[open] A day in the life

[Charlie Parker]

Charlie had finally taken the advice everyone had practically been begging him to take, and had taken a day off. He had been working 14+ hour shifts every day to make up for an officer that had been shot and wasn't going to be back to work for about two months. Then when he would finally get home he would have the kids to deal with, and Melody. Of course Brody being there had helped him more than he probably knew, but it was still a lot to handle, and he was quite regularly exhausted. According to the ever blunt and honest Sebastian, he looked like shit. In all honesty, he felt like it most days too.

So he finally took one day off, he'd earned it well enough, considering that 14 hours a day 7 days a week was far more than the 40 hours per week overtime that government officials were given. He was fairly exhausted, and half tempted to just stay home and sleep the whole day, but Chuck had other plans for daddy's day home. When the six year old came flying into Charlie's room and leaped onto the bed around 10 am, Charlie was fairly reluctant to wake up, but Chuck was persistent... a character trait that Charlie knew he got from Sebastian... and Charlie finally gave up and woke up. There was no use in trying to sleep with Chuck jumping up and down on the bed.

This was one of those moments when he had to remind himself to "think like Anthony...just grin and bear it." He didn't want Chuck to know that he was totally stressed out and all that, so he had to put on a smile every time he was around the kid, even on his worst days... or days like this when he really would have liked to keep sleeping. So he finally rolled over and sat up, looking over at the excited six year old. Hey bud... He said, sounding quite groggy despite his best efforts not to. shouldn't you be in bed? He was really hoping Chuck would agree that he should be... but the little boy shook his head enthusiastically and retorted, Nope... it's 10 o' clock... Brody says its more healthier to go to bed early and get up before 10.

[/s]

Charlie raised an eyebrow at Chuck's response... he'd been getting a lot of "Brody says..." answers lately, and he was starting to wonder what his brother was teaching his kids in his absence. Oh he does, does he? he asked Chuck who was still grinning broadly. Yup... he also says I don't need no ejucation and I should go join the NFL now.[/s] Oh good lord... it seemed Brody could tell Chuck to go jump off a cliff and the kid would do it without thinking. Ahuh... where is Brody anyway? He asked after a moment, though he was fairly sure he knew the answer. Still sleepin[/s] Was the answer, just as Charlie had known it would be. Alright. He said with a sigh, getting up out of bed, lets go make you breakfast.

By the time breakfast had been made and eaten, the baby was taken care of and sleeping again, and Chuck and Charlie were both dressed and ready to go... Brody was still in bed, and Charlie had a good feeling that he'd been out late last night with some girl doing the sorts of things that were never ever even hinted to when the kids were around... unless you wanted Charlie to pull out his gun and shoot you. He was kind of sensitive on that subject being brought up when Chuck was around. The six year old was smarter than some may have presumed to believe. He understood a lot more than they thought he did. Anyway, Charlie left Brody a note on the table telling him that he was taking Chuck out to the stable, that Melody had eaten and been changed, and there was food in the oven for him, then headed out, the over enthusiastic Chuck in tow.

It wasn't very often anymore that Chuck and Charlie spend time together, considering Charlie usually worked from ten in the morning until midnight, and Chuck had school at eight, which left almost no time for them to be together. Sometimes though, Chuck would pretend to go to sleep when Brody put him in his room, only to stay awake and wait for the sound of Charlie's car pulling into the driveway, then would book it down the stairs followed closely by the German shepherd, Jigsaw, as Charlie walked in the door. He never lasted long after that, and usually crashed within about five minutes of Charlie getting home. It was nice though, to be greeted like that... made the long day seem just a little less stressful.

When they got to the stable, Charlie haltered Brig, and just put a hackamore on Indy, not concerned at all about either horse acting up. He put Chuck up on the little paint mare bareback like he'd done so many times. Indy was a godsend when it came to kids. You could put a kid who'd never ridden before up on her, and thanks to her impeccably smooth stride and gentle nature, you could believe that the kid wouldn't fall off unless they did something really really stupid. Charlie had tried to get Chuck riding lessons, both to force Sebastian to face the child he'd created and so Chuck could learn to ride better... but Sebastian always somehow or another failed to show up to the scheduled lesson. Sure Charlie was profoundly disappointed with Sebastian for that, but Chuck was just as happy as ever and never seemed to care that Sebastian never showed up.

