I Have a Secret - Chapter One
Skylar licked peanut butter off her finger as she walked to the dishwasher and placed the knife inside. She noticed the dishwasher was full so she casually flicked the setting to rinse and walked back to her sandwich.
"It's been quite a while since I've had peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Skylar thought to herself. She picked up her sandwich and a glass of chocolate milk and walked into her living room. She was more than ready for a good hour of mindless humor. She plopped herself down onto the corner of her couch and flipped the television on. She was just about to take a bite of her sandwich when her doorbell sounded. "Just when I get comfortable-" She thought as she rolled her eyes. She put down her sandwich, flipped the television back off and made her way to the door. She opened the door fully prepared to see a salesman or the boy to collect for the newspaper. What she didn't expect was to see him.
"Tom?" She nearly choked on her own voice. Her mind was racing, as was her heart. Never had she expected to see Tom Kaulitz standing at her doorstep.
"Hi, Skylar." Tom said as he nervously ran his hands over the front of his jeans. Her eyes were just as green as he remembered. She hadn't changed one bit.
"I- wow- Tom! Hi!" Skylar stumbled over her words. She simply could not believe after a little more than 4 years, Tom was standing in front of her.
"Um, can I come in?" Tom asked after a second of silence.
"Yeah! Of course! Sure! Come in!" Skylar held the door open wider as her stomach suddenly sank. Gage. Tom didn't know about Gage. Tom had no idea that Gage even existed.
Tom slid past her and eased his way into the room. Skylar stood there stunned as she watched her first love move a magazine off the couch and make himself comfortable. He casually looked around the room while Skylar stood near the door examining him closely. It had been so long since she'd last seen him. He looked so different... so manly.
"Nice place." He said casually.
"Thanks." She said as she noticed she was still holding the door open. She closed the door and sat down on the couch opposite Tom. She kept her eyes on him the entire time.
"So how have you been? How are things?" He asked her.
Skylar could smell his sweet scent from across the room. It brought back some very painful memories. She shook them from her head and answered him. "Everything's fine. I hear things are going well for you and your band."
"Yeah, we're doing pretty good." He smiled and looked at the picture of Skylar and her siblings in a frame on the end table.
Skylar's eyes shifted to the hallway then back to Tom. Tom frowned and looked behind him toward the hall. "Is someone here? Did I come at a bad time?"
At that moment the sound of little feet could be heard running down the hall. A small boy with light brown wispy hair came into the room and crawled into Skylar's lap.
Tom smiled. "Who is this?"
"Tom, I uh- I'd like to introduce you to my son. This is Gage." Gage buried his head in Skylar's chest. "He's a little shy."
"You have a son? Whoa! I guess things have changed! How old is he?"
"Gage, this is Tom. He's Mommy's friend. Can you tell him how old you are?" Skylar said a silent prayer that Tom wouldn't make the connection.
Gage held up three chubby fingers and smiled up at Tom. Tom smiled down at him. "You're three? Well, it's nice to meet you, Gage. Can I shake your hand?" Gage nodded as Tom reached over to take Gage's tiny hand in his enormous palm.
"Sweetie, are you hungry. Mommy just made a peanut butter sandwich. Would you like that?" Gage's hair fell across his forehead as he nodded again. Skylar settled Gage at the table in the kitchen and placed her uneaten sandwich in front of him. Gage slowly peeled the two slices of bread apart. He took a bite of the jelly side first. Skylar smiled at her son as she sat back down to talk to Tom.
"He's cute." Tom said as he craned his neck to see into the kitchen. Gage waved the peanut butter side at Tom and laughed. "He's a little weird, but cute." Tom laughed and focused his attention back to Skylar.
"He takes after his father." Skylar said softly. "Whoa, did I just say that out loud?" Tom just stared at her with a smile. "What?" She asked cautiously. She hoped he wouldn't pick up on her awkwardness.
"I just can't believe you're a Mom."
"Imagine how I feel!" They both laughed and the room fell quiet again. "So, um, what brings you here?"
"I was just visiting. I haven't seen you in a while and I wanted to see what was going on." He couldn't keep his eyes off Skylar. It had been a long time but she was just as beautiful.
"Let's see. What has happened since I last saw you?" She said as she thought. "Aside from the obvious." She looked towards the kitchen as Gage took the last bite of the jelly bread and wiped his sticky hands on his jeans.
"Besides the fact you have a family now-" Tom smiled at her and looked over at Gage who had jelly covering his face.
Skylar ached to tell Tom the truth but she knew this wasn't the time or the place. "Mom and Dad had moved in with me for a while. They lost their house in the flood so they stayed here while they rebuilt."
"Wow, Skylar. Why didn't you call?" Tom asked with genuine concern.
"I did call. I've called several times. I'd get your publicist or your manager. Never you."
Tom hung his head. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Things are fine now." She smiled quickly to let him know it was okay. Skylar searched her mind for some other news to give him. She felt safe talking about her brother and sister. "William and Louise have divorced."
"Really? Why?"
"William was cheating. Again." Her brother had always been a womanizer.
"Is Louise okay?"
"Yeah. She has found someone new. His name is Chan and they are doing very well together. William is dating a girl named Anna. She's nice. I like her."
"How's your sister? Are she and her husband still together?"
"Katie and Jared are fine. Emma and Grace are 10 now. I can't believe it. It makes me feel old to have 10 year old nieces." Skylar heard a little voice coming from behind her in the kitchen.
"Mommy. I'm done."
Skylar excused herself and cleaned Gage's mess off the table as well as his face then escorted him to his playroom. Tom watched her every move. He was still unable to believe Skylar, his Sky Bear, had a family. He looked around the room for evidence of a father but saw none.
Skylar came back into the living room and sat on the couch facing Tom. "So how is your family? Your mom? Bill?" She asked to break the silence.
Tom nodded, "Everyone's great." He sat for a moment and pondered whether or not to ask her the question that was plaguing him at that moment. Finally he couldn't resist. "How are you and Gage's dad doing?"
That question caught Skylar off guard although she should have expected it. Her forehead creased in thought. She tried to think of how to answer the question, but not tell the entire truth. Tom sensed her apprehension. "I'm sorry. That's really not my business."
"No. You're fine. It's just kind of awkward." She said slowly. He had no way of knowing just how much his business it actually was. "Gage's dad and I haven't spoken much. At least not till just recently."
"I'm sorry." Tom said.
"It's okay." Skylar forced a smile and cleared her throat, "How long are you in town for?"
"We're technically on a break for a while. We're going to start recording our new album in about a month or so. But that'll all be local, here in Germany." Tom nodded.
"Oh." Skylar smiled. This whole evening was so unexpected.
"Do you have plans this weekend?" Tom asked out of the blue.
"Gage has swimming lessons on Saturday."
"Over at the recreational center?" Tom laughed. He and Skylar had spent many nights swinging on the old rusty swing set at the recreational center.
"Yeah." Skylar smiled and nodded. "They've cleaned the place up a bit. You should see it."
"Okay. What time are his swim lessons?"
"What? Oh- um- at 11." She stuttered. "Did you want to come watch?"
"Sure. Maybe we can get lunch after? I'd really like to talk and get caught up." He explained as he traced circles on the back of the couch.
"Sure. We can do that."
"Great." Tom stood up and wiped his hands on his jeans. "I don't want to keep you from anything. I guess I should have called first, but I wanted to surprise you."
"You did." Skylar laughed softly. "Thanks for coming by, Tom. It's really good to see you again."
"You too." He leaned over and gave her a warm hug. "I've missed you, Sky." He said softly.
"I've missed you too, Tom." She said as the thought to herself. "More than you can imagine." He hadn't changed his brand of cologne since she last saw him and the scent sent her mind reeling. She had a bottle of it stashed away in her secret drawer. She would take it out occasionally during the times when she really missed him.
"I'll see you Saturday?" He asked as he took a half-step back.
"Yeah." Skylar nodded and tucked her dark blonde hair behind her ear. "Eleven o'clock."
"I'll be there." He smiled as he leaned in quickly to kiss her cheek. "See you then." He pulled the door open and left before she could respond.
"I'll tell him Saturday. I have to. He has to know."
"Mommy! I can kick!" Gage shouted happily from the shallow end of the pool at Elbe-Schwimmhalle.
