Just like Jim hoped, A&M was more than happy to let him return the following semester. In addition to taking classes once again, he would also be able to return to his TA and tutor jobs. He only had about a year left before he would finally receive his postdoctoral degree and then afterwards could apply to be an assistant professor. With such a great academic history, Jim was quite sure that getting accepted wouldn't be such a problem for him. At this point, he could soon be able to forget about his convenient store job completely.802Please respect copyright.PENANAQLCfJldKS6
Julia was already awake by the time Jim returned home from A&M, which confused him slightly due to it being only about eleven in the morning (for Julia, being awake by noon was pretty early). Nonetheless, Jim told Julia about Chris and she basically replied in the same way as she did when Jim told her about Chris going to rehab in the first place.
"Wow, didn't see that coming. Honestly, I was expecting him to quit after like three days."
"Yeah, I know right? I was pretty surprised myself."
"I guess that means we can't have as much fun at the bar as we used to since he won't be drinking. Oh well, I'm sure we can find other things to do together."
"You're talking about all of us, right?"
Julia stared at Jim for a moment.
"You know, since we're both friends with Chris?" Jim asked.
After another minute of silence, Julia said: "Yeah. Yeah, we're all friends. Right, right."
Julia, just give up the act already, Jim thought. You know I'm not stupid.
"So where is he right now?" Julia asked.
"He went over to A&M," Jim said. "He's trying to get in."
"Really? Wow, that's awesome!"
"Yeah, it sure is."
"Guess that means we can start studying together again. Just like the good old days."
Sure, maybe we can when you decide to go back to school, Jim thought, rolling his eyes.
Julia walked over to the front door and slipped on her sandals. Jim started up the coffee maker.
"I'll be right back," Julia said.
"Where are you going?" Jim asked.
"To go see Chris. Where else?"
"Right now?"
"Jim, I haven't seen Chris in over a month. He's finally back, so why would I not go and see him as soon as possible?"
"What if he's busy talking with A&M?"
"Then, I'll wait till he's done. Duh."
Jim rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. Whatever."
"See ya' later,'" Julia said, lighting up a cigarette. She then walked out the door.
Jim wondered what the now sober Chris would think whenever he did meet the alcoholic smoker Julia. Jim was sure that Chris had rekindled his common sense and knew not to hang out with Julia in the same way that they had been doing for the past three years. Then again, Chris had never specified how he felt about Julia when he came by that day. For all Jim knew, Chris could in fact still be in love with Julia (if Chris was ever really in love with Julia to begin with) and would see past all of Julia's problems in the same way that Julia had seen past Chris' problems all those years ago. After all, Jim had assumed that Julia had had enough common sense not to hang out with Chris when he had arrived three years earlier.
Jim tried his hardest to brush off all worries. As he waited for his coffee to finish, he kept his mind focused on all the things that made him feel happy. His upcoming semester, Cassie and Meagan, getting to see Anthony and his parents the following weekend, Cassie and Meagan, saying goodbye to his job at the convenient store pretty soon, Cassie and Meagan...
After hours had gone by, Julia had not returned home. Jim figured that she either had finally given up on trying to find Chris and gone over to the bar or had actually managed to succeed on finding Chris and was, once again, spending hours in conversation with him. After more hours passed with no sign of Julia, Jim was really hoping it was the former option.
After Jim picked up the girls from daycare, Cassie, like always, spent the entire ride home excitingly telling him about all the fun things (or, pretty much everything) she had done that day and continued going on for at least another twenty minutes after they were home. Jim, of course, smiled and listened the entire time.
"...and then me and Abby and Sam played dolls. Sam got mad because her doll wasn't as pretty as mine. Then I let her play with mine. That made her happy."
"That was sweet of you. I'm so proud of you."
A very joyful grin appeared on Cassie's face.
"Then Miss Brenda started to sing songs with us," She continued. "We sang Mary Had a Little Lamb, we sang Old MacDonald, and we sang London Bride Is Falling Down. I liked it."
"Wow! Did you sing really loud?"
"Yeah. I sang loud because I like singing. Sam doesn't like singing so she didn't sing. Miss Brenda asked Sam why she wasn't singing and she said she didn't like it. Then we had snack..."
After Cassie was done talking, she hopped off the couch and started spinning in circles. Meagan, who had fallen asleep in Jim's arms moments earlier, suddenly woke up and yawned. Jim patted her back and kissed her on the forehead.