Anyway, as it were, Charlie started Brig out of the stable, Indy following along behind on her own free will with Chuck already aboard, and once they were out in the open air, he gave Chuck the reins, letting him feel like he was in complete control, even though Indy was just following Charlie and Brig. Brigadier dwarfed Charlie, Indy, and Chuck with his massive bulk. The police horse was four now, and he had definitely filled out. He was over 17 hands, Charlie hadn't ever bothered to figure out exactly how tall, and he was a very broad chested horse. His legs were about as solid as a telephone pole. He was a very calm horse... though Charlie would be the first to admit he certainly wasn't the most intelligent animal in the whole world. He got along with any horse that came his way, and never seemed capable of telling the difference between when another horse was being mean to him or just playing with him.

Because of that, Brig was often put out in the pastures with the horses that were mean to other horses. Like Sebastian's mare... she was a spoiled brat, and she was always picking on the other horses... but big dumb Brig never humored her by running when she came after her because he thought it was just a game. Of course, this came in handy for Charlie, considering a police horse couldn't very well be a mean horse, and the lack of intelligence made him more apt to just do whatever Charlie told him to. When he was pushing through a crowd, he'd just keep right on going, knocking people out of his way if need be, but never stepping on anyone's feet. He was a good horse... young and still learning, but he was definitely a good horse despite his unintelligent demeanor.

When Charlie, Brig, Indy, and Chuck reached the pastures, Charlie opened the gate and turned Brig loose, and let Chuck and Indy wander in. Out in the pastures Charlie was quite confident that there was no way Chuck could get hurt. If he fell off, it was a relatively soft landing, and there weren't any other horses, besides Brig, around that could interfere with them, and Brig was too interested in grazing to pay any mind to Chuck or Indy. Charlie had grown up with horses, and it seemed only right that Chuck should too. The six year old seemed to enjoy it just as much as he enjoyed his football, so Charlie figured it was a good way to occupy the kid's time without having to be too involved. He was quite worn out, and chasing after Chuck all day wasn't something he was up for right now. As Brig trotted off, stretching his long legs, and Indy ambled ever slowly out into the pasture turning which ever way Chuck asked her to, Charlie leaned back against the fence wearily. He had a good life... but sometimes even the best life could wear on someone, and it had definitely done so to Charlie. He enjoyed it though. His kids might drive him crazy, but they were the only thing keeping him sane.[/center][/size]

[Brody Jenner]

Brody was such a kid person… I guess it was mainly because he was secretly a kid at heart, only not so secretly. Everyone knew Brody loved the kids from when he started babysitting is little sisters and brother at 15 till now with Chuck and Melody when he was 21. And it was no secret when he and Chuck were running around the front yard playing football in the sprinklers or when he had Melody in a front pack while he and Chuck were playing army or whatever other games Chuck could think up. Or at that whatever games Brody could think of to entertain Chuck. Usually, anything and everything they did was revolved around football. Chuck was obsessed with it… and Brody only encouraged his obsession, much to Charlie’s dismay. But Brody was more of the best friend role though he did his best to encourage proper behavior. He was great with Melody as well he loved her like she was his own baby girl.

Today was just like any other day of the week. Well I guess we have to start yesterday… Yesterday was just like any other day of the week. He woke up just the same Charlie covered the morning shift with the kids on a normal basis from when they woke up till when he took Chuck to school. Brody was usually an early riser and today was no different but if he knew he didn’t have anything to do then he’d force himself to get an extra hour or so. He had like an automatic alarm in his body and no matter how late he goes to bed… which was usually around 6 am. That’s how early he got up when he was on his shift at the station and so it kind of stuck with him when he went home as well. Anyways today or rather yesterday it was 6 am on the dot… and thanks to his convincing of Chuck to go to bed early and rise early he timed everything perfect so he had time to get up go running then be back just in time for Melody to wake up and had just the right amount of time to change her diaper and get her dressed by the time Chuck woke up.

