FicWad

Alrighty, I'm gonna dedicate this chapter to Christa, 'cause she's just amazing. And kind. And awesome. And I could go on for ages but I won't. Onto the story!

Patrick and Amanda soon fell asleep in each other's arms, oblivious to their surroundings, their only focus being each other. Patrick fell into a deeper sleep than Amanda, and as he slept, dreamt a few years into the future, murmuring slightly in his subconscious.
"Josh? Will you stop being a brat and come out of your room?" Patrick called, banging on his son's door.
"No! Get lost." Came Josh's reply from the other side of the door.
"Dad, just leave him. He's such an asshole." Danielle replied from behind him. Patrick turned around and looked into the face of his 14 year old daughter, taller than him, and the spitting image of himself. And, maybe unfortunately, Christina. Her long blonde hair curled at the bottom exactly the way Christina's had. And her brown eyes were the mirror of Patrick's.
"Danielle, quit using that language."
Danielle made a face behind his back as she went into her own room, turning on her stereo. Patrick continued to bang on the door of Josh's room, and jumped back when it suddenly opened.
"What?" Josh snapped.
"Josh, you can't keep walking off on me when you don't get your way. You can't just sneak out to parties at night. You're 14, and you have school in the morning. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is at night?"
Josh rolled his eyes.
"Pete used to do it."
"I don't care what Pete used to do! You aren't Pete. And Pete isn't your father. I'm your father and as long as you live here, you go by my rules, get it?"
Josh didn't reply but stared angrily at his father's bright red and blue shoes. What the hell was his obsession?
"Josh, I said, do you get it?"
"Yes! Jesus." Josh said, walking back into his room. Patrick turned around and sighed. Josh wasn't the easiest kid to handle. Around others, he was polite and well spoken and mature for his age, but back at home he sulked and yelled and shut himself in his room to play video games. It always amazed Patrick, and others around him, how alike and unalike he and Josh were. Josh, along with Danielle, was just basically a mirror image of Patrick, his strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes instantly reminding of Patrick, however, he too was taller than Patrick, and lankier. Josh hated his hair that he had inherited from Patrick, and desperately tried to dye it any other color except strawberry blonde, and gelled it or straightened it into any style except the style Patrick had had years ago. Looking at Josh when he sulked around wearing his hoodie pulled over his head, and a lost look in his eyes, it was obvious he looked up to his Uncle Pete. The only thing Josh didn't have in common with Pete was Pete's love of music. While Pete and Patrick were completely obsessed with music and anything to do with it, Josh could care less. He could care less his father was in one of the greatest rock bands of the age, or that his Uncle was Pete Wentz. All he did was play video games, and more video games. He had a larger collection of socks than he did of music CDs. Patrick often wondered how a child so like himself in every way could be so different to him in the one way he was solely defined; a music maniac.
Danielle, on the other hand, took after Patrick completely. And she didn't even bother to hide it. She loved the fact her father was a musician. She too was a complete music maniac, and spent almost every hour out of school with her headphones in, or her stereo blasting. When she was little, she would listen to Patrick's Nat King Cole or Marvin Gaye records time after time, lying on the living room floor for hours staring at the CD cover as the record played. Or sitting cuddled between her dad's arm as he either read his book or watched the TV she demanded was muted as she listened to the record. Patrick loved how she was addicted to music. It never lost it's charm.
"Dad, Josh was nearly excluded today, just so you know." Danielle said from the refrigerator as Patrick entered the kitchen.
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah," Danielle walked past him and stopped in the doorway. "He called a teacher a lousy douche."
"Oh, what the hell am I going to do with him?" Patrick asked rhetorically. Danielle shrugged and left the kitchen.
"Get him adopted." She called from the hallway. Patrick shook his head and once again wondered how two twins who had once been everything to each other, were complete opposites and sometimes couldn't even bear to be around each other. They constantly argued or attempted to pick fights with each other, or else glared at each other from across the table until Patrick told them to get real and quit it.
"Dad, can I get a tattoo?" Josh asked, coming into the kitchen, on the rare times he left his room.
"No! No, you may not. When you're 18 or whatever, yes. Do whatever you want then. But not now." Patrick said.
"God, you're so tight. You need to take the stick out of your ass, dad."
"Josh! Stop using that language! And don't bother telling me Pete says that." Patrick snapped as Josh opened his mouth.
"Pete's so much cooler than you, Dad. You just whine and stop me doing anything." Josh said, leaving the room. Patrick gritted his teeth and turned on his heel to look out the window.
"JOSH! GET THE FUCK OUT!" Danielle's voice yelled from her bedroom.
Patrick opened his mouth and let out a loud groan as he once again went to separate the fight that was surely about to commence. Just another day for the three of them all.

