the packing but they're being real good at the moment. Real quiet, just watching me and smiling at me."
"Aww, cute." Joe said. "Tell them I said hi."
"Say hi to Uncle Joe," Patrick said, pointing at the phone and making a waving gesture at them. Danielle laughed and clapped her hands together, in a desperate, three month old attempt to copy her father's actions. She'd begun to smile whenever Patrick looked her in the eyes, and when he sang she made small whimpering noises as if she was trying to sing along. Josh, on the other hand, took to trying to prise Patrick's hat off his head, or grabbing the edge of his glasses and trying to pull them off his nose.
At that moment, Danielle shrieked with laughter and performed her routine clap along with it, while Josh tried with all his three month old strength to throw his teddy at Patrick.
"My God, what a voice that girl has on her!" Joe said, shocked.
"I know! I bet she'll be a musician." Patrick said, giving Danielle the thumbs up, making her laugh louder.
"Jesus, she likes to laugh at you."
"I know, she laughs at anything I do." Patrick told him. "Josh just tries to hit me all the time, and steal from me." He said with a laugh.
"Have you let Pete babysit him recently? He's corrupting him already." Joe chuckled. "Anyway, dudes, and dudettes, Uncle Joe has to go."
"Alright man, I'll see you in LA sometime soon."
"Sure. Are you driving there?"
"Yeah. I kind of have to, I don't fancy going on a plane with two babies. Especially one who screams and one who hits. Plus it gives me an excuse to drive."
"Fair enough. Safe trip, man."
"Thanks, you too." Patrick said, taking the phone off speakerphone and turning back around to face Danielle and Josh.
"/You/, missy, have to keep your voice down when daddy's on the phone." Patrick said, leaning over the pen and poking her nose gently.
"And /you/," Patrick went on, "Have to be nicer to your teddies. You don't know how much they'll mean to you over the next few years."
He took hold of Josh's teddy and made it kiss his nose, as Josh frantically tried to grab it back.
"Yeah, you got it boy." He chuckled as Josh prised it from his fingers and clutched it to his own body.
He turned around and looked at the three remaining boxes he had left to fill.
"Right, Daddy's gotta finish packing."

Patrick got in his car early the next morning, and turned around in his seat to look at Danielle and Josh, both watching him from their seats in the back.
"Right, let's go say bye to mommy, shall we?" He asked, buckling his seat belt and starting the car.
Ten minutes later, Patrick was parked outside Christina's house, leaning against his car, wondering whether to chance knocking on her door or to call her to come outside, so he didn't leave Danielle and Josh alone in the car. He settled for calling Christina, and braced himself for a tired, angry voice on the other line.
"Hey, Christina, it's Patrick. I'm outside, we're about to leave."
The front door opened and Christina stepped out, fully dressed and showered, her hair tied up in a bun and a smile on her face.
"I'm so excited for your new record." She grinned, giving Patrick a hug. "Have a good time, OK? I'm sure you'll love LA."
"Yeah. Uh, you wanna say bye to the kids?"
Christina peered through the car window at Danielle and Josh, both of who peered back at this stranger with strikingly blond hair and delicate features.
"They're asleep, oh well." Christina said, stepping back. Patrick shot a glance in to the car before staring at her.
"They're fully awake, Christina."
"OK, you take care now. If you need anything, call me! All the best!" Christina called as she walked back up the path. She gave a slight wave at the door and within seconds, she was gone. Patrick swallowed the swears and his anger, getting back in the car and pulling out.
"She's a charmer, your mom. Believe it or not she used to treat me like a King." Patrick muttered incoherently as he drove along the road, flipping radio stations numerous times. "Not that you should expect people to treat you like royalty, 'cause you shouldn't. I mean she used to treat me like I was everything, and I used to treat her like she was my Princess."
He stopped at a red light and looked in the mirror, Josh was asleep already and Danielle was watching him as though she understood every word.
"That's changed now," Patrick said, a smile coming across his face, "Because I have another Princess in my life, right honey?"
He turned when the red light turned green, and sang along with the radio quietly, as he glanced in the mirror occasionally, watching Danielle join her brother, asleep.