"I see! You're such a big boy!" Skylar leaned on the wooden picnic table in front of her. Gage's swim instructor held his arm safely as he practiced floating on his back. His bright red swim shorts had bright yellow lizards all over them. He was noticeable from across the pool.
"Which one is he?" Tom said as he pulled one of the plastic chairs across the cement.
"Over there floating on his back. In the red and yellow shorts." She smiled and shaded her eyes from the sun. "I'm glad you made it."
"Yeah me too. I actually got lost on the way over. They closed off Brandenburger Straße and I got all turned around." He laughed and looked out at the pool.
"I should have warned you. You have to go the back way to Stresemannstraße." Skylar said as her heart began to race. She had planned out how she was going to tell Tom. She wanted to get it done before the swim lesson was over. That way Gage wouldn't have to see Tom's reaction if it was negative. Skylar grabbed Gage's tiny T-shirt off the table and nervously unfolded it on her lap. "Tom?"
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever thought about having kids?" She asked as she anxiously folded the small white T-shirt.
"Yeah, I've thought about it. There's no way I could do it now though." He laughed and looked toward the kid filled pool. "I feel like a kid myself. I don't know how you do it, Skylar." He shook his head. "Kids are great but I'd make a better Onkel Tom than a Papi any day of the week."
Skylar's entire speech disappeared from her mind as she processed what Tom said. "Yeah I- I, um, know what you mean." She said uneasily. It was the first thing that came to mind that didn't scream "Gage is yours."
"Does Gage's dad help out?" Tom asked a second later. He was completely oblivious to her awkwardness.
Skylar hadn't quite gotten her frame of mind back as she uttered, "No."
"Not at all?"
"He doesn't know." The words spilled from her lips before she could stop them. The minute she said she wanted to kick herself. "I mean- he didn't know. For a while he didn't even know."
"Has he helped since he found out?"
"Tom, I don't need any help. Can we talk about something else please?" Skylar asked as she focused on Gage across the pool.
"Sure. I'm sorry." Tom mumbled.
"It's okay." She said nonchalantly. "Fill me in on what's going on with the band. I watch television and have seen things on the internet so I have a pretty good idea but I'd like to hear your side." Skylar smiled at Tom.
"Things are really great." He smiled. "We're going to start work on our new album, like I said, in just a few weeks. We just finished up our tour last month and then we went to Asia for a few weeks."
"How was that?"
"The tour?" He asked.
"Asia." She smiled.
"It was great. Lots of good food and beautiful girls."
"I'll bet." Skylar laughed and sat back in her chair. "How are the guys? The last time I saw you and Bill were 16, right?"
"Yeah, something like that." Tom laughed. "We've both grown up a lot. He's still into the fashion thing and wearing make-up." Tom shook his head.
"How about Georg? Is he still dating that girl?"
"Savannah? Yeah, they've been dating for forever it seems. I can't believe she has tolerated him for so long. He's so spastic."
"Yeah, but it's cool they're still together."
"Yeah, I guess." Tom shrugged and smiled. "If you like that sort of thing."
"What sort of thing? A commitment?"
"Yeah." Tom shuddered at the thought. "I can't commit to something next week, much less next year!"
"Yeah, I guess." Skylar shrugged and waved at Gage as his instructor lifted him out of the pool.
"Did you see me float?" Gage asked as he walked quickly over to where Skylar and Tom were sitting. He was a good kid. He knew better than to run by the pool.
"I saw that! You did so great." Skylar grabbed the big towel off the table and wrapped the dripping wet three year old in it.
Gage's little lips were blue and his teeth were chattering but he kept talking. "And Missa told me to go like this-" He inhaled deeply and held his breath for a second. "And I did and then I went like this-" He ducked his head as if he was going under water. "And then I was in the water and I opened my eyes and it hurt but I could see her!"
"You could see her under the water? That's awesome. Are you hungry?"
"Can we get a happy toy cheeseburger?" He asked as he climbed onto Skylar's lap.
"Absolut!" She laughed and rubbed his tiny arms with the towel. "Let's get you warmed up first."
"Is the water cold?" Tom asked the shivering child.
"Yeah." Gage nodded as water dripped off his nose and onto the towel. "What's your hat?"
"My hat?" Tom took his cap off and looked at it. "It's a Yankees cap. You know who the Yankees are?" Tom asked.
"They play baseball."
"Right!" Tom said. "He's pretty smart." Tom smiled at Skylar.
"Watch this." Skylar smiled proudly, "What city do the Sox play for?"
"The red ones are in Boston. The white ones are in the other one."
"What other one?" She prompted.
"Cleveland?" Gage asked. He turned around to face his mother as she pulled his T-shirt over his head.
"No." Skylar shook her head causing her hair to tickle Gage's nose.
He laughed and said, "I forgot."
"It's where Uncle Jared and Aunt Katie and Emma and Grace live." Skylar whispered.
"Chicago!" Gage threw his arms in the air and jumped off Skylar's lap. "Can I wear it?" He asked as he dripped water on Tom's feet.
"Of course you can wear it. You're a smart little kid." Tom laughed and placed the too big hat on Gage's wet head. "It looks good on you."
"Thanks." Gage smiled and sat on the ground in front of Skylar so she could strap his feet into his shoes.
"When we leave you have to give that back to Tom, okay?" Skylar said as she velcroed his shoes in place.
"But why?" Gage whined as he stood up.
"Because he has to wear it." Skylar explained. "See how his hair has those awesome braids in it? Sometimes when people see that they want to come up and talk to him. If he wears the hat then people will leave him alone." She folded the towel and stood up as they got ready to go.
"But if I give the hat back, people will come talk to me." Gage said as the hat fell over his eye.
"Yeah, but Tom needs the hat." Skylar said as Tom stood up. "Do you mind if we just go to McDonald's?" She asked as they headed toward the pool exit.
"That works." Tom smiled, "Hey, Gage, I'll make you a deal."
"What?" Gage looked back over his shoulder at Tom. Gage instantly liked anyone who talked to him like a person and not a child.
"If you'll let me wear the hat I'll carry you up on my shoulders. How's that?"
Gage thought about it for a minute before he nodded. Tom knelt in front of Gage and reached for the cap. He put it on and held his hands out for Gage. "Come on." Gage lifted his arms and Tom picked him up onto his shoulders. "You okay up there?" Tom asked as he adjusted the brim of the cap.
"Yeah!"
"Can you see your car?" Tom laughed and fell into step beside Skylar.
"Not yet. It's blue." Gage said as he scanned the parking lot from his perch nearly six feet up. "I'm really high, Mommy! Look!"
"Wow! You're bigger than me!" She shaded her eyes and looked up at Gage.
"I can see the top, Mommy!"
"I'll bet!" Skylar laughed and led the way through the parking lot toward their car.
"Do you want me to drive? I'm just right here." Tom pointed at his black Cadillac.
"Gage needs his car seat." She explained. "I'm just over there." She pointed across the lot.
"Oh, yeah. Right, okay." Tom followed her as Gage placed his small hands on Tom's forehead to steady himself.
Skylar unlocked the car doors with the keyless entry on her key chain then stood in front of Tom. "Okay Gage, let's get in your seat." She reached her arms up for Gage as Tom leaned forward. She lifted him off Tom's shoulders and placed him in the backseat on the passenger side. Gage reached across and buckled himself into the car seat and smiled as Skylar leaned into the car to check the buckle. "Looks good. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah." Gage nodded and laughed as she attacked his cheek with kisses.
"Okay!" Skylar shut the car door and let Tom pass her to get in the passenger seat.
"How long has it been since you had McDonald's?" Skylar laughed as they backed out of the parking space.
"Actually, I'm a vegetarian now so I don't eat there often." He shook his head and laughed.
"Oh!" She laughed and turned the radio off.
"Gage, are you going to get a Happy Meal?" Tom asked as he adjusted the vanity mirror on his visor to look into the back seat.
"Yeah. And a toy."
"Can you eat it all?" Tom asked.
"I think so." Gage nodded. "But you can eat it if I can't."
"Okay." Tom laughed.
"Are you gonna get a Happy Meal and a toy too?"
"I think I'm going to get a chicken sandwich. Bill and I do eat chicken and fish on occasion." Tom said. "You can help me eat that if I can't finish, okay?"
"Okay." Gage nodded in the back seat and reached for his Transformer on the seat behind him.
"He's a pretty cool kid." Tom said softly to Skylar.
