There was laughter, so much laughter. Loud, genuine, makes you want to start laughing right along with it, laughter and it was all mostly coming from Bastian, who was squirming his little body on the bed, legs going every which way, hitting me a few times in the process while his little arms tried to block or protect himself, as much as possible from the many, many, tickles directed at him.

"Daaaadddd, stoooopppp!" Bastian was saying with a high pitched voice, through the laughter so intense, that he started tearing up. I knew he didn't actually want him to stop, but that was part of their game. This made me happy because seeing him this way meant that he really was getting better, though he was still a little warm and his nose was still congested. At least he was loving all the attention he was showered with everytime he got sick, which was unfortunately most often than any regular kid.

James kept at it because he knew the kid thoroughly enjoyed being tickled and since Bastian had not been feeling all that great for awhile now, they were catching up on their bonding time, which constituted of them basically goofing off, most times to my enjoyment, just like today where I lay on the bed with them and watched as the kid died of laughter in the hands on his father.

"Daddyyy!!!" More laughter so strong that he was now snoring.

"Neverrrr," James said in a fake but actually pretty good imitation of a pirate's voice. Why he had decided on a pirate voice, that I didn't know but he was good at it and Bastian seemed particularly fond of it. "I will tickle you forever!" He added while still tickling Bastian who kept thrashing his body in the bed. I chuckled and watched with pure fondness in my heart for the two most important guys in my life.

James was so amazing with Sebastian, and the way he simply loved him so unconditionally without any restraint, without ever giving it a second thought, was incredible to me. The way he was with him made me love him even more, as if that was possible because he already had my whole heart.

I turned on my side to be able to see them better and watched as James trailed his fingers along Sebastian's belly to his armpits and then his neck, his secret spot which made him squirm harder, his feet kicking away until his left foot landed on me.

"Ooof," I grimaced at the impact of Sebastian's foot on my tummy. "I think that's enough for now my little goofballs." I lifted myself onto a kneeling position on the bed and pulled Sebastian toward me by his foot.

He giggled. "No, please, I'm not done." He tried to say through all the giggles.

I shook my head and finally picked him up off the bed and right into my arms. Okay he was definitely heavy. "I think it's about time for daddy to go take his shower and be as clean as we are, and about time we go downstairs for some breakfast or else I'll have to eat you up." I told and started nibbling at his neck which we knew he loved. The giggles got louder, I got off the bed and watched as James smiled at me and directed himself to the bathroom for his shower.

"Mom, I'm not food. You can't eat me."

"Oh no," I stopped nibbling at his neck long enough to look at him and smiled, walking out of the room with Bastian in my arms while he held on to my neck with his little arms, closing the door behind us. "Well then why do you taste so good, just like my favorite breakfast ever!" I replied and went back to nibbling his neck, making sure that I was careful while descending the stairs with Bastian who was holding in to me so tightly that it was a bit hard to see where I was going.

"You smell like strawberries." He pulled his head back from the crook of my neck to make eye contact.

"Oh yeah?" I asked and he nodded. "And are strawberries your faaaaavorite?" He giggled some more.

"Yup yup." He yelled out and raised his arms in the air, which sent his head back. I held on tightly to him so that he wouldn't fall.

"Be careful." I said while still making my way down the long staircase. When finally we were down, Melinda came out of the powder room we had on the first floor of the house, mostly for guests.

"Melinda!" Bastian called out excitedly to Melinda who looked over at us and smiled brightly at the little boy in my arms. I put him down and he ran over to her.

She nodded at me but otherwise didn't say much else, giving all her attention to Sebastian. I smiled and made my way into the kitchen to see what she had made for breakfast.

Melinda was a great cook, which was why I gladly let her handle the meal preparations when we come for a visit. And plus, she simply loved doing it, especially now that Felix was attending university and she found herself alone in this house, having no one to cook for but herself. So, because I was such a great person, I let her be the chef, because honestly, who was I to get in the way?

"Are you feeling so much better today?" She asked Sebastian while following me into the kitchen.

I looked around the kitchen but there seemed to be nothing on the stove cooking, or on the kitchen island ready. I frowned because now that I thought about it, the dinning table was also empty. "Uhm, so Melinda, what are we having for breakfast today?" I asked nonchalantly, my voice pretty passive as I waited for her to answer.