Cassie spun around in circles for about twenty seconds and then stumbled over to the couch, grabbing it to keep herself up. She looked at Jim and giggled.
"You dizzy?" Jim asked her.
"Yeah," Cassie said, giggling and climbing back onto the couch. She then crawled over to Jim and lay her head on him. Jim put his right around her, keeping his left arm around Meagan.
"Daddy, what color do you really, really like?"
Jim thought for a moment. He had never been sure if he even had a favorite color. He had never been one to favor something over another just because it was a certain color.
"I'm not sure, Sweetie. I'll just say red. Because apples are red and I like apples."
"Okay. I like red, too."
"And what color do you like the most?"
"I like all colors. Colors are pretty."
Jim smiled.
"Do you know what else is pretty, Honey?"
"What?"
"You are."
Cassie grinned joyfully again.
"I love you, Daddy," She said.
Jim leaned down and kissed Cassie on the cheek. A feeling of warmth began to flood all throughout this body. Jim was used to this feeling, as he felt it every time he had a beautiful moment with his daughters. He could never get enough of these moments.
"I love you too, Sweetie," Jim said, stroking Cassie's hair.
After about a minute of silence had passed, Cassie asked: "Daddy, where's Mommy?"
For about one second, Jim's smile disappeared and the cringing feeling that he had started to develop earlier returned. However, the instant he looked down and saw Cassie's adorable face and her beautiful blue eyes, all his negative emotions vanished and his smile once again returned.
"She had to go do something, Honey," Jim said, continuing to stroke Cassie's hair. "She'll be back soon."
"Okay, Daddy."
"So...what animal do you like the most again?"
Jim already knew what all of Cassie's favorite things were, but he still often asked her to describe them since she loved to talk about them so much. Hearing a three-year-old excitingly describe the things she loves should have been enough to put a smile on anyone's face.
"Kitties!"
"Wow, really? And why do you like kitties?"
"Because they're cute! And they're cuddly!" Cassie pretended that she was hugging a cat in her arms as she said this. Jim could not help but smile much wider as he watched her.
"And what sound do kitties make?" Jim asked her.
"MEOW!" Cassie yelled loudly in Jim's face. "MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!"
Jim began to laugh. Cassie clutched his arm and giggled wildly.
At that moment, Jim felt a wetness on his stomach. He lifted Meagan off his chest and took a look.
"Uh oh," Jim said, laughing once more.
Cassie took a look as well and began laughing even louder than him when she saw what happened.
"Ha ha, Daddy you got peed on!" Cassie shouted, still laughing. "Ha ha ha, Daddy got peed on!"
What reason do I have to worry about anything? Jim thought, smiling. I'm getting to enjoy another typical afternoon with my daughters.
After Jim was finished changing Meagan, he took a look at the clock. It was only about four in the afternoon, which gave him two full hours to play with the girls before he had to start making dinner. Jim had already made up his mind that once he returned to his original class schedule, he would plan at least a few hours each day to spend with Cassie and Meagan.
"Daddy, can we have a tea party?" Cassie asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry Sweetie, but we don't have any tea right now," Jim said, setting Meagan back down on the floor.
The "tea" Jim was referring to was actually chocolate milk, which Jim had not had any time to buy in the past couple of days. Due to Cassie not liking the taste of actual tea, Jim used chocolate milk instead whenever they had their tea parties. Jim himself felt a bit disappointed about their not being any chocolate milk left, as he always enjoyed playing tea party with Cassie.
"Well, then can we play castle?" Cassie asked.
"Of course we can," Jim said. "Just let me put on a different shirt first."
Jim had started playing "Castle" with Cassie when she was about eighteen months old. "Castle" was basically where Jim and the girls pretended that the house was a castle and that they were Prince and Princesses living in the Castle. There wasn't really much to "Castle" other than a bunch of wild imagination, but Jim and the girls always had a large amount of fun with it, especially since it was quite adorable to see a three-year-old and a one-year-old imagining that that they were actual princesses.
Jim got the girls dressed in their matching pink princess dresses and then put on one of Cassie's tiara's (his "Prince Crown" as Cassie called it). He then turned to Cassie and asked: "What's going on in the castle today, Princess Cassie?"
"Hmmm..." Cassie said. "I think I heard a funny noise coming from the front door. Let's go see what it is. Follow me, Prince Daddy and Princess Meagan!"
Cassie and Meagan skipped out of the room and ran down the stairs. Jim followed after them. The girls then ran up to the front door and stopped for a moment.
