Grow Up!

There he was up already and since he couldn’t go back to sleep he decided to play some of his video games in his room upstairs. Yes, that may not answer his question where Brooks was, but maybe he was wrong believing he stayed overnight. His memories were a little bit blurry and so it was easy to mix things up a little. Anyway this guy was old enough to look after himself and there was nothing why he should be afraid of, right?!
So that’s why he took the opportunity to go on with his “Call of Duty: Black Ops III” routine. Matt barely had time for this when his family was around and this was all ok but he rather spent now his time off to satisfy his younger child. It was a bit like a drug addiction. He got nervous after some time not playing any game, whether it was on his phone, computer or PlayStation.
As soon as he got in the room something seemed completely strange. The room wasn’t as tidy as he remembered it from last week – the last time he had spent hours and hours here before Val reminded him to go to bed. She had a healthy obsession with order and the room was always locked, so the kids couldn’t go in whenever they wanted. But since he hadn’t to unlock it, it only could mean that someone else had been in here, probably someone from the band.
Matt tried to ignore the questions buzzing around his head. He came here to turn it off and not to look for the suspect who ‘broke in’ his dreamland. But when he kneeled down to turn on the PlayStation he noticed what’s wrong. For some reason he couldn’t turn it on even everything was plugged in correctly. Not sure if it was completely broken or if he could repair it but he knew that he couldn’t play right now. Something that stirred him up and not pretty in a good way at 6:15am.

He decided of doing a counsel in the living room. So he opened every single door, except for the nursery, and shouted “Guys follow me” before he walked downstairs to make himself comfortable in the dark brown leather chair. Matt put on a friendly face, so none of the guys could smell a rat.

“What’s wrong now?” Brian was no morning person as he grumbled to sit down along with Johnny and Zacky.

“I try to make it short, so who destroyed my PlayStation?”

“When should we have done this?” Brian enjoyed himself of that stupid talk.

“But I remember you went in there before going to bed” Johnny mumbled.

“Thanks Johnny” Matt said with a trace of sarcasm in his voice.

“What?” Brian protested “Yes I might be in there but just to check something! I haven’t touched anything of your toys” Brian got louder, almost lost the control of his voice volume.

“Just admit it” he rolled with his eyes, annoyed by Brian who tried to deny the fact that seemed so fucking obvious.

“Matt, I would do it if I would be in charge for this, but it wasn’t me, ok?” he stood up, not waiting for another dispute and went back upstairs.

He met River on the halfway, patted the little guys head and closed the door of the guest room.

“What’s wrong?” River lisped and looked confused to his daddy face.

“Uncle and I just have a little discussion about something” Matt chose to place himself on the stairs next to his son “He destroyed one of daddy’s favorite toys, you know, but he doesn’t want to admit it.”

“I won’t admit it” Brian shouted through the closed door.

“Make it stop” River pouted and saw that Miles and Cash, Brooks sons, got out their room as well.

But this meant that Brooks must have stayed here?! Anyway this wasn’t important. He just couldn’t understand why Brian refused to admit it.

“Sometimes it’s harder between adults, you know. Arguments aren’t easy, especially when both parties are stubborn like bulls. It’s like they’re fighting but don’t come to an agreement.”

“My mommy said you don’t know before you haven’t tried” Miles mumbled proudly.

“Children and fools tell the truth” Zacky shouted at Matt, grinning brightly and waited already for round 2 of Haner vs. Sanders.

“Ok you’re right” he nodded to the kids “I’ll talk to him while you go to these two fools … ehm I mean uncles” he coughed.

“How long do you think they’ll be in this room?” Johnny whispered to Zacky.

“I give them 15 minutes. Not a minute longer.”

“What’s your bet?” Johnny liked the idea that they started this idea recently, a time when they started to argue more and more.

“Three Whiskey shots” he could say before the kids arrived the living room.

“It’s ridiculous if you look at the amounts of their arguments lately. They’re worse than two girls in their ‘once-a-month’ time” Johnny rolled with his eyes, put his feet on the glass table and put his head in his neck.

“Where’s Daddy?” Cash asked a little bit worried about his father.

“We actually don’t know either but I’ll guess he’ll be around very soon” Zacky tried to encourage Brooks son, trying to take away his fear and putting a smile at least on his face.

“But what if something happened to him?” Johnny whispered to Zacky but he only answered this comment with tapping on his forehead. “Well we don’t know nowadays. There are criminals out there you don’t know of.”

“I understand your worry for your friend” Zacky chuckled “But Johnny, please you watch too many criminal shows lately. You’ve started with Criminal Minds, Navy CIS, Breaking Bad and then Sherlock Holmes. Just stop that and go back to Desperate Housewives where the life seems perfect and only housewives betray their men to get some money or revenge. Whatever. I never had seen it and proud of it” Zacky sighed, got up to look out of the window as he heard a mobile buzzing.

“That’s our first trace” Johnny said and hold up Brooks phone that laid on the couch.

“You’re really out of your mind” he shook his head in amusement and rather placed himself on the floor, close to the window where he just stood to watch the peacefully neighborhood.

“186 absent calls speak another language” Johnny scrolled through the history.

“Then you’ve got your first job, Mr. Holmes. Here you go” Zacky tried to play along but rather watched the situation from the floor.