"Yeah." She nodded as she fought back tears. This was how she imagined it should be. A family ride to McDonald's for happy meals. PMS made her over emotional as it was and Tom's surprise arrival that week just added to it.
"Are you busy tomorrow?"
"Not really. We have church in the morning. Why? What's up?"
"Bill's having a cook out at Mom's and I thought it'd be cool if you came."
Skylar thought about that for a minute. Tom hadn't made the connection mainly because the thought just wouldn't enter his mind. But what about the others? Would they be more likely to think about it? There really wasn't much of a resemblance. Gage looked a lot like Skylar's brother but who knew what others would see. "Maybe. I'll see if I can find a sitter."
"You can bring Gage." Tom laughed. "He'd have a great time. I'm sure Savannah and Georg will bring Maddie."
"Wait! They have a kid?" Skylar's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"No, no, no." Tom laughed and shook his head. "Maddie is Savannah's little sister. Remember?"
"Oh yeah, that's right. She's what? Four?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"I'm gonna be four in a couple days." Gage added from the back.
"A couple days?" Tom asked as he glanced at Skylar.
"A few months." She said as she pulled into the parking lot at McDonald's. "Not until November 17th."
"Yeah. November." Gage nodded.
Skylar parked, then walked around the car to get Gage out of the back seat. She held his hand as they walked across the parking lot with Tom only a step behind. "Mommy! Mommy! Can I play on the slide?" Gage shouted as he jumped up and down. He was practically tripping over his own feet.
"If you eat all of your lunch, yes. But you have to eat at least half of your burger."
"I will! I'll eat it all." He bounced around which pulled Skylar's hand all over the place.
"We can catch up a little while he plays." She smiled over her shoulder at Tom.
"Okay." He laughed and watched Gage break loose from his mom at the door and run to the counter to examine the toys he had to choose from. After they ordered, they sat at a table outside by the play area to eat their lunch.
Gage picked the pickles off of his cheeseburger and put them on Skylar's wrapper. "Yucky." He made a face.
"Yucky nothing! Pickles are good. I don't know where you got the idea that they're yucky." She laughed and popped them in her mouth.
"I'm with you, Gage. They're nasty." Tom made a face at Gage and they both laughed.
"Since when do you not like pickles?" Skylar asked as she dipped her fries in ketchup.
"Since always. They're gross." Tom laughed.
"You people are strange." Skylar shook her head and laughed. They sat and listened to Gage's recount of the swim class as they ate. He then asked if he could go play in the play yard.
"You ate almost all of your burger so you can go play. Just don't go in the balls." She smiled as Gage unstrapped his shoes and placed them under the table.
"I won't!" He shouted gleefully as he ran barefoot across the concrete to the tiny pipe looking entrance.
"He can't go in the balls? That's like the best part." Tom laughed.
"No way. There's all kinds of gross stuff in there, like pee." She shook her head.
"Kids don't really pee in there do they?" He asked.
"I wouldn't doubt it." Skylar laughed and looked over her shoulder as Gage climbed his way to the top of the little slide. "But I read a story once where in Florida there was a family of rattlesnakes in one of these things one time."
"Skylar, that was Florida. There aren't that many rattlesnakes around Magdeburg." Tom laughed and shook his head.
"Yeah but it just makes me nervous." Skylar smiled and finished the last of her soda. "So fill me in on what you've been up to."
"There's so much that has happened I don't even know where to start." He smiled, and glanced over her shoulder to watch Gage slide down the neon green slide. "Well I'm sure you've seen what the band has been up to."
"Yeah, but I mean on a personal note."
"I've been having the time of my life." Tom smiled slowly. "I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing."
"That's really great to hear." Skylar smiled and sighed as she dipped the last of her fries in the ketchup.
Tom and Skylar sat around for a while longer. They caught up on the details of the last four years. "So tomorrow, you'll come?" Tom asked as he wadded up the paper trash in front of him.
"Yeah." Skylar nodded slowly. "I think it'd be fun."
"Wicked, I can- Whoa!" Tom's eyebrows shot up and he stood up quickly.
"What?" Skylar jumped up to follow Tom's gaze toward the play area. She hoped Gage hadn't been hurt.
"He's peeing! That kid's peeing!" Tom laughed as he took three quick steps toward the play area.
"Gage?!" Skylar asked stunned.
"No." Tom shook his head and laughed as the other little boy in the balls pulled his pants up.
"Mommy! I can't get out!" Gage cried from the other side of the balls.
"That- that kid just peed in the balls." Tom couldn't contain his laughter.
"See?! That's exactly what I'm talking about. That's gross." Skylar frowned at Tom. "Come here, baby." She said to Gage.
"But, Mommy, that boy peed in the balls! I can't get out!"
"Go around the other way." Skylar tried not to laugh as the tiny three year old held on to the side of the ball cage thing and climbed around to the exit.
"Mommy, he just peed. He peed right there!" Gage said. He sounded a little traumatized.
"I know he did. Let's go get you cleaned up. I think we're about done here." Skylar took Gage's hand as they walked quickly inside to the bathroom. Tom followed still laughing under his breath.
"I can't believe that kid just pulled down his pants." He laughed as Skylar pulled Gage toward the ladies room.
"Not in there, Mommy."
"We have to wash your hands. God only knows what kind of stuff was in there." She frowned.
"No! That's the potty for girls." Gage held his ground and frowned back at Skylar.
"You go in there with me all the time. Come on, Gage. Don't argue." She tugged at his hand but he didn't move.
"I can take him." Tom offered as he tried to contain his giggles.
"No, he can go with me." Skylar tried once again to pull Gage towards the ladies room.
"I wanna go with Tom in the potty for boys." Gage stuck out his lower lip and scowled.
Skylar held his gaze for a second before sighing, "Do you mind?" She asked Tom.
"Not at all." Tom took Gage's hand and led him into the men's room. "You gotta pee?" Tom asked.
"No." Gage shook his head and tried to pull himself up on the counter.
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Because you don't wanna pee outside like that other kid."
"I don't have to go." Gage grunted as he tried to reach the faucet. "I can't turn it on."
"Oh, sorry." Tom leaned over and hoisted Gage up on the counter and turned the water on. Gage held his tiny hands under the stream of water then held them out to Tom. "You done?" Tom asked.
"I need soap." Gage explained carefully.
"Oh. Right." Tom pumped a small amount of soap into his own hand, then wiped it on the toddlers. Gage sat there holding his hands out to Tom. Tom just stared at the little boy. "You need some help?"
"Yeah." Gage nodded so Tom reached over and rubbed the soap over both of Gage's hands. Gage held his hands back under the water to rinse them. Tom set Gage back on the ground and handed him a few paper towels.
"Tom?" Gage asked cautiously as he threw the trash in the garbage can.
"Yeah?"
"My Mommy has a picture of you in her room." Gage whispered softly.
Tom knelt in front of the small boy and asked, "What?"
"She has a picture of you in her room."
"She does?" Tom smiled. As felt almost guilty as he listened to this little boy talk about his mom.
"Yeah." Gage nodded. "And you have on a big hat."
"A big hat?" Tom laughed. He remembered that picture well. He was wearing a big hat. It was a huge sombrero to be exact. That was one of their last weekends together before he left for tour. They had gone to Tia Maria's restaurant and sat in a booth almost all night talking.
"Yeah." Gage nodded and reached for Tom's hand. He held it tight as Tom pushed the heavy door open and Gage trotted towards his mom. "Tom held me on the counter and I showed him how to wash my hands!" He laughed that he had to teach Tom how to wash his hands.
"You did? Well Tom doesn't know a lot about washing kids' hands. He's not around little guys like you very much." Skylar laughed as they headed out to the parking lot.
"I'm learning." Tom smiled. He was still holding tight to Gage's hand.
"Yeah, you are." Skylar said softly as she disarmed the car and opened the backdoor to load Gage in again. She sighed as she buckled him into place. She headed back to Elbe-Schwimmhalle to drop off Tom.
"Do you remember where my Mom lives?" Tom asked as he leaned on the window sill right beside Skylar.
"She's still in Loitsche right?" She asked quietly. She didn't want to wake Gage who had fallen asleep on the way.
"Yeah, on Grüne Straße." Tom nodded. "Do you have paper? I can draw you a map."
"Sure, here." She flipped open the glove box and dug around for a minute. She finally emerged with a pen and a scrap piece of paper.
Tom quickly scribbled a map and handed the paper back to her. "There's the number too. In case you get lost." He smiled.
