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It was a rare quiet day in the DeSoto/Gage household. Chris and Jenny were in school. Roy was at work. And Joanne was having lunch with some of the other fireman’s wives.
Johnny had just laid four month old Drew down for a nap. He had lots of things he could be doing, even should be doing. But yesterday he had done a ride along at station 51. Part of his new job was going in the field and making sure new (and old) paramedics were doing their job correctly.
Seeing his old station had made him nostalgic for the old days. Fifty-one was responsible for all the great things in his life. It’s where he learned to be the best paramedic he could be. It’s where he grew into a responsible adult. And most importantly it’s where he fell in love with Roy and later Joanne.
That was why Johnny was currently sitting on the floor of the living room surrounded with photo albums. Johnny had a complicated history with cameras. When he was young he hated them because anthropologists were constantly photographing everything he did. Then after his mom died and he had very few pictures of her he became obsessed with photographing everything he wanted to remember. Now he had reached a healthy middle ground.
Johnny smiled when he saw a picture of Chris wearing a shirt with a firetruck on it. He’d been wearing that the first time Johnny had met him…
~~~~~~~~
Johnny was standing at the front door to Roy’s house. He wondered if it was too late to change his mind and go home. He had talked to Joanne briefly at his birthday party. Johnny liked her but was also slightly terrified of her. Then there were the littlest DeSotos. Johnny was afraid they wouldn’t like him.
He saw a movement out of the corner of his eyes. He turned his head and saw a miniature version of Roy staring out the window looking at him. It was too late to leave now so he knocked on the door.
Roy opened the door with a small baby in his arms. Johnny guessed that must be Jenny. He saw Joanne in the distance standing over the stove.
“Hey, Johnny, come on in,” Roy greeted.
“Hi, Johnny,” Joanne called from the kitchen. “Roy, get him something to drink.”
“My hands are kinda full,” Roy answered.
“So are mine,” Joanne said with a sigh.
Johnny very much wanted to flee. This was not starting out well.
“That’s okay, I don’t need anything,” Johnny assured them both.
“You are a guest. We make our guests comfortable,” Joanne replied overly politely.
Johnny wisely didn’t point out that they were failing miserably. Chris entered the room just then.
“Hi,” he said to Johnny.
“Hi,” Johnny responded.
“Chris, don’t bother Mr Gage,” Roy ordered.
“Did I come at a bad time? I can go,” Johnny found himself saying. Oops, he hadn’t meant for that to slip out.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course, you shouldn’t go,” Joanne said with false cheeriness.
Johnny wanted to run but he was already here so decided to make it work. So he ignored the two fighting adults and turned his attention to Chris.
“Chris, I like your shirt,” he said, kneeling down to the child’s level.
“It’s a firetruck cause daddy is a fireman,” Chris said proudly. “Are you a fireman too?”
“I am. I’m your daddy’s partner at work,” Johnny explained.
“What does that mean?” Chris asked.
“It means we take care of each other,” Johnny answered.
“Then Jenny must be my partner cause Mommy said we gots to take care of each other,” Chris said.
“That’s right. Brothers and sisters have to take care of each other,” Johnny agreed.
“So you’re like Daddy’s brother. That makes you my Uncle Johnny,” Chris said happily.
~~~~~~~~
Johnny returned from the kitchen with a sandwich he had made and opened another album. He turned a few pages and saw a picture with Chris and Jenny holding up big fish they had caught. That had been a fun day…
~~~~~~~~~
“How comed I can’t pull the wagon?” Jenny asked.
“Because you’re sitting in it,” Johnny answered.
The fishing poles and tackle box were also in the wagon. So were all the fish they had caught.
Roy and Chris were ahead of them somewhere. Johnny had lost sight of them. But they had been holding hands the last time he saw them so he knew Chris was okay.
That answer seemed to satisfy Jenny and she started singing softly to herself.
“Uncle Johnny, I caughted the biggest fish. I can’t wait to tell Mommy,” she said after a few minutes.
“You and Chris did great. You caught all the big fish,” Johnny agreed.
“And you and Daddy caughted all the little fish,” Jenny said with a giggle.
Johnny smiled. He knew Chris and Jenny were having a great childhood and he was proud that he had contributed a small part to that.
~~~~~~~~~
Johnny finished his sandwich and made another one. He turned to a page with him and Roy in their captain uniforms. That had been the day that changed everything…
~~~~~~~~
The ceremony was over. He and Roy had promised they’d still see each other all the time. And Johnny was now sitting in his Rover not wanting to go home. He knew Roy had the best of intentions but Johnny was sure Roy would be too busy with his new life to spend much time with Johnny at all.