"Oh no!" Cassie shouted.
"What's wrong?" Jim asked.
Cassie turned around. She had a very shocked look on her face. Of course, it was only an act. For a three-year-old, Cassie was quite a good actress.
"Somebody's in the castle!" Cassie shouted, putting her hands on her face to show how "shocked" she was. Meagan looked at her and put her hands on her face in the same way. Even when they weren't playing "Castle," Meagan really seemed to like copying everything that Cassie did.
"Somebody's in the castle?" Jim asked Cassie in a pretend shocked tone of voice. "Is it an intruder?"
"Yeah!" Cassie shouted. "And he's going to kidnap Princess Meagan!"
Cassie then wrapped her arms around Meagan and clutched her tightly. "I'll save you, Princess Meagan!" She shouted.
Meagan giggled wildly.
"What do we do, Princess Cassie?" Jim asked.
"Fight him!" Cassie shouted, still holding onto Meagan. "Fight him with your sword!"
"But I don't have a sword! I'm a prince, not a knight!"
"Well, you're a knight right now!"
"Umm...okay then."
Jim started pretending that he was swinging a sword, making fake grunt sounds as he did.
"Take that!" Jim shouted. "And that!"
"Go Prince Daddy!" Cassie yelled. "Get him!"
"Go! Go!" Meagan yelled.
After swinging his imaginary sword around for a few more seconds, Jim suddenly stopped and made a gasping sound.
"What happened, Prince Daddy?"
Jim put his hand on his chest. He paused for a minute before he spoke.
"He...got me," he said.
Jim then kneeled down and lay on the ground. He started pretending to cough. Cassie let go of Meagan and ran up to him.
"Are you okay, Daddy?" Cassie asked.
"I think I'm dying," Jim said.
"No you're not."
"Yes I am. The intruder got me with his sword. He had a really big one."
"Daddy, you're not dying. We're just playing a game."
"Wait." Jim leaned up. "So I'm not really a prince?"
Cassie shook her head.
"And this isn't really a castle?"
Cassie shook her head.
"And you aren't really a princess?"
Cassie shook her head.
Jim smiled.
"You're wrong, Sweetie," He said. "You are a princess."
"What?" Cassie asked. "I'm a princess?"
"That's right," Jim said, stoking Cassie's hair. "You're my little princess."
Cassie smiled and blushed.
Just as Jim was about to get up, Cassie looked over to Meagan and yelled: "Let's jump on Daddy!"
"Uh oh," Jim said.
Cassie and Meagan then leaped on top of Jim, laughing wildly. Jim also started laughing as Cassie and Meagan started hopping on him. Jim and the girls then started wrestling on the floor (although Jim did so gently so that he wouldn't tear the girls' princess dresses), laughing hysterically the entire time. After a couple of minutes or so, Jim and the girls finally calmed down and stood up. Jim then brushed off the girls' dresses and gave them both a kiss.
"I love you, Prince Daddy," Cassie said.
Jim and the girls then continued to play "Castle" some more. They pretended that the "Castle Ball" was happening and began dancing around in the "ballroom" (which was actually the girls' playroom). Jim then started to dance with Cassie, spinning and twirling around as if they were an actual prince and princess dancing along the ballroom floor. Meagan, on the other hand, seemed to have more fun just running around doing some very unusual dance moves.
After about thirty minutes had passed, Cassie said: "Daddy, I'm tired of playing castle. Can we color instead?"
"Sure, Sweetie," Jim said, picking up Meagan, who wanted to be held again.
"But can I still wear my princess dress?"
"Of course, Sweetie. After all, you are my little princess."
Jim and the girls spent the next hour coloring in the girls' coloring books together. Like always, Jim and the girls had a great time coloring, even though there was an issue at one point. Meagan began scribbling all over one of Cassie's finished pictures, which caused Cassie to throw a giant tantrum. Thankfully, plenty of hugs and kisses was enough to calm her down. Afterwards, Jim decided it was time to start making dinner.
"Spaghetti!" Cassie shouted. "Spaghetti!"
"We had spaghetti last night, Sweetie," Jim said.
"More spaghetti! More spaghetti!"
To Cassie's disappointment, Jim instead made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Thankfully, Cassie was smiling again once she actually began eating.
"I like tomato soup too, Daddy," Cassie said with a mouthful of grilled cheese.
"I'm glad you do, Honey," Jim said.
"But we'll have spaghetti tomorrow, right?"