That was the daily drill and that way he could have the kids fed and cleaned up for Charlie to have his fun time with them before he took Chuck to school or Brody took them depending on what Charlie’s mood was from the night before. The house was on a very unique axis and if that axis was ever tilted it didn’t really matter because Brody would bend over backwards to make everything work out perfectly. He did it for Charlie. Brody’s half brother needed all the help he could get and if that meant Brody playing the role of personal nanny all day everyday then he would do it. To the outside observer it may seem like Brody was a dad… but in fact he was not he just loved Charlie’s kids a lot… and he enjoyed the part of live in favorite Uncle. It was a good role to play, he and the kids got along great and if he had to do anything instead of work he would choose to play with them all day. Anything from taking them to get ice cream to running around the house pretending there was a fire to playing football and practicing for “NFL tryouts”. Brody truly was just a little kid.

His Ipod hooked up to the Ipod dock went off playing Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire and Brody’s eyes flashed open immediately. He blinked a few times letting the realization that he wasn’t at the fire station set in and that he just needed to get up and go running before the kids woke up. He stripped the sheets off of himself and pulled his shorts and tennis shoes on. Jogging was Brody’s exercise… not that he needed it… milk done that body good. He was in perfect physical condition but running was something he needed to keep his endurance at its peak. Out the door he went with his Ipod in hand not even bothering to look at himself in the mirror… No one else was out this early and if they were they wouldn’t care if his hair was messy… or if he wasn’t wearing a shirt. His usual track distance was down to the outskirts of town and back then he did sprints up and down their street, which is exactly what he did on this day too. Once home it was a quick shower to rinse off the sweat and grim of his early morning work.

Right on time Melody woke up after he got out of the shower and pulled his jeans on. This morning was no different minus the fact that he took Chuck to school came back cleaned up the mess said goodbye to Charlie at 10 then it was just him and Melody until Chuck came home from school around 2. It all worked out perfectly actually… usually he put Melody down for a nap an hour before he went to go get Chuck that way she was in a deep sleep then he ran with the long distance monitor to pick up Chuck then she sleeps until 3 and by then he had gotten food for Chuck and had heard all of the stories from school… on a good day that is. Chuck was the kind of kid that could talk your ear off not that Brody minded he loved the little kids enthusiasm and facial expressions. He was a great storyteller, which also helped in entertaining Melody if she was in a crabby mood.

They day went on with Melody waking up them watching cartoons for a little while so Brody could clean the already messy house then after the initial entrapment of the show wore off they went outside. Brody always thought that kids should be outside using their imagination versus inside on the couch having their intelligence sucked out of them by the tv… but that was just his opinion. They played a number of games and then walked to the park and played for a good long time… then when the sun started to set Chuck managed to convince Brody into getting ice cream for the third consecutive time that week… In his defense… he was a sucker for the pout that both Chuck and Melody had… no doubt inherited from their mother… though Brody was sure that the pout worked way better for them and looked way cuter on them then it did on her, he was biased though.

After ice cream it was home then a bath. Once he finished chasing a naked Chuck around the house and had them settled down infront of the TV while Chuck played some madden football he moved to the kitchen. He couldn’t help but laugh at Chuck’s narrating skills while he watched them from the kitchen. Making dinner was another item on his job description of live in uncle. He was actually a pretty good cook considering he had to learn when he was 15 so he could feed his little brother and sisters so they didn’t starve when their parents went out. Tonight’s dinner plans was Lemon Pepper Chicken and Rice on of his specialties. After dinner he cleaned them up let them run around the house… well rather let Chuck run around the house and let Melody terrorize the room at a slower pace do to the whole crawling speed restriction. Walking was only something she did when someone was there to catch her… she was getting there though with Brody’s coxing. It was sad… he had tried to convince Charlie to take a day off to spend with them or else he was going to miss her first time doing it on her own. But so far he was out of luck… or so he thought.

