Part 2
*****
Still don't own anything, and still bummed about it!
This is for all you shippers out there, and for all you SHIPPERS IN DENIAL (like myself!). Hope you enjoy reading it. Let me know what you think!
OH, and the time line is WAY OFF, but that's ok, cause this is FICTION
******
It was another slow day on the day shift, and Faith was ready to go home. Surprisingly she wasn't even all that tired even though she had woken with Bosco after his nightmares the night before. However she was glad that she had the next couple of days off. She was looking forward to getting some rest, and spending some quality time with her kids.
Faith knocked on the Hanson's door, and thanked them like she did everyday. She unlocked the door, and pushed it open. "Bosco?" she called out into the quiet apartment as she took her jacket off. Faith turned around and hung her jacket on the hook on the back of the door. "Bosco?"
Charlie was heading for his room, and called back to his mother over his shoulder. "Bosco wasn't here when we left this morning. The note you left us told us not to wake him if he was sleeping, but he wasn't here."
Faith nodded, and picked up the phone to call Bosco. She wanted to know how he was doing. He had had a really rough night. His phone rang and rang, but there was no answer. Faith hung up and dialed his cell phone. His voicemail picked up. "Hmmm, wonder where he is," she thought aloud. She waited a few more minutes then tried calling him again, but Bosco still didn't answer.
The mother in her started to worry when she was unable to reach him after calling a third time. Immediately she assumed that something must be wrong. Like many mothers she jumped to the worst possible line of thinking; never once thinking that maybe he just wasn't home or that his cell phone battery was dead. Nope, instead she feared that something horrible had happened, and she needed to see if he was all right.
"Emily! Charlie!" she called down the hall. "I'm going to go over to Bosco's. You wanna come with or stay here?"
Charlie came bursting out of his room eager to go. Emily just hollered from her room. "I'll stay here!"
Faith walked to her daughter's room, and opened the door. "OK Em, Charlie's going to go with me. I don't know how long we'll be gone."
"OK mom."
"Come on, I want you to lock the door after we leave." Emily climbed off her bed and followed her mother and brother through the apartment. Faith stopped at the door, and turned to Emily. "Lock all the locks. I'm not moving from the other side of this door until I hear them all click. And remember, don't answer the door---"
"Without checking the peephole and asking who it is. I've got your cell number, dad's number and the Hanson's incase I need anything, and I can always dial 9-1-1 in an emergency." Emily smiled at her mom. "You worry too much."
Faith kissed the top of Emily's head. "It's part of being a mother. It'll make sense to you someday."
*****
Charlie knocked excitedly on Bosco's door. He always loved seeing "Uncle B". Faith was glad that her son had someone like Bosco that he could look up to. She was also glad that Bosco was always on his best behavior around her impressionable son.
"I don't think he's home," Charlie said with a frown.
Faith pulled her cell phone out of her purse, and dialed Bosco's number. She could hear the phone ringing on the other side of the wall. She tried his cell phone, and that too could be heard through the wall. Faith took her keys out of her pocket, and found Bosco's key on the key ring. It was times like these that she was glad they had exchanged apartment keys. He always had his cell phone with him when he left the apartment, so she knew something *had* to be wrong.
She unlocked the door, and slowly pushed it open. The apartment was dark; she flipped the switch next to the door in turn illuminating the living room. "Charlie why don't you wait in the living room, and I'll go check on Bosco." The young boy nodded, and sat down on the couch.
"Bosco?! Hey Bos," she called out as she walked deeper into the apartment. "Reese." Faith rounded the corner, and found him sprawled out on his bed. She sat down next to him, and rubbed his back. "Reese honey, wake up." He stirred, but didn't open his eyes. She shook his shoulders.
"Huh?" he groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "What?" he mumbled as he rolled over to face her.
"Hey sweetie," she kissed his cheek.
"Faith? What time is it?" He scanned the room for his clock, but couldn't focus his eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"It's almost five."
"Serious?" He asked as he squinted at the clock. He propped himself up on an elbow, and his mouth stretched into a yawn.
Faith ran her hand through his hair attempting to tame some of the areas that were sticking up. "Are you OK baby?"
"Yeah I'm OK," he said softly as he lay back down. "Why?"
"I was worried. I called you like a hundred times and you didn't answer. I even tried your cell." She put her hand on his chest. "After last night I guess I just needed to know that you were OK, and when you didn't answer the phone I kicked into mother mode and rushed over here." She leaned down, and kissed his lips. "I just had this feeling that something was wrong," she admitted with a frown.
"Well I guess you need to send your mothering equipment in for service because I'm fine, so the trouble detector or whatever it is must not be working right. You should really get that fixed."
Faith smiled, and playfully swatted his stomach. "So why didn't you pick up the phone?"
"I didn't hear it."
"Really? You must have slept like a log."
Bosco sat up, and noticed he still had his shoes on. "Yeah. Hey thanks for telling the boss I was sick. I didn't realize how tired I was. I was out as soon as I hit the bed."
"No nightmares?"
For a *brief* second he thought about telling her that he took the sleeping pills, but why ruin this moment. "Nope. None," he smiled.
She put her hand on his cheek. "That's so good baby," she brushed her lips across his. Bosco embraced her and deepened the kiss. "Mmmm. Whoa." She broke away from him. "Before we get carried away I should tell you that Charlie is in your living room."