She put Bastian down on the stool because it was a little too high, before raising her head to meet my gaze. "Well, Sebastian is having pancakes and eggs." She said and walked over to a plate that was sitting next to coffee maker and took off the lid, smiling at the kid.

"Okay great, so we are having pancakes and eggs? Is there any sausage? You know how James is about the bacon and sausage."

Melinda started laughing before placing the plate in front of Sebastian who looked super excited. He loved pancakes. "Maybe I should make myself clear," she started, and with that, I already knew where this was going. "I only made breakfast for Sebastian. You three backstabbers can make yourself breakfast cause it ain't going to be me."

I frowned. "Wait, what do I have to do in this? I was more than respectful, blame your kids, not me." I said to try to save my own butt. She walked over to the fridge and got out the bottle of organic whole milk and poured some in a cup for Bastian before taking it back to him.

"There, my little monster, eat up." She smiled adoringly, placing a kiss on his forehead. She loved him so much and I knew she would have loved my baby just as much if I had kept it. But different time, different situations.

"I just don't personally think it's fair to punish me for what your sons do or did. They are grown men so if you think they did something that you don't like, don't feed them, but feed me because I'm an innocent bystander."

She laughed, moving from where she had been standing next to Bastian, to the coffee makers to serve herself a cup of coffee. "Oh no, Missy, don't act all innocent now, your little act yesterday was duly noted.

"Again, I really don't see what I did wrong. I was mostly silent all night, how am I a bad guy in this?"

"Because you didn't have my back, Charlotte, I looked at you for help while those two idiots who I won't call my sons, embarrassed me and my fiancé and you just sat there and fed into their little act."

I raised an eyebrow innocently at her and smiled. "If I apologize right now, would you make me breakfast?"

"No! Make your own breakfast," and then she walked away, cup of coffee in her hand. I burst out laughing as I watched her pass James who frowned as he approached me.

"What's with her?" He asked and kissed me.

"She's upset about last night. You guys really did a number on her. Couldn't you guys have been nicer to him? We would have been eating by now." I smiled right as he placed the last kiss on my lips and looked over at Sebastian who grimaced.

"Eww." He said and started laughing when James ruffled his hair. I shook my head.

"We are doing this for her own good, she'll thank us soon enough." He replied and sat down next to Sebastian.

"Well, in the meantime, there's no breakfast." I retorted and got up to serve him some coffee that I was certain he would appreciate.

"Why don't you make some, it's not like you don't know how to cook."

I shrugged. "I could, but I don't want to." I told him honestly. "We could wait for a bit and go out for brunch, I'm sure being out of the house for some fresh air will do Sebastian some good. We could go to the park afterward."

"Sounds good to me." He agreed, sipping his drink slowly.
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Thankfully enough, there was a good number of kids at the park to play with Sebastian, which was one of the main reasons why I had wanted us to spend some time there, so that my baby could play with other kids his age. We had been there for over an hour now, with me sitting on a bench a few feet away from where Sebastian was playing with two little boys closer to his age.

Next to me sat Melinda who had invited Rick along for the outing, completely ignoring her sons who had more than enough things to say about the situation. So things were simply awkward, with Rick trying to make small talks and Felix answering curtly or simply ignoring the man.

Surprisingly enough, James, when he wasn't on the phone, had been engaging Rick, even if it was simply to ask him a billion things about his life, which Rick in return answered vaguely. I had watched the little back and fourth between the three men with interest, but still paying attention to Sebastian's whereabouts. That had gone on for about half an hour until I got bored and decided to read the book I had thankfully brought with me knowing that there was enough grown ups present to keep an eye on the kid.

"Charlotte?" I heard my name being called, but I was so intrigued by the book I was reading that I couldn't be bothered to look up until I had finished the chapter that I was reading. A hand shook me, so I looked up to find Melinda sitting beside me, her face a little troubled. I frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't freak out okay?" She said which immediately put me on edge. I got up and started looking around, searching for Sebastian. My eyes finally landing on him and my heart jumping when I saw who he was with.

"Jemma is back." I heard Melinda say behind me.

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