“Actually it was Dr. Watson doing all the work while Sherlock could only read the signs and mostly had been high of his various drugs he took” he stood now the back to the door.

“Ok. Then I’m right for this job” Zacky spotted that the door slowly opened and the wanted person stood on the doorstep.

“I mean where could he be? Where did he go? And why did he go? Why is that mobile still here?” Johnny mumbled more to himself as he walked up and down in the living room.

‘He’s mad’ Zacky mouthed to Brooks who seemed pretty confused about Johnny new detective side.

“Who are you looking for?” the older man with the blonde hair asked.

“Brooks, but I think I have told you that” Johnny answered absently, not realizing it was Brooks himself who asked him this question.

“I’ve found him” Zacky got up from the floor, tapped on Johnny’s shoulder and begged him to turn around. "You have no idea how crazy this looked to us for the last minute” Zacky burst out in laughter.

“Are you guys ok?” Matt begged for clarification as he came back downstairs along with Brian who seemed as confused as his friend.

“15 minutes as I told you” Johnny ignored his question and turned to Zacky instead and felt already as a winner.

“14,5 minutes when I can be picky. You pay!” Zacky calmed himself and pointed at Johnny with a cheeky little grin in his face.

~*~

Before the girls would go to their first massage they decided to lie down at the pool with a cocktail in their hands. Most of them enjoyed their hard-earned down time in Palm Springs. No stress, no kids running around and no men getting on their nerves. Just a peaceful weekend vacation – free of any concerns and needs. Only one couldn’t switch off from home: Valary Sanders. She kept thinking of her kids and if Matt really could do the task. She was worried and fight with her own inner voice if she just shouldn’t go back home and check if everything was ok and if all were still in one piece.

“Finally switch off!” Lacey begged her now for the 100th time. “You can’t keep thinking about Matt or the kids. He’s managing it I guess, if not he has his other 3 or 4 helpers.”

“I just feel something happened. I think Kelly or Meg can feel what I mean. A mother knows when something happened with her loved ones, no offense please Lacey” she tried to keep the situation calm and peacefully.

“But if something really happened, wouldn’t Matt give you a call or anyone from the guys? Unless this happens you really can lie down and enjoy the great massages later. I heard they are good, and I’m not only talking about the messages itself, if you know what I mean” Kelly mentioned it casually while a good build man, slim but no six-pack, passed their way. “If this is paradise ….” she whistled by the choices of men here.

The variety of the men walking around that wellness place were really a nice eye-candy for the girls. All were strongly build, but not too many muscles, good tan and dark hair combined with dark eyes. They just had to snap with their fingers and many girls would cling around their upper arm, pleasing them for so long until one of them would go to bed with them. Certainly not the type of Lacey, Meaghan, Kelly or Valary but they were always nice to look at and watching their attempts on all the single girls here.

“Val, the girl who just got hand kissed by this boy at the bar, isn’t that Michelle?” Meaghan bend over to her, pointing with her finger at the girl she was talking about.

“It can’t be” she covered her own doubts with laughter. “She doesn’t even know where we are at” she tried to convince herself and put back on her sunglasses.

Meaghan was right. This girl clearly looked like her twin sister and even wore her clothes – how good could be the coincidence this was someone else?! So what was her sister doing at this place if she hadn’t any idea where they went to over the weekend?

“I knew I would find you” Michelle said, turned with her face to her sister.

“How do you ….? Doesn’t matter” she shook the head and wouldn’t clearly start another fight at the pool “But did you leave Brian all alone?” she sat up and put her black sunglasses back on her head.

“He went to Matt actually. So I knew where you were” she smiled delighted and rummaged around her bag for the sun cream.

“Ok” Val raised her eyebrows in confusion and looked to the other girls who just shrugged to Michelle’s comment.

“And I’m sorry how I behaved myself recently. I know it wasn’t the best and I would love to bury the hatchet” she put lotion all over her body.

“Forgive and forget” she reached her hand to seal the dispute.

Lacey observed Michelle from head to toe. There was something that seemed different on her and she knew it wasn’t the black bikini with the skull she wore. It was like she glow from the inside.

“Is there any reason you’re so happy? So happy you got away from your hubby?” she joked and hoped she could find out the real reason.

“He gets some good practice now I think” Michelle painted her fingernails.

“Practice? For what?” Val asked confused.

No one could really understand what she was hinting at. What kind of practice would he got when he stayed at Matt’s house while she spends her time at the hotel?!

“I got some time to think through a lot of things and I know I wasted some of my good years while being out a lot of time instead of spending time with my family. Sometimes you realize when it’s almost too late but luckily I know it after I made this pregnancy test this morning.”

Val’s jaw dropped down when her twin sister mentioned the word ‘pregnancy test’. Actually she couldn’t believe this was actually happening right now, that her sister thought about a complete change of her lifestyle. The other girls were surprised as well, but trying not to show it as much as Val did.

“And?” she stuttered and couldn’t wait until her sister finally revealed the result.

“I’m pregnant” Michelle declared with a bright grin.

Few of them started to congratulate Michelle for that great news but Val still was frozen in her motion and had absolutely no idea what she should say about this. Maybe it was just a shock or it was the fact she couldn’t imagine her sister with a tiny baby yet.

Notes