The steaks were a hit, with both furs going for seconds. Despite that, though, there were still leftovers of the potatoes, garlic bread, avocados, and two steaks each when both furs had enough and started putting everything away.
“We can bring these to work tomorrow,” Jamie said, putting the potatoes away and closing the fridge. “Give us something to eat so we’re not in a rush. I hope we’re not going to be so late tomorrow. I can’t believe I slept in so late.”
Jack giggled as he watched his big brother put away the food. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I was comfy last night.”
Jamie snorted in amusement. “Scamp,” he accused fondly. “I’m okay with you sleeping with me again. Not like you have a crib, so co-sleeping is a good alternative.”
He stretched a bit, groaning as his back popped. “For now, I need to go and call your friend’s mom, get your ride arranged. Go do what you want; I’ll join you in a minute.”
He didn’t need to say that twice; Jack was gone before he blinked. He could hear pattering going toward the living room and soon heard Jack’s Switch start up on the TV. Smiling and shaking his head, Jamie took up the notebook with Mrs. Galileo’s number and pulled out his cell phone.
“Hello?” Came the voice of a young boy on the other end of the line. Jamie smiled; this must be Brian.
“Hello, I’m looking for Clarice Galileo?” He asked.
“Oh!” Brian said. “Hang on!” Jamie smiled and sat back in his chair, listening as Brian ran in search of his mom. Occasional shouts of ‘Mom! Phone!’ made him snort with laughter.
Finally, the phone was picked up again. “This is Clarice,” came a woman’s voice.
“Hello, Mrs. Galileo,” Jamie greeted. “My name is Jamie Jeffries. I’m Jack’s older brother.”
“Oh, hello,” Mrs. Galileo greeted. “It’s wonderful to finally speak to you. What can I do for you? Is Jack doing okay?”
“Jack is doing just fine, but he’s the reason that I called,” Jamie explained, smiling as he heard Jack’s game from the living room. “I’m at work until seven tomorrow…”
“And practice starts at five,” Mrs. Galileo finished, understanding where he was coming from. “I’m perfectly willing to pick him up at your work. Sandra told me where it’s at, and I can get there no problem. Will you need me to take him back?”
“I don’t think so,” Jamie replied. “If practice ends at seven, then I can get there in a few minutes after closing my shop. It’s just getting him there that was the problem.”
“And heaven forbid that cub from missing a single practice,” Mrs. Galileo sighed fondly. “My Brian loves baseball, but compared to Jack, he’s just a candle to Jack’s sun. How does four thirty sound?”
“Four thirty sounds wonderful,” Jamie agreed gratefully. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Galileo. I’d be happy to run him over myself, but with the bank wanting money from me…”
“Every second you’re closed, you lose money,” Mrs. Galileo finished again, sounding exasperated. “Banks. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them. I’ll bet you’ll be so happy when your bank note is paid off.”
“I’ll throw a party the day I make the last payment,” Jamie chuckled, agreeing wholeheartedly. They exchanged a few more pleasantries before they said goodbye and hung up, allowing the wolf to go find his brother. Before leaving the kitchen, he filled Jack’s bottle with apple juice and took it with him when he left.
He found the little cheetah exactly where he expected, playing Breath of the Wild on the living room TV. “Ah, Zelda,” the wolf sighed as he sat next to his little brother and lifted him into his lap. “I’ve been a fan since A Link to the Past, but I haven’t been able to play this one yet. How is it?”
“It’s really cool!” Jack said enthusiastically, biting his lip in concentration as he was in the middle of a moblin fight. “It’s different from the others I’ve played.”
“I can see that,” Jamie agreed, watching with interest as the wolf on screen swung a massive bat around. “For one thing, Link has only ever used a sword and shield, maybe a large sword, but never a bat.”
“Yeah, there’s all kinds of weapon types,” Jack grunted, pouting as his bat shattered into shards of light.
“That’s new too,” Jamie observed in interest. “So the weapons have a durability rating?”
“Yeah,” the cheetah said distractedly. “And it’s kinda lame, because even the higher rated weapons don’t last very long, so you have to constantly look for new weapons, and you can only carry so many.”
They continued in this vein for a while, with Jack showing Jamie all the features of the game and Jamie commenting on differences from previous versions. Before the boys knew it, an hour had passed, and Jack set down his joy-cons with a sigh.
“How about another movie?” Jamie suggested, grabbing the remote and switching it over to Netflix. “Did you want to watch anything in particular? Maybe Power Rangers, since you fell asleep during that last night?”
“Nah, I’ve already seen it,” Jack replied lazily, leaning back into his brother’s embrace. An option came up in the suggested list, and he perked up. “Ooh, how about that one?”
“Moana?” Jamie asked, moving over to it. “I haven’t seen this one.”
“You haven’t?!” Jack asked, turning to look at his brother in shock. “But it’s so good! How haven’t you seen it?”
Chuckling as he selected the movie to start, Jamie lay back in his seat and moved Jack back into a cradle. “I’m more of an action/adventure kinda guy,” he chuckled as he grabbed the bottle from the nearby table. Jack, who hadn’t seen the bottle until then, brightened and reached for it.
Grinning, Jamie held the bottle out of reach. “Ah, not this time, baby brother. Let big brother nurse you.” Jack blushed, but settled back, turning so he could watch the movie. Jamie held the nipple to his lips, and he eagerly took it.
Jamie smiled contentedly. Here he was, nursing his ten year old brother, watching an adorable cartoon of the adventures of a young Maori girl, her epically stupid feral chicken, and a demigod. Halfway through the movie, when the bottle was empty and the wolf set it aside, Jack started fussing in his lap. Jamie blinked, but then he realized what was going on. All the air from the bottle had gone into Jack’s tummy. Why Jack wasn’t releasing the pressure himself, he wasn’t sure, but Jack did seem really into the movie. Maybe he didn’t realize that he was uncomfortable? Well, there was a way to fix that.
Shaking his head, the wolf smiled and moved the kitten so his head was resting on his shoulder so he could still see the movie, and started to gently thump his brother’s back. Jack fussed a little with each thump, but then a small burp escaped from him, and he started giggling. “Good boy,” Jamie murmured quietly while on screen, a gigantic decorator crab started singing about being shiny . “Come on, one more.”
A few more thumps later, a second baby burp escaped the little cheetah, and with a smile, Jamie settled Jack back in his lap so they could enjoy the movie. More of an action/adventure guy he might be, but Jamie still thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and resolved to talk to a musician friend of his about the songs. He was sure Jason loved this movie.
When the movie ended with Moana leading her people back into their former voyager ways, Jamie looked down and was surprised to find Jack completely passed out, snuggling up to the wolf’s chest. Smiling, the lupine pulled Jack’s paci from his nearby backpack and slipped it into the cub’s muzzle. Once that was done, he got to his footpaws, cradling his baby brother.
Climbing the stairs, he took his sleeping charge into his old room and lay him down on the bed. Jack fussed, not wanting to let go of his warm brother, but Jamie eventually managed to wrestle his way from the ensnaring limbs so he could get undressed for bed. After a quick check to make sure Jack hadn’t wet his diaper during the movie, Jamie picked the cub up and pulled the covers back. Laying in bed, he drifted off to sleep, listening to the sweet sound of his brother breathing.