After dinner was over, Jim looked at the clock and the cringing feeling returned again for another brief moment. It had now been over six hours since Julia left, which was the longest that she had been gone ever since Chris left the house. Jim was severely hoping that she was just spending more time at the bar than usual.
Once again, Jim's worries all disappeared the instant he realized he had another hour and a half to play with the girls. After Jim was finished cleaning up the dinner table, he and the girls played their favorite board game, Candy Land (or, at least it was Cassie's favorite board game). Like always, Cassie won the game.
"Yay!!" Cassie shouted in excitement. "Now I get to eat all the candy!"
"Candy! Candy!" Meagan shouted.
"What candy?" Jim asked.
"My candy! I get candy because I won!'
"Won! Won!"
Jim smiled and rolled his eyes.
Cassie continued to jump in excitement for a few more seconds and then got an awkward look on her face. She then put her hands over her nose.
"Eww!" Cassie shouted, looking at Meagan. "Stinky!"
Jim chuckled. He then picked up Meagan and smelled her.
"Woo-hoo! That's a full one!" Jim said, looking at Meagan and smiling. "Looks like somebody had a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches!"
Meagan giggled.
After Jim finished changing Meagan's diaper again, he began getting the girls' bath ready while they played with their toys in the living room. While the bath water was running, Jim's phone began to ring. A feeling of excitement began to flood his body, but that excitement immediately disappeared once he saw that Anthony was the one calling him. Anthony called Jim quite often to make sure he was doing alright, which Jim appreciated very much. However, at that moment, Jim was absolutely desperate to hear from Julia. He was absolutely desperate to know that Chris was still doing alright.
"Hey Jim," Anthony said in the phone. "How's it going?"
"Pretty great, Anthony" Jim said, trying his hardest not to sound disappointed.
"What have you been up to today?"
"Just been playing with the girls for the past few hours. I'm about to get them in the bath."
"That's great. How are they doing?"
"They're doing wonderful. Just being their same adorable little selves."
"Awesome. How you've been feeling today?"
"I've been feeling great for the most part. I did get a little frustrated earlier since Cassie got tomato soup stains all over her princess dress. I'm sure it's really going to be hard getting those out. Heh, heh. Other than that, I'm feeling great."
"You sure?"
"You bet."
"Everything alright with Julia?"
Jim paused for a minute before he spoke.
"Umm...she's doing alright. She's still has all the same problems as before, but at least they haven't gotten worse. You know what I'm saying?"
"I worry about you a lot, Jim."
"I know, I know. But I'm doing fine. Really, I am."
"I really hope so."
"Hey, you want to hear some good news? I talked to A&M today. I'll be going back next semester! Yep, I'll be back to gaining my education really soon. Looks like I can kiss that convenient store goodbye. Am I right?"
"Jim, who are you trying to surprise? Of course they were going to let you back in! You're Jim Burleson! Honestly, if they didn't let you back, I'm sure it would become newsworthy. I think the headline would read something like this: 'Texas A&M Has Been Taken Over By Monkeys.'"
Jim and Anthony both laughed.
"Well," Jim said. "I really need to get the girls bathed right now. It's getting close to their bedtime. Plus, I really want to get Cassie's dress washed before it gets any later."
"Of course," Anthony said. "I'll talk to you later, man."
Jim didn't like hiding things from Anthony, but Jim really felt it was best not to tell him about anything that going on with Julia or Chris. As of right then, Jim himself didn't even know for sure what was going on with them, so why get others worried about the same thing? After all, Anthony already said he constantly worried about him and there was no reason for Anthony to worry him anymore if he didn't have to.
After Jim finished getting the girls bathed and dressed for bed, Jim looked at the clock once again. It was now nearing eight o'clock and there was still no sign of Julia. Feeling anxious and desperate, Jim called Julia's cell phone four times. The first time, her phone rang but she didn't answer. After that, her phone kept going straight to voicemail. At that moment, Jim's cringing feeling returned and began to engulf his entire body.
Don't disappoint me, Chris, Jim thought. I know you're smarter than that.
At that moment, Jim heard sounds of yelling and laughing coming from the living room. Jim smiled and the cringing feeling once again vanished.
Cassie and Meagan were running around the living room in their pajamas, laughing and trying to tag each other. As Jim walked into the living room, Cassie looked at Jim and shouted: "You can't catch me, Daddy!" After that, Jim started to chase Cassie around the living room and kitchen. After a couple of minutes, Cassie hid behind one of the couches as Jim and Meagan looked for her.
