Doubles

 

"Oh, man, not again," Joey groaned. He and Brianna pushed past Chris, who was holding the door open with his casted arm, blinking at the brightness of the afternoon sun. "You freaking broke it again! Didn't we tell you not to try using the treadmill and drinking at the same time? It just doesn't work for you." He took the pink jacket Brianna handed him and hung it on the rack.

"Oh, hello, Joey!" Chris said. "Why, yes, I am feeling okay, thanks for asking. No, it doesn't hurt much, really, the morphine they gave me is doing wonders."

"Uncle Chris, that doesn't make sense," Brianna frowned. "Daddy didn't ask you if you were okay. So why did you answer?" She put her hands on her hips and looked up at him.

"It's called sarcasm, munchkin," Chris said, picking up the tiny five year old with his good arm. He settled her on his hip. "See, I didn't like the way your daddy was talking to me. He didn't even ask how I was. That's rude, don't you think?"

Brianna nodded.

"Right. So, I told him the answers to the things I wanted him to say. That way he knows what I think. Cool, huh?" Chris grinned.

"Stop teaching things to my daughter, or we're never coming to visit again," Joey told him.

"Why, yes, Daddy, I would love a pony!" Brianna exclaimed, giggling.

Chris snorted as Joey took her away from him, setting her on the tile. "Never again, Kirkpatrick. Never again."

"Right, right. You said that the last time, too," he said, waving it off.

"Uncle Chris, how did you break your arm?" she asked, running her fingers over the bumpy green surface. "And can I sign it? It looks cool."

"Sure you can, munchkin," he said, leading her into his living room. "And it is quite the story. I think you'll like it. Both of you. See, somebody cares about me," he sniffed towards Joey, who was following them.

Joey rolled his eyes. "This isn't going to traumatize my daughter, is it?" he asked suspiciously.

"Me? Joey, Joey, you should know me better than that," Chris said, handing Brianna a black permanent marker and sitting next to her on the couch. Joey opted for the easy chair.

She gleefully uncapped it and started the laborious process of writing her name. "C'mon, Uncle Chris, tell me the story!"

"Oh, yes, the story," Chris said, grinning at Joey over Brianna's head.

Joey cringed.

"Well, last night," he began, "I didn't have anything to do. There was nothing on TV, and I was all out of kool-aid."

"You drink a lot of kool-aid," Brianna said, making a heart over the I on the cast.

"Yes, I am a big fan of kool-aid," Chris agreed. "Anyway, I had just finished off the last of my kool-aid, so I tried calling people to come over and play with me. I called Uncle JC, but he was already playing with Uncle Justin!"

"And they didn't invite you?" Brianna asked, looking up from the first backward N. Joey made a small choking noise in the back of his throat.

"Nope," Chris said sadly. "They didn't invite me. And Uncle Justin told me very loudly that he didn't want to share, either."

Brianna shook her head. "That's not very nice. I'm going to tell him that next time I see him. When he plays with Uncle JC, he should play with you, too!"

"I thought so, too, honey," Chris said, mussing her hair. "Thank you very much."

"It's not a problem," Brianna said, going back to the cast. "Then what happened?"

"Well, then I tried calling your daddy," Chris said, glancing over at him. "But you guys already had plans. I wasn't surprised. Your daddy and I haven't played together in a long time."

"But we still hang out a lot," Joey pointed out. "We don't need to, um, play to be best friends."

Chris nodded. "Yeah, I know. So then I called Uncle Lance. I didn't think he'd want to play with me. But he'd been drinking kool-aid, too, and said he'd love to come over and play. He'd even bring some of his kool-aid."

"Uncle Lance is nice like that," Brianna nodded, finishing her first name and starting in on her second.

"Yup, he is," Chris agreed. "So he came over and we started drinking more of his kool-aid. He had lots of flavors, and we started mixing them to make even more."

"Did they taste good mixed up?" Brianna asked.

"Some of them were good, and some weren't."

"Can I try mixing kool-aid flavors, daddy?" she asked, pausing once again to turn to her father.

"We'll see, honey," he said, glaring at Chris. Chris smiled back innocently.

"So then what?" she asked, turning back to the cast. "When did you break it?"

"Patience, Padawan," Chris intoned, and Brianna laughed. "So, let's see. Uncle Lance and I were drinking a lot of kool-aid. And then came the big surprise. He hadn't just brought some kool-aid, he had also brought some toys for us to play with together!"

Joey's sudden coughing fit interrupted the story.

"Daddy, you should get a drink of water," Brianna said, concerned, as Joey continued to cough hard.

"I'm fine," he reassured her, trying to smile and regain his breath. "Really. Hey, Chris, is that a new painting over there?" he asked, pointing.

Chris turned his head. "Nope." He turned back to Brianna. "So, Uncle Lance brought out the toys, and they were a lot of fun. We played with them all over. . .in here, in the kitchen, even in the bathroom. By then, it was really late. And we were tired."