Bosco's eyes lit up like a little kids on Christmas morning. "Chuckie's here?! All right." He quickly scrambled off the bed.
Faith couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes her boyfriend seemed like he was just one of her son's little friends. She went out into the living room to see that Bosco was setting up his PlayStation. A warm feeling came over her as she watched the scene in front of her.
He felt her looking at him, so he met her gaze. When he saw the smile on her face he couldn't help but smile back. Her smile was contagious. Bosco turned his attention back to Charlie and the videogame. Faith never once asked if he took a sleeping pill.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
Bosco was fine. He had slept, looked well rested, and he was thrilled to have Charlie there to try out his new NASCAR videogame. Maybe her "trouble detector" wasn't working.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
******
Bosco tossed his game controller on the floor. "OK buddy, I need a break. You're kickin' my butt!" Charlie smiled. "I'm gonna get something to drink. I'll be back."
"Can I keep playing?"
"Sure thing pal, but when I come back we're playing something different, and you won't be so happy when I start winning." Bosco smiled as he ruffled the boy's hair.
Faith was sitting at the kitchen table where she had been for the past hour watching Bosco and Charlie as they yelled and laughed while playing videogames. Bosco leaned into the refrigerator for a drink. "It's really nice of you to let him win."
Bosco straightened up, and looked at her. "I'm not *letting* him do anything."
"That's so sweet."
"I'm serious Faith. The kid's good."
Faith chuckled. "We should really get home. Emily's been home by herself for over an hour, and she's still grounded. I don't want her to think she has a ton of freedom." She stood up, and pushed her chair in. "Charlie it's time for us to go."
"Do we have to?!" he whined.
"Yes. We need to get home to your sister."
"But mom."
"Hey Faith, he can stay here with me for a while. I'll bring him home later tonight."
"Cool! Can I stay mom?!"
"He hasn't had dinner yet."
Bosco looked at Charlie. "I can take him out to dinner. It'll be a guy's night out. If that's OK with you."
"You sure about this?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. Go spend some time with Emily while I destroy your son in a few games of NHL2003. I need to restore my ego."
"OK," she chuckled. "Have him home by say, 9:30."
Bosco nodded. "Sure, no problem." He held up the can of Pepsi that he was holding. "Can he have one of these?"
"I'd rather he only had half a can."
He pulled a plastic cup out of the cupboard, and poured half the can into the cup. He looked at Faith. "Anything you don't want him to eat or drink tonight?"
"No caffeine *after* 7:30. So no chocolate and no soda after you have dinner. I don't want him up all night, we have to go back-to-school shopping tomorrow."
"Man, I got a lot to learn about this raising kids business."
"Why? You plan on raising some kids?" she asked jokingly.
His expression grew very serious as he walked toward her. "I'd like to help raise yours if you'll let me," he said quietly.
Faith was so shocked by his comment that she couldn't speak. She just watched him walk into the living room and hand Charlie a soda. "What did you just say?" she asked when she got her wits about her.
He turned to her from where he was now sitting on the couch. "You heard me."
"Did you really say what I think you said?"
Bosco got off the couch, and crossed the room. He stood in front of her. "Yeah. I want our relationship to be, I don't know, whole I guess. And I don't plan on ignoring the fact that you have two kids to take care of." He paused and looked her in the eye. "Last night you said that my problems have become yours. Well, your life has become mine."
Faith hugged him tightly. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear. "That means so much to me."
He smiled at her. "Go spend some girl time with Emily. I'll have Charlie home by 9:30."
"OK." Bosco helped her put on her jacket. "Hey, do you want to go shopping with us tomorrow? You don't have to if you don't want to."
"I'll go. Sounds like…fun."
******
"All right squirt. How about you turn off the game, and grab your coat? I'm gonna go grab a few things and then we'll go to dinner." Charlie nodded. Bosco went into his bedroom, and grabbed some clothes for tomorrow. He figured he might as well stay over at Faith's tonight if they were going shopping in the morning.
After he gathered some things he went into the bathroom, and opened the medicine cabinet. He shook a couple pills into his hand, but then put one back. Two pills had really knocked him out today, and he figured one would work just fine tonight. He put the pill in the pocket of his jeans.
******
Bosco had Charlie back to Faith's by 9:15, and it was around 11 when he and Faith decided to turn in for the night. They had a busy day of shopping ahead of them. Faith changed into her nightgown, and crawled into bed. Bosco started to strip down to his boxers, but then remembered the pill in his pocket. "I'll be back in a minute." He went into the bathroom and shut the door. He dug around in his pocket until he found the loose pill. He stood in the bathroom for a little while so Faith would think he was using the facilities. When he thought enough time had passed he turned on the water, put the pill in his mouth, gathered some water in his hands and drank it to swallow the pill. He then proceeded to wash his hands, and came out of the bathroom drying his hands on his t-shirt, which he had just taken off.
He took off his jeans and socks, and climbed into bed next to Faith. "Goodnight Faith," he said as he curled up next to her and wrapped his arm around her. He kissed her cheek.
"Sleep well Reese. I'm here if you need me."
"Thanks." He said softly. Bosco smiled knowing that he would sleep well, and he didn't have to worry about waking Faith or the kids because he wouldn't be having any nightmares tonight.