"Meagan, where's your sister?" Jim asked, kneeling down to Meagan's level. "Where's Cassie?"
"Where Cassie," Meagan tried to repeat.
Jim suddenly saw Cassie sitting behind the couch. Jim grinned largely and slowly walked up to it.
"I don't know, Meagan," Jim said, slowly peering over the couch. "Maybe she's...BEHIND THE COUCH!"
Jim reached down and grabbed Cassie, who began to laugh hysterically. Jim spun Cassie in the air a few times and collapsed onto the couch with her. He then began to tickle her wildly, which caused her to laugh even harder. Meagan then hopped onto the couch to join in on the fun. After tickling the girls for about a minute, Cassie yelled to Meagan: "Now let's tickle Daddy!" and Jim got his share of tickles. After another minute or so, the girls finally calmed down. They sat on top of Jim, who lay flat on the couch. He was almost completely out of breath from laughing so hard.
"Man...you girls...sure are crazy," Jim said, panting.
Cassie and Meagan giggled.
After about a minute, Jim sat up and gave both of the girls a large kiss. He then put his arms around them both and held onto them tightly for a brief moment and closed his eyes, once again reflecting on how happy he was to be their father.
Stop worrying about things, Jim thought. Just relax. Everything is going to be okay.
Jim then picked up both the girls and carried them to Cassie's bedroom. Cassie and Meagan had separate bedrooms, but Jim always read them their bedtime story in Cassie's bed. Mainly because Meagan wasn't sleeping in an actual bed yet.
"What story do you want to read tonight, girls?" Jim asked, looking through all the children's books on Cassie's shelf.
"Pippi Longstocking!" Cassie shouted. "Pippi Longstocking!"
"Pee pee long stocky," Meagan said.
"We read Pippi Longstocking last night," Jim said. "How about-"
"Chrysanthemum! Chrysanthemum!"
"Chris sand mum."
"We read Chrysanthemum the night before." Jim was quite surprised that Cassie had remembered how to say the titles of these books.802Please respect copyright.PENANAmmiFhkFOdI
Eventually (after Cassie suggested several more books that they had read just recently, including Pippi Longstocking again) they settled on "The Snowy Day." After the story was over, Jim carried Meagan (who, like always, fell asleep during the story) to her room and put her to bed in her crib. Jim then returned to Cassie's room and began tucking her in.
At that moment, Cassie, once again, asked: "Daddy, where's Mommy?"
Jim took a very large deep breath.
It'll be okay, He thought. It'll be okay.
"Mommy's been busy today, Sweetie," Jim said, stroking the side of Cassie's face. "But she'll be home to give you a goodnight kiss very soon."
"Okay," Cassie said. "When she gets home, will you show her my kitty?"
The "kitty" Cassie was referring to was the picture of a cat that she had drawn at daycare that day. Cassie had drawn so many pictures of cats at daycare that Jim could no longer even keep track of them.
"Of course I will," Jim said. "Of course I will."
Cassie clutched her stuffed rabbit and smiled. She then looked at Jim and said: "I love you, Daddy."
"I love you too, Sweetie."
"You're the best daddy ever."
Jim's eyes began to fill with tears. He leaned down and gave Cassie a very large kiss. Before Jim was able to lean back up, Cassie sat up and kissed him on the cheek. The feeling of warmth in Jim's body grew to massive proportions.
"Goodnight, Daddy," Cassie said.
Jim wiped a tear from his eye.
"Goodnight, my little princess," He said.
After that, Jim turned out Cassie's bedroom light and then left the room.
Jim walked into the kitchen and, once again, looked at the clock. By this point, Jim was not worrying so much about whatever was going on with Julia or Chris. He kept his mind focused on how much fun he had had with Cassie and Meagan that day and how much fun he would have with them the following day.
Everything will be alright, Jim continued to think to himself. Everything will be alright.
Jim began to wash the dishes from dinner. He had decided to wait until after the girls were in bed before dealing with them, as he would sure it would take about twenty to thirty minutes to finish them and he wanted all the time he could to spend with Cassie and Meagan while they were still awake.
After Jim finished the dishes, he decided to get started on washing the tomato soup off of Cassie's princess dress. However, right as he was about to walk over to the laundry area, Jim heard the door open.
Although Jim was trying his hardest not to worry about anything, he couldn't help but cringe severely at that moment.
Everything will be alright, Jim thought as he walked over to the entryway, shaking. Everything will be alright.
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