So Johnny sat and stared out the window. When he left the parking lot the best part of his life would officially be over. He was so deep in thought that he jumped when someone tapped on his window. He didn’t realize Roy was standing right there.
Johnny opened the door and saw Joanne was right beside him.
“Something wrong?” he asked. “Are the kids okay?”
“The kids are fine,” Joanne answered. “Roy’s mom took them back to the house. Johnny, you know we love you.”
Johnny didn’t know what to say so he nodded.
“Well, now that we don’t work together anymore our relationship could be different if you wanted,” Roy said shyly.
“Different how?” Johnny asked in confusion.
“Remember that time you saw Dixie kissing Dr Early?” Roy asked.
Johnny’s eyes went wide. He didn’t know Roy knew about Brackett, Early, and Dixie’s relationship.
“You mean?” Johnny trailed off.
“Maybe we could go to your place and talk,” Joanne suggested.
Johnny just nodded. This was going to be the best or worst talk of his life.
~~~~~~~~~
Johnny finally decided to do something productive so he started a load of laundry. Then he opened another album and turned to the picture of the first official date of all three of them…
~~~~~~~~
Roy had been very insistent on Johnny and Joanne going on dates with each other. He wanted to make sure that the two of them had a strong relationship outside of the relationship they had with him. Johnny assumed these dates would make him nervous. They did not.
However, the three of them were going on their first date together and Johnny thought he might throw up from nerves. They had burgers at a local diner. Johnny hoped Roy and Joanne thought he was just too busy eating to talk.
Now they were starting a game of miniature golf and Johnny knew he’d have to start saying something. He was trying to figure out what to say when Roy hit his ball and it went flying through the air and landed in a bush.
All his nerves left him. He looked at Joanne and they started giggling. They were laughing so hard they couldn’t breathe. Roy looked at them and started laughing too.
When they finally calmed down the conversation came easy. They didn’t keep score but Johnny was sure he was the winner that night.
~~~~~~~~
Johnny checked on Drew and then came back and opened his favorite album. On the first page was a picture of Drew on the day he was born…
~~~~~~~
Johnny couldn’t believe it. He was about to be a daddy. Joanne was fully dilated and was getting ready to push.
“Are you sure you don’t want to watch?” he asked.
Joanne shook her head. As soon as it was time to push Johnny focused all his attention on her. And then he heard a cry. He looked down and saw his son.
The doctor handed Drew to Joanne. And Johnny beamed with pride. Then it was his turn to hold the baby. Johnny had wondered what it would feel like to hold his child.
He took baby Drew in his arms and gazed down at him in awe. He realized holding Drew felt just like hugging Chris and Jenny.
“He’s perfect,” Johnny whispered.
“Now our family is complete,” Joanne replied with a smile.
~~~~~~~~
Johnny finished putting the clothes in the dryer and then sat down to look at the end of the album. On the last page was a picture of him and Roy in the backyard sitting on the deck with all three kids…
~~~~~~~~~
“I don’t know. This seems complicated,” Roy said looking at the directions for their new croquet set.
“Do you know how to play, Uncle Johnny?” Chris asked.
“I didn’t even know it was a real game. I thought it was made up for Alice in Wonderland,” Johnny replied.
“Do we have to follow the rules?” Jenny asked. “Can’t we just hit the ball through the hoops?”
“Yeah, I wanna hit the ball,” Chris agreed.
Drew squealed in delight from his stroller.
“See, he agrees,” Jenny said.
“Alright, go put the hoops in the ground and hit the balls,” Roy agreed. “Your dads will figure out the rules while you're gone.
~~~~~~~~~
The front door opened. The kids were home from school. They looked in the living room and saw Johnny putting the last album up.
“Hey, Uncle Johnny,” they said in unison.
“Hey, kiddos,” Johnny answered. “There’s some banana bread in the kitchen for your snack,” Johnny answered.
“Can we practice for the dance after I finish my homework?” Jenny asked.
“Why do you need to practice? You go every year,” Johnny replied.
“Because this is the first time you are taking me to the daddy/daughter dance,” Jenny explained.
Drew started crying.
“I’ll get him,” Chris volunteered.
“I get to hold him next,” Jenny said.
Johnny smiled. He missed 51 but he wouldn’t trade his life today for anything.