"Okay. So what time should we get there?"
"Whenever." Tom shrugged. "I'm going to get there around noon. I'm sure everyone else will be there before me."
"Are you sure it's okay I bring Gage?"
"Sure, yeah that's not a problem." Tom shook his head. "They have a pool and everything so if you want to bring your suit you can go swimming."
"Okay, do I need to bring anything else?"
"No, Mom's got the food part covered." Tom laughed and dug his keys out of his pocket. "I'll see you tomorrow." Tom said quietly as he leaned into the car and brushed his lips over her cheek.
"See you tomorrow." She repeated as a blush crawled up her cheeks.
"Drive carefully." He smiled and waved as he walked toward his car a few stalls down. Skylar waved as she backed out of the parking spot and headed home.
"I'll tell him tomorrow. I have to. He has to know."
"Gage, come on." Skylar sighed and tugged at the toddlers hand as they walked up the brick walk way to Tom's mother's house. She adjusted the beach bag on her shoulder and tried not to spill the contents.
"But, Mommy, they have basketball right by the car!" Gage tripped over his feet as he tried to point to the basketball hoop set up in the driveway.
"I know. I see." Skylar helped him up and continued walking toward the house.
"I can play ball like Jordan."
"I know you can. Uncle Jared taught you, huh?"
"Yeah." Gage wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his blue and white plaid over shirt as they stopped at the front door.
"Let me look at you." Skylar knelt in front of Gage and sighed again. His dark blue shorts were a little too big and his tiny white T-shirt was bunched up around his waist. "All righty." She smoothed his hair down and stood up straight.
"You look good too, Mommy." Gage said as he laughed and tugged at her hand.
"Thank you." Skylar laughed and rang the doorbell. She was very anxious to see the guys.
They waited for a couple seconds before they heard foot steps coming down the hall, followed by voices and a couple loud barks. Bill pulled the door open quickly and held two medium sized dogs back with his foot. "Hey! Skylar! Come in." He laughed as the dogs tried to hop over his leg.
Gage cringed and grabbed tight to Skylar's shorts. "Mommy?"
"Oh, they're okay. They're really nice dogs. They're just really happy to see you." Bill said as he pulled back on their collars.
"It's okay, Gage." Sky reached down and pried the tiny hands from her shorts. Just as a precaution she picked Gage up and balanced him on her hip. "Hi Bill." Skylar smiled and followed him into the house with the dogs surrounding his feet.
"So who's this?" Bill asked as he tugged Gage's shirt sleeve.
"This is Gage. Can you say hi to Bill? This is his Mommy's house."
"Hi." Gage mumbled as he buried his face in Skylar's shoulder.
"Gage, you know what?" Skylar whispered as they walked through the house toward the back door.
"What?" Gage whispered back.
"That basketball hoop outside is Bill's. I bet he knows how to play." She whispered as she raised her eyebrows and smiled.
"I can play basketball." Gage said.
"I know, I bet Bill doesn't know that."
"I can play basketball." Gage said loudly.
Bill turned around as he reached for the handle on the big double french doors. "You can?"
"Yeah, I play like Jordan." Gage smiled shyly.
"Who?" Bill asked.
"Michael Jordan. American basketball." Skylar explained.
"Yeah. Da Bulls!" Gage raised his hands over his head and cheered.
"Wicked! Maybe we can play a little ball later. How does that sound?" Bill pushed the doors open and stepped outside.
"Yeah. And then I can show you how you dunk it. You can dunk it like this and it goes POW!" Gage made the slam dunk motion then wiggled free of Skylar's arms to walk beside Bill.
"You can dunk it? You're pretty cool. I can't do that."
"I can show you." Gage smiled up at the crazy-haired giant as Skylar laughed.
"Tom's over by the pool." Bill nodded in that general direction then excused himself as he walked over to where his Mom stood by the grill.
"Gage, come on." Skylar said as the toddler began to follow Bill.
"But I want to go with Bill and dunk it." Gage frowned.
"Not right now. Bill's going to help his Mom cook our lunch, but he'll play with you later."
"Can I go help cook lunch?" He asked, not moving any closer to Skylar.
"Not right now. Come on. Let's go say hi to Tom."
"But I want to cook with Bill." Gage frowned and looked back toward the grill.
"No, not right now." She took his hand and pulled him toward Tom and the others by the pool. "Hey Tom." She said quietly as she sneaked up behind him.
"Hey Sky." He pulled her in for a big hug as the bag fell off her shoulder. "Hey Gage." He smiled at the little boy and took a step back. "I think you know everyone here, right?"
"Um- no." Skylar looked around and saw only a couple familiar faces.
"Let me introduce you then we can go in the pool." Tom smiled and took the bag from Skylar. He set it on the ground beside the shaded table as Gage pulled his hand out of Skylar's. She sighed and rolled her eyes as Tom took them over to where Georg and Savannah were sitting with a little girl in a chair between them. She was eating potato chips off of a plate in front of her. She meticulously licked her fingers between each chip.
"Hey guys! You remember Skylar, right? This is her son Gage." Tom said as they walked up. "Sky, I think you know Georg and Savannah. The little chip eater over there is Savannah's little sister, Maddie."
"Hi! Of course I remember Skylar." Georg laughed and stood up to hug her. "Who could forget the rubber band girl?"
"Ugh. Your memory is a little too good." Skylar blushed and covered her face as she hugged him back. "I totally forgot about that. For the record I don't do that anymore."
"What?" Tom asked confused.
"Tom, don't you remember? She could hug herself and clasp her hands behind her back then pull them over her head!" Georg laughed and sat back down as Gage cowered behind Sky's legs.
"I can't believe I used to be able to do that." Skylar laughed and turned to Savannah. "How have you been? I can't believe you stayed with this monkey humper."
"Hey!" Georg protested. "I did not hump that monkey!"
"You totally humped that stuffed monkey and you know you did so stop lying" Skylar laughed and pointed at Georg.
"I did no such thing. She's a huge liar." Georg said to Savannah.
"I was there, Georg, and you did." Savannah laughed.
"What?" Tom asked.
"Remember? When we all went to Freizeitland and there was that store with huge stuffed animals? Georg humped the monkey's leg." Skylar laughed as Gage pulled at her hand.
"Mommy, I gotta go." He said softly.
"Tom, where are the bathrooms?" She asked quietly.
"Um, inside the house. Down the hall on the right." He pointed back towards the french doors.
"Okay, we'll be right back." She smiled at the others and took Gage's hand.
"I want Tom to go." Gage said shyly.
"Gage, honey, I'll take you." She said softly.
"I can take him." Tom said as he reached out his hand to the kid.
"It's okay, Tom, really."
"I don't mind." He laughed as Gage bounced up and down and took Tom's outstretched hand. "Let's go, little man." They headed toward the house and Skylar sat in the chair beside Savannah.
"He's cute." Savannah smiled.
"Thanks." Skylar watched as Tom tossed Gage up onto his shoulders and walked across the lawn.
"How old is he?" Georg asked.
"He'll, uh- he'll be four in a couple months." She said carefully.
"I'm four." Maddie said as she licked her fingers again.
"You are? Are you in school?" Skylar asked.
"Yeah. I go to preschool with Miss Jamie and Miss Cindy." The little girl explained.
"Do you like it?"
"Yeah! I get to read my books a lot and play on the bars with Mikayla."
"That sounds like fun."
"Uh huh." Maddie nodded and reached for another chip.
"So wow- it's been a long time, hasn't it?" Georg asked.
"Yeah." Skylar nodded and tucked a stray hair behind her ear.
"When Tom told us he had run into you again it was pretty shocking. I mean, after what? Four years? That's weird."
"Well we didn't really run into each other. Tom came knocking on my door." She smiled and tried to change the subject. "I've been following stories about your band. You guys are doing pretty well."
"Yeah, we've been busy." Georg nodded and took a drink of his soda.
"Georg, did you call that guy? What's his name? Paul?" Gustav asked as he walked up to the table.
"No work talk today." Savannah sighed and covered her ears. "Come on, guys. How often do you actually get time off?"
"Pete is his name and, no, I didn't talk to him." Georg answered.
"This has nothing to do with work." Gustav said as he removed his sunglasses.
"I bet." Savannah rolled her eyes and took a chip off of Maddie's plate.
"You need to call him because if you don't call him now he'll be booked." Gustav said to Georg.