"Finally." Patrick groaned, stepping out of the car and looking up at his condo building. Typical of the only apartment he liked to be on one of the top floors.
"Hey! You made it!" A voice from behind him said, and he turned around to see Joe, Andy and Pete grinning at him.
"You guys, when did you, how...?" Patrick asked, puzzled as how they got here before him.
"We decided to fly over here." Andy said, as Joe and Pete gently pushed Patrick out of the way and opened the car doors to take Danielle and Josh out. Patrick glanced at them naturally, to see if they were being responsible, and turned back to Andy.
"Christina didn't even say bye to them." He said, nodding his head back to Danielle and Josh. Joe was talking baby language with Josh, while Pete was trying to outstare Danielle. He won, though, it was only a matter of time before Danielle got bored of him and tried to push away from him, wanting her dad.
"Really?" Andy asked, shielding his eyes from the evening sun. Patrick nodded.
"Yeah, and she's totally been..."
"Patrick - she's trying to kill me." Pete whined, interrupting the conversation. Patrick sighed and held his arms out as Pete walked towards him with Danielle. He took hold of her and turned back to Andy as Pete interested himself in Josh.
"As I was saying, she's totally been uninterested, she never calls me, never sees them. I just don't know what to do." Patrick said, having to keep shifting his head out of Danielle's reach as she took up her brother's habit of trying to pull his hat off.
"That's not right." Andy stated, "Have you said anything to her?"
"What can I say? I'm petrified she'll go off on one of her moods and try and," he lowered his voice even though Danielle couldn't understand, "and take the kids away from me."
"I don't think even Christina would have the heart to do that. Look how amazing you are with them."

Dear Christina,
I'm sorry I haven't called on the phone, things have been hectic trying to unpack lately, and at the same time have all these meetings and sessions for the record. And on top of all that, Josh won't sleep through the night anymore even though he's meant to at this age. He was real good when he was like a month old, it was always Danni waking up and giving me grief. Now it's the other way around. I think Josh might teeth soon. I know they're only meant to at about six months, but I teethed early and apparently it can be genetic, so I don't know. I'll keep you posted, though.
I swear these kids are the most beautiful thing on the planet. They make me smile so much, and I love every single moment with them. It's strange, but when they're in their room asleep at night (hopefully sleeping anyways), and I'm in the next room in my bed, I miss them so much. It's surreal. They love being sung to. They absolutely adore it. When they're awake I sing them all these lively songs, and sometimes I think they try and dance, but obviously at three months old they won't do it much. But they wiggle around more when I sing songs for them. Apart from at night - I sing them slow songs at night so they fall asleep. It's so cute watching them sleep, they're beautiful. Josh makes exactly the same face I watched you make a million times when you slept. He totally takes after you - he always smiles and a lot of the time he gets his own way, he's sly like that. He already knows I'm a sucker. I think Danielle is more like me. She makes these noises like she's singing when I sing to her, or if she makes a noise and I make it back, she always, always carries it on, and that game can last for hours. She claps a lot too, like if I sing or play something with her or even look at her, she claps. That's become her kind of trademark, if you will. She's like me in that retrospect because, as you always told me, I never stop moving, and neither does she. I think she's picking up on my leg twitching when I get nervous.
You should see this place, Christina, it's beyond amazing. I think the kids are gonna love it here. This apartment has everything - there's four bedrooms so I still get my own room (thankfully), and Danni and Josh can when they're old enough. And it's on the valley - the view is beautiful, it's breathtaking. I took some pictures and attached them for you to see, and you'll see how great the rooms are here.
How's things with you? I hope they're good - you're welcome to come here and visit the kids. And if you're worrying about flight money, don't worry about it, I'll take care of it.
Hope to speak to you soon,
Love from,
Patrick, Josh, and Danni.

Patrick sighed as he shut his laptop off, wondering whether Christina would actually bother to reply or not. He figured until he had time to speak to her civily on the phone, he would e-mail her progress on the kids. It was her role to care about them. She was being so unfair to the kids, what was she planning on doing when they were old enough to understand they didn't live with their mother? What was Patrick going to tell them then? He could just imagine their faces when they were older, when they began to resent him as they became teenagers and started to wonder what their life would be like if they had lived with their mother. If Christina bothered to stick around that long.
Patrick couldn't help but wonder who he would be, or how he would act if Christina had taken Danielle and Joshua home the few nights after they were born. Maybe they had a better life with him. And maybe he was a better person because he had them to get up for in the morning, along with his music. He'd never know what his life would be like without his kids, but he didn't plan on finding out or thinking about it.

