All Sorts Of Trouble

At the end of Wednesday’s show rehearsal, Josh asked me if I had a few minutes. Jenna, who seemed to be coming down with a cold, was cranky and whiny so I told him I really didn’t think it would be a good time. “Maybe on Friday,” I threw over my shoulder as I tried to wrestle Jenna into the boots she decided she wasn’t wearing anymore.

“It won’t take long,” he insisted. “I just had something to tell you that I believe you’ll want to hear.”

Jenna kicked at me, catching my finger just enough to bend it backwards. I bit my lip in effort to stop from crying out in pain but, to tell the truth, I think yelling would’ve made me feel a whole lot better. “I’m busy Josh,” I hissed through clenched teeth.

Sitting in the chair next to the moody little brat – I mean girl – Josh held out his hand to me. “Give it here.” When I handed it over, he wrapped his free arm around Jenna and even though she fought him a little, he continued to talk softly to her until she sat back and held up her feet and her hand, which she reached towards his face.

My eyes widened. I slowly turned towards him, a shocked expression on my face. “How…?” I trailed off as Jenna let him slide her boots on her feet.

“Practice.” A weary smile appeared on his face. “Jesse could test the patience of a saint when he wanted. And trust me, he wanted, a lot.”

Just as I went to tell him that I didn’t believe Jesse was capable of testing anyone’s patience because he was such a cute little boy, Cassie came over and asked for the keys to my car. “It’s really cold,” she told me but one glance over her shoulder told me that her desire to start my car wasn’t to warm it up – Todd was heading towards the exit with his guitar in hand.

With a smile, I handed over my keys and told her that I would appreciate it if she loaded all Jenna’s and my stuff in the car while she was at it. She sighed, said fine and then sarcastically asked me if there was anything else I would like. “Sure,” I motioned towards Jenna. “You can take her out and strap her in as well.”

Grumbling, Cassie grabbed my bag and Jenna’s toys. “I’ll be back for the rug rat.”

I waited until she was halfway to the door, where Todd had stopped to talk to his drummer, before calling out her name. “Was Ben coming home this weekend?” When I called out Cassie’s name, Todd glanced her way and smile slightly but the moment I mentioned Ben, his smile disappeared and he seemed disappointed.

Flipping her hair, she turned around causally but she really was upset. “Yes, he is.”

“Great,” I grinned. “Jordan was asking how he was doing just the other day – he wants to have you both for a movie or something.”

A sudden flood of light alerted us to someone leaving the building, it was Todd. “Thanks a lot Aunt Anna!” Cassie snapped before stomping off.

The door slammed open for the second time and beside me Josh chuckled. “You are such a troublemaker.”

As innocently as I could, I told him I wasn’t. “Jordan did ask about Ben the other night.”

“Uh-huh,” he crossed his arms over his chest and grinned down at me. “And you suddenly had to shout that out across the room?”

Nodding, I slipped my hands under Jenna’s arms and lifted her into my arms. “You believe she really wanted to start my car?” I asked him. “You don’t believe she was following Todd out?”

“So what if she was?”

“She’s seeing someone.”

“So?” He raised a brow. “To quote you, she ‘can hang out with other men without betraying anyone’.”

Rolling my eyes, I told him that it was none of his business. “No Anna, it’s none of your business. Cassie is a smart young woman and she is capable of making decisions without you butting in to tell her she is wrong.”

“Oh shut up.” I turned away from him.

He laughed. “Why?” His hand slipped around my arm and he held me in place until he came around to stand in front of me. “Because you know I’m right? That it’s none of your business and you need to butt out.”

“Just…” I waved my free hand in his direction, wishing he would just go away. “Don’t.”

Unfortunately, he didn’t disappear. “Cassie is old enough to make her own decisions Anna. She doesn’t need you to babysit her.”

“Josh!” I glared at him. “You do not need to tell me that. I know she’s old enough to make her own decisions but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to stop her from doing something she’d regret.”

“Regret?” He told me I was unbelievable. “How do you know she’s going to do something? She’s a people person Anna, much like you. So what does it matter if she wanted to follow Todd outside and talk? You, of all people, should be fine with this.”

“I’m her aunt Josh. I love her and –”

“You can’t let her live her own life.”

Rolling my eyes, I told him I was going home.

“Oh!” He grabbed my arm and pulled me just a little closer. “That reminds me; I wanted to talk to you.”

“Can it wait?”

As his smile disappeared, his shoulders slumped a little. “It could,” he replied slowly. “But I would rather tell you now.”

Glancing around the room, I realized that, besides Jenna, Josh and I were the only ones still there. “I really have to go. Jenna and I have a few things to do before Jordan gets home from work.”

“Right.” He nodded but it looked like he wanted to say a whole lot more – and none of it good. He surprised me though; he asked me how Jordan was doing with being a full time dad while Heather was away.

My attention went to Jenna as she rested against my chest, her Dora doll in a death grip in one arm as her other hand balled up in a fist around a handful of my shirt. Gone was the cranky little girl and I couldn’t be happier; I loved it when she wanted to cling to me like that. It always made me feel so special.

I felt so emotional when I said, “It’s going to be so hard when Heather comes back.” Clearing my throat, I turned my eyes back to Josh. “I don’t know how Jordan is going to handle it.”

I knew he understood, he had been through it so many times. “It’ll break your heart Anna but there is some comfort in knowing that she’ll be back again soon.”

“Yeah,” I kissed the top of Jenna’s blond head. “He’s so happy he got this time with her and so am I.”

“I had Jesse for an extra day this weekend because of the holiday,” he told me. “He got so excited about the extra day, he actually cried!” Josh spoke non stop for a few minutes about his weekend with Jesse, then, out of the blue, he inquired about our house hunting. “Have you found a place yet?”

Shaking my head, I told him that we were having a few problems finding the perfect place. “Every house so far is just that – a house. None of them feel like home and we can’t see ourselves living there.” He nodded as I continued. “But we are confident that we’ll find it.”

We talked about a little of what Jordan and I were looking for and it surprised me how interested he was. It also surprised me how easily I talked about Jordan and our future with Josh considering that not even a few weeks ago, he was being an ass about my relationship with Jordan.

And if being able to talk sensibly with Josh about my relationship and future with someone other than him was a surprise, the words that came out of his mouth the minute I stopped gushing about Jordan and my dream house classified as heart attack material.

“You will find it,” he stated confidently. “And I know where it is.”