"I know! I'm going to call him Monday." Georg nodded.
"You have his number?"
"Yeah, it's on that card you gave me. All ten of them." Georg laughed.
"Who is this guy?" Savannah asked.
"He's the guy that's going to come do the landscaping for the backyard." Georg said. "I want to get it done before we leave again."
"Oh."
"Not work stuff. Don't worry." Gustav smirked and put his shades back on and walked away.
"He hasn't changed at all." Sky laughed.
"Not at all and I doubt he will either." Georg shook his head and watched as Tom and Gage walked back across the yard.
Skylar watched over her shoulder as they walked side by side down the brick walkway. Both of them started down the little steps with their left foot. The both hitched their shorts up when they got to the bottom. Skylar smiled as her heart sped up. She'd have to find a way to get Tom alone and talk to him about Gage.
"Come on. I'll introduce you to everyone else." Tom said as they walked up.
"It was nice seeing you guys again." Skylar smiled as she stood up and followed Tom across the huge lawn. Tom walked her and Gage around the yard and introduced them to everyone there. By then lunch was ready. Tom headed for the grill to get Skylar and Gage their chicken. Tom's lunch consisted of a Boca burger. Skylar crinkled up her nose as she looked at the burger.
"Don't judge it until you taste it." Tom said as he smothered his burger with ketchup.
"I'll pass." Skylar said as she shook her head.
"Can I play ball after lunch?" Gage asked as Skylar cut his chicken for him.
"You'll have to ask Bill."
"I have an idea. Tom can play too!" Gage laughed and took a sip of his juice.
"Sure! I'll play." Tom smiled.
"Then I can go in the pool and go- " He inhaled deeply to show how he could hold his breath.
"Yeah, I have to go with you though." Skylar handed him his plate and began to cut her own chicken.
"I can go by myself." Gage argued as he took a tiny bite.
"No way." She shook her head. "You can't go in without me."
"I can go with Tom." He challenged.
"No. Me." Skylar raised her eyebrow at Gage and stared him down.
"But Tom's a growed up."
"Tom's a 'grown up.' Well, kind of. But you can't go in the pool unless I am with you." She explained. "Not that I don't trust you." She said quickly to Tom.
"No, that's fine." He laughed and wiped his mouth.
"Kids are just so quick, you know?" She continued to explain.
"Not a problem. I understand." Tom smiled and took another bite of his steak.
They finished their lunch and Gage jumped up and pulled at Skylar's hand. "Can I play ball now?"
"You'll have to go ask Bill." Skylar said again. "He's right over there by the door." She pointed and Gage followed her finger.
He looked from Bill, to Skylar, and back. "Will you ask him?"
"You're the one that wants to play." Skylar smiled and shook her head. "He's nice. You met him earlier."
"But he has dogs?"
"No, they're in the house."
Gage sighed and walked the 15 feet over to where Bill stood talking to Georg. "Can I play ball?" He asked quietly as he stood just behind Bill.
Georg and Bill continued talking. They hadn't heard the small boy's voice. Gage looked back at Skylar and frowned. He turned back to Bill and said it louder this time. "Can I play ball?"
Georg glanced down and saw Gage standing there looking up at Bill expectantly. He cleared his throat and nodded at Gage. "You have a visitor." Georg said softly.
"Huh?" Bill turned around. He expected to see someone standing there, but from 6 feet up he saw nothing. He glanced back at Georg and saw that he was looking lower. He turned to see Gage, "Hey! What's up?" Bill laughed and knelt to Gage's level.
"Can- can I play ball?"
"Yeah, you wanna play now?" Bill asked.
"Can I?"
"Sure." Bill stood up and addressed Georg. "Gage is gonna show me how to dunk, wanna watch?"
Georg laughed quietly and said. "I'll never miss the chance to see you flail about trying to play basketball."
"Shut it, Listing." Bill said as he placed his hands on his hips.
"Yeah, and you can dunk it." Gage smiled up at Bill and put his hands on his hips too.
"The kid has faith in me! Let's go." Bill looked around the backyard and caught Skylar's eye. "It's okay if we go out front?" He shouted to her.
"Yeah." She nodded. "I'll be out in a minute."
"Okay." Bill smiled and held the french doors open for Georg and Gage. He followed them through the house to the driveway out front.
Bill hopped in the car and parked it on the street to open up the court and grabbed the basketball standing next to the goal. Tom came out of the house and asked. "Can I team up with you guys?"
"We can be two teams." Gage said.
"Gage is my partner." Bill bounced the ball as he walked up the driveway. He rolled the ball to Gage's feet and said. "Show me what you've got."
Gage picked up the huge basketball and bounced it with both hands. He tried as hard as he could to not let it get away. He bounced the ball and turned completely around in a circle then stopped the ball and rested his foot on top.
"Wow! You're pretty good." Tom clapped from the sidelines.
"Yeah, I play like Jordan." Gage explained.
"Jordan?" Georg asked.
"American basketball." Bill explained.
"Da Bulls!" Gage shouted and threw his hands over his head.
The three grown men laughed and Bill reached down to high five Gage. "Jordan rocks."
"Yeah, he rocks." Gage nodded and slapped Bill's huge hand.
"So show me how you dunk." Bill picked up the ball and handed it to Gage.
"I have to- you have to pick me up." Gage looked up at the basket miles above his head.
"If I pick you up to dunk, will you pick me up?" Bill asked.
"No!" Gage laughed. "You're too big."
"Then how am I supposed to dunk?" Bill smiled at the boy.
"You're big and you can jump higher and dunk it." Gage explained as he held the huge ball in his hands.
"Okay, let's see you dunk it." Bill picked Gage up under his arms and ran him across the court to the basket. He lifted the small boy up as high as he could and Gage slammed the ball through the net.
"Whoa! Good shot, Gage!" Georg and Tom clapped from the sidelines.
"See? I can dunk like Jordan." Gage laughed as Bill put him back on the ground.
"You sure can!" Tom high-fived Gage and dribbled the ball quickly.
The big kids played a little basketball with Gage running around with them trying to catch the ball. Every few minutes Bill would hand the ball to Gage and then pick him up so he could dunk it. They were winning by 10 points when they called a half time break.
"Gage, you're really showing the old guys how to do it, huh?" Skylar laughed as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest.
"I'm teaching them." Gage said as he walked over to where Skylar stood.
She bent to tie his shoe and laughed. "You sure are."
"He's really good." Tom said softly as he stood beside her. Gage ran over to Bill and Georg. "Considering he's only 3, he can dribble that huge ball."
"Yeah, Jared is still a sports nut so whenever they visit home he teaches Gage sports. I think next time it'll be soccer. Jared went to Chile over the summer and fell in love with the sport."
"Cool." Tom smiled and watched as Bill helped Gage take his plaid shirt off. He folded it in half and set it on the sidelines with Georg's sweatshirt. Gage was happy that he looked like the others in tank tops and shorts.
"You're really great with him, Tom." Skylar said a minute later. "You all are."
"Yeah, I like kids." Tom squinted and licked his lips. "But at the end of the day I'm glad he's going home with you."
"He'll be exhausted." Skylar looked at her watch. It was almost three. "He's missing his nap right now. I'll be shocked if he makes it until four."
"I'll be shocked if we make it until four." Tom laughed. "He's a great kid. He acts so grown up."
"Yeah, he hasn't been raised with other kids. He's like a little grown up." Skylar smiled and sighed.
"Do you want to have any more kids?" Tom asked as he watched Georg kneel in front of Gage and show him how to wipe his face using his shirt.
"I think so. Eventually." Skylar cleared her throat and smiled up at Tom. "I loved growing up with my brother and sister. He'd love having other kids around."
"Yeah. I'd like to have a big family." Tom nodded.
"Really?" Skylar asked as a spark of hope lit inside her.
"Eventually." He nodded. "Maybe when I'm 30."
"Yeah." She nodded and turned back toward the house. "Can you guys keep an eye on him? I'm going to go mingle."
"Sure. We'll keep him out of the street." Tom laughed.
"Thanks." Skylar smiled and walked back into the house. She didn't have a lot to worry about. There was a four foot wall around the entire house and a security gate blocking the end of the driveway. They would have to pick Gage up and put him over the gate for him to be in any real danger.
