"Everyone thinks Jessie is my daughter because we look so much alike. But she is my niece. She got most of her looks from our side of the family although you can see her mother in there too." Annette said.
The kids finally let Jessie up. Jaime certainly looked like her mother so I guess that side of her family had it going strong for the females. Her hair wasn't quite as long and she didn't have bangs but it was every bit as dark and straight. Greg, his face showed a little hint of Jessie but he must take after his dad.
We sat for a few moments, everyone but Greg that is, and discussed our plans for the day. We walked the mall for a little bit. Jaime tried her best to keep her brother in check but he was wound up seeing his mother, being at the mall, and all the future possibilities of fun that could come with being in a new place. I think he was reaching the age where he was figuring out that Jaime is simply his sister and not an authoritative person in the real sense. A few times I stepped in to help her when it seemed Greg was getting a 'who are you to tell me what to do' attitude. Greg seemed to listen to me very well. I'm sure he will test me on that down the road at some point but for now, it was enough that someone could put his brakes on.
We weren't completely successful at avoiding the toy departments because egghead marketing specialists determined that having the toys in the front of the store would surely bring in more adult traffic. The ones chasing down their kids are as good as any in their minds I guess. And it goes without saying that Greg didn't understand why he couldn't wade into the huge fountain in the mall concourse and collect all the change just laying around under the water. Finally we left to get something to eat.
The kids wanted pizza. I won't name names but it was a franchise/corporate type chain establishment headed up by a large mouse and they have lots of games for the kids and a pneumatic animal band on a stage. I believe the band was not quite as bad as the food, and the band was lousy. No one else seemed to have a complaint about the pizza so perhaps they were acclimated to it. I've had some pretty lousy MREs but this was a whole new realm of bad. Plus they had no tobasco sauce to improve the palatability.
The kids certainly had fun. As I watched them, along with all the other kids playing, the thought occurred to me that if we could ship this pizza to our enemy, we would shorten any engagement with less casualties. At least on our side. The kids wolfed their pizza down in between stints at the games and they didn't seem to suffer any ill effects from it but just in case, I'll be sure to only hit the rabbit bar next time.
Everyone wanted to go to the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. The kids didn't have much interest at all with anything there except the theaters that showed NFL Films clip shorts. I guess today's generation can only find entertainment if it comes from a screen.
We left there and I suggested we hit the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum. The biggest attraction there is the challenge to see if you can run up the steps to the top where the mausoleum sits. Its only 108 steps in total. That doesn't sound like a lot, until you try to run them. Greg was certainly up for the challenge. Jaime made it halfway before deciding it wasn't worth it to her.
I stayed alongside of Greg as we ascended the steps. I made sure I didn't pull ahead of him so he wouldn't feel the need to push harder. I knew he'd need everything to get to the top. As it turned out, I did too. Back in the day I could have done that with my full pack without hardly breaking a sweat. I guess I'm getting older now and not as spry as I used to be. As we neared the top, Greg was really having to push it. Kudos to him that he didn't give up. We fist bumped when we reached the top and sat down for a breather.
It's a great view from there and after taking it in for a moment, I searched the crowd at the bottom for Jessie. She was easy to find, she was simply the most beautiful woman there. She was talking with Annette and Bill and then began glancing around. After a moment, she looked up and saw Greg and I sitting on the top step and she put her hands on her hips.
"Uh oh. Your mom has her hands on her hips. Are we in trouble?" I asked Greg, without looking away from Jessie.
"Nah. When she crosses her arms is when you know you're in big trouble." He said.
Yeah. Already found that out." I chuckled as I looked down at him and he had a huge grin on his face. "We better head on down to her before she crosses them."
"Okay. Race ya!" he said.
We saw a movie and then called it a day. I knew the leaving part was going to be hard on Jessie. She had a constant smile on her face the entire day. But I wasn't prepared for exactly how hard it was on her. She hugged and kissed the kids a dozen times, then her aunt and uncle, and then back to the kids again. When they finally left, the tears began. The entire way home she was glued to me and shed tears most of the way.
"Thank you Rob. Today was the best gift ever." She said.
"I had a great time. Your aunt and uncle are nice and the kids were great. We could take them to Cedar Point or Kings Island sometime if you like."
"Really? You would do that?"
"I may be a huge pain in the ass but I like kids." I said.
"Have you ever thought of having your own?" She asked.
"I guess not seriously. When I was in high school, the varsity athletes would visit Children's Hospital in Akron twice a year. Once before Christmas and again right before spring. I really enjoyed that. You were only forced to go one time and that was your first time when you had no idea what to expect. After that, you wanted to go. And at that age and without serious consideration, I said I wanted about 10 kids. When I thought I was getting married, I was in the service and figured having kids needed to be put off until further down the road. And because of what happened...it just never entered my mind again."
"Has that changed now?"
That was such a loaded question with so many potential craters to fall into. I sat in silence for a little while, trying to untangle the mess of those four words. Jessie noticed my silence.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that."
"No, Jessie its okay. I've not really thought about it. And I wanted to give it some time to see what came up. I'm young enough that if I had them soon, I wouldn't be sitting in a wheelchair at their high school graduation. And although it seems a bit overwhelming at the moment, I think I like the idea again of being a dad."
"Good answer." She said as she snuggled in a little tighter.
Later that evening, after we had dinner, Jessie curled up with me on the couch. She had been clingy as we left for the mall and I assumed it was nerves. She was so busy during the visit, I didn't have time to notice if she was like that throughout the day. But now, not only was she clingy but she was running her left hand all over me. It wasn't overtly sensual, but like she just needed to touch me. Or maybe it was nervous energy. I didn't want to guess but I thought maybe some stress relief for her might be just what she needs. Time for my revenge.
"Jessie, the kids wore me down pretty good today. I think I'm going to turn in." I said, half faking a yawn.
She moved away enough to give me room to stand up. I took a step and then noticed she wasn't coming with me, nor had she gotten up. I turned to her and held out my hand. I was about to ask her if she was coming with me when I noticed she was staring at me.
"Everything okay?" I asked.
"Yes. Just admiring the view. Think you can walk towards the stairs some more?"
I tried. I put a little more sashay into my hips as I walked. She started laughing.
"What's that for?" I asked.
"Either you have a rock in your shoe or you've gone lame." She giggled.
"Okay, Miss 'Nobody Owns A Runway Like I do'...show me how it's done."
She got up and slowly walked in an arc to go around me and headed for the stairs. I had no idea the human body could move like that. And she made it look completely natural. Her hips moved so far left and right, I was in complete and total awe. She turned just a hint to the left and to the right as she walked. Her hips moved way left and way right. She would place her right foot to the left and outside of her left foot and vice versa as she walked. How do you even walk like that? But it was absolutely fluid and graceful and beautiful.
When she walked past me, it took my breath away. Her ass moved like two raccoons wrasslin in a burlap sack. Halfway up the steps she stopped and demurely looked over her shoulder at me. She smiled approvingly at my stare, and the fact that I had forgotten to keep breathing after she walked past me.
"Are you coming to bed with me my GQ hunk?" she said in her best Fergie, baby breath voice.
I didn't have enough air in my lungs to speak so I inhaled deeply and said "Right behind you babe. Just don't go too fast, I'm lame...remember?"
She lowered her head a little so just her eyes were visible over her shoulder. "If you want this, you'll have to catch it." She started up the stairs again with the same sashay in her hips. I was stuck where I was standing until she reached the top of the steps and was going out of view. There just wasn't enough brain connectivity for basic motor skills to function.