"Patrick! Wake up." A voice sounded in his ears and he felt hands on his shoulders as he was shaken awake.
"Wha-- what?" He asked, sitting up.
"You were having a bad dream. You were muttering something about not caring what Pete says." Amanda whispered in his ear.
"Oh." Patrick felt relief spreading throughout his body as he realized it was a dream, that Josh was still only 5 months old and unable to swear at him or ask him for a tattoo. Or that Danielle hated her brother and could barely stand in the same room as him without winding him up.
"Thank God." He breathed, lying back.
"Hey, Patrick. I don't wanna sound rude, 'cause I'm thinking of you here, but it's nearly 8 PM. Maybe you should go back to your kids."
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." Patrick said, getting up out of bed and pulling all his clothes back on, suddenly feeling nervous and very exposed. He could feel Amanda's eyes on him as he pulled his shirt over his head, and prayed he wouldn't trip over or knock something over in his clumsiness.
"Um, can I call you?" Patrick asked, tying his shoe lace up, looking up at Amanda as she sat on the bed.
"Most definitely." She smiled. "Oh, and sometime I want to meet your kids properly and not get interrupted."
"You got it." Patrick smiled back, and leant in and kissed her on the lips. He smiled as they broke away, and whispered, his breath warm on her cheek as she looked at him.
"Great. I'll call you. No, we'll call you." He tipped his hat in an old fashioned way and left the room, trying desperately not to do a little dance on the landing.

"Where the hell have you been?" Pete asked, on at him as soon as he opened the front door, sounding very much like a wife who was wondering why her husband was late from work.
"I was out." Patrick chuckled, placing his keys on the table.
"Out? Oh, I wonder why I never checked there!" Pete replied sarcastically. "Where is out?"
"Amanda's." Patrick smiled. Pete's concerned face turned to one of hope.
"Yeah?"
"Yep." Patrick said, his smile turning into a grin as he walked through to the kids room, Pete behind him. "I think... I think I really like her."
Using the word think was stupid, because he knew he liked her. Patrick wouldn't sleep with someone unless he liked them. Really liked them.
"Aww, Patrick's falling in love again."
"Shut up, Pete." Patrick said, leaning over Josh and Danielle and making sure they were sound asleep. Pete did a surprisingly good job of getting them down for the night. Just so long as he didn't tell them horror stories or embarrassing stories about Patrick, then it was OK.
"So does she like you?"
"I think so. Well, she didn't back away disgusted from me, so I'd say that's a good sign."
"That's awesome." Pete said, but paused. "So she doesn't mind you have kids?"
Patrick shook his head.
"I don't think so. I mean, the first time we met she was good with them. Granted, it was only like 40 seconds, but still. And tonight she said she wanted to meet them properly."
"That's positive." Pete said, with a nod as they walked back into the living room, Patrick pocketing the baby monitor.
"Yeah." Patrick smiled. He had that warm feeling in his stomach, where everything seemed to fall into place. It had been a long time since he'd felt at peace. But somewhere deep inside him, he was waiting for something to happen and bring it all down.
"I got a phone call tonight." Pete said, interrupting the silence and Patrick's thoughts. "Guess who from?"
"Jenny."
"Correct."
"Oh, great." Patrick said, standing up and walking over to the window. He switched the TV on to fill the awkward silence, and put it on low volume as he turned towards Pete.
"So what happened?"
"She was still crying. Said she'd made a big mistake."
"Wow, she's observant." Patrick said sarcastically.
"You're telling me. And then she told me to come back home."
"And?"
Pete didn't reply. He just looked at his fingernails and bit his lip.
"And what did you say?" Patrick asked, but Pete still didn't answer. He was looking lost again, looking like he'd made a bad mistake or done something he'd regretted yet again.
"Pete! Tell me what you did!"
"I told her..." He threatened to stop again, it was obviously hard to replay the memory, yet alone utter the words Patrick knew he didn't want to say.
"I told her to pack her bags. And I know she gave up so much for me, her apartment, her job... so I-"
"Pete, she threw all that away. She deserves what she got."
"I know, I know."
"You did the right thing." Patrick told him. Pete looked at him, blinking to compose himself.
"Did I, though? I love her."
"I know you do. But sometimes you have to let people go when they do something like that. If they do it once, they'll always do it. And it's always a weak point you can hurt them with in the future if you ever have an argument. And digging up the past is no good."
"Says you." Pete said with a sniff he disguised as a cough.
"Trust me on this, Pete. I've been through it. And I did it the hard way, begging them to come back doesn't help either. It's like being stuck in this pit of sand, the further you dig, the more sand comes in and suffocates you. Believe me, Pete. You did the right thing."
"I guess I'll have to get over her." Pete said.
"Well, you have us all to help you."

After Patrick had gone to bed, a few hours had passed and as Patrick was involved in a deep sleep reminiscing the evening before, he was disturbed and awakened at around 3 am, his dreams and thoughts fading away as the moonlit room came into focus. And he heard Pete, calling loudly from far away, his heart racing as he heard the panic in his voice.
"Patrick! Come here! Now! Please!"