The boys played for a while longer with Gage running around by their feet "blocking" Georg and dunking the ball every chance he got. Georg took a quick step to the side and accidentally tripped over Gage which sent them both to the ground. Gage's little face puckered up and he immediately began to cry. He was more scared than hurt.
"Whoa! Time out guys." Georg said as he reached over to help Gage sit up. "I'm sorry, buddy. I didn't see you." Georg got a worried look on his face just as Gage let out a howl.
"Georg, what did you do to him?" Bill said as he and Tom ran over to the crying boy.
"I'm sorry, Gage. Come here." Georg scooted over beside Gage and pulled him onto his lap. Gage immediately buried his tear covered face into Georg's tank top as Georg placed his hand on Gage's hair. "It's okay, buddy. Are you hurt? Where did you fall?"
"Owwww!" Gage cried as Georg got a panicked look on his face.
"What did he fall on?" Bill asked as he leaned over the two on the concrete.
"I don't know. His hands are a little scraped." Georg held Gage's hand open and brushed the dirt off softly. "Did you hit your head?" Georg asked as he ran his hands over the boys tiny head.
"What happened?" Skylar asked as she ran out the front door and down the walkway towards the driveway.
"Georg pushed him." Tom said.
"I did not!" Georg glared at Tom and rocked Gage back and forth. "It was an accident. I didn't see him."
"Are you okay, baby?" Skylar asked as she knelt in front of Gage and stroked his head. "Did he hit his head?" She asked Georg.
"I don't think so. He pretty much fell on his butt." Skylar went to take Gage from Georg, but he had a strong grip on Georg's tank top.
"Did you hit your head, baby?" Skylar asked softly.
"No, my hand." Gage held up his hand for his mom to inspect.
"Yeah, you skinned it." She said as she raised it to her lips to kiss it. His cries subsided as she said. "Let's go on inside and clean it up."
"No!" Gage said as he peeled his face away from Georg. "It hurts when you clean it!"
"It won't hurt. It'll help so it won't get infected."
"I don't want to." Gage started to cry again.
Georg adjusted him on his lap and looked at his own hand. "Look, Gage. I hurt my hand too. Let's go wash our hands then we can go in the pool. I think we're done with our ball game."
"Did I win?" Gage asked as he wiped his eyes quickly.
"Of course we won!" Bill smiled and tousled Gage's hair. "We kicked their butts."
"Mommy, can I go in the pool?" Gage looked up at Skylar with red, watery eyes.
"Um- sure." Skylar looked at her watch and saw that it was almost 4:30. He'd be getting cranky soon and she was ready to head home.
"Come on." Georg held Gage tight as he stood up and brushed his butt off. "I'm really sorry, Sky." Georg said softly as he walked by her with her son in his arms.
"It's- it's okay." She forced a smile and followed them into the house. Gage laid his head on Georg's shoulder. By the time they got to the bathroom he was sound asleep and drooling on Georg's shirt.
"He was completely exhausted." Bill said softly as he and Tom followed them into the bathroom.
"He's tired, guys. I'd better just take him home." Skylar said as she tried to cover her yawn.
"Do you want me to just carry him to your car?" Georg whispered over Gage's head.
"If you don't mind." Skylar smiled. "I need to go get my bag and things." Skylar left the small group of boys in the bathroom as she went out to the back yard to get her bag.
"Georg, you're bleeding." Tom said as he looked at Georg's elbow in the mirror.
"Oh." Georg glanced in the mirror to see around Gage.
"I'll take him." Tom said as he reached for Gage.
"Don't wake him up." Georg whispered as he carefully pried Gage's hand off his tank top and handed the sleeping boy to Tom.
Tom adjusted Gage in his arms and held him against his chest as the child turned his sleeping face towards Tom. "He's cute when he sleeps." Tom whispered as he stepped out of the bathroom.
He walked carefully out to the front of the house to go wait by Skylar's car. He held Gage tight with one arm as he reached over to open the gate and stepped through. Tom walked to Skylar's car and leaned back carefully as Gage continued to sleep in his arms.
Skylar bounded out of the front door with her beach bag over her shoulder. Her blonde hair was falling out of its pony tail. She didn't have a speck of make up on but Tom couldn't take his eyes off her. She hadn't changed at all since the last time they were together. Her life had changed obviously. She had a son now but she hadn't changed.
Skylar slowed down as she spotted Tom standing by her car with her son nestled asleep in his arms. "Our son." She mentally corrected herself. She caught her breath as her heart sped up. "Now would be the perfect time to tell him." She thought as she smiled slightly. She pulled the gate closed behind her and walked up to Tom.
"Thanks." She said softly as she unlocked her car door.
"No problem. We really wore him out."
"Yeah, I should hire you guys to come tire him out every night." Skylar opened the back door and adjusted Gage's seat so Tom could put him down.
"Yeah." Tom laughed lightly and leaned into the car. He set Gage in his seat and stood back. He wasn't exactly sure how all the buckles went.
Skylar leaned into the car and strapped Gage in as he slowly peeled his eyes open and looked at her. "No, Mommy! I want to go in the pool!" He said as he began crying.
"No, not today. You're tired. We're gonna go home."
"Nooooo!" He whined. "You said we could go swimming."
"We can go swimming at Oma's this week."
"I want to go in Bill's pool." Gage whined again as big tears fell down his cheeks.
"No, we're going home, honey. Mommy's tired too." She shook her head and leaned to kiss his forehead. He angrily pushed her away and kicked the back of the seat in front of him. "Hey! Gage, that's not cool. You can be upset but don't kick."
"I want to go in the pool." He shouted.
"I told you no. We're going home now." She said firmly as he continued to cry. She cast a sorry look at Tom and shrugged. "I'm sorry about all this."
"It's okay." Tom laughed and shook his head. "You're the one who has to drive home with his feet in your seat."
"I know." She sighed and unlocked the front door. "I uh- I had a nice time today. It was great to get out of the house, you know?"
"Anytime." Tom smiled and held her door open for her as Gage continued to cry in the back seat. "We have a lot of free time now so we should hang out more."
"I'd like that." She nodded. "And I think we should talk." She glanced over the back seat at Gage.
"Okay." Tom smiled and followed her eyes into the back seat where Gage was still crying. "Drive careful." He said as she got into the car and rolled her window down.
"I will. And thank the guys for playing with Gage. He really likes play with the big boys." She smiled.
"He's a good sport." Tom squatted and leaned his arms on her window sill. "I'll call you this week, okay?"
"Okay." Skylar nodded shyly and smiled.
"Cool." Tom leaned in and kissed her cheek quickly. "See ya, Gage." Tom waved over the back of the seat at the still screaming child. He shook his head and stood up as Skylar carefully pulled out into the street and drove away. He did not envy her.
That Friday Skylar had a long and frustrating day at work. She then had to trudge through the grocery store to buy food for the week. She picked up a tired and grumpy Gage from his preschool and headed home through a light drizzling of rain.
Skylar got Gage situated in the kitchen. She brought all of the bags in from the car. Part way through unpacking the bags her phone rang across the kitchen. "Hallo?" She answered as she tried not to drop the phone on Gage's head.
"Skylar? Hey, it's Tom." Tom smiled and held his tiny phone to his ear as he leaned against the wall and tried to stay dry.
"Hi! What's up?" Skylar asked as she wedged her phone against her ear. Gage was helping her put groceries away. "Baby, no. That goes up here on the counter. You can put the crackers away, okay?"
"Mmm! What kind of crackers?" Tom laughed.
"Ritz crackers. I wouldn't buy anything less." Skylar grabbed the cans of frozen juice and opened the freezer. "What's up?"
"Actually I was calling to see what the chances were of you getting a sitter for tonight."
"I might be able to. Why?"
"I would love to take you out for a dinner that doesn't come with a free toy."
"But I like the free toys." Skylar smiled and shut the freezer.
"I like toys and finch-fies!" Gage added from the floor as he tried to pry open a box of cereal.
"Gage." Skylar sighed in exasperation and took the box away. "I'm trying to get all this put away."
"What are you doing?" Tom laughed softly.
"I'm trying to put away my groceries and Gage here isn't helping."
"I'm too helping." He pouted as he pulled himself to a standing position. "I put the crackers away."
"Yes, you did. Thank you. Can you go play in your room for a while so I can finish?" She asked sweetly. Gage bounded out of the kitchen and down the hall to his room.
"Need some help?" Tom asked.
"You wanna help me put my groceries away?" Skylar smiled and brushed her bangs out of her eyes.