"You did a lot of playing," Brianna observed, finishing her second name and starting her last. "They must have been fun toys."

"They were," Chris said. "Very fun. And it was so late, that I asked Uncle Lance if he wanted to have a sleepover. He thought that was a very good idea."

"I just bet he did," Joey mumbled.

Chris cocked his head. "What was that, Joey?" he asked.

Joey sighed. "Are you sure that the painting isn't new?" he asked plaintively.

"I've had it for 3 years," Chris said. "You need to be more observant. Honestly," he said dramatically, rolling his eyes, making Brianna giggle again. "Okay. So, Uncle Lance agreed to have a sleepover."

"What did Uncle Lance sleep in?" Brianna asked.

Chris stopped. "What? Oh. He borrowed something of mine, okay?"

"Okay." Brianna made another A on the cast. "Keep going."

Chris grinned. "Of course. So, Uncle Lance was in something that belongs to me. And because I'm a very good host, I let him sleep on the top. Top bunk, that is," he added as Joey shook his head. "I normally like the top myself, but Uncle Lance asked nicely."

"I really think I don't want to hear this," Joey said.

"It's not that bad of a story, daddy," Brianna told him. "Uncle Chris always makes his stories interesting."

"Thank you, Brianna," Chris said.

"No problem. Is it almost over?" she asked. "I'm almost done with my name."

"Yeah, it's almost over," he said, ignoring Joey's snicker. "See, so Uncle Lance was on top. We fell asleep pretty quickly, because we were tired from the toys. But we woke up pretty early, too. And Uncle Lance asked if I wanted to play a game, and I agreed."

"What kind of game?" Brianna asked. Joey groaned.

"You know, if you keep interrupting, the story is just going to take longer," Chris told her. "It was like a dress-up game. Okay?"

"Okay. Oh, look, I finished my name! Can I draw a picture on it now?" she asked, looking up at him.

"A little one," he said and she nodded. "So we were playing the game, but first we wanted to trade bunks. And just as I was climbing on top, Uncle Justin and Uncle JC walked into my room. I was so surprised, I fell right off of the top, and landed on the floor."

"I bet that hurt!" Brianna exclaimed. "Is that how you broke it?" She finished coloring in the heart she had drawn.

"Well, almost. See, Uncle Lance was pretty surprised, too. And he rolled right off the bed, but he didn't land on the floor. What do you think he landed on?" Chris asked.

"You?" she guessed.

"Yup. My arm," Chris told her. "And that's how it broke. Uncle Lance fell on me."

"Did he say he was sorry?" Brianna asked, finishing a butterfly.

"Yup, he did. And he kissed it to make it feel better. Only it didn't feel better, so he took me to the hospital to get a cast on," Chris grinned.

"Well, that's good. My teacher said when you hurt someone, even by accident, you should stop and ask if they're okay," Brianna said, drawing a star below the butterfly.

"Your teacher is very smart," Chris said.

"So what happened with JC and Justin?" Joey asked, grinning.

Chris laughed. "Well, they were pretty surprised, too. They hadn't expected to see Lance playing with me, after all. They weren't making much sense. When they saw that I was actually hurt, though, they tried to help, but Lance said they were being bothers more than anything. So he kicked them out to help me get dressed for the hospital. Haven't heard from them since." He glanced down. "Bri, I think that's enough pictures."

"Okay." She capped the marker carefully. "Where's Uncle Lance? Did he leave you all alone?"

"I'm right here," Lance said, walking into the room wearing a pair of Chris's sweats and a t-shirt.

"Uncle Lance!" Brianna ran towards him, jumping up into his arms. "Hi!" She gave him a smooch on his cheek.

"Hey, babe," he said, greeting her with a hug. "Hey, Joe."

"Quite the night you had last night, huh?" Joey said in response, grinning at him.

Lance raised his eyebrows. "You could say that. How did you know?" He caught sight of Chris's grinning face. "Oh, no."

"Uncle Chris told us a story," Brianna said.

"A story, huh?" He set her down carefully. "Did it have a happy ending?" He looked at Chris.

"I don't know," Brianna said, frowning. "It was a sad ending, because Uncle Chris got hurt. But maybe it was happy, too, because you didn't leave him alone after he got hurt."

"Well, Uncle Chris, which was it? Happy or sad?" Lance asked him. Joey leaned forward.

"Well, that depends," Chris said. He met Lance's eyes, smiling slightly. "What are your plans, Uncle Lance? Going anywhere today?"

"Nope, not that I know of," Lance said. He sat down next to Chris on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. "I think I rather like it here."

"'Cause he's good at playing games?" Brianna asked. "And sharing?"

Lance turned to Chris. "What kind of story have you been telling her?" he asked, his voice tinged with disbelief.

Chris grinned. "A happy one."

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