Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 9

Sheets for coffee and gas, next stop Frederick, Maryland, and Tag.
    CHAPTER 2
    It was 6:45 a.m. Breakfast was finished, and Sean was just getting Cody settled in his playpen in the family room, when his cell buzzed with a text, "I M here. At the door. Wasn't sure if I should knock.-Jase" .
    Jase, he was going to get to see Jase.
    "Cody, Daddy is going to go get the door. I will be right back, okay?" Cody barely looked up from his toys. He was playing with his toy truck, and babbling to himself. Sean knew he should bring Cody with him to the door, but he needed to see Jase alone, even if it was only for a minute. Assuring himself that Cody would be fine in his playpen for a moment, he went to answer the door.
    Sean opened the door, and looked up at his friend. Even before "the incident", as Sean himself referred to it, he had always thought that Jase looked amazing. He was tall, with skin the color of cocoa, courtesy of his African American father and Greek mother. He was gorgeous, with big wide set dark brown eyes and full lips. He kept his wiry black hair cropped short. At the moment, his eyes were puffy, and accompanied by a pair of black plastic framed glasses that Jase wore when he didn't have his contacts in. Jase was all lean ripped muscle, skinny and toned from years of performing in shows and dancing. He was standing there grinning. After looking Sean over from top to bottom, he reached out and pulled his friend into a giant bear hug.
    As Sean squeezed back, he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, and promptly lost it. He clung to Jase. He realized he was crying when the tears rolling down his chin plopped onto the shoulder of Jase's t-shirt. After a minute, Sean quieted. Jase was holding him close and patting his head awkwardly.
    He sniffed, and wiped his face with the back of his hand. He looked up at Jase, more than a little embarrassed. He never cried, ever.
    Jase met his gaze, smiled widely and said, "Hey Tag, nice to see you too."
    "Hey," Sean tried to smile back as he wiped his face, "Thanks for coming. I'm sorry for waking you up, I just..." He broke off, not ready to say, I just needed you to be here.
    "You don't need to thank me Tag. You called me, and I came, because I'm your friend, and that's what friends do. I'm here. What do you need me to do?"
    Sean thought for a moment, and gave Jase a half smile. "First things first. Come on in and see your long lost godchild. I want to talk man, there's so much that I have to tell you, but it's gonna have to wait till later. Cody's in the family room and I need to get back to him."
    "Sounds like a plan." Jase grabbed his bag and followed Sean back into the house.
    ****
    Sean rolled over on the couch. He wasn't sure when he'd passed out, but he was pretty sure he'd been out for a while. He looked at the clock. Oh, geez, only half the day. Yup. It was nearly one in the afternoon. He remembered Jase and Cody getting re-acquainted, well, acquainted anyway. It had been over a year since Jase had been over for a visit, and before that, he'd only met Cody a handful of times. Then he remembered flipping on Nick Jr., settling back on the couch, and then... nothing. Shit. He rubbed his eyes.
    He sat up and untangled himself from the blanket that Jase must have tucked around him. He could hear Jase and Cody in the kitchen, so he got up, still wrapped in the blanket from the couch and shuffled in. Cody was in his highchair, dry cereal spread on the tray in front of him, and Jase had his back to him, wiping the counter. When Cody saw him, gave a gleeful shriek, which was followed by, "Da Da!"
    Jase turned his head, "Oooh look, Da Da's up."
    "A Da Da Da Da! Look," Cody echoed enthusiastically, while holding up a piece of cereal. Sean, very formally, took the offered cereal and made a show of popping it in his mouth and eating it like it was the most delicious thing on the planet. Cody grinned the whole time.
    "Hey peanut," Sean kissed Cody on the head, turned to Jase, and said, "How did he do? I can't believe I crashed like that, and I'm sorry I left you to fend for yourself, that wasn't my intention."
    "Tag, we were fine. You were exhausted. We played, he pointed to stuff, and he brought me things, and I told him what they were, I managed a diaper change, twice, I might add, and when he got hungry, we came in here. I gave him cheerios. He asked for juice, and nanna's so I gave him juice that was in his special cup in the fridge, and cut up half a banana