"I'd love to." Tom smiled and stood up straight.
Skylar laughed and shook her head. "I'll be finished by the time you get here."
Tom casually leaned over and pressed the glowing orange button. "You sure about that?"
"Tom-" Skylar smiled and put the box of macaroni and cheese down on the counter. "Are you outside my door?" She laughed.
He rang the bell again and said, "Why don't you open the door and find out?"
"Okay. I'm hanging up."
"Fine but hurry. It's raining." He smiled.
She dropped the phone on the table and bounced over to the front door. She unlocked it quickly and threw the door open with a smile. "You're crazy." She laughed as Tom flipped his phone shut and slid it into his pocket.
"You already knew that." Tom smiled and took a step into the house to get out of the drizzle. He pulled Skylar in for a hug and lifted her off the ground.
"I have had the worst possible day. You have no idea how happy I am to see you." She laughed as he set her back on her feet.
"I'm happy to see you too." He couldn't stop smiling as he followed her across the living room to the kitchen.
"You don't have to help put my groceries away. I was only kidding." Skylar smiled and took a loaf of bread out of one of the bags and put it in the bread box.
"I don't mind."
"Mommy?" Gage called from down the hall.
"Gage, don't shout. Come here and talk to me."
"I'm stuck." He shouted back.
"Stuck in what?"
"My bed." He shouted. He was more annoyed than panicked.
"I'll go figure out what's wrong." Tom smiled and turned toward the hall as Skylar went back to unloading the food from the bags.
Tom walked down the hall and glanced in the first room to the left. It was decorated in Pocoyo paraphernalia. The off white walls had a border with all of the characters dancing around it, a big Pocoyo comforter on the bed with matching pillow cases and a toy chest shaped like Oktopus Fred. Tom smiled as he noticed Gage wedged between the bed and the wall.
"Hi, Tom." Gage said sadly.
"Hey, buddy. What happened?"
"I got stuck." He sighed.
"I can see that. You need help?" Tom smiled and sat on the bed beside Gage.
"Yeah." Gage nodded. Tom leaned over and scooted the bed out an inch or two so Gage could pull his foot out. "Thank you."
"Did you drop something back there?"
"Yeah." Gage nodded and laid on his stomach to reach behind the bed.
"What'd you lose?" Tom laid on his stomach beside him and looked down between the bed and the wall.
"Kleine Raupe."
"What's it look like?"
"A caterpillar." Gage explained slowly.
"Okay." Tom reached his long arms towards the floor as he laid across the small bed.
"I think it's over there." Gage pointed toward the head of the bed.
"Up there? Let me climb under there and get it." Tom crawled off the bed and lay on his stomach on the floor to look under the bed. "There it is." He scooted halfway under the bed to reach the small toy.
Skylar stood in the door way and smiled as Gage laughed at Tom. "You're too big to go under there." Gage shook his head.
"I think I've got it." Tom said from under the bed. "Here ya go." He shimmied backwards and sat up with the toy in his hand. "Is this it?"
"Yeah." Gage picked it out of Tom's hand and jumped back on the bed.
"What do you say, Gage?"
"Thank you, Tom." Gage mumbled softly.
"Gage-" Skylar said with a very motherly tone.
"Thank you, Tom." Gage said clearly.
"Your welcome, buddy." Tom laughed and stood up, "So do you wanna do dinner?"
"Sure. Let's go on out here so I can call the s-i-t-t-e-r." Skylar said softly as she motioned toward the other room. Tom followed her and sat across from her on the couch as she picked up the phone and dialed. "Hi, Ashley? This is Skylar. How are you?" She asked with a smile. "That's great! Hey, is there any chance you'd be free to watch Gage tonight for a few hours? Oh, okay. No, that's okay. I know it's last minute and everything. Okay. I'll talk to you later, Ashley. Thanks." She hung up and shook her head. "One down one to go." She said to Tom.
"I can always call one of the guys." Tom suggested.
"No, that's okay." Skylar laughed. "I'm sure they have better things to do that hang out with a cranky 3 year old tonight." She dialed the phone again and waited for the other girl to pick up, "Hi is Jillian there? Sure, this is Skylar Schnee, Gage's mom." She waited for a second before Jillian came on the line. "Hi, Jillian. This is Skylar. I'm good how are you? Good. Hey, I don't suppose there's any chance you're free tonight is there? Um, I guess from-" She checked her watch and looked at Tom. "Like six until maybe eight or nine? Oh you do? Oh. No, I don't think we could be home by then." Skylar looked at Tom and asked. "Could we be back by seven thirty?"
Tom checked his watch and saw that it was already after 5. "I doubt it."
"Okay, thanks anyway, Jillian. Okay, sure just remind me next time you come over and I'll order some. All right, I'll talk to you later." She hung up and looked at Tom. "I'm sorry."
"What about your parents?" Tom asked.
"They have church stuff on Friday nights." She frowned.
"We can just stay in." Tom smiled. "I can go out and get some take out and we can just eat here."
"Are you sure?"
"Sure." Tom smiled and stood up again. "What would you like?"
"I would absolutely love some good German food. How about if you run up to your Mom's house and bring some good stuff back." Skylar laughed.
"Oh, sure thing! I'll be back in few hours." He laughed. "You want good Italian food? I'll bring you the works." He reached into his pocket for his keys and headed for the door.
"Thanks, Tom." She followed him to the door. "Would you mind stopping by McDonald's? The kid has had a hard day, too." She reached into her pocket for some money.
"I've got it. Don't worry."
"Tom, you don't have to buy our dinner."
"It's a date. I can buy if I want to."
"Fine, you can buy mine but you don't have to buy Gage's." She said as she handed him four dollars.
"Keep it." He pushed her hand away and opened the door.
"Tom-" She argued.
"Stop it." He rolled his eyes and sprinted toward his car in the rain.
Tom returned later with delicious smelling spaghetti and garlic bread as well as a small bag of McDonald's for Gage. He knocked once then pushed the door open slowly. "Sky?" He asked as he walked in. He didn't want to startle her.
"I'm in here." She said softly from the kitchen. She was sitting at the table cutting up lettuce and tomatoes for a salad. "I'm making a salad so we can have a real dinner." She looked up as he walked into the kitchen.
Tom smiled and set the bags down on the counter behind her. "Where's Gage?"
"You know, I haven't heard him since you left." Skylar frowned and stood up quickly. She headed down the hall. Tom remained in the kitchen to set up dinner.
Skylar pushed Gage's door open a crack and saw him fast asleep on top of the covers on his bed. His Tonka truck in one hand and his old stuffed giraffe in the other. She smiled to herself and crossed the room to remove his shoes and cover him up. She switched his light off and shut his door quietly before going back to the kitchen. "He fell asleep." Skylar smiled.
"The poor guy's gonna miss out on a great cheeseburger." Tom looked at the happy meal on the counter.
"He can have it tomorrow." Skylar took the bag and placed it in the refrigerator. "He had a really long day and I don't think he's feeling well."
"That sucks." Tom frowned and separated the spaghetti and garlic bread onto two plates and set them at the table. "Does he have a cold?"
"I think he's starting to get one."
"That can't be fun."
"No." Skylar shook her head and sat across from Tom at the small table. "This smells so good. Where did you go?"
"It's a secret." Tom smiled and shook his head.
"You'll have to take me there sometime." She smiled flirtatiously at him and laughed.
"One night when you can get a sitter we'll go." He said. "It's not exactly a kid friendly restaurant."
"Okay." She nodded. "I'll let you know."
"I'm going to be busy in the next few weeks." Tom sighed. "We're gonna start work on our new album. We're going back on the road in November."
"I thought you just finished a tour?" Skylar took a bite of her garlic bread. "Wow, this is really great."
"Isn't it?" Tom smiled and took a bite of his spaghetti. "We just got back about a month ago but we're gonna go back out for two and a half or three months." He shrugged.
"That sounds fun." Skylar nodded.
"Uhh, I don't know about fun but it's what I do." Tom smiled and they continued to eat their dinner.
"Do you love it still?" Skylar asked quietly a little later.
"More than ever, I think. The band is number one on my priority list." Tom wiped his mouth on his napkin and placed his fork on his plate. "Which I guess is a good thing."
"Yeah." Skylar nodded slowly. "The group is number one with him. How could I just throw Gage in the mix? That wouldn't be fair to Tom. Or Gage. Or me."