After their last effort of wild craziness… it was time to settle down for bed… depending on how long they ran wild Brody would sometimes put on a movie if they had time. Then it was teeth brushing time and bathroom time… while he changed and brushed Melody’s teeth since she obviously couldn’t do it on her own. Once they were tucked in bed with their favorite sleeping buddies and what not the rest of the night was his. Down stairs to the TV that he flicked to the news or whatever was on that was remotely interesting. He did a few sit-ups on the floor and other than that just relaxed until Charlie got home. Usually by the time Charlie got home he had gotten news of some party. Sure he may not be the hugest social butterfly but he knew the guys from the station and other people around the small town and even though Charlie didn’t get home till passed midnight there was usually always something going on. Brody took his jobs very seriously. Saving lives and putting fires out was his life he lived for that and took it seriously there was nothing funny about people losing their homes… or their lives. Then watching Charlie’s kids was more of a volunteer job he didn’t get paid for it… and he’d never asked for pay… it was actually Brody’s way at paying Charlie rent and board. Charlie had grace on Brody and let him live in his house with his kids and in return Brody watched the kids all day… which as you can tell was the best type of work that someone could ever ask for.

So after Charlie was home and asleep Brody went out and… relaxed even more… he was a smart guy though and never brought up what he did when he went out or anything of the sort once he walked into the house and was around the kids… even if they were sleeping he still wouldn’t talk about it unless somehow he was sure Charlie wouldn’t kill him… and even then he was very careful in his choice of words… it was one thing he was very sensitive of… he knew the kids past and what their mother was like and what Charlie went through plus those things were just not talked about in front of kids… it just wasn’t right… or at least he didn’t think it was. That was that… he went out drank did what he want came home at whatever hours in the morning crashed then started over again. But this morning was different… when Charlie had come home he told Brody he was taking the day off tomorrow… that definitely put a smile on his face. Charlie needed a break to relax and enjoy his kids… well at least enjoy his kids. You couldn’t really relax with these kids… well at least not Chuck maybe Melody if you got lucky… but definitely never Chuck.

So now we’re al caught up… and today Brody actually got to sleep in… which he was grateful for considering he stayed out till about 4…. Usually he stayed out till 3 max… but last night he got a little… caught up in things… and he wasn’t big on the driving drunk so he had to make sure he got at least a little bit sober. And usually he didn’t sleep in past 10 but once he spent an hour forcing himself to sleep past 6 he was out for the count… he finally dragged himself out of bed about 11:30 he walked to the bathroom splashed some water on his face and then walked into the kitchen just in his boxers. The house was full of guys besides Melody and she didn’t care she was a baby so he didn’t bother with a shirt or pants… not that it was important anyways because he walked into the kitchen to find a note… then the food in the oven. Once his stomach was satisfied he flicked the TV on basically forgetting about the contents of the note… until he heard a baby crying and realized that it wasn’t coming from the football game that was on the TV. So up the stairs he went to tend to the baby… once he got her to stop crying he changed her and brought her and her diaper bag downstairs… of which he couldn’t understand why she had to have a pink one when him and Charlie were the only ones that ever carried it around… it was one thing he would never understand.

He went and looked at the note… and actually really looked at it instead of reading the part about food and tossing it aside… Boys… such a one-track minds. Charlie and Chuck were at the barn apparently… He grabbed a few toys for Melody took her outside and buckled her into her car seat… set the diaper bag on the floor and made sure she was content then got in and drove down to the stables. It wasn’t a far drive so it didn’t take long but even in such a short trip Melody managed to throw all of the toys out of his reaching distance and was now crying on and off. But Brody had like an infinite about of patience… I guess you have to have a lot of patience if you plan to have kids and Brody considered all this babysitting prep work for when he got married and ended up having kids. Plus like previously stated he really was just a big kid himself… just a legal adult and more responsible…. Sometimes. At the stables he pulled her out of the car and it was like instant happiness… that never ceased to amaze him. It didn’t take him long to figure out where Charlie and Chuck were… it wasn’t his first time at the Stables considering Chuck had begged him to go several times before… Brody wasn’t a huge horse-a-holic but he had learned to like the gentle giants having not been around them.

He didn’t bother walking into the barn he just walked around to the where the Pastures were and stood on the top of the hill scanning until he found Charlie and Chuck. Standing there watching them he just smiled… Charlie really needed to find himself a good woman and settle down with her because if he kept this whole working all the time up then he was going to run himself into the ground and the kids weren’t going to have any parents… and as if it slap him out of thinking like that Melody’s little palm smacked onto his cheek and his reaction was obviously funny because she started giggling… which only made Brody laugh and tickle her which resulted in her laughing even harder. How could you resist that… was just about the cutest thing… father and son bonding out in the fields… and uncle and niece laughing and giggling on the green hill top… what was wrong with women these days?

[Charlie Parker]

Charlie hadn't ever seen himself as a dad when he was younger. He was basically a horrible older brother... always picking on his brother Chase. He and Sebastian got into the biggest trouble you could possibly imagine for abandoning Chase whenever they possibly could so that they could go out to parties and whatnot without the obnoxious little brother tagging along. He never really looked out for Chase... he was too busy being two years older than he was. He wasn't really the best son either. Unlike his little brother, Charlie was a problem child. His parents tried to coddle him, and he just pushed them away more than before. He wanted to be independent and do things on his own... and unfortunately his way of doing things meant he was going to rebel against anything and everything his parents wanted him to do.

Responsibility had been anything but Charlie's middle name when he was in high school. Of course, having graduated at 16 didn't help his ego any. He got himself emancipated from his parents and moved out with Sebastian into an apartment they'd been planning to get since... well forever. Neither of them were all that fond of their parents and it was sort of problematic. When Charlie got emancipated, he also cut off all financial ties with his parents. He was going to do things on his own if it killed him. Of course that meant a lot more work than was good for him. Aside from going to the police Academy, he also had to work to pay his rent, and that was when responsibility hit him hard and fast.

Sebastian had offered several times to tell his parents that Charlie had moved out so they would pay the other half of the rent as well, but Charlie always refused. At 16 years old, Charles Robert Parker became an adult. It may have been early, but he was independent, he could be responsible, he was definitely mature enough, and no one doubted that he was smart enough. Even so, he never would have imagined being a dad of two kids by the time he was 22... and a single dad at that. Back in the day, his life plan was to be the heroic police man that all the girls loved, enforcing the law and living it up. Now his life plan was just to provide for his kids and make sure they had the best life they possibly could.

When Brody came, it made Charlie's life so much easier. With all the shifts he took on with work, trying to balance that out with his kids was difficult for him. He would take Chuck to school, drop Melody off with either Alex or Lexi depending on the day, go to work until 2:00, then go pick Chuck up from school, take him to whoever was taking care of them for the day, go back to work until midnight, then come home, thank whoever was there taking care of them, crash for a few hours, get up and repeat the process all over again. It was exhausting and stressful, but Charlie was going to make sure he had a college fund set aside for both those kids if it killed them. Even if they decided against going to college, he wanted to be able to give them whatever they needed to succeed.

Once Brody got there though, Charlie didn't have to worry about getting off shift in the middle of the day to get Chuck from school, and he didn't have to worry about finding someone to take both of them all day on the weekends. Yes, Brody did have work with the fire station, but he was a lot better at finding babysitters than Charlie was. He still couldn't quite figure how he always managed to do it, but somehow whenever he had to leave, someone they knew and trusted was always right across the street and, according to Brody, they were always willing to take on the kids for a while... though Charlie had a sneaking suspicion that Brody just dumped the kids on them and took off without giving them a chance to protest.

Charlie and Chuck had probably been down there for about an hour now. Charlie, though still awake and as alert as someone who had been running on about four hours of sleep all week until today could possibly be, was definitely not paying much attention to what was going on and was quite zoned out at the moment. Indy was sort of like the horse version of Brody. He knew the little paint mare would take good care of Chuck and he wouldn't get hurt. Besides, Chuck played little league football... and unfortunately for him he had been cursed with his mother's lack of height... at least for now... so he was quite a bit smaller than some of the other kids he played football with.