"God, they never used to leave our old house, now they ring the doorbell?" Patrick said, rolling his eyes at Josh and Danielle. He was kneeling on the floor of the bathroom, his sleeves rolled up, running bath water for them. They sat on the towel he had laid out on the floor, simply watching him, like they always did. It was like he never stopped fascinating them.
"Come in," Patrick said as loudly as he could without scaring Josh and Danielle. He groaned when the doorbell continued to ring, and turned the tap off.
"Right, let's test how strong I am." He said, picking both Josh and Danielle up in each arm, carrying them through the apartment with difficulty.
"Come /in/." He hissed through the door, unable to open it himself. The door opened and Pete stood there, grinning.
"Howdy."
"Why do you decide to ring the doorbell now? You always used to just walk in." Patrick moaned, walking back through to the bathroom, and setting Josh and Danielle on the floor again. He resumed running the water again, and sat on the edge of the bath while waiting, never taking his eyes off Josh and Danielle. Pete had followed him through, and sat down next to the kids, and shrugged at Patrick.
"It's rude. You have a family now."
"That's maybe why you should just come in. I have my hands full, and I don't exactly have time to answer the door."
"Sorry." Pete apologized, trying to grab his sidekick back from Josh. "Hey! Thief. Patriiiick."
Patrick turned around and gently took the sidekick out of Josh's tiny hands.
"You can have a cell phone when you're 14." Patrick told him, as he handed the sidekick back to Pete. He turned back as Pete picked at his finger, biting his lip.
"So when's Jenny coming out?" Patrick asked, dipping his elbow in the water and then drying it with a towel.
"Next week. She still has one week to work off her resignation notice."
"I still can't believe she's moving out here with you." Patrick laughed, shaking his head as he picked up Josh and placed him in the bath.
"Could you...?" He questioned Pete, indicating Danielle.
"Sure." Pete said, picking Danielle up and placing her in the bath. As Patrick bathed Josh, Pete did the same to Danielle.
"So Jenny wanted to move out here? Or did she just not want to lose you?"
"I think, both." Pete said, his eyes on Danielle as he washed her. "She's amazing, I'm glad she's here. I love her so friggin' much."
Patrick smiled at his best friend's consideration not to swear, and watched him as he gently poured water from the jug down Danielle's arm with care. He looked lost, he was happier than he'd ever been, but there was something about him that Patrick could tell was bothering him.
"So what's wrong?" He asked. Pete knew he would understand something was on his mind. He opened his mouth but sighed, and took a deep breath again. He stopped pouring the water and sat back as he leant on his knees, looking at his lap. The lack of water pouring made Danielle watch him too, gurgling happily at the sight of her Uncle Peter, while Patrick watched Pete too, waiting for him to talk. Josh became impatient with Patrick and splashed around, grabbing Patrick's hand that was still hovering next to him, and twisting his pinky, hard.
"Owwww!" Patrick exclaimed, steadying himself on his knees and wincing as Danielle shrieked with laughter at her father's face, and Josh copied his sister and laughed at what his actions had caused.
"Wow, I see what you mean - he totally bullies you." Pete said, starting to laugh. He held his thumb up at Josh.
"Nice one, lil' pal."
"Yeah, nice one Josh." Patrick said, rolling his eyes and sucking on his finger. "That was really sore."
"That's kids for you." Pete pointed out, having to talk louder over the children's laughter and splashing as they bashed their fists against the surface of the water. Patrick gently took hold of Josh's hands and tried to divert him by clapping them together softly, at which point Danielle copied, glad she was better at clapping than her brother. That was her thing and she'd show her Uncle Peter it was, too.
"Sorry." Patrick mumbled, "So what's bothering you?"
Pete slouched back again, shaking his head as the clapping subsided from the twins, and they watched to see what Patrick was looking at, and also why their Uncle Peter was sad.
"I think Jenny likes someone else."

Classes at school are boring, so boring that I've been sitting staring into space about what to write on here when I come home, so I have loads of stuff to write for this. Hope you liked it. =]