Skylar frowned unconsciously and Tom laughed. "What's that frown for?"
"Hmm?" She looked up suddenly. She didn't realize she'd been lost in thought. "Nothing." Skylar sighed again and stood up with her plate. "I just hope Gage isn't getting sick." She walked her dishes to the kitchen and set them in the sink. She'd deal with them later.
"Sky? Are you okay?" Tom asked as he walked up behind her to put his dishes in the sink.
"Yeah." She gave him a fake smile and turned around.
"You got quiet suddenly a while ago." He said with a cautious smile.
"I'm just- I'm tired I guess."
"Do you want me to go?"
"No. I don't want you to go." She shook her head and rubbed her eyes.
"What do you want, Sky?" Tom asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"What do I want? What do I really want? I really wanted Tom to just go away... to just not be here like before. It was so much easier then. I didn't have to worry about trying to find a way to him. That's what I want. I think."
"I don't want anything." She said softly as she leaned her forehead on his chest.
"Skylar, come on." Tom smiled and tilted her chin up towards him. "Okay, you need a stupid infomercial to snap you out of this... whatever you're in. C'mon." He kissed her forehead quickly then took her hand and led her into the living room.
"Tom, I hate infomercials." Skylar whined with a smile and plopped down on the sofa across from him.
"Yeah, but it'll take your mind off whatever's bugging you."
"Thanks, Tom." Skylar caught his eye and meant it.
"You're welcome." He flipped through the channels until he found an infomercial for some hair removal gunk. He set the remote on the table and sat back on the couch. They sat at opposite ends with their feet intertwining in the middle of the cushion.
They watched for a few minutes in silence before Tom said, "You know, ever since-" He stopped mid-sentence. Skylar was asleep with her head on the arm of the couch. Tom smiled and tilted his head to the side as he watched her sleep.
He slowly took his eyes off of Skylar and channel surfed to find something else to watch. He settled on a re-run of "Frei Schnauze" and turned the volume down as low as he could.
Tom watched two episodes back to back then stood up slowly as not to wake Skylar. He stretched his hands over his head and turned the TV off before returning the remote to it's home on the table. He quickly and quietly returned to the kitchen to turn off the lights and throw away the take out containers from dinner.
Tom gently took the quilt from the back of the couch and covered Skylar on the couch. He kissed her cheek softly. He kept his face inches from hers and just stared at her dark eye lashes resting on her cheek. "What I wouldn't give to go back in time and not break your heart. I would do anything to have the last four years with you. Maybe we can start over again."
Tom slowly brushed his lips over hers then stood up. He smoothed down her hair and sighed before crossing the room to turn off the lights. The room fell into darkness. The tiny glow of a nightlight in the hallway lit his way to the front door. Tom let himself out and locked the handle of the door before he shut it quietly behind him.
Gage and Skylar spent the next four days bundled up at home with matching fevers. They both had the flu. Skylar wouldn't let Tom come over at all. If he was going to start recording in the next week or so the last thing he needed was the flu. He called every day to see if they needed anything but, other than a solid nights sleep, they were fine.
By that weekend they were both well enough to spend the day at Bill and Tom's mom's house again with all of the guys and a handful of other friends. Gage had a blast playing ball with the big guys while Skylar hung around and got reacquainted with Savannah.
"Have you thought about Halloween?" Tom asked two weeks later as they sat in a booth at Restaurant Ciao Ciao.
"What about it?" Skylar asked as she cut Gage's chicken fingers into bite sized pieces.
"What are you guys doing?"
"We're going trick-or-treating." Skylar smiled at Gage and made a scary face. "And we're going to carve an enormous pumpkin, right?"
"Yeah and I get to be a scuba diver." Gage laughed and took a bite of his fries.
"Really?" Tom laughed. "How are you going to do that?"
"Mommy made it." Gage said matter-of-factly.
"I just got him a little wet suit and used 2 liter bottles to make his tanks and strapped them to his life vest." She smiled. "He already has the mask and little fins."
Tom laughed. "How about you?"
"Alice."
"Alice?" Tom asked.
"Of Wonderworld." Gage laughed.
"In Wonderland." Skylar corrected him.
"Wicked." Tom laughed.
"What are you doing for Halloween?" Skylar asked as she handed Gage his dinner and started in on hers.
"Um, I don't know really." Tom shrugged.
"You're more than welcome to come with us." She smiled.
"And you can get candy!" Gage took a sip of his milk.
"Candy sounds like fun. I like candy." Tom smiled at Gage and continued to eat.
"Me too. I like suckers." Gage nodded.
"Me too." Tom laughed.
They finished up their meal then headed out to the car. "Where are you guys going trick-or-treating?" Tom asked.
"Just around the neighborhood." Skylar said as she loaded Gage into the back seat.
"Do I have to dress up?" Tom laughed as he climbed into the passenger seat.
"If you come with us? Yes. Plus, do you want to be recognized and cause a frenzy?" She asked.
"True." He nodded.
"So?"
"Sure. I'll go with you guys. Sounds like fun." Tom rested his arm across the back of Skylar's seat as they headed back to her house.
By the time they got home Gage was asleep in the back seat snoring lightly. "Can you go open the door for me please?" Skylar handed Tom her keys as she opened the car door to retrieve Gage.
"Do you want me to get him?" he asked.
"No, I've got it." She smiled and unbuckled Gage's seat. She picked him up carefully and rested him on her shoulder as she headed up to the house. Tom held the door open for her and shut it behind her. Skylar walked down the dark hall to Gage's room and placed him in his bed. Tom stood in the door way and watched as Skylar took Gage's shoes off and carefully pulled his jeans off. She pulled the covers up over his bare legs. Gage wiggled and frowned before he smooshed his face into his pillow and sighed contentedly.
Skylar sat at the edge of the bed and smoothed his hair gently. She leaned down and softly kissed the top of his head and whispered his night time prayers before she stood up and walked slowly across the room. "He's out for the night." She whispered to Tom as she stepped past him.
"Yeah." He whispered back. He kept his gaze on the sleeping child as Skylar headed for the living room. Tom sighed softly and followed her down the hall.
Tom sat on the couch as Skylar went into the kitchen and fixed herself a glass of water. She carried it in both hands as she came back to the living room and sat across from Tom on the couch. He had turned the TV on and "Legally Blonde" was playing softly in the background.
"Why do you always sit way over there?" Tom asked as Skylar made herself comfortable in the corner.
"What do you mean?"
"Every time I come over you always sit all the way over there." He smiled and placed his arm across the back of the sofa. "I don't bite."
Skylar laughed and smiled at Tom. "I know you better than that, Tom. You do bite."
"I've grown up a lot." He said softly as he leaned over and took her hand. "Come sit with me." He pulled her gently to the other side of the couch and leaned back so that she was leaning back against his chest. Tom wrapped his arms protectively around her and sunk deeper into the couch. "See? This isn't so bad, is it?"
"No, it's not." Skylar said softly as she melted into him. She'd thought about what it would be like to have Tom back in her life. In Gage's life. "Hey, Tom?" She said slowly. Now would be the perfect time.
"You know, Skylar." He started at the same time. "Sorry, go ahead."
"No, you go." She said. She chickened out. She looked towards the TV and followed Reese Witherspoon's image across the screen.
"Since I've been hanging out with you guys... with you and Gage... I just feel kind of- I don't know. I mean, Gage is great. He's the best kid I've ever been around. If all my kids could turn out like him, I'd have a dozen."
Skylar's breath caught in her throat. She was absolutely sure she gasped audibly, but Tom didn't react. "I-" She started but her lips wouldn't form the words.
"I've never dated anyone with a kid before. I never thought I would. But this just feels different." He said softly as he ran his fingers through hers. She couldn't do anything but nod slightly. "I guess what I'm saying is, if you'd like, I'd like to see more of you." He said softly right next to her ear. His voice sent chills up her spine and she closed her eyes slowly.
"It's a little more complicated now." She said with her eyes still closed.
"I know but I'd like to try." He kissed her neck softly and trailed his tongue up to tickle her ear. Skylar covered his arms with her and pulled them tight around her waist. She sighed and turned her head towards the TV. She could hear Tom's heart beat in his chest under her ear.
"I'd like that too." She heard herself say. He smiled broadly as he wrapped his arms tighter around her and kissed her neck playfully again. "This is my chance to do things right. Even if she is a package deal now."
Chapter Two