Charlie never ceased to be amazed by his kids. Chuck was incredibly tough, and there was just about nothing he couldn't handle. Even when Charlie had told him that mommy wasn't coming back, Chuck seemed to just roll with it. Of course, considering Hayley had never been a good mother to Chuck and often ended up having parties while Charlie was off at work, forcing Chuck to take the baby and the dog and take refuge in her room behind a locked door to keep all of his mom's drunk and high friends away, Chuck was a lot more responsible than most kids his age would ever be... but not in a way that he was necessarily having to be an adult at this age.

The breaking point for Charlie had been when some drunk guy came into the room when Chuck forgot to lock the door and attempted to take the baby. Charlie just thanked God Jigsaw was a former police dog and was very protective of the kids and lit into that guy like there was no tomorrow. If Charlie hadn't come home just then the German Shepherd probably would have killed the man. The guy was even stupid enough to sue Charlie for the dog attacking him and attempted to get the dog destroyed... but the case was, of course, thrown out. Anyway, the day after that had happened was when Charlie reached his limit and told Hayley that because she had made no effort to make the relationship work or to keep their children safe, that he was calling off their engagement and their relationship permanently and that she should go and make her life elsewhere. As awful as it perhaps sounds, Charlie was quite relieved when she was gone.

Anyway, Melody also amazed Charlie. That little girl adored Brody. He was basically her favorite person on the face of the earth and it was pretty obvious. Okay so maybe second favorite... "Dada" was still the first person she cried to when she was upset... but Brody seemed to have this magic touch that made her stop crying the moment he picked her up. Charlie didn't know what it was, and he was quiet envious of his brother for it... but it was indeed a miracle. She could be screaming because she fell down one second, Brody would pick her up, and she became an instant bundle of joy. Yes... Charlie definitely had two amazing children.

He was suddenly distracted from his thoughts when Chuck and Indy came to a stop in front of him, the seven year old pointing enthusiastically back in the direction of the barns and other buildings. Look daddy it's Brody and Melody!

[/s] Chuck said, his excitement making it seem as if Brody and Melody had never been to the stable before, though they most certainly had been. Charlie turned and looked over at Melody and Brody, and couldn't help but smile at his brother's antics with the little girl. Brody was a godsend, that was for sure. He glanced back at Chuck as the little boy squirmed down off Indy's back. Can we go over there daddy?[/s] he asked in that irresistible little boy way... not that Charlie would have said no anyway. Of course we can... Charlie said reaching over and pulling the hackmore off Indy, knowing full well that the mare's job was probably done for now.

The moment Charlie told Chuck he could go up there, the seven year old was off like a rocket, running up the hill towards Brody. He was a speedy kid, and had never ending energy, which made him difficult to keep up with most of the time. Charlie patted Indy's neck, then followed Chuck up the hill towards Brody, just at a less frantic pace. He didn't have the energy to run around like Chuck did... hell he'd barely had the energy to get out of bed... walking was the fastest he would be going unless he absolutely had to go any faster. He would be the first to admit though... 80 hours in the saddle and 10 hours in a desk chair definitely made for a lot of aches and pains. He wasn't really saddle sore... just a bit stiff, and if you'd spent that many hours in a saddle in a week, you'd be stiff too.

I wasn't sure you were actually alive this morning. Charlie said as he reached Brody and Melody. He knew Brody was responsible though... even if he went out and got drunk he'd sober up some before driving home, meaning little to no hangover for him come morning. Too bad Charlie and Sebastian hadn't ever been that smart. Even though he wondered what his brother was teaching his kids in his absence, he wasn't worried. Brody was good with kids, and he knew which subjects to avoid when around them, and even if he did tell Chuck that he should go join the NFL now, he knew he wouldn't make him believe something that he shouldn't. Let little kids dream while they could. If you didn't, they'd grow up too fast, and Charlie didn't want that for his kids.[/center][/size]