Family is thicker than fame (1/?)

It happened the one time they didn’t use a condom. The one time Pete thought, “Why bother?”. The one time that Patrick forgot to take his pills.

Now, Belle and Parker toddled around the Wentz-Stump household. Pete looked up from where he was pouring Juicy Juice into bottles to the ringing telephone.

“’Lo?” he said, spilling some juice on his pants.

“Pete, is Patrick there?” Bob’s voice boomed over the speaker.

“Um, no…he’s gone to take Parker shopping. Just me and Belle and Hemmy.” Pete sighed.

“Right. When he gets back, tell him to call me.” he said. “Will do Bob.” Pete said, hanging up.

Belle sat in her high chair, banging on the plastic tray in front of her. “Belle, stop…here, drink this juice.” Pete sighed. He was at the end of this rope.

“NO!” Belle screamed, knocking the juice off of the high chair.

“Fine. Do you want to take a nap?” Pete asked, looking at his blonde daughter. She shook her head. “Then, eat your lunch!” he growled, placing a bowl of oatmeal in front of her.

“No!” she screamed, slamming the oatmeal on the floor.

“That’s it!” Pete screamed, lifting his daughter up and practically running her to her room. He couldn’t believe Patrick wanted another one of these.

Patrick came in holding Parker, who was fast asleep and calm. “Hey Panda, how’s Belle?” he asked, shifting the baby boy.

“She’s a demon, Trick. I swear!” Pete said, taking his eyes away from the television screen.

“No she’s not! Not my sweet Belle…” Patrick rolled his eyes.

“She’s a handful!” Pete laughed.

“Well, she’s your kid honey…what did you think she was going to be like?” Patrick smiled, putting some bags down by the door.

“So, would you like to put the boy to sleep? I’m going to go get dinner started.” he said, looking at Pete expectantly.

“Sure. Come on, boy…let’s get you upstairs.” Pete grinned, taking his son into his arms.

***
The water boiled in the pot as Patrick stirred the macaroni noodles in it. Pete was in charge of melting the cheese. It was the only thing he could cook besides cereal. He had to buy Uncrustables.

“So, how was your day?” Pete asked, stirring the Velveeta.

“Good! We got so many new shoes and hats!” Patrick grinned.

“Did Parker get anything?”

“Yeah…he got some toys…and so did Belle. Shut up!” Patrick laughed.

“You’re such a dork, Trick. Hey, Bob called…do you know what he wanted?” Pete said. 

“Oh, yeah, he called me on my cell too. I was getting Parker to try on some shoes so I didn’t answer it. He didn’t leave a message. Why? Did he sound mad?” Patrick asked. 

“Did you do something to make him mad?” Pete inquired.

“I don’t think so…” Patrick sighed, going to check on the chicken.

“Well, I’ll call him back after dinner. Will you go wake up the babies? It’ll be on the table in five.”

***
Pete took a bite of his macaroni and looked at Parker who had cheese smeared over his mouth. “Parker, do you like macaroni?” he giggled.

“Yes.” Parker smiled. “I can tell.” Pete laughed.

Patrick was too busy picking up the chicken Belle had spilled all over the floor.

“Belle, I swear…” he said, sighing as he placed the nuggets back on her tray.

“Daddy, juice!” she said.

“You have juice.” Patrick said.

“No…juice.” she said.

“Oh, Pete! Did you give her apple juice?” he asked.

“Yeah. That’s what I always give her…” Pete said, looking up from his plate.

“Um, Pete, she can’t drink apple juice! You should know that, you’ve only been her dad for a year and a half now…” Patrick snapped, going and emptying the sippy cup.

***
Patrick picked up the cordless phone and went into his bedroom. He sat down on the bed and stared at a picture of he and Pete while Bob’s Callback Tone (The Way You Make Me Feel) played. “Hello?” the loud voice boomed.

“Bob? Hey…Pete said you called?” Patrick asked.

“Yeah. Look Patrick. I’m happy for you and Pete and everything but we need a new record.” he said.

“We’ve been writing some but I mean…with Belle and Parker it’s been hard.” Patrick stuttered.

“Well, you better get on it. I want a CD in three months. Recorded and everything or else Fall Out Boy is done.” Bob said.

“Bob, can’t we talk about this!? I mean, what about one of those Green Day breaks?” Patrick was panicking.

“No. New record in three months. I’ll see you guys at the studio in a week. Bye.” he said, hanging up.

Patrick pulled his knees to his chest and pulled his hat down. Pete came into the bedroom with Belle and Parker hanging on each shoulder.

“Trick? You alright?” Pete asked. Patrick didn’t listen, just kept his head down.

Pete took the hint and headed upstairs towards the nursery. The Batman and My Little Pony decorated walls greeted Pete as he opened the door.

“Okay, Belle…goodnight baby girl. I love you…sweet dreams okay?” Pete said, kissing her and lying her in the crib. “Night Parker. I love you, buddy.” Pete kissed his soft brown hair and laid him down. Flicking out the lights, he went back downstairs to find out what happened with Bob that would upset Patrick.

Patrick was lying asleep on their bed when Pete walked in.

“Patrick? Do you want to talk about it?” Pete asked.

“Pete? Fall Out Boy is over.” Patrick murmured.

“What!?” Pete exclaimed.

“Bob said if we didn’t have a new record in three months…we’re done.” Patrick whispered.

“What!? That’s crazy. We can’t have a record ready in three months! This is insane. I’m fucking calling him right now!” Pete growled.

“No…Pete, just go to bed. The kids have doctor’s appointments tomorrow morning and we have to go shopping for new beds. They’re old enough for real beds.” Patrick said.

“I can’t sleep knowing that we might not have jobs if we don’t hurry up and write! Patrick, I’m hopeless at anything else but music. C’mon. You’ve got to help me write…” Pete said, looking at his husband.

“Pete, I can’t. I’m so…I’m going to bed. We’ll figure this out in the morning.” Patrick sighed, rolling over and setting his alarm clock for ten minutes later.

***
Instead of the annoying beep-beep of the alarm clock, Patrick awoke to Prince. “Hello?” he mumbled.

“Trick, I’m at Starbucks. Do you want anything?” Pete asked.

“No. I’m just going to get the kids ready…” he said.

“Patrick, do you know what time it is!?” Pete asked.

“No.” Patrick sighed.

“Their appointment is in thirty minutes…” Pete said.

“Oh crap! I’ve gotta go!” Patrick snapped.

“Love you too.” Pete laughed.

“Sorry, Love you. Bye.” Patrick hung up.

***
“Well it doesn’t seem too serious, but I think we should go ahead and operate.” Dr. Reynolds said, looking in Belle’s ear again. 
“When would the surgery be?” Patrick asked. 
 “In between five to six weeks. Parker will have to have it too.” he said. 
“Alright, thanks.” Patrick sighed, looking at the babies sitting on the doctor’s table. There’s no way he could make a new record with his in the hospital; no fucking way.

Fall